Week 2 of the 21-Day Sensual Reset™: Eat like a Queen: How to Eat for Nourishment and Pleasure

Welcome to Week 2 of the 21-Day Sensual Reset™!

I love that you are joining me again for this week’s focus principle!

(This just might be one of my favorite posts I have ever written, so please read it all the way through and share!)

Now that you have been getting into body loving, sensual, and FUN movement via incorporating Week 1’s 5-Minute Daily Dance Break (The 5MDDB), we are going to keep that going, add another step to our reset , and break through some serious food myths.

In case you missed last week’s post, you can check it out here.

Week 2: Eat like a Queen: How to Eat for Nourishment and Pleasure

First…a little myth busting…

Just like we have been falsely told that we need to kill ourselves in the gym in order to get a body we love, we have also been led to believe that 1) we need to eat less if we want to lose weight/maintain our weight and 2) we have to “control” our eating; therefore, the more we can restrict pleasurable foods and restrict getting pleasure from food, the better.

When we see food and eating in this viewpoint, we see food as the enemy, our appetite as the enemy, and we come to fear pleasure.

All the joy that should come from eating gets stripped away.

When I held on to these very beliefs, I also gripped onto calorie and point counting. I feared fat, I feared food, and I took a sense of pride when I had a day when I had “beat” my hunger and resisted any pleasurable foods.

It was a sad way of living and to be honest, never led to a sustainable happy, healthy weight. I actually gained weight over the years despite exercising almost everyday at the gym and aiming for 1,000-1,2000 calories a day. Any weight-loss I did achieve was short lived once I actually ate a normal amount of food.

And even though I wasn’t getting where I wanted to go and my life felt consumed by constantly monitoring my food intake and calories, I stayed on that hamster wheel for many years because I was afraid that if I didn’t do it, I would gain even more weight.

I had it all so wrong. I was neither eating for nourishment nor pleasure. Mostly I was just eating lifeless, low-quality, diet-foods that kept me struggling with my weight and feeling trapped in my own body.

I want to share with you the good news so you don’t waste a single day doing what I did, torturing yourself and not getting where you want to go.

Food should be fuel for your life, for your precious body. Like the body, food is meant to be enjoyed. It’s not just ok for it to bring you pleasure…it’s actually a must.

I can hear you from way over here….maybe you are saying to yourself, “That sounds all well and good, Anita, but how does that help me know what to eat and see results?”

And if you are anything like most of my clients, you are probably just wanting to not have to think about food and weight so much…you just want your connection to food to be “normal” and you don’t want to have a constant conversation in your head around it.

I get it. I really, really do.

So allow me to introduce to 3 key tools that will dramatically shift your relationship to food, help you tune into at an intuitive level what foods work best for you, and bring back the pleasure and joy that are your birthright when it comes to eating.

When you put these 3 tools together, you too will be eating like a Queen and eating for both nourishment and pleasure on the daily.

Tool #1- The Triple S Technique™

Think that nutrition is just about what you eat?

Think again.

When it comes to food and nutrition, what you eat is only half of the story.

When you eat and how you eat make up the other half.

Now maybe you are familiar with some of this and have heard of “mindful eating.”

But I tend to find mindful eating a little…boring.

Instead, I’d like to introduce you to Sensual Eating (the first of our 3 S’s).

How exactly does one eat Sensually?

When you sit down to eat, bring all 6 of your senses to the table. Take pleasure in the way your food looks, really taste your food fully. Notice how the different textures and temperatures of the food feel on your tongue or hands. Take in the aroma of the food, listen to the sizzle of it as you cook it or the sounds of the restaurant you are at, and tune into your intuition to see if this food is indeed just what your wanted or when you’ve had just enough.

This is the way of the Sensual Eater.

Of course, being a Sensual Eater is much easier when you practice the other 2 S’s…Slow and Seated.

In order to get all 6 of your senses in the mix, it’ important that you slow down with your food and your meal so you can fully engage with it and extract the most pleasure from it.

And this is typically easier to come by when you are seated. I mean, can you really taste the food you are eating if you are taking bites of your kids’ leftovers as you clean up the dinner table or when you are standing at the fridge picking at food, trying to decide what you want to eat?

Not only that, be you will also be able to have optimal digestion, optimal calorie burning, and create the ideal conditions for your metabolism to work in your favor. Yes, all this from simply changing how you eat.

As far as when to eat, aim to follow the sun. When the sun is highest in the sky (around noon) that is also when your metabolic fire is at its highest. This is the time to enjoy your biggest meal of the day. Go slow and go with the flow.

So be sure to invoke the Triple S Technique (Slow, Seated and Sensual) every time you eat. I promise you will get so much more nourishment and pleasure from your eating experience and it will help to regulate your appetite much easier.

Tool #2- The Intuitive Yes and No

One of the biggest benefits of using and tuning into our sensuality is that we get back in touch with our intuition, that sixth sense that, when listened to, knows what we need, keeps us out of harm’s way, and helps guide us.

Intuition is also a wonderful guide when it comes to eating and is really just body wisdom at its finest.

If you really want to know what foods work best for your body and which ones don’t, intuition and body wisdom are essential.

Here’s how to use it to create greater nourishment and pleasure with food via your intuition:

Take a moment right now to close your eyes and tune in. Ask yourself, “if there were one or two foods I could add in that would make me feel more vibrant and healthy, what would they be?”

See what comes to the surface and trust it. Make a commitment to add more of these foods in this week.

Now, take a moment to tune in again to your highest self. Ask yourself, “if there were one or two foods I could take out or eat far less of that would allow me to feel more vibrant, what would they be?”

