Did know the Solar Eclipse can give us some incredible insights into Intuitive Eating?
Recently, I started to hear about the solar eclipse. Friends of mine traveled to another state just to be in the path of the solar eclipse! I found the on-line Solar Eclipse tracker on-line and tracked its trajectory.
What is a Solar Eclipse?
Solar eclipses occur when the moon passes between the sun and Earth, casting a shadow on our planet. This alignment is a powerful reminder of the intricate dance between different elements in our lives. Just as the moon temporarily obscures the sun’s light, we may experience moments of darkness or struggle in our journey towards intuitive eating and body acceptance.
However, it is important to remember that these moments are transient, just like a solar eclipse. The sun always emerges from behind the moon, shining its light once again.
Similarly, we have the capacity to overcome challenges and emerge stronger in our relationship with food and our bodies.
There is a symbolism of Darkness and Light in overeating!
As in the Solar Eclipse, overeating can lead to a darkness that momentarily envelops us (feeling bad about ourselves). This darkness represents the shadows we often face in our relationship with food – feelings of guilt, shame, or restriction.
However, just as the sun eventually emerges from behind the moon, so too can we find light amidst these shadows.
Intuitive eating encourages us to embrace all aspects of our relationship with food without judgment or restriction. By acknowledging and accepting our dark moments, we can learn from them and pave the way for a more balanced and nourishing approach to eating.
I became even more interested in the power of the Solar Eclipse when my friend, Teresa Campos, offered her community a workshop on the symbolism of the Solar Eclipse. She told us when the moon is between the sun and earth it creates a shadow, which gives us an opportunity to see what shadows are showing up for ourselves. This workshop made me think further about the shadows in our lives around food, overeating and body image.
What are the Shadows in your life with food, body image and overeating?
Where am I struggling with food?
How do I struggle with my body image?
Where is there the lack of forgiveness?
Is there anger at myself or others?
These questions led me to inquire more about what I needed in my life.
The shadows are the undiscovered parts of us that are wanting to break through. The darkness of the eclipse is a metaphor to what shadows are going on in me. I can then move through it and the sun shines fully again.
Embracing Change: Lessons from the Transitory Nature of Solar Eclipses.
One of the most remarkable aspects of a solar eclipse is its transitory nature. It serves as a powerful reminder that change is inevitable and necessary for growth.
In our journey towards intuitive eating and body acceptance, we may encounter changes in our habits, beliefs, and perceptions.
Just like the moon moving across the sun, these changes can be transformative if we embrace them with an open mind and heart. By letting go of old patterns that no longer serve us, we create space for new experiences and a deeper connection with ourselves.
Here are some questions to start wondering about that deeper connection:
Where is there some darkness in my life?
What change is calling me?
Where is my support to make this change?
Finding Balance: Exploring the Relationship Between Sun and Moon in Body Acceptance.
The relationship between the sun and moon during a solar eclipse teaches us about balance. The sun represents our desire for warmth, nourishment, and vitality, while the moon symbolizes our emotions, intuition, and inner world.
Similarly, body acceptance requires finding equilibrium between honoring our physical needs and nurturing our mental well-being. Just as the sun and moon complement each other’s existence, we too can find harmony by embracing both aspects of ourselves – our bodies and minds – in our journey towards self-acceptance.
The Power Within: Using Intuitive Eating to Navigate Challenges.
As we witness the power of a solar eclipse, we are reminded of the immense energy within us waiting to be harnessed.
There are many tools to guide us on this path.
Looking through a positive lens (seeing the light).
Practicing self-compassion (honoring our value).
Building resilience (making pivots to increase our self-esteem).
We can navigate challenges with grace and strength. Just as the moon aligns perfectly with the sun during an eclipse, we too can align our thoughts and actions with our goals for intuitive eating, body acceptance, and mental well-being.
Reflecting on the lessons learned from solar eclipses, what can you apply to your own journey towards intuitive eating, body acceptance, and mental well-being?
Take a moment to journal or meditate on what changes you are ready to embrace and how you can find balance in your relationship with food and your body.
Consider seeking support from professionals or joining a community that aligns with your goals for further guidance and encouragement. You can join us in the Feed Your Soul Communityon Facebook.
We would love for you to join us in Emotional Eating Solutions, our course to help you move into peace with food through Intuitive Eating.
In honor of the 100th episode of the Feed Your Soul with Kim Podcast, we asked our community (all of you) to submit your questions. Let’s see what you all want to know.
1) What are your thoughts on intermittent fasting?
This question is very timely with the rise of intermittent fasting.
These are two different approaches to eating.
First, intuitive eating is all about tuning in to your body’s natural signals and cultivating a healthy relationship with food.
