Eating with Wisdom: Energize Your Body and Soul through Intuitive Eating and Faith
In case we’ve
never met…
I’m Debra Loader, a Christian Health and Wellness Coach. I am a National Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach as well as a certified Life Coach. I help women integrate their Christian faith into a healthier lifestyle – even if they have never explored partnering with GOD in their health before.
When you think about feeling healthier and eating with wisdom, what comes to mind? Losing weight? No judgment – this is what most of us have on our minds!
Many of us try the traditional methods of releasing weight – cutting down on calories, exercising ourselves crazy, or a combination of both. While it may be successful in the short term, it is rarely a long term solution. So what IS a long term solution?
Intuitive Eating. What is it anyway, and how do you do it?
“So whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of GOD.” 1 Corinthians 10:31 NLT
We’re going to talk about 3 keys to Intuitive Eating and how it will transform your life – and yes, that’s right – no more dieting! These 3 keys are practical ways to nurture your physical and spiritual well-being through the lens of your Christian faith.
I will show you how to listen to your body's signals and embrace foods that nourish both your physical health and your spiritual growth. By aligning your eating habits with the principles of God's design, you'll find balance and fulfillment in your relationship with food.
As you implement these 3 keys, you’ll discover a sense of calmness and freedom around food and you will release the chains of rigid restrictions and dieting. Through the wisdom of Intuitive Eating and the guiding principles of your Christian beliefs, you'll learn to honor your body as a temple of the Holy Spirit, treating it with love and respect.
By the end of this blog you will know how to implement these 3 powerful keys to Intuitive Eating:
So you can move forward with confidence
So you won’t miss those important messages your body is trying to tell you
And so you will win in health and life!
Ready? Let's jump in!
Key #1 Listen to Your Body
Listen to your body so that you can eat the foods and amounts that are going to nourish your body, that are most supportive and most in alignment with what you need.
Eating intuitively might sound kind of woo woo, but it really is the most concrete, realistic, and honoring thing you can do.
“By His Divine power, GOD had given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all this by coming to know Him, the one who called us to Himself by means of His marvelous glory and excellence.“ 2 Peter 1:3 NLT
This is a journey. A journey where faith and Intuitive Eating intertwine to create a harmonious and enriching life. Embrace God's grace and wisdom as you embrace a more fulfilling and nourishing way of eating, guided by faith and empowered by Intuitive Eating principles.
My intention is for you to have a deeper understanding of intuition and Intuitive Eating. The place we’re going to start is a place that I call “honoring hunger”.
How do we honor hunger? Honoring hunger is about recognizing what happens internally before you get hungry. Recognizing and listening to what is happening in your body.
Instead of waiting until you’re so hungry you could eat a horse, you tune in to the internal signal that your body needs nourishment.
What does it feel like when you first notice you're hungry? How does your body tell you?
Imagine you are laying on the beach just enjoying the sun and the sand. Being fully relaxed and loving life. As you are laying there the tide starts to come in.
You realize the waves of the water are touching your toes, and after a couple minutes, the waves are covering your feet. You absolutely know what’s next, right? Pretty soon you will be underwater!
What I want you to think about is that beginning touch of the waves on your toes as the first sign your body gives you that you are beginning to be hungry.
I’d love to show you what I call the hunger scale, from 1 to 10 - where number 1 is noticing hunger, number 2 is planning for food, all the way to 10, which is starving.
So what we want to start tuning into is number 2, when the waves start touching your toes. We’ve still got some leeway, we’re not on stop, we’re not having stomach pangs. But 2 is like “Hey you, hey, it’s time to think about taking your towel and move up higher on the beach!” It’s the indicator that it’s time to plan for nourishment, it doesn’t mean you have to eat right now, but it means it’s time to start planning for it. 10, as I said, is starving.
On the scale we don’t want to let it get past a 5 or there’s a good chance you’ll be setting yourself up for a binge or making decisions that might not leave you feeling your best. So starting to PLAN for food when you’re at a 2. Make sense?
Now let’s talk about honoring fullness. We can also create a fullness scale from 1-10. 10 is so stuffed that you need to unbutton your pants to breathe - no judgment!
What we’re looking for is a 7 on the fullness scale. 7 is where you are nourished and energized from food, satiated not stuffed. It means eating to about 75% fullness. The thing is, people ask me, “Well, how do I know when I’ve gotten to a 7?” It takes practice, but you’ll start to notice between a 7 and 8 is where it goes from, “Okay, I’m refueling” to “Now, I’m indulging for pleasure.”
Slowing your meal down helps you naturally get to your seven on the fullness scale, while fulfilling all of the pleasure and indulgence that our brains crave. One way you can slow down is by chewing more – 20 chews for every bite! You can get that feeling by elongating the meal, BUT not increasing the amount.
