(Reminder! Our next LA Workshop will be Sunday, March 29th, from 4-6 pm, The Art of the Sensual Woman: A Workshop in Self-Care and Intuition through the Senses. For more info or to register, please see info at the end of this article).
One of the scariest things for many of my clients (and for many women in general) is for them to learn to trust (and listen to) their appetites.
Coming out of the dark cloud of chronic dieting and the outdated, flawed, and toxic weight-loss philosophy of “eat less to lose more”, feeding a hungry appetite can overwhelm them with fear, self-loathing, and feelings of failure.
After all, they’ve been told that in order to lose weight and avoid further weight gain, they must control their appetite, fight their appetite, and push down the body’s promptings to eat.
Let me free you from that toxic belief…it’s not true.
Appetite is a gift.
Appetite is natural. It’s necessary. It’s part of being human and is built into your physical makeup to keep you alive.
Eating is built to be a pleasurable, vital part of your existence. Furthermore, NOT eating will, at best, only provide short-term weight-loss…with the eventual weight-gain or metabolic slowdown coming right behind it.
But what if it seems that your appetite can never be filled, that even when you do eat, you can’t seem to get enough? Well, trust me, there’s a message within that too.
Your appetite is not an enemy to fight, but rather a wise friend, speaking on behalf of your body, that is begging you to listen. Appetite, in all her glory, shows up for a variety of reasons and will speak louder and louder until she finally has your attention.
Believe me when I say, she has your back!
Our job is not to try and silence our appetite, but rather listen to her and discover what it is that we are REALLY hungry for, be it food or something deeper.
What are those messages exactly?
I’ve come up with 10 things your Body’s Appetite might be trying to say to you and really needs you to hear and today, I’m going to share the first 3 of them:
1) “I need more nutrients or more of a particular kind of nutrient.”
I told you your Body is so wise. Throughout the day and with every meal/snack/drink, She is constantly scanning the nutritional profile of what you are consuming, making sure She is getting what she needs.
Try to simply fill the space in your belly with coffee, diet sodas, or processed foods and I guarantee you, you will only “fool” your appetite for so long. She’s too smart for that.
Your body desires all the vital nutrients, vitamins, and minerals necessary for her thrival (that’s where surviving meets THRIVING). If you find your appetite keeps gnawing at you, take a look at what you are eating and the quality of it. Are you consuming enough high quality fats, proteins, healthy carbs, and essential vitamins/minerals? Are you consuming too many high glycemic foods or too much sugar (a surefire way to deregulate your appetite and cause a surge in insulin, making you feel constantly hungry and unsatisfied)? Are you eating lots of prepackaged foods?
These are all important questions to ask yourself around what you are eating. I know traditional dieting tells you a calorie is calorie, but that’s simply not true. Quality really does count. If you up the quality of your food, calorie counting and “controlling appetite” will become a thing of the past.
2) “I need more food…period.”
I know this one might seem obvious, but it bears repeating…you need to eat and you need to eat in accordance with your lifestyle/activity level. It’s not enough to just up the quality of what you are eating, but to also make sure you are having enough of that high quality fuel.
If you’ve already upped the nutritional profile of your food, learn to trust that your body’s hunger will fluctuate from day to day and your job is to make sure that you are giving Her enough nourishment to do all that you are asking of her.
I can tell you firsthand that there are days where all my body desires are 2 good quality meals…and pretty light but nutritious ones at that. Other days, like today, She simply wants and needs more, especially on weeks where I have been boxing a lot. So I feed her, with love…I don’t punish her by denying her food when she is clearly asking me for a bit more.
Eat just enough to fill you back up with energy and stamina…and learn to listen to the amount of food your body wants on a day-to-day, meal by meal basis.
3) “I need you to slow down and pay more attention when you eat.”
When I was going through my Eating Psychology Coach and Teacher Training, my mentor Marc David would remind us time and time again that most people who think that they have an “overeating problem” don’t….they actually have a lack of awareness problem. In other words, the solution isn’t really about getting them to STOP overeating, but rather to START paying attention to the act of eating.
Couldn’t agree more.
Anything (and I do mean anything) you do with love and full attention is richer, more satisfying, and more pleasurable. Eating is no different.
If your appetite feels like it is never satisfied, and/or if you find your belly is full but your mouth just keeps wanting more, begin to develop your eating with awareness muscles, or what I like to call Sensual Eating.
If you want to learn all about this practice, check out a longer piece I did on this >HERE. I’d love to hear how making changes in how you eat effects your appetite and overall relationship with food.
Stay tuned for Part II, where I’ll be sharing 3 more messages your appetite is hoping you’ll take a listen to.
In other news, if you are in LA, we are having our March workshop Sunday, March 29th from 4-6pm and the theme is one of my favorites…
We’ll be diving into the Art of the Sensual Woman: A Workshop in Self-Care and Intuition through the Senses.
This is an area that women come to me for time and time again…they are longing to practice self-care rituals that not only soothe the soul but also allow them to develop a greater sense of body love and appreciation.
If there is something I notice about us ladies is that we are amazing at taking care of others…and really uncomfortable at putting ourselves at the top of our “to-do list”…and even more uncomfortable celebrating the skin we are in.
(Don’t believe? Tomorrow, count how many times you hear a woman (or yourself) putting down something about her looks, her body, or her ability to do it all. It’s pretty heartbreaking.)
In this workshop, I am going to share practical, easy to implement, and FUN practices to change all that for you.
And there will be chocolate made by yours truly…I’m talking the healthiest, tastiest, purest chocolate around. Because life is too short and you are too special for bad chocolate.
This is going to be one you don’t want to miss!
To register, simply email me at Anita@AnitaAvalos.com and let me know you are IN! I will email you the address and other logistics.
Keep in mind that this is a donation-based workshop..suggested donation is $12 but no one will be turned away.
Feel free to invite your girls to come with you.
If you have any questions, drop me a line and I will get back to you.
Sending lots of love,
You must log in to post a comment. Log in now.