Body Speaks

Somewhere in this whole moving forward process, I heard that we need to listen to our bodies - not our heads - when trying to figure out when and what to eat to feel healthy and good about ourselves.

This is one of the fundamental principles of intuitive eating. I'd heard a lot about this, too. It seems to be one of the most popular ways in which people who have had an issue with food make peace with it, and move forward with their lives as happier, healthier people. Sounds good, right?

Not having read too much into the nitty-gritty of it, I'm still on the fence as to whether intuitive eating could work for me. Reading about, and engaging with, a particular way of eating still has its hang-ups for me. It reminds me of searching for answers in dieting. So for now, I plan to stick to working out what this whole "listening" to my body thing could mean.

It sounds rather New Age-y, if I'm honest. As if I need to put my ear to the ground, thump my foot on the dirt and wait for an answer to magically appear. In reality, it involves me trying to work out when something in my head is telling me I need to eat, and when my body is trying to speak.

Essentially, I figure that if it's coming to me in words first (the "voice" in my head), it's most likely to be my head telling me to eat. When it's coming from my head, I'm likely to be thinking about eating just about anything, but especially sweet stuff and white, processed carb-based foods. When I get a physical feeling that seems to tell me I'm hungry, I notice I'm far more likely to crave vegetables or meat-based produced. The "words" come after the feeling. This, I believe, is my body telling me what I need to eat.

Perhaps I have this all wrong. I don't know.

But over the past few weeks (or possibly longer), there's been a change going on.
Today I have noticed again the impact that the food I eat has on my body and how I feel physically and mentally.

This morning I ate one large croissant with butter and jam and a bowl of rice krispies. I had coffee with one sugar and some water. I noticed that I quickly developed stomach ache. I fel bloated. I felt like I want to be sick to get rid of this heavy, full feeling putting pressure on my throat, despite not ever really having purging tendancies. I reached about an 8 on the fullness scale, which is pretty damn uncomfortable.

I also noticed that eating a chicken and noodle stir fry for dinner last night, with different coloured vegetables on my plate felt really good. I was satisfied at the end of the meal and was around a 6.5 on the fullness scale. I went to bed feeling fairly comfortable, despite eating late.

Again, I have noticed that when I eat sugary snacks at work (which is my go-to type of food when I am there) or drink too much coffee, I get head aches. I perk up, momentarily, only to crash back down quickly afterwards. I tend to feel lethargic, depressed and unmotivated which I believe is exaccerbated by my food choices.

The more I pay attention to the impact of the foods I choose, the less I like the outcomes. I hadn't noticed before. Listening to my body is becoming easier, the more I am on the look-out. Yet the loudness of the shouts is quite scary. It feels much the same way as when I was first introduced to the concept of my Inner Critic in therapy. I noticed other people's Critics in conversations with them - and it was difficult, almost impossible, not to notice them. The more I listen, the more I hear the complaints my body is making about the choices I'm making as to what to feed it.

It's tempting to stop paying attention. Stay ignorant. But I won't. I am collating my own evidence to show that there may be some value in this intuitive eating malarky. And if it's going to help me move forward in this particular area of my life, then I am willing to go through the awkward and uncomfortable parts of moving forward to get there.