Take A Lesson From A Child And Eat Intuitively

Overeaters Anonymous tells its clients to completely avoid temptation foods—those foods that send them into an overeating frenzy They tell their members to never again eat those foods. Some diet gurus say we should never eat individual foods that have more than 30 percent of their calories from fat—no butter, margarine, or oil ever again; no bacon; no eggs; no potato chips; no doughnuts or sweets. For years, health professionals have said, "No red meat. It's bad for you. It will cause heart disease. Stay away from it."

If you look at these statements objectively, do any of them make sense? The reality is that we have to eat. We need food to fuel our bodies, so we can perform our everyday activities. And if we do what these messages tell us—to avoid certain "bad" foods—we're only setting ourselves up for failure out of desperation. It's human nature to crave what we can't have. So what can we do? Eat intuitively.

But what does that mean? If you have young children of your own or in your extended group of family or friends, watch them closely when it comes to their eating habits. Infants and toddlers have an innate sense about food if no one interferes with it. They eat when they're hungry. They stop when they're full. They don't follow a clock that tells them to eat lunch at noon and dinner at six. They listen to their bodies. More importantly, if they're given free access to food, young children eat what they're hungry for and what their bodies need. And they enjoy it—the food, the eating occasion, the whole experience.

The trick in this is to listen to your body. What is it that you're really craving? If the answer is a doughnut, but you tell yourself you can't have a doughnut and have toast instead, you're setting yourself up for a craving that will last throughout the day You'll try to fill that craving with so many different things that you'll consume more calories and fat grams than if you just had eaten the one doughnut! So if you're hungry for a doughnut, have a doughnut, but stop at just one. You can eat anything you want as long as you wait until you're physically hungry and stop when you're satisfied. Besides, most often it's t hat first taste, the first few bites that fill the need and give you a feeling of satisfaction.