Once again, trust what comes to the surface. Commit to having less of them or taking them out completely for the week.

Notice that we didn’t label any foods as “good” or “bad”. We simply asked our inner-self for some guidance as to what we could do to add to our health and well-being.

If nothing is coming to the surface for you, then tune into your intuition the next time you eat. When you finish your next meal, tune into more than just how the food tastes. Tune into how the meal made you feel. What does your intuition say? Is this the kind of meal you should keep having, have more of, or do you know at a gut-level it’s not really adding to your health and vibration all that much?

(For example last week while out to lunch with friends, the fish I was eating just tasted “off” to me. My intuition was saying “don’t eat this…something is not right about it.” So I listened and didn’t finish the dish. )

When we eat more of the foods that raise our vibration and less of the one that take away from it, we naturally lean into to having more foods that truly nourish us and yet taste pleasurable to us.

Take your answers and try them on as an experiment for the next week and see what happens.

Tool #3- Feed your Fem and Let the Queen Take Her Throne

If you’ve been doing the daily dance breaks, perhaps you’ve tapped into something you have long forgotten or have maybe just not seen as being of vital importance.

That is your fem, your feminine essence.

The Queen inside who deserves to sit on her throne, be treated with love and respect, feels a sense of pride and is self-assured, and knows she deserves the finer things in life.
When I say the finer things in life, I don’t simply mean expensive things.

What I mean is the simple yet fine pleasures of life….like taking time for a lovely, nourishing meal (even it’s just 15 minutes of your day at lunch) and knowing you deserve it as opposed to putting your needs last, not honoring your hunger and then eating in a ravaged state, driving on the freeway no less.

For just a moment, think of that Queen within you. Picture that version of you fully and ask yourself:

•How would that Queen eat? Would this Queen make time for nourishing meals? Would she always eat on the run, deny herself food, or eat standing up….or would she sit on her throne, honor herself, and eat in a relaxed state? Would she give herself the simple pleasures of good company, a clean dining table, and foods that both delight her palate AND fill her up with energy?

• What foods would be “fit for a Queen”? Would she deserve higher quality ingredients?

• Would this Queen be obsessing about every calorie, every bite of food she ate? Or would her energy go into running her Queendom? Would the Queen eat in way that focuses on being skinny or cultivating greater health? Would this Queen eat to the point of uncomfortability and discomfort…or would she honor her appetite in such a way that she left the table feeling joyfully satisfied, knowing that if she was truly hungry later, well, she could always have more.

After all, she IS the Queen!

I don’t say this in a way that we should be “Diva-like” or demanding. Hey, you can be any kinda Queen you like. I choose to be one who likes hip-hop and booty shaking. I also don’t say this to make you feel bad if this experiment doesn’t go “perfectly” every single day, at every single meal. That’s not realistic.

But I DO say this to remind you and all my ladies that you are WORTH EVERYTHING. Stop putting everybody ahead of you, stop rushing through meals, stop thinking you don’t deserve the higher quality foods.

You do.

Personally, I am fine not having cable in our home or eating at home more often (Mike and I are bad ass cooks anyway!) so that we can have access to/better afford organic, grass-fed, pasture raised meats, produce, and goods.

And please don’t let the reasoning of “I have such a hectic work day” keep you from doing this.

Look, I started using these strategies when I was still teaching Kindergarten full-time. I made a very conscious decision that before I did anything else on my lunch break (make copies, call parents, grade papers) I was going to sit down and eat my lunch without multitasking. It simply became a non-negotiable to honor myself in this way.

When I don’t do this, believe me, my day just feels off.

Take your seat at your throne, my lady, and eat like a Queen. Feed your Feminine Essence with love.

One BIG Final Note…
If all of this doesn’t convince you, let me end with this…

I once heard that the way you eat is the way you make love.

Wow.

So ask yourself…. Do you want to be the kind of lover who rushes to get the deed over with? Do you want to be out of your body, thinking about your bills or obsessing with what you think is “wrong” with your body the whole time? Do you want to partake in the kind of love making that leaves you feeling empty inside, that never satisfies you in the way your would like? Do you want your love making to be pleasureless, lacking real connection, leaving you unsatisfied?

OR…

Do you want to be the kind of lover who takes her time to enjoy the experience fully, unafraid to ask for the things you want? Do you want to feel so embodied, so fully engaged with your senses, that you get the full experience. You are there, in the moment, engaged and turned on…so much so that you don’t have time or energy to be worried about your perceived “body flaws”? Do you want to feel deep pleasure, true connection, and a sense of satisfaction? Do you want to be the kind of lover that is such a turn on simply because she knows how to enjoy herself, honor herself, and is lit up from the inside out?

Well, if you are anything like me, it’s gonna be the second option. And everything I said about lovemaking can be applied to eating as well.

How you do one thing is how you do everything.

So try these three tools on this week…in addition to your daily dance break.

And who knows.

You might not only becoming a more nourished, pleasured eater (with better digestion, regulated appetite, and a humming metabolism)…

You might also have a way better experience in the bedroom.
As humans we are built to desire both food and sex…why not make them the best experiences they can be?

You deserve it!

In the comments below, let me know which of the 3 tools you are most excited to try out. What about this week’s focus principle stood out to you the most? Or what was your biggest takeaway?
I look forward to hearing from you.

Loving you much,

Related Posts:
– Living Diet-Free in 2014 + The 21-Day Sensual Reset™ Begins!
– Week 1 of the 21-Day Sensual Reset™- The Daily Dance Break
– Are You Suffering from the Other Vitamin D Deficiency?
– Sensual Living: The Hidden Key to Effortless Weight-loss and Happy, Full Living