Hello! How are you today? Today, right this second? Good I hope 
I’ve been thinking about eating what you love and not getting fat a lot lately and wanted to share a few thoughts on that today. First let’s talk about running and eating…
Running… I finished the book Fast Girl on audio during my run today. Overall, I think it was a good book and interesting story. I kind of would have liked more details on the escort part of her life. Maybe that’s pervy but interesting, right?!
Post-Run I hit the store after my run real quick for some grapes. I cannot stop eating them. Can’t stop won’t stop.
Plus I scored this cold brewed iced coffee. I plan on drinking them all tomorrow and then running across the county. Can anyone put me up for the night along the way? Thanks.
While I was at the store I thought about what else I wanted before I left. I was craving beans. I like beans.
I grew up with the sound of a bubbling lid clicking over a big boiling pot of pinto beans on the stove at least once a week. My family would have the beans with meals a few times a week before my mom made a new batch.
Anyway.
I grabbed a few cans of beans – garbanzo, kidney, pinto – my favorites right now and had them with lunch. And this brought me back to my thoughts on eating what you love without getting fat.
I discovered Intuitive Eating years ago, probably about 6 years now actually. I read the book and even had some one on one sessions with one of the authors. Intuitive Eating is the concept of listening to your body’s cues and signals to get to a happy weight and healthy place both physically and mentally.
One of the hardest steps of Intuitive Eating is getting rid of any “FORBIDEN FOODS”. There are no foods that are off limits (unless you’re deathly allergic of course and then that’s common sense). The point is you should be able to eat what you crave, what your body wants.
This is a scary and challenging concept to anyone who has lived under certain food rules for a long time. When you’ve convinced yourself that eating cookies or peanut butter or cheese is going to make you fat – it’s hard to eat that food like a normal person again.
If you give yourself permission to eat whatever you want – what is going to stop you from eating French Fries nonstop for breakfast, lunch and dinner every day?!
What if you want a strawberry shake every single night? That is going to make you gain weight. You can’t listen to your body! Your body can’t be trusted with all it’s cravings for Cheetos and Skittles and Nutella straight out of the jar!
Yes, if you eat nothing but fries and Oreos all day every day you might gain weight. Maybe. But you’ll also feel like sh!t. And that is a big part of Intuitive Eating too –> listen to your body.
At first when I gave myself full permission to eat whatever I wanted I did overdo it some. I ate two and a half donuts at a time, instead of enjoying one. I added chocolate chips to everything – PB toast (heated in the microwave, try it), protein shakes, yogurt, cereal. Yes, even cereal.
And it was okay. It got old. The thrill of these forbidden foods lost their luster. I craved other things like salty foods and crunchy veggies and brown rice.
The fear that you will only crave your absolute favorite treat foods, but that’s rarely the case. You probably have preferences toward certain healthy foods too. And listening to your body is important.
How do you feel after you eat a turkey sandwich on whole wheat bread versus a box of crackers and a diet Coke?
How do you feel after you eat 8 chocolate chip cookies? Okay 9.
How do you feel after you eat a fancy salmon dinner on date night?
How do you feel after mindlessly eating a large popcorn by yourself at the movies? (I feel a little proud, but also bloated.)
How do you feel after pizza night versus tofu stir fry night?
Pay attention to how you feel and that will help gently steer your ship.
But also – respect your cravings. Sometimes I crave chocolate in a ‘get the hell outta my way and give me some chocolate’ kinda vibe. Today I was craving beans and sugar plum tomatoes.
Sometimes I crave fro-yo with bananas and nuts, other times I crave pizza with roasted veggies dipped in hummus.
The point is you should listen to your body and mind. Get 100% rid of any ‘off limits’ foods.
Tip: Remind yourself about all the healthy foods you like and stock up your fridge with them. Make it easy for yourself to eat healthy things. Take your time in the produce section of the store and see what looks good to you. You don’t have to buy kale because it’s the cool thing. Eat the fruits and veggies YOU like.
Let yourself truly enjoy the treats and cravings. No judgment. No binging. Just enjoy it.
Ok Buttercup. It’s only taken what, 5 years?, but you’ve finally said it enough times for me to pay attention. (Note to you: clearly worth repeating from time to time.) Lucky for me it’s available as an audio book, because I’d never read it…and I just bought on amazon.
Added to “what you want” to eat has, at this point in life, has to over-laid with the template of what you know you should not eat, i.e. processed sugar, food from a can, grains, etc. We’ll see how it goes…
Listen to your body, you’ll know what you need to feel amazing 🙂
There are some foods that have high in protein but don’t make you fat like eggs, lean beef, salmon, bison.
I never would have believed this concept is possible but I have been allowing myself to eat what I want for over a year now and it works. It is hard to believe eating cheesecake and chocolate and everything else that sounds amazing wouldn’t make you gain weight, but I have actually lost weight without even trying. I think learning to accept and love your body is also a big part of the process.
Another Mother Runner interviewed Suzy Favor Hamilton on their podcast, #180. It was fascinating and now I can’t wait to read the book.