Intuitive eating encourages you to listen to your hunger and fullness cues, honor your cravings, and find pleasure in eating.
It’s a mindful and flexible approach that emphasizes self-compassion and body acceptance.
On the other hand, intermittent fasting involves cycling between periods of eating and fasting. This method has gained popularity for its reported potential benefits. However, it’s important to examine intermittent fasting through an intuitive eating lens to understand its compatibility with this mindset.
From an intuitive eating perspective, it’s crucial to consider the underlying motivations behind utilizing intermittent fasting.
Are you doing it to listen to your body’s needs?
To feel more connected to your hunger and fullness signals?
Or are you using it as a tool for restriction or weight control?
The problem with intermittent fasting is it requires you eat during a certain time block, say 8 hours during the day and then not eat for 16 hours.
Some individuals may naturally gravitate to a time-restricted eating pattern, based on their hunger/fullness.
Intuitive eating promotes individualization and flexibility.
You are encouraged to trust your body’s wisdom rather than adhering strictly to external rules or prescribed eating patterns.
I ask my clients to consider the questions:
Does this feel like a diet?
Are you restricting food?
Do you eat when you are hungry?
An action step is to take a deep breath and listen to your body’s wisdom for what you need next.
What feels intuitively right for you?
It takes trust and embracing your own needs and values not based on a societal norm of restriction.
2) How can I have a day-to-day approach to my relationship with food focused on living life versus weight loss?
Imagine that you can wake up every day feeling empowered AND embrace food. To have the ability to make food choices from the needs of your body, rather than relying on what a diet guru tells you to do. Have a sense of peace in your relationship with food.
First, let’s look at breaking away from constant dieting and embrace a new perspective. I know this takes work, but there is a need to end the pursuit of weight loss and instead, focus on nourishing your body, listening to your body’s cues and look for food satisfaction.
This is a mindset shift that begins to lead you to food freedom.
Intuitive eating encourages you to trust your body’s innate wisdom.
Instead of rigid meal plans or calorie counting, listen to your hunger and fullness signals.
Take a moment to pause and ask yourself,
Am I hungry?
What foods would truly satisfy my cravings?
How can I honor my body’s signals and cue to eat?
Second, let’s look at food pleasure. Food is meant to be enjoyed, savored, and celebrated. Give yourself permission to experience and enjoy the flavors, textures, and aromas of food.
A simple question to ask is, “Am I enjoying this food?”
Incorporating intuitive eating into your life takes a mindful approach. This can seem like a daunting task since others often discuss their latest diet.
Here are some ideas to incorporate intuitive eating:
Surround yourself with a supportive community that champions intuitive eating.
Seek out resources, books, or podcasts that inspire and educate you about intuitive eating.
Get a supportive counselor, coach or registered dietitian who specializes in intuitive eating, guiding you on your journey towards food freedom.
It is critical to remember that this is not an overnight fix.
You do have the power to eat intuitively and enjoy your relationship with food.
3) “How can I reframe my ideas about food and nourishment to make overall well-being a priority rather than weight loss?”
It can be tough to look at food as nourishment when we are often taught to limit food and calories. It is a bold step to look at food as nourishment and part of our overall wellness (without restricting).
Start by appreciating the nourishment provided, the energy it instills, and the pleasure it brings to taste buds. It’s time to shift our focus from numbers on a scale to determine what health and wellness might look to each of us.
How do we start this movement from weight loss to food as nourishment?
Ask yourself…
How can I honor my body, nurture it with nourishing foods that support my well-being?
How can I savor each bite, finding joy in the flavors and textures that bring me happiness?
How can I support myself fully mind/body/spirit?
It’s through these inquiries that we pave the way for a new, empowering perspective.
Start by challenging the status quo of diet culture. The diet industry makes a lot of money off us being brainwashed that we must be a certain weight to be accepted, healthy, and worthy.
Let’s get into action by examining your relationship to dieting, diets, and weight loss.
How did you get to the spot?
This self-reflection can lead you to question more of your mindset around food AND what you have been taught.
When we were little, we knew what to eat, how much, and when. We lost track of this inner knowledge a long time ago. Dieting takes us out of this inner knowing.
I know it can feel scary to think of being on your own with food. Seek out support. You do not have to do this alone.
4) What is intuitive eating and how can it help me develop a healthier relationship with food?
Intuitive eating is not another diet fad or quick fix. It’s a totally different way of looking at food, weight, bodies, emotions, and mindset around food.
Truthfully, it is about listening to your body’s internal cues, utilizing your body’s hunger and fullness signals, and making food choices from a place of what you really need.
First, intuitive eating is not restrictive, and it relies on your ability to determine your body needs at any point in time.
It can be scary to trust your body’s signals, pleasure, and satisfaction.