Intellectually the hunger and fullness scales seems very simple. Start planning to eat when you are at a level 2 on the hunger scale. Stop eating when you are at a level 7 on the fullness scale. Seems simple enough, doesn’t it?
Here’s the problem – most of us have habits of eating beyond fullness. That’s what used to take me out! Eating too much – how about you? Is it waiting too long to eat, not noticing your hunger? Or like me, eating too much?
Here are 6 ways you can practice honoring your
inner intuitive hunger and fullness scales:
Start planning what and when to eat when you are at a level 2 on the hunger/ fullness scale.
Eat high-energy foods that your body wants.
Eat for energy (aim for Level 7 on your inner intuitive scale, versus a Level 10 when you’re so full you have to unzip your pants ;-)
Make a physical gesture that your meal is complete by pushing your plate away, putting a napkin over it, or crossing your silverware.
Declare out loud to yourself or whomever you are eating with that you are full. This will dissuade you from continuing to eat because you’ve already announced that the meal was complete for you. This is my favorite!
If you’re out, ask your server to box up the rest of the meal so it’s not calling you hither.
Your body is smart, unique and powerful – it has a lot to say, you just need to learn to listen. We were created in the image of GOD which is definitely smart, unique, and powerful!
"If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask GOD, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you." James 1:5
Key #2 Eat Foods That Give You Energy
One way to build your intuition around eating is thinking about what foods give you energy and what foods take your energy away, so you can feel nourished, energetic, and successful.
Look at what to eat for your unique body and notice how foods make you physically feel. Notice which foods give you energy and make you feel good and what foods don’t. Notice how you feel right after you eat and then a couple hours later. We’re building intuition with nutrition.
What foods give you energy? What foods drain your energy?
This is definitely not about determining some list of “good foods” and “bad foods” because what happens when we make lists like that, we start to identify with “good” or “bad”. We start thinking of OURSELVES as either “good” or “bad”.
We can move from judgment to curiosity. We can relax and finally start to let go and the weight naturally falls off when we stop being at war with our bodies. More often than not, eat what gives you energy!
Key #3 Use Body Wisdom in Your Life
When we feel tired or lack energy, we start making poor choices in all areas of our lives. However, on the other hand when we feel uplifted and positive, we will be able to make more conscious choices for ourselves - in every area of our life.
If we continue to participate in activities that consistently deplete us, it leaves us more susceptible to the activities that move us further away from our goals, rather than toward them. The same is true with our food. If we are eating food that continues to deplete us, it can lead us in a downward spiral as well as away from our goals, right?
What ACTIVITIES rob you of energy? Just think about that for a minute or two.
On the flip side, what ACTIVITIES leave you feeling nourished and full of energy?
You can take activities in a different direction than food though! Activities that sap your energy may be able to be delayed, deleted, or delegated. Not so much with your food – except for deleting.
Make a list of the activities that rob you of energy. Next to each one – mark it “delete, delay, or delegate” or if it’s only yours to do, schedule it on your calendar.
Next, make a list of the activities that give you energy. How many of those activities are you already doing? If not many, do you have room in your schedule for some now that you’ve deleted, delayed, or delegated from the other list? Put as many of those energizing activities in your calendar as you can!
One of those energizing activities could be spending time with the LORD in the quietness or stillness. This would be wonderful to include in your calendar.
“Then Jesus said, “Let’s go off by ourselves to a quiet place to rest awhile.” Mark 6:31a
What is the foundation? Listening to your body, your body wisdom. What activities make you feel good and what activities drain you. Just like your food – consider what other choices you can make that will impact your life and health.
The 3 keys to Intuitive Eating:
1. Listen to your body
2. Eat foods that give you energy
3. Use body wisdom in your life
If you would like help applying these keys to your own personal journey, let's schedule a time to talk. I help my clients use this information, and more, to experience a sense of calmness around food, to release any rigid restrictions, and to create their own food freedom. I'd love to help you do the same.
Want to talk through how this can work for you? Schedule a free chat right here.
Want to go a little deeper into Intuitive Eating? Read the free eBook “3 Keys to Intuitive Eating”. Rooted in the principles of Intuitive Eating, this easy-to-read eBook offers practical keys to nurturing your physical and spiritual well-being through the lens of the Christian faith.
You’ll be able to implement the three transformative keys to Intuitive Eating, by listening to your body’s signals and embrace foods that nourish both your physical health and your spiritual growth. You’ll be able to align your eating habits with the principles of God’s design, so you’ll find balance and fulfillment in your relationship with food.
You will discover a sense of calmness and freedom around food as you release the chains of rigid restrictions and dieting. Through the wisdom of Intuitive Eating and the guiding principles of your Christian beliefs, you’ll learn to honor your body as a temple of the Holy Spirit, treating it with love and respect.