body wisdom

August 15, 2010
The other day I ran into a colleague that I haven’t seen in awhile and was shocked to see her looking so lean, healthy, and vibrant. When I commented on this, she said that she had lost 50 pounds in the past several months. Naturally, the next question was, how? Like me, she is one who has tried many diets and spent years going up and down the scale. This time, she looked at the root of the problem rather than trying another band aid solution. As many of us chronic dieters know, food is not the problem; self-discipline is not the problem; desire is not the problem. So what is the problem. She, like me, was using food as a coping mechanism for stress, anxiety, fear and so forth. After doing online counseling and identifying her food demons, she had begun to use food for what food is for—physical nourishment. I listened more intently as she shared what she had learned and how this learning had changed her view of food, dieting, weight, stress and so forth. A key point in the plan was that all food fits when eaten in response to physical hunger. Our bodies have the wisdom to signal us when food is needed and to again signal when they have had enough. As I am learning and pondering these bites (no pun intended), I am trusting my body to tell me what it needs and when it needs it and how much it needs.