Are you scared of giving yourself unconditional permission to eat certain foods because you think you won’t be able to stop? Try this.

I have so many clients who come to me wanting to do two things:

• Eat intuitively
• Lose weight

Now those things might sound like they’re opposing forces, but they don’t have to be!

Hear me out…

If I were talking to you a decade ago, you would hear from a Kelley who was so scared to let go of her food rules and give herself permission to eat the things she thought of as ‘bad’ for so long because I thought those bad foods would make me gain weight. I thought I wouldn’t be able to control myself around things like pizza or pasta or bread.. and when we restrict like that for so long it puts us at such a higher likelihood of binging.

If you’re working on eating foods you’ve in the past had rules around, trust me, I know how scary it is when you start to do things differently. But in order to feel freedom with food and our bodies, we have to do things that make us a little uncomfortable to get to a place of growth.

The more you work on creating positive experiences with foods that have been off limits in the past, the easier it becomes to recreate your relationship with them and reframe what you’ve been making eating them mean about YOU as a person.

So today I want to share an exercise I use with my clients that helps them to have permission to eat what they want, maintain blood sugar balance and live by that 80/20 rule where they don’t feel deprived but they’re still fueling their bodies with what makes them FEEL good.

• Pick a food or type of food that you want to practice permission with… you don’t have to break all your food rules at once... take it slow and don’t create overwhelm.
• Practice eating that food WITH other foods as part of a MEAL.

This allows you to feel more full AND satisfied because it will physically balance blood sugar, give you more substance to fill you up and allow you to have the food you’re practicing with, with less anxiety around overeating…

Let me give you an example. Take pasta. I used to be TERRIFIED of pasta.

It’s normal for anyone who is hungry and sits down with a huge bowl of pasta to eat the whole bowl. Like if I’m starving and I haven’t eaten in a while and the only option I have is a big bowl of pasta with tomato sauce (carbs on top of carbs) I’m probably going to eat the whole thing and then feel pretty awful after the blood sugar crash that happens an hour later.

But, when I was working on my relationship with food and experimenting with foods that were off limits for so long sitting down and having a huge bowl of pasta … and then going back for seconds (because carbs alone are less filling and we’re more likely to overeat them)… that experience would have made me feel like

• I shouldn’t have pasta because once I start I have no willpower to stop
• I can’t let myself eat pasta because I don’t like how I feel after (blood sugar crash)

So eaten alone, the food fear cycle continues.

But when I started eating the foods I was scared of in a more balanced way… like a protein-rich lentil bolognese ON THE PASTA WITH some sautéed greens or a side salad for fiber… I’m way less likely to overeat the pasta and way more likely to walk away from that meal feeling both full and satisfied.

Each time you experiment like that you’re building more trust with your body and yourself. Those experiments allow you to change the old stories you have around certain foods so you can experience more joy and peace with food and your body.

So if you’re trying to eat more intuitively and also reach your weight loss goal, more restriction is not better. I really encourage you to try this more balanced approach that will allow you to feel safe as you start to break those long-held food rules so that you can continue your growth along this path and reframe those old diet culture stories.

If you’re looking to rebalance your hormones and reclaim your confidence in food and your body, I would love to invite you to my group coaching program starting in January 2023. This 4 month's group coaching program will allow you to feel more supported, help you to get grounded and feel at home in your body in the new year.

From January through April, the WBK Health and Hormones group coaching program will provide weekly calls + homework you can do anywhere including:

• Hormone testing
• Detailed protocols for healing everything from thyroid, adrenals, menstrual cycles, fertility, menopause, and GI health
• Nutritional modules on how to eat for metabolic health
• Mindset work around overwhelm, perfectionism, anxiety, body image, and food freedom
• Repairing sleep and improving relationships

And so much more!

You can sign up for our waitlist here!

Whether you’re new to intuitive eating and hormonal balance and are looking to ditch diets, say so long to overwhelm and understand your hormones for the very first time OR you’re farther along in your journey and are looking for some continued encouragement in the new year, this group coaching series is for you.

If this is the kind of guidance you’re looking for this year, here’s where you can join our waitlist application!

Doors close in less than two months and I don’t want you to miss this opportunity!

Xx

Kell