Intuition or Indulgence?

Have you noticed that diets are about what you can't eat?  I hate to hear people say, "if it tastes good it must be bad for you."  And I feel sad when I see people who spend their entire life on a diet, in a constant battle with themselves, their desires, and their bodies.  Is that a way to live?

As we've said, Eating the Angel Way is about eating intuitively:  good food your body wants and needs.  But if you look up "intuitive eating" on the web, you'll see a lot of arguments against it.  The thought is that if we eat intuitively, we'll eat Snickers sandwiches and butter-cheese balls all day and all night.  Then we'll die.

As I see it, the problem here is semantics.  "Intuitive" does not mean "indulgent" or "urgent."  Eating intuitively doesn't mean eating whatever we feel the urge to eat.  Intuitive is eating what our bodies are really really telling us we want and need.  Intuition is a quiet internal voice. 

Indulgences or urges are most likely loud external voices.  The commercial on TV with piles and piles of pancakes covered in whipped cream and syrup in flavors like pumpkin and eggnog and extra chocolate chocolate pie.  The clock that says NOON which we know means lunch time.  The extra long barbecue buffet bar where we have to eat enough to make it worth the money.  The person who looks like our mother yelling at us, which makes us reach for the Chunky Monkey and pound bag of peanut m&ms.

And so, if I have the urge for a rooty-tooty-fresh-and-fruity pancake platter, I need to listen to my intuition.  I need to shut off the television, shut out the mother-like person yelling at me, turn away from the clock.  I need to ask, what do I really want?

Love?  A hug?  Something festive?  Something sweet?

And when I am getting hungry, I can think about what I want to eat.  I picture myself eating the pumpkin whipped cream pancake and bacon.  I think about the taste (hmmm, not what I'd hoped); I think about how I feel afterward (ooohhh... Alka Seltzer.  And Dawn to rinse the grease...).  I think, a spinach and strawberry salad with raspberry vinaigrette would be really good.  And a carrot cake cupcake with cream cheese icing.   And of course, I might think, yeah, I want the pumpkin whipped cream pancake.

I told you everything that's good isn't bad for you.

Moderation noun

My son said that when he's under stress he doesn't eat. I know a lot of people like that. Skinny people.

When I am under stress, I eat, but only stuff that is really yucky. OK, I did eat peach ice cream with homemade apricot jelly on it, but that is as close to a wise choice as I got. I am still dutifully logging my shredded iceberg lettuce and tomatoes. At least the tomatoes are good this time of year.

In what is to me an AHA! moment and to most everyone on the planet a DUH? moment, I realized I need to quit buying or allowing my shoppers to buy the chips and the cookies and the cheese nips. None of us need that and I can't refuse it if it's here.

This is the problem (mentally):

1. I don't believe in BAD food, and if a food is labeled BAD, I crave it.
2. I know that some foods are poor choices. Foods with more than two inches of ingredients, most of which are in Latin, for instance. Anything with the first ingredient "sodium" something. Processed cheese-type food.
3. I know that even good things should be enjoyed in moderation.
4. I don't know the meaning of the word moderation.

And so, let us think, think, think (sorry Blues Clues overdose):

mod·era·tion (mäd′ər ā′s̸hən) noun

• a moderating, or bringing within bounds
• avoidance of excesses or extremes
• absence of violence; calmness moderation

Synonyms Restraint, toleration, steadiness, sobriety, coolness, the golden mean, temperateness, quiet, temperance, lenity, patience, sedation, fairness, justice, constraint, forbearance, reasonableness, dispassionateness, poise, balance; see also restraint 1.

Those things do sound peaceful, don't they?

They are words which represent ideals that I believe I value, but which our society often perceives as weak, boring, sedate (that's one of the words, isn't it?)

I feel as if I am arguing with myself. A younger self who wanted to save the world and fight every fight and eat every sandwich and who was very passionate about everything from love to war to a large plate of pasta.

Now, I just want a peaceful place. In my head, in my heart, in my home. I'll stand up for what is right and help people when I can, but from a quiet place. A place of patience, constraint, tolerance, poise, balance, and fairness. An infinitely stronger place than the battlefield.

But then I wonder if I have just gotten old and tired instead of wise. The hurricane still rages. Even when I find the quiet place in the eye, I can hear the winds.

Ever have a blog entry get away from you? Oh well.