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Thoughts on Finding My Intuitive Eater

Posted on February 6, 2014 by kissmybroccoli

I had planned on posting something entirely different, but after yesterday’s revelation, it only seemed right to get some “thoughts” out today…and as is the case with many of these posts, it’s better if I just take the stream of consciousness approach

Ok, here goes…

To be honest, when I first started my journey with Intuitive Eating, I felt completely lost. Without a schedule to tell me WHEN to eat, how could I know if it was “time” to be hungry? Without a count of calories per meal, how would I know I was truly satisfied? Without a list of “good” versus “bad”, how would I know I was eating healthy?

I had no idea how to listen to my body…after years and years of thinking I (points thumbs at chest) knew better, it’s no wonder my intuitive eater decided to desert me. Heck, I didn’t even know what I really liked to eat in the beginning! It took a LOT of trial and error, picking up and dusting myself off, and self-reflecting over this past year, but I can honestly say it was ALL worth it! The freedom I felt when I first let go of calorie counting, is nothing compared to how I feel now.

I feel like a completely different person!

A person who doesn’t feel the need to challenge her cravings…even if it’s for pasta…which I usually don’t think twice about. A person who can enjoy a couple bites of chocolate without having to eat the entire bar. A person who doesn’t have to “make up for” those bites by jogging around the block at midnight. But most importantly,

A person whose life doesn’t revolve around FOOD!

Many people will tell you a struggling relationship with food isn’t actually about the food and, thanks to my work with Jamie, I believe that wholeheartedly. While I think it was important to put more focus on food in the beginning (so that I could relearn my body’s natural signals), I feel like I started to get stuck in a state of hyper-vigilance. It wasn’t until a few months ago, that I felt a shift occur where I finally took my eyes off the road ahead…stopped comparing my progress to others, and started looking INWARD! I swear after that, time slowed down. It’s funny, the moment I stopped focussing so much on the journey, the destination was in SIGHT!

Now, I am by NO means saying that I’m completely “healed” and will never again suffer from food guilt or the occasional binge, but I’m finally in a place where I can see those as natural occurrences in this crazy, stressful, media-shoving-things-down-your-throat-about-how-you-should-eat world we live in. Now, I can feel my hunger without having to consult a schedule; I can feel my satiety without having to grab a calculator, and I know that I’m eating “healthy” because I feel good about the choices that I make.

I want to thank you all SO much for being there for me this past year. I surely would’ve given up long ago without your support. But I also want to thank myself…for learning how to love, forgive, and be patient with the one person who means the most…

ME!

And for also having the remarkable forethought to take a bajillion pictures of myself last month, in the name of Spoons, so that I would have a couple to break up the monotony of this post! 😉

No questions today, just tell me some thoughts!

Posted in Intuitive Eating, Personal, Thoughts | Tagged intuitive eating, progress | 63 Comments

WIAW: Surprisingly Intuitive

Posted on February 5, 2014 by kissmybroccoli

Hey there, my little broccoli bites!

Sounds like you all had a very BLISSFUL weekend! It really IS great to relive all those happy moments and have them propel us through the week, isn’t it? I mean, really, it’s WEDNESDAY? Already? 😯

Guess it’s good I came prepared then, huh? Yep, after coming “back” from hiatus and then going MIA for nearly a month, it’s time I partied with Jenn and her fabulous foodies again! So without further ado, allow me to present…

What I Ate ~~Monday~~ Wednesday!

After a solid EIGHT hours of Benedryl-induced slumber, I was awakened by a stomach in desperate need of filling. I shuffled my way to the kitchen and within minutes, my hunger was quelled!

Kashi Honey Sunshine topped with some peanut flour and thawed frozen blueberries…almond milk added post pic.

Coffee

Afterwards, I started a pot of coffee and jumped in the shower…yep, I’m still loving the coconut-pumpkin combo!

An hour later, travel mug in tow, I was out the door to run errands before my shift. I completely forgot about actually DRINKING the coffee and had to heat it up once I got to the hospital, but that worked out better since I got crazy busy and didn’t get to sit down again for nearly four hours! The caffeine perked me up and the liter of water I chugged afterwards helped tide me over until I could FINALLY get some food around 11pm.

Luckily, cold leftovers from this weekend require ZERO effort!

A slice of Veggie-Lovers with homemade marinara for dipping…and another liter of water over the next hour or so.

