Here are the five Find Body Freedom principles that I use every day to guide my relationship with food and with my body. I believe that these will be as helpful to you as they have been to me.
1. Food is fuel for your body.
In order to move and work and play and think, our bodies need good fuel. Just as your automobile engine needs the correct octane to run efficiently, your body needs appropriate fuel foods that give you energy and enable you to think clearly.
2. Eat whatever you want (keeping healthy nutrition in mind).
No more dividing food into good and bad. No more eating from a list of foods that are not appealing to you. No more feeling guilty if you do. You and your body get to choose what you want to eat!
3. But eat only when you're hungry.
Our bodies are so wise. They signal us when they need refueling. The hunger feelings that we get from our bodies are those signals. What are yours? When we get those true hunger signals, we need to respect our bodies by feeding them.
4. And stop eating when you're comfortable.
Again, our bodies have this innate wisdom. Not only do they signal us when we are hungry, they also let us know when it's time to stop eating - when we are comfortable, when our "tank" has had enough. Most of us have not been eating mindfully enough to experience the moment of satiety. This principle has always been the hardest one for me, having been so acculturated to follow someone else's eating rules. You'll let me know if this one is a bit of a struggle for you as well.
And this last principle is the only one that does not have anything to do with food. But it is an important one for long-term health and well-being.
5. Exercise/ move regularly.
Bodies were made to move! We were born with arms and legs; therefore we need to keep moving. Otherwise we'd just be big, giant heads! When I changed my orientation about exercise from something I did for weight loss, to something I will do for life, for my health and well-being, I started to enjoy it - and my body called for it. I found the things I love to do and I'm doing them for life!
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