Hi, Friends & Happy Tuesday!

How did paying attention to your steps go last week?  I think I did pretty well, Nala and I hit it out of the park almost every day!

Intuitive Eating Part 1: Honor Hunger Cues

For the next few weeks, we are going to switch gears a bit and focus on a set of guiding principles known as Intuitive Eating.  Intuitive eating is a catch-all term that, to me, means tapping into the small signals your body is giving you which help you determine how much and of what, to eat.  I use intuitive eating principles when counseling almost all my Hungry Hobby clients.  Your mindset about food is just as important, if not more so than what you are eating.

Learning to be an intuitive eater starts with learning to tap into your hunger cues.  If you have been following strict diet plans or counting calories for a while, you may have put this on the back burner like I did.  When I was counting calories, I chose to eat based off what time it was and how many calories I had left in the bank.  I ignored my hunger when I was hungry to save calories for later and ate when I wasn’t hungry because I had calories left to use.

Also, many of my clients ask me how many times they should eat a day and if they should avoid eating three hours before bed?  My response: “Are you hungry? If so, how hungry are you?”

So for your first assignment in intuitive eating, you are simply going to start gauging how hungry you are when you eat.  On a scale of 1-10 rank how hungry you are (10 being you are going to eat the kitchen table and one being Thanksgiving full) and keep track of it.  Many of my Hungry Hobby RD clients find it helpful to record what they ate, and the time they ate so they can start identifying patterns.  However, you don’t have too!  Just the mental act of registering on a scale of 1-10 how hungry you are primes your body to decide how much and of what you should eat.  Make sure you practice this every single time you eat because each week we will build on this skill!

52 HEALTHY HABITS IN 52 WEEKS SERIES:

The 52 Healthy Habits Series is about ditching the diet mindset and making small changes to improve health overall naturally leading to a healthy body composition, increased energy and improved health. Please follow along and check out the past weeks!

• Week 52: Healthy Habits Wrap Up
• Week 51: Nightly Reflection
• Week 50: Limit Harmful Chemicals
• Week 49: Find Your Tribe
• Week 48: Cultivating Positivity
• Week 47: Healthy Thanksgiving Tips
• Week 46: Check In
• Week 45: Mobility – Foam Rolling
• Week 44: HIIT Training
• Week 43: LISS or Steady State Cardio
• Week 42: Limit Alcohol
• Week 41: Eat White, Wait What?
• Week 40: Eat Blue & Purple
• Week 39: Eat Green
• Week 38: Eat Yellow/Orange
• Week 37: Eat Red
• Week 36: Learn Which Foods to Purchase Organic
• Week 35: Read the Ingredient List!
• Week 34: Focus.
• Week 33: Chew Your Food!
• Week 32: Meditation
• Week 31: Gratitude Journaling
• Week 30: Plan & Revamp Dessert- 20 Healthy Ideas
• Week 29: Two fistfuls of veggies per meal
• Week 28: Get In Veggies At Breakfast
• Week 27: Healthy Veggie Snacks
• Week 26: Nourishing Fats for the Gut (Healthy Digestion Part 4)
• Week 25: Keeping Regular – The Other Fiber (Healthy Digestion Part 3)
• Week 24: Feed The Probiotics With Prebiotic Fiber (Healthy Digestion Part 2)
• Week 23: Amazing Health Benefits of Probiotics (Healthy Digestion Part 1)
• Week 22: Check In
• Week 21: What You Will Learn From Recording Your Meals (Intuitive Eating Series Part 4)
• Week 20: Eat Until 80% Full (Hara Hachi Bu) (Intuitive Eating Series Part 3)
• Week 19: Limit Distractions While Eating (Intuitive Eating Series Part 2)
• Week 18: Gaging Your Hunger Cues (Intuitive Eating Series Part 1)
• Week 17: 10,000 Steps Per Day
• Week 16: Assess Your Caffeine Intake
• Week 15: Decrease Sugar Intake
• Week 14: Healthy Coffee Creamers (upgrade yours)
• Week 13: 3 Month Check In
• Week 12: Sleep Enough & Sleep Better
• Week 11: Schedule Your Workouts
• Week 10: Pack A Healthy Lunch (5 Ways to Create Endless Combinations)
• Week 9: Prioritizing Protein
• Week 8: How and What to Meal Prep
• Week 7: Create & Stick To Your Healthy Meal Plan
• Week 6: Get Enough Omega-3’s (Fight Inflammation)
• Week 5: What Is A Healthy Fat & How To Get Enough (Include Healthy Fats)
• Week 4: How to Spot A Healthy Carbohydrate (Upgrade Your Carbs)
• Week 3: Tips to Increase Veggie Intake (Eat Veggies)
• Week 2: 15 Healthy On the Go Breakfast Ideas (Eat BF Challenge)
• Week 1: Tips to Drink More Water