I believe a lot of us don’t enjoy eating anymore. It has become something we have to do, and because there is so much angst attached to it, we simply eat to get it done. We no longer actually enjoy it. We tend to eat the same things every day, because we have got into a habit and often eat the types of food we should instead of what we love. This has usually been caused by dieting, or worrying about what we are allowed to eat. There is so much structure, with rules and regulations, all the spontaneity of eating has gone.
Wouldn’t it be wonderful to enjoy food again and simply eat when we are hungry? This is exactly what eating “naturally” allows us to do. With Natural Eating you have the best of both worlds. You can eat what you want, when you want. However you tend to eat in a healthy and balanced way because when you truly listen to your body, that’s exactly what it wants. Your body and brain function better when they have good healthy foods, however emotionally we need “treats” from time to time to make us feel good.
Following a diet or eating programme doesn’t allow us to honour our emotions. Physically we can work out how many calories we should consume daily to maintain or lose weight, but it doesn’t take into account when we need comfort. By acknowledging these emotions, you are not lacking in willpower, you are simply being human. By allowing yourself to eat the so-called unhealthy “treat” type foods, you are respecting your own right to choose. Ultimately you won’t need to overeat or binge on these foods because now you are allowed them. You have put the enjoyment back into eating. Most of the time you will enjoy healthy options because they make you feel good physically, but occasionally you will enjoy treat foods too because they make you feel good emotionally.
Once you learn to eat naturally and trust and believe in yourself, anything you eat will be enjoyable because you no longer have to eat it. We do have to eat every day to live, but it shouldn’t have to be a struggle and something we don’t like.
Eat naturally and eating will be fun again. You will notice you are hungry, you will select exactly what you want at that time, you will stop when you are satisfied and then move onto something else. You will obtain joy from eating again because you are making the right choices for you and your body, not simply eating from habit.