Wow! That was a great read! I definitely go off of how my body feels – which is something that is definitely learned. But I also have to keep track of what I eat too so I don’t over do the sweets. I strive for healthy but it’s okay to eat treats every now and then.
I have been really into pulled pork salads 🙂 I make a crock pot full of pork on Mondays, eat it for dinner, then add it to salads for the rest of the week. I use Bolthouse Cilantro Avocado yogurt dressing and it’s amazeballs.
This was just what I needed to see! I’m trying to transition to Intuitive Eating and it’s really hard as someone with a disordered mentality when it comes to food! Yesterday I was craving carbs even though I knew I ‘should’ eat something protein. I ate the protein and felt gross, and ate carbs anyway. Then when I got in from my workout, all I wanted was tuna and cottage cheese- my body was telling me that it wanted protein then, not earlier. I should have listened!
While I haven’t officially read the book and have only heard people mention the whole intuitive eating thing, it’s definitely a concept that I try to abide by to a certain extent. I have the “diet” that I follow on a daily basis but I have been listening to my body and making those changes as necessary. I was a vegetarian for 13 years before I started craving bacon, when that craving didn’t go away for a month or two, I decided to try a piece of bacon and now I eat it from time to time when my body wants it (usually I think due to an iron or protein deficiency)…but it just proves to listen to your body! Earlier this week I had an entire bag of granola in two days, it was delicious but I assure you how my stomach felt was NOT okay.
This is so funny. I was hungry yesterday. HUNGRY. I ate all my calories for the day and was still hungry. I made some of your pumpkin granola. Amazing, by the way!!! And I just wanted to eat the nuts and raisins by the the fistful. When the granola came out of the oven, I packaged up some and ate the rest … on top of the raisins and nuts I already ate. I honestly thought to myself, “Listen to your body. If you are legitimately hungry, then you need to eat.” So no guilt. It is a lot different eating raisins and nuts … and granola because you want it, versus 4 servings of ice cream with hot fudge. It is. And you’re right about how do you feel after?
My favorite healthy food? Honestly, I have to say it’s probably tomatoes and red peppers. Not necessarily together, but in general. They both add flavor to healthy meals, which makes what you’re eating taste better. I can eat garden rip tomatoes off the vine. They are amazing.
I am really interested in this. So many of my Bad days quickly become epic binges which hinge on the fact that the day is already ruined so I should just go for it. Tomorrow will Good and I then won’t be allowed to eat the fun food, so I should make the most of it. I give myself the green light, and then feel just awful about it the next day.
I would love love love to just eat when I am actually hungry (and hopefully not when I am just bored etc.) and for this not to be an issue I have to think about all the time. (Like ALL the time).
My only concern is that my body is still programmed to want to ingest as many calories as possible to keep me alive through winter (not having cottoned onto the fact that we have central heating and a huge supermarket under a mile from the house) and I actually only need to eat when I am seriously hungry. Do I trust this body to make sensible decisions? I can think about food anytime and feel hungry. How do I know when my body is lying to me?
Does PB count as “healthy”? 😛
Plum tomatoes! I’ve been snacking on them at work for the last few weeks, so good.
I started reading Intuitive Eating yesterday, really interesting and what I’ve been looking for, for the last few years I think.
i feel like this post really hit home. i have had some health issues that are now luckily figured out but made it difficult to attempt to lose weight. i am feeling better and today is one year to my wedding. while the length of time scares me i recommitted myself to healthy eating, exercise, even walking to work which i hope will all help me to lose weight, feel strong, and feel amazing on my wedding day. thank you monica!
We always have a lot of fruit and veggies in the house and I just love celery andpeppers and apples. But also I love the crackers in the pantry and will eat them as well. I have to agree with the intuitive eating although I think if you are sitting in front of the TV you are not going to be very intuitive and just grab the easiest crappy carb possible.
One thing that I do notice is that when I eat bad foods, and I mean greasy chips or something is that after the great yummy salty taste is gone my body just feel greasy. I guess that is an intuitive thing I am not listening to. Thanks for the eating tips Monica
Stressed as all get-out today! Wine and snacky-snacks is about the best I can do.
Today is not the day for me to answer. I was stressed and ate all carbs. Nothing healthy. 🙁
i love bananas. they are my go to quick snack. I just wish they didnt get so ripe so fast. Great advise to get rid of forbidden foods. I tried that a long time ago but would end up binge eating that food and just feel even worse after. now, everything in moderation. 🙂
I love love move fruit- I can’t think of a single fruit I don’t like.
I’m trying to eat more intuitively, but I think I’m still at the phase where all I want is “forbidden food”. I’ve tracked calories and/or points for as long as I can remember, so it’s taking me a while to break old habits :/
Couldn’t agree with you more on this blog post! I don’t forbid myself from eating certain foods, but I am cautious. I just listen to my body.
Great advice, i’m very intrigued with this intuitive eating. Definitely going to look into this. I often struggle with actually taking the time to really truely enjoy the treats that I am craving. So making these psychological changes will definitely help.
Lately i can’t get enough chickpeas and dates on my salads!