Intuitive Eating

How do you feel regarding? -Stress Level: Are you able to handle stress better? Are you less edgy? Is it easier to take situations in stride, roll with the punches? -Energy level: Do you feel more alert? Is there a little more spunk in your attitude? If you exercise in the morning, does it wake you up instead of making you feel groggy? -General sense of well-being: Do you have an improved outlook? -Sense of empowerment: Do you feel more determined? Do you say, "I can do it" and seize the day? -Sleep: Do you sleep more soundly and wake up more refreshed? When you can really feel the difference between moving consistently and being inactive, the positive feeling can be a motivating factor in continuing. Why would you stop doing something that feels good? Don't simply exercise in order to check it off your to-do list. When we exercise from a place of diet culture and the payoff doesn't seem quick enough, it becomes discouraging. Reachers are saying it's about time we decouple exercise from weight loss, because it minimizes its myriad significant health benefits. Movement is important for its own sake and should be considered as a way to promote health, increase quality of life, and fight of disease. Focus on movement as a way of taking care of yourself. Some benefits include: -Increased bone strength. -Increased stress tolerance. -Decreased blood pressure. -Reduced risk for chronic diseases, including heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis, hypertension, and some types of cancers. -Increased level of good cholesterol(HDL); decreased total cholesterol. _Icreased heart and lung strength -Increased metabolism Try to incorporate movement into your everyday life. Ask yourself "how can I make movement a non-negotiable priority? Try finding realistic get regular, joyful movement into your life. Remember it is a privilege to have enough time for physical activity. Make sure your personal trainer is aligned with your fitness goals, which have nothing to do with weight. Ordinary activities make a difference, and a growing body of research shows that focusing on pleasure from exercise may be one of the most important factors in sustaining consistent activity. For some people the pleasure factor may mean exercising with a friend, family member or personal trainer. Try making an appointment with yourself Remember, Intuitive movement is flexible, not rigid, and gives you the space to explore what feels good in your body. Be Careful.... Be careful you do not fall into the dieting-weight loss trap, where you become a slave to working out and counting calories burned.. It's a problem when exercise consumes you and begins to interfere with your everyday living. Exercising more isn't necessarily better. Sometimes taking care of yourself means choosing not to exercise. Listen to your body Rest will also help keep exercise feeling fresh and fun! Signs of compulsive exercise include: -Inability to stope, even when you are sick or injured. --feeling guilty if you miss a single day. -Inability to sleep at night- a sign of overtraining. -Paying exercise penance for the perception of eating too much, such as running an extra three miles because you ate a piece of pie. -Being afraid that you will suddenly gain weight if you stop for a single day. Don't simply exercise in order to check off our to-do list. We know it’s good for our health, yet it becomes something we either dread, force ourselves to do, or struggle to do it at all. Especially given how weight-focused and appearance-driven society, exercise becomes something we “have to” or “should do”e. To get started with intuitive movement, ask yourself questions like: “What does my body need today?”, “What type of movement do I feel like doing?”, or “What type of exercise would be most beneficial to my body today?”. Some days this may mean you do an intense spin class, while other days it may mean restorative yoga or a short walk. Intuitive movement is flexible, not rigid, and gives you the space to explore what feels good in your body. Get into the present moment... Movement can help some people get back into their body in a safe way and into the present moment. The "freeze" response is a common response to fear and trauma and include symptoms like: feeling stuck in some part of the body, feeling cold or numb, sense of stiffness or inability to move, holding breath, sense of dread and even dissociation. *Information from this page is taken directly from the book, Intuitive Eating, A Revolutionary Anti-Diet Approach by Evelyn Tribole, MS, RDN and Elyse Resch, MS, RDN. I recommend clients read the book and visit the official website; https://www.intuitiveeating.org/ Coaching members will receive a copy of the official Intuitive Eating workbook. We recommend that you pay attention and explore how you feel throughout the day(including during exercise and immediately after).