Tea

Around 3am, when it get freakishly cold in my department (?!), I made some tea (TJ Maxx find) to warm my hands…and hover my face over! 😉 I typically have a snack around this time too, but I got busy doing something and forgot. I didn’t end up feeling hungry until close to 4:30am so while enjoying a little downtime, catching up with a few favorite bloggers, I nibbled on…

A Chunky Monkey Granola Bar dipped in about half a container of Greek yogurt.

Now, I don’t know if it was the tea or the chocolate, but for some reason, I got a burst of energy toward the end of my shift. I cleaned AND restocked the department and when it was time to leave, I decided it was a great time to head to the store! 😯 I wasn’t feeling hungry at first, but obviously, contemplating several brands of all-purpose cleaner is grueling work! When I hit the door to my house at 8am, I needed food in my face…FAST!

Toast with mashed avocado and blackberry jam…this is actually the third time I’ve had this since last week…so GOOD!

And since I knew my veggies have been a bit absent lately, I washed it down with a shot of Incredibleness! 😉 Thankfully, a little reading helped me wind down afterwards and I called it a “night” about an hour later.

True story, I JUST titled this post because I wasn’t sure what theme would come out until now. Can we say, “Complete 180”?! I mean, this time last year, I NEVER could have imagined eating without a schedule…OR dipping into a yogurt container (with a bar of UNKNOWN nutritional values) without knowing EXACTLY how much I ate! I can’t help but feel proud that I stuck with this journey (even with all its struggles) and finally finding my inner intuitive eater again!

I could say more, but I’m thinking a “Thoughts” post might be in order for tomorrow! Stay tuned… 😀

I think it’s fitting to bring back the “intuitively green” WIAW button from back
where it all began, wouldn’t you say?

What’s the BEST thing you ate yesterday?

Posted in What I Ate Wednesday | Tagged avocado, blueberries, cereal, coffee, granola bar, Greek yogurt, hospital, Incredible Greens, night shift, peanut flour, pizza, tea, water | 61 Comments

Let’s “B” Marvelous!

Posted on February 3, 2014 by kissmybroccoli

Happy Monday, loves!

Did everyone have a good weekend? I have to admit, before I took a minute to think about it, I would’ve said these past few days were just sort of ho-hum, but thanks to the lovely Diva and her wonderful way of welcoming in a new week, I was able to pick out more than a few ~~marvelous~~ BRIGHT moments…and I even have a THEME!

Starting with the HIGHLIGHT of the weekend, celebrating my cousin Emma’s NINTH BIRTHDAY…with her cute little BEAR cupcakes! Ugh, I feel so old! I still remember when she was just a tiny little BABE and she fit in one arm!

And now she is a little lady with an eye for pink, an earring collection that rivals my own, and a penchant for kicking arse in Mario BROTHERS!

Speaking of kicking arse, I’ve been back in my BELOVED BODY Pump regularly for almost a month now…and last week, I even went TWICE! Yeah, just enough time to get rid of my DOMS and I was BACK for more! Has anyone else done the newest release?

This song (from the ab track) has BEEN in my head for two weeks…

♫ BABY I’m on my knees! ♫

I think I’m finally getting my groove BACK with my workouts. My knee’s been cooperating, I can almost sit on my feet again, I can feel BABY muscles starting to grow and the BEST part? my weight is starting BALANCE out!

Gym Selfie 2

Now let’s just hope I don’t lose my BOOTY…BECAUSE that would eliminate about 50% of the selfies I take, wouldn’t it? 😉

Oh and look, I actually took a picture my BREAKFAST this weekend! BUT umm, how am I only NOW realizing that pumpkin and persimmon are awesome together…with my LAST FREAKIN PERSIMMON?! If I had known, maybe I would have taken the extra effort to BREAK out the BIG camera instead of subjecting you to this BAD iPhone pic!

And SPEAKING of pictures, I just want to say that I am SO glad you guys liked my photography post from last week! I really wanted to make it more about the food and the fun instead of BORING camera talk since those kind of posts usually make my eyes glaze over and my BRAIN hurt!

While I would have loved to practice a few tips myself, the insomnia devils struck hard this weekend and I was pretty much asleep for every ounce of daylight, but I DID manage to meet up with some friends for pizza and BEER AND I ended up getting so sucked into that BOOK I mentioned on Friday that I finished it…
in TWO DAYS! 😀

So maybe all that marvelousness can distract me from wanting to kill a certain land–BEAVER for BREAKING my heart yesterday!