I am taking the month of November 2012 to bring attention and consciousness to my eating. Healing my relationship with food will most likely be a life-long journey, and I am feeling the need to spend a bit more time on it this month. My desire to break free from the mania of emotional eating is currently quite strong, and I am looking forward to the opportunity to share my experience with others.
My commitment for this project is to journal every day and to post a blog update most days. I intend to be honest and mindful, and hopefully a little entertaining too. I will also post a few of my recipes and photos of my culinary creations. My intention is that readers will find a truth to connect with that will, in turn, provide you with the motivation and inspiration you may need to explore your own relationship with food. Or maybe you’ll just be really thankful that you’re not as screwed up as I am!
One of the most useful tools I have found, during this exploration of diet and food that I started as a teenager, is Geneen Roth’s eating guidelines. Whenever I have returned to use this list as a support system for the way I eat, I find I am happier, kinder to myself, and I really enjoy the experience of eating. The guidelines are also an indicator for me of my current emotional state – when I am consistently not able to follow them, I know there is something going on for me to explore.
Here are Geneen Roth‘s eating guidelines:
1. Eat when you are hungry.
2. Eat sitting down in a calm environment. This does not include the car.
3. Eat without distractions. Distractions include radio, television, newspaper, books, intense or anxiety producing conversation and music.
4. Eat only what your body wants.
5. Eat until you are satisfied.
6. Eat (with the intention of being) in full view of others.
7. Eat with enjoyment, gusto and pleasure.
My body speaks... 