We tune inside of ourselves to listen to physical hunger and emotional hunger. We, also, tune into what foods will satisfy us.
The goal is to heal your relationship with food, by ending shame/guilt and the cycle of restriction and binging.
Second, intuitive eating is not just about the food; it is about your whole being: mind, body, and spirit. It’s a transformative journey that ripples into every aspect of your life.
Third, the path to intuitive eating is to:
Start listening to your body.
Follow your body’s signals.
Release external rules.
Look for a supportive group that embraces intuitive eating.
Remember, we are looking for a relationship with food that is nourishing, peaceful, and totally free from guilt.
It is important to consult with a qualified healthcare professional or registered dietitian who can guide you in making informed decisions about your eating habits. They can help you navigate the potential benefits and considerations of intermittent fasting and how it aligns with your overall well-being goals.
Taking care of our wellness is critical in achieving our goals and ensuring our well-being. As we embrace National Wellness Month, we are reminded of the importance of self-care and finding balance in our daily lives.
National Wellness Month offers a chance for individuals and organizations to focus on wellness goals and explore ways to enhance health and happiness. This is a time to create routines, make healthier choices, and practice self-care.
There are many ways to move into wellness. Here are three essential ideas to help you on your wellness journey.
First, start to prioritize Self-Care.
Self-care is crucial in enhancing our overall well-being, but it can be challenging to make time for it in our busy lives. Taking care of yourself helps to reduce stress, improve moods, and increase energy levels. Self-care can take many forms, and it is up to you to decide what works for you.
Start with asking yourself:
“What is my form of self-care?”
Your needs for self-care are different than other’s needs. Make self-care a priority by setting aside time each day (preferably) or week for activities that nourish your body and mind.
This week my daughter started back to school, and my schedule is now changing, and I am relooking at where self-care will fit into my day. I have begun a more regimented morning routine. I am focusing on some quiet time and fun time with my daily Wordle.
Second, see where you are with your nutrition.
The food we eat plays a vital role in our overall health and wellness. In intuitive eating we call it Gentle Nutrition.
What you eat influences how you feel and the energy you have during the day.
When I focus on intuitive eating, I am more centered in my body and what it needs. I make decisions about my food that is right for me and my body.
We have been taught over the years not to pay attention to what our bodies tell us to eat, but to look to an external force (diet) to tell us what our right food is. Limitations of types of food set us up to binge and overeat. Check inside and see what your right foods are.
By focusing on gentle nutrition, we can power our bodies and minds to achieve wellness.
Third, make movement a habit.
Exercise is crucial in enhancing our physical AND mental health. It can improve our cardiovascular health, reduce stress, and boost energy levels. I like to call it movement, since there is a cultural idea that exercise should be hard.
It can be challenging to move your body regularly, so start small. Consider taking a walk in the morning or evening or incorporating yoga or stretching into your daily routine.
I have found it is critical to find an activity that I enjoy. When I like the movement, I will do it more often and more regularly. I had read that weight training was good for the body and increases our body capacity as we age.
That sounded good to me.
Over the last year I have engaged in regular weightlifting, and I find I enjoy it, so I do it more often.
Movement is a not to be missed part of your wellness but find what your form of movement is.
In conclusion, National Wellness Month offers us a chance to focus on our wellness goals. It is a reminder that we must come first in our day.
Prioritizing self-care, focusing on nutrition, and making movement a habit are essential ideas to promote a wellness path.
Remember to take small steps each day and find what works for you. Achieving wellness is not an end point, but a journey towards wellness.
I encourage you to have this month be a reminder to embrace wellness in all its many forms.
Do you know that you unknowingly sabotage yourself with food? You engage in behaviors that lead you to overeat!
Emotional eating can be challenging to stop, but there are several things you can do to lessen it.
The first step is to become aware of your emotional triggers for eating. Ask yourself if you’re eating because you’re hungry or if you’re using food to cope with emotions such as loneliness, stress, boredom, anxiety, or sadness.
The second step is to learn AND use healthier coping mechanisms. Identify strategic ways to deal with emotions, such as exercise, meditation, reading, or talking to a friend or therapist.
The third step is to practice mindful eating by paying attention to the taste, texture, and smell of food, and eating slowly and without distractions. Eating mindfully helps you be connected to your body and all the physical triggers to eat.
You can unknowingly sabotage yourself with food, by not recognizing and stopping the root of the problem:
Eating to deal with emotions can lead to dissatisfaction with your body and yourself. When you eat emotionally, you are not dealing with the emotional problem, you are making the problem worse.
Restrictive dieting and depriving yourself of certain foods can lead to intense cravings and binge eating. Limiting ourselves makes the rebel side come out and what to eat what it wants.
