I love this reminder. Thank you :)

I've been on an "eating well" journey for almost 3 years. At the beginning of this year, I had a major internal revolt and stopped following any and all programs. Since learning about intuitive eating, I started noticing that each food I have a craving for is tied to a specific need that's not being met. My ADHD brain craves certain foods at certain times and I was really harsh on myself because it felt like I couldn't control my cravings. Sometimes I would go months restricting a food and then I would binge like crazy one day and feel so much shame. What I'm learning is that my incredibly intelligent system has developed a process that uses food as a stim/tool to: 1. trigger a rapid dopamine spike when my levels are really low. 2. Act as gear shifter when I'm stuck in paralysis and overwhelmed. This has been a major breakthrough for me and ultimately eliminates the shame of me reaching for these foods. Now I look at these cravings as incredibly intelligent and I've stopped restricting myself. The outcome of this has been less cravings and way less shame. There's still a lot of unlearning to do as I find I'm defaulting to old patterns but that's ok. I feel like things are shifting for me. :)

@Georgina Wright thank you! I appreciate you validating that. :)

@Georgina Wright I have noticed that while the food noise is still loud, I'm not feeling as stressed out about food over the last two weeks since I started getting really curious about intuitive eating and that's because of you! So thank you. :) I didn't make any plans for dinner last night and that usually stresses me out so badly. Instead, I made a quick, easy, and delicious (not that nutritious though 🫣) meal that everyone enjoyed. I still had feelings about it but I really liked that I wasn't thinking about it all day long.

@Georgina Wright I think this is why this way of eating appeals to me such much as it’s aligned with my unshaming approach. Curiosity, acceptance of all feelings and emotions, not trying to change or fix them, etc. I knew you were the right person to explore this with. Thank you! 💕🙏

@Georgina Wright I've been an athlete for most of my life. I had a baby then entered perimenopause really quickly after that and my body was never the same. Obviously. And I'm ok with that. But my weight was heading in a dangerous direction. The beginning of diabetes, chronic inflammation, high cholesterol, and an early diagnosis of osteoarthritis is what got my attention. I could barely walk down the stairs without major pain in my knee and it was because of the extra weight I was carrying. I didn't want to be on medication unnecessarily and my doctor gave me the option to "change my diet/lifestyle or take meds." I chose to change my diet/lifestyle. I want to be mobile, healthy, and independent well into my 90's and beyond and the road I was on was not it.

@Georgina Wright no. I think the weight is a symptom and in combination with other things: perimenopause, ADHD, stress, etc.

Happiest of Birthday's Lovely Lady! I'm so glad our paths crossed here in the hallways of Skool. Sorry to hear your back has flared up and is causing you pain. I hope that heals quickly. My wins: I've been feeling really overwhelmed with everything lately and I just let that be true. I've stepped away from a few things that I was forcing myself to do and that included being really strict and regimented with my meal planning and cooking. I just went with the flow this week, and while that certainly caused some stressful moments as change always does, it felt really good to just spontaneously eat what I was feeling like versus following my planned meal. Still have lots of food noise and feelings around this but it's interesting to see what's coming up for me.