My husband asked me on a Tuesday morning what I was doing today. He had no agenda for asking me this, he was just being curious. I looked at him and said “I am doing nothing”, and I went into the other room. Truth is, I had a few appointments but I had rescheduled them as I was moving slower and didn’t want to rush to get to where I really didn’t have to be on this particular Tuesday. And so, for a few moments, since I now had an entire day free to myself, I pondered what I “should” do. Should I reschedule some clients, should I call a friend and make a lunch or coffee plan, should I go do some of my errands. This list of shoulds could be honestly endless and exhausting. And so I decided, thoughtfully and purposefully, that I “should stay put” and “do nothing”.
To be honest, getting comfortable with my decision took a little bit of mental work- I felt like I was walking on a tightrope. Allowing myself time to just be present without physically doing something was not a place that I frequently go to.
Similarly, learning to eat intuitively, a path that I have been on, and how I work with my clients to help them find their own path is not always smooth. Learning to challenge the food police, the fourth principle of intuitive eating can be a difficult principle to overcome. Just like how hard it is to not have a plan for the day and be ok doing nothing, how can we learn to turn off the loudspeaker inside our heads that monitors the unreasonable rules that diet culture has created? Learning to identify food rules, questioning these rules and then reframing one's thought process is integral to living guilt free from food. It is important to evaluate what foods you think of as “good and bad” or “healthy and unhealthy”. And then reflect on where these beliefs came from. Challenging your inner critic can be liberating and you may just find that you can be at peace with your decision to stay at home and enjoy a piece of cake!
For help finding your path, contact me at rachel@livehealthy.com