Skipping meals and limiting food can lead to overeating later in the day, especially if you’re hungry and tired.
Judging yourself and your behavior creates a negative mindset. This negative mindset starts a cascade of negative reactions that include overeating.
What can you do to create more food freedom?
First, practice Intuitive Eating. Learn to listen to your body’s hunger and fullness cues. Give yourself permission to eat all types of foods starting when you are hungry and ending when you are satiated or full.
Second, surround yourself with people who support your goals and create a positive and supportive environment at home and work. Hang out with people who are listening to their bodies and do not engage in diet talk.
Third, practice Self-Care. Take care of your physical, emotional, and mental health by getting enough sleep, eating good food, managing stress, and engaging in activities that bring you joy.
Fourth, seek help if you are struggling. Join a program where the focus is on Intuitive eating. If you’re struggling with emotional eating, consider seeking help from a therapist or registered dietitian who specializes in this area.
If you look anywhere on the internet you will hear about the stress of the holidays. I wondered what you are think about stress over the holidays, so I asked.
I ran a survey asking:
Do you need strategies to support you with food and all the overwhelm this holiday season?
A whopping 86 percent said yes, they need strategies with food and all the overwhelm this holiday season. I was struck by how large the number was, 86%. It is not that you just have stress and overwhelm, but you do not know what to do about it!
That is a lot of people!
This stress and overwhelm can show up as:
Loneliness
Family drama
Money problems
Overeating
Normal routines are gone, due to the increased activities
Unreasonable expectations
Loneliness can be so devastating and unexpected at the holidays. There are movies and songs about being surrounded with others. What if you have been wronged by family members, they are not people you want to be with, or they simply live nowhere near you. You could be unhappy with people in your family, unwilling to see them, setting boundaries on them. Even with boundaries there can be loneliness. There is the expectation that we will want to be with family, but that might not be the case.
A strategy for loneliness is to be with someone. Who is someone you like or feel close to? Someone you might want to reach out and say hi to? Who is it you enjoy spending time with? Reach out to them. You might be surprised at their response.
Another strategy to curb loneliness is by spending time with a pet. This can be just the right opportunity to feel close without the expectations of others.
Family drama is very common. Do you feel you have to see family members you do not feel close to, do not feel connected to or maybe you just do not like them? There is the air of expectation that you want to be with people you are related. It is stressful and overwhelming to try to be around people you think you are supposed to be around.
A strategy to deal with family drama is to be gentle with yourself. You are the only one who knows what is right for you. When there is family drama it can be so helpful to set boundaries. If needed, say no to what you need to say no to. This is your life to live.
Money is a huge issue during the holidays. There are expectations we are supposed to buy things for others. You might feel the expectation to buy something out of your price range or you just don’t have the funds for it this year. That is super stressful.
A strategy is to focus on what you are grateful for. It quickly changes your heart and mindset to the positive. This will not bring you money, but it will change your attitude. Remember, there is no requirement that you need to buy things for others.
Overeating is another problem that leads to overwhelm and stress over the holidays. There are so many foods we do not have at other times of the year that are so inviting. We can either go all in and eat everything or say no I will not have any of it. This can become a feast or famine time of year. Often people decide to feast (overeat) during the holidays and famine (diet) at the new year. This leads to stress about weight, fullness, and self-loathing.
There are many strategies to deal with food in a productive way over the holidays.
First, notice what foods you really want and have them. Yummy foods are delicious and there are many seasonal items.
Second, go easy on yourself. There are so many emotions and mixed priorities during the holidays that stress increases.
Third, get support from people who do not focus on dieting. Get valuable tips and strategies to look at food differently. I would suggest that you join us in the Peace with Food over the holidays program (it is very affordable and supportive).
Normal routines are gone over the holidays. Travel, guests, and schedule changes create a different schedule than what you are used to. This increases stress in our bodies.
One strategy is to keep your bedtime routine as close to normal as possible. Good sleep is critical to end overeating and to keep stress and overwhelm down. This sounds like such a simple suggestion, but it really works!
Lastly, there are so many unreasonable expectations we put on ourselves or put on us by others. These expectations take us away from our needs and wants. Possibly you do not even know what you need or want.
A strategy is to take some time to determine what you want to do or be over the holidays and do that. In Peace with Food over the holidays program we talk about determining what you want to do. I call it a Holiday Bucket List. Determine what is right for you and do that. What is the most important thing for me to do?
The holidays are full of stress and overwhelm. Kim has an easy online course designed to fit into your busy schedule and give you some quick wins to feel peaceful during the holidays. Check out Peace with Food over the holidays program. It is a low-cost high value program with quick lessons to get you on track and keep you on track over the holidays.
