“How Much Food Do I Need?”

As you begin to replace your diet mentality with a thin mentality you will undoubtedly ask yourself, “how much food do I need?”   I have to tell you that, for most of us, the the answer is, “not as much as you think.”

Does that worry you?

That is because you are imagining going hungry.

But learning to behave like a thin person instead of a dieter does not mean tolerating hunger.  It means that whenever you are hungry, you eat what you crave until you are no longer hungry.

No, you will not be good at this at first, but give yourself a chance!  As you pay attention to your body’s voice, you will tap into your hunger signals and learn how much to eat and when.

As you make this adjustment you will realize the simple beauty of this.  And, eating without hunger will start to seem strange to you. “Why would I eat when I am not hungry?”  And you will no longer “pig out” or “binge” because there is zero motivation to do so when you can always eat what you crave when you are hungry

When I was a dieter I was completely disconnected from my hunger.  I had no idea how much to eat or when.  I followed some rule book or diet instead of listening to my own body.  And dieting taught me to fear hunger because as a dieter, I was taught to eat without regard to my own body’s signals.  And hunger would wreak havoc on me!  I would not be able to concentrate, I would be in a bad mood, and I would eventually succumb to my hunger and eat foods I didn’t even like.  And then I would feel so awful, I would just eat more.  And then the next day, or the next week or month or whatever, the cycle would start again.  And I would always blame myself.

But that is because the powerful messaging from the diet industry told me that I should eat without regard to my own body’s voice. I was at war with my own body and with my own hunger for food!

But when I ditched my diet mentality, 14 years ago,  I realized that I my hunger is a supreme gift.  It makes everything taste better. It guides me.  It rewards me.  I can trust my hunger, and I can trust my non-hunger.  Both are good.  There is no more war.  I am at peace and my body is a reflection of that.

You can get to where I am.  You can have a peaceful, joyful relationship with food.  And you can be at your ideal weight.  Yes.

Step one is to stop dieting and reacquaint yourself with the wisdom of your own body by listening.  Your body’s voice is very quiet at first, because you have ignored it for so long.  But as you listen, it will strengthen and will start guiding you.

My book explains more, and I have written tons of blogs to help you do this.  I am still working on the workbook to help you with this as well.

Please feel free to post questions here or on FaceBook- Diets are fattening!