5 Tips on how you must give yourself PERMISSION to EAT WHATEVER YOU WANT to gain food freedom!

Do you give yourself PERMISSION to eat what ever you want?

My hunch is no.

And that NO comes with NO judgment.

I have memories where I'd be standing in the kitchen thinking I need to eat something healthy when all I really wanted was lots of bread, muffins, pasta, popcorn, cereal, ice cream, brownies...

I KNEW that I SHOULD eat the chicken, the veggies, the grain, herbal tea and call it a day.

But inside all I wanted was the other stuff.

I would do this thing where I would dis-engage.

I would say to myself, "Ok, I'll eat the "good stuff' and sometimes I would. And then ya know what I would do, I would eat "all the bad stuff" too. But I did it in sort of this 1/2 ass way.

I would eat it, unconsciously.

I would eat so fast, because somehow I figured if I ate it really fast it wouldn't count, or what I really think was going on was that it was too painful to realize that I was gorging and I knew I would feel guilty and regret it later.

I would eat the food in secret. My friends would eat some brownies. I wouldn't.

Then I would offer to clean the table picking up everyone's plate and then rush off to the kitchen and eat each bite they didn't eat, practically licking the plate. As I volunteered to wrap up the leftovers I would cut up the food  and sneak pieces in my mouth before I folded it into the tin foil. And I would do all of this while looking over my shoulder to make sure no one came in the room.

As you can see the word permission is not present in these stories.

There were good foods and bad foods. There was the person I wanted everyone to see me as: "the healthy one" and there was this part of me that couldn't believe that I, even though I knew better, was eating foods that did not serve me.

Yet, ONE OF THE KEY WAYS I FOUND MY FOOD FREEDOM WAS THAT I HAD TO LEARN TO give myself PERMISSION TO EAT WHAT EVER I WANTED.

When I learned this technique I finally lost the extra 15 pounds, looked in the mirror and liked what I saw and could enjoy any food any time I wanted it.

Here's a story to illustrate the 5 steps I took - and this story just happened over the weekend.

As I mentioned above I recently noticed that my desire for food has been changing. Let me be real. I have been craving muffins, pasta, yogurt-covered pretzels, rich and creamy food- lots of it.

I have been fighting with my body.

Telling it, "You know better, you know you don't really want that stuff."

As I get clearer about my message and service in the world and supporting women in the FOOD FREEDOM I am terrified. What if I gain tons of weight, forget how to listen to my body and fail? What will my clients, students and readers think of me?

Then I slowed my little butt down, took some deep breathes and thought. YOU BETTER EAT WHAT YOU WANT. That’s the whole point. This is the lesson you learned YEARS AGO.

I was scared this weekend. I thought - "Well, this is what I taught myself through yoga, meditation and healthy whole foods. But what if I can't do it anymore?" 

Then I just focused all my attention on the teachings and said, "OK do it, I will eat whatever my body is saying."

The minute I followed my inner life and inner guide- OMG, I was FREE!

Again.

I just listened-

OK you want that creamy pasta salad- eat it.

OK you want the yogurt covered pretzels- eat it.

OK you want the pirate booty- eat it.

OK you want sour dough bread- eat it.

The minute I gave my body what it wanted it said THANK YOU!

Now here is the BIGGEST LESSON

Ready?

While you are eating you have to keep listening.

Because you know what happens.

The body tells you when to stop.

I ate

4 bites of pasta salad

5 yogurt pretzels

2 handfuls of pirate booty

2 pieces of sour dough bread.

There was this one-minute when Chris and I were at dinner. I was dipping the bread into GOBS of olive oil. I was SO hungry, the restaurant was packed and the dinner was taking a long time. As I reached into the bread bowl to get another piece my stomach shouted out to me - NO - WAIT- your dinner will be here soon. I did this little dance with the bread. Pick it up, put it down, Pick it up, put it down. Probably 3 or 4 times. Ya know what I mean?

Then again I thought- don't I teach this for a living?

I sort of laughed at myself.

I knew I needed to take the next step I tell my clients.

What’s that step?

Take a break.

So I stood up, went to the bathroom, took some deep breaths and came back to the table.

I can do this. I have done this before. I teach this every day.

And so that’s the real blow by blow.

Here are the 5 steps can you take away with you?

1. Listen

2. Eat what your body tells you

3. Keep listening WHILE YOU ARE EATING- (Stay Present in your body, while eating)

4. Take a break

5. Tell yourself you can do this

There are a few other steps. Like looking at our beliefs about good and bad foods, breaking down what serves us- for real and the most powerful one is community and having accountability partners.

I will be speaking about that in my *NEW* programs.

Both the FOOD FREEDOM ACKNOWLEDGEMENT & AWARENESS PROGRAM

and the

FIVE MONTHS TO FOOD FREEDOM PROGRAM.

In the comments below let me know how you can take these steps, which ones you get stuck on, and especially when you succeed.

Here's to your FOOD FREEDOM!