Food freedom might sound like a completely unrealistic option for you. But what if I told you that you can listen to your body, eat more or less what your body needs and wants, and still achieve the results you want? It’s about finding that balance between intuitive eating and making sure the food you do eat is as healthy and nutritious as it can be.

 

How to Retrain Your Body from Chronic Fasting

1. Asking your body if it wants to eat
2. Knowing when you’re full 
3. Balancing your meals 
4. Following intuitive eating without being super specific

 

The Chief Complaint: "I Can't Have Food Freedom and Achieve Results"

There is this common misconception that we have to be so strict with our food and follow all these restrictive diets in order to actually lose weight. Even more than this, that you can’t possibly eat what your body craves without gaining weight. Let’s talk about why this is absolutely not the case!

 

What Food Freedom Is

You can have total food freedom while still hitting your goals and achieving the results you want. In fact, when you learn to trust your body and pick up on the cues it gives you, your goals will actually be way easier to hit. Not to mention way less restrictive.

Food freedom is all about tapping into your intuition and listening to your body. Eat when you’re hungry and stop eating when you’re full. If these are completely new concepts to you, it really is all about slowing down and paying attention.

A good example is that I know I’m in fat-burning mode when my body is craving fattier foods. Similarly, if I’ve been going really hard in the gym, I know that I will need to up my protein intake to nourish my muscles.

 

Finding Your Own Optimal Health

So many of us eat when we’re not hungry, for whatever reason. Sometimes, that reason is actually anxiety, which can mimic hunger signals. That’s why it’s important to get really in tune with your body’s wants and needs.

What I’d really encourage you to do is figure out what optimal health looks and feels like for you. Not what some exercise program or diet tells you is right, but what actually feels good. Included in this might be a ten-pound weight range where that fluctuates based on your body’s needs at the time.

If you do want to achieve some more specific body results, I’d recommend combining intuitive eating with my mindful macros approach. This way, you eat what’s best for your body while still fuelling it with the nutrients and macros it needs to perform best.

 

Homework for Women Physicians

What does food freedom mean to you? How does movement feel to you? Let me know in the comments on the episode page.

 

In This Episode 

• How you can finally start trusting yourself to make the right food choices [6:30]
• Why your body might crave fat when you’re in fat-burning mode [10:45]
• Why anxiety might feel like hunger to you [13:00]
• How to determine what is optimal health for YOU [19:15]
• What happens when you combine intuitive eating with mindful macros [25:00]

 

Quotes

“Food freedom is tapping into your intuition, noting when you’re hungry, noting when you’re full, and really getting in touch with your natural hunger cues and really getting in touch with your full signals.” [8:00]

“We have signs. The signs are there. You will find food freedom when you start listening to the signs. You will get results by tapping into your freedom when you’re listening to the signs.” [11:55]

“When we’re constantly setting really high expectations and we don’t meet them, we are no longer perfect in our own eyes. If we are not perfect, then we believe that we did something to destroy that perfection. Then we start to lose trust in ourselves.” [22:57]

 

Resources Mentioned

Check out the full episode page here

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Find Life Coaching for Women Physicians Online

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Subscribe to Life Coaching for Women Physicians on Apple Podcasts

Podcast production by the team at Counterweight Creative

 

Related Episodes

Episode 12: "I am exercising so much and not seeing results"

Episode 34: "I Don't Lose Weight As Fast As Others"

Episode 15: “I Am Exercising So Much And The Scale Is Going Up”