I'm sorry it's been a while since I've posted. I've been so busy. I just quit my second job though so I should have 11 hours more spare time every week :)
I've just started reading Linda Bacon's book "Health at Every Size: The Surprising Truth about your Weight" and so far it's been enlightening. She has a similar philosophy to Dr Rick Kausman.
From reading the first chapter or so I have enjoyed her emphasis on how the body is so good at self regulating and we should trust it and let it do it's thing, essentially. How do we do that? Well, I haven't got to part 2 yet but I'm assuming it will be along the lines of listening to our bodies, eating when we are hungry, eating what we feel like, and stopping when full.
I actually had to remind myself about how there's no point trying to follow some sort of eating plan set out in a magazine or whatever because it's just going against our natural instincts. I want to be able to just eat from day to day without needing to write it down or keep track of it in a book. That's the ultimate goal I guess - to be able to just eat naturally/normally without worrying about it or feeling guilty. To know instinctively whether you feel like eating or not and trusting yourself to act in accordance with that.
Today I walked past someone eating from a fruit platter and I just thought straight away, "Mmm, I could go some of that!" I haven't eaten much fruit lately and it was my body's way of telling me it needed more - I didn't need some magazine or health professional to tell me to eat 2 pieces of fruit per day. Furthermore, I've been feeling lately that my muscles are a bit weak and I want to increase my strength purely for day to day tasks and general fitness. See - I didn't need someone to tell me all the health benefits there are to exercise and how I'll feel more energised bla bla bla - I just felt myself that I wanted and needed to do it.
To be honest the thought of just eating day to day and not writing it down or keeping track of it scares me slightly. What if I overeat and don't realise? But that's illogical - as long as I'm not constantly getting feelings of being overfull or lethargic then I'm probably doing just fine.
I just want to let go of it all. All the constant thoughts about food and weight. I'm going to trust in myself and my body and hope for the best.
Dear Genevieve,
ReplyDeleteNice to read your post. I can appreciate your honesty about the thought of just eating day to day and not writing it down or keeping track of it scaring you slightly. I too have had that feeling.
I think the reason why I feel that is because I was using the EAR almost like a diet sheet instead of an opportunity to learn about my thoughts and feelings in relation to eating.
I believe Rick makes that point in his book about the difference of writing down what you eat as a way of controlling what you eat or to gather information about yourself and your eating behaviours in general.
Sometimes I have to remind myself of the purpose of recording when I've lost sight of it again. It's just a tool to use to get to know myself better with respect to my eating habits and the changes that I'm making in the process.
I'm looking forward to getting into Part 2 of Linda Bacon's book but in the meantime I'm enjoying reading the information in Part 1.
Good to have you back on board!!
Cheers, Janelle