out of control

I used to feel out of control around food. I used to think that if I had a bowl of chocolate in my house (let alone two!!), I'd eat it all in one sitting. I couldn't be trusted.

Food was a constant source of drama for me. I was always thinking about it and planning for it. First thing in the morning, it would start. I'd spend breakfast thinking about lunch, and lunch thinking about dinner, and dinner wondering if I could have dessert later.

It seemed all encompassing for me. But I learned it doesn't have to be that way.

The first thing I figured out was that I was hungry. I wasn't eating enough so my body was constantly trying to get me to eat more. And fixating on food. Trying to eat as little as I could wasn't serving me.

Once I started listening to my body, I started giving myself full permission to eat. Whatever and whenever I wanted. And when you can have chocolate for breakfast, lunch and dinner, it starts to not be as appealing anymore. I started to notice the first bite tasted better than the last.

Part of that full permission for me is having chocolate and other foods I look forward to eating in the house. And so I've had these two bowls of candies out. I can see the truffles, I can see the Reeses. And I can have them whenever I want.

I've noticed a change in the last year with these bowls of chocolate. They no longer have control over me. I can be trusted. I know what I want to eat when I'm hungry and I know when I don't want any more.

So some days I have quite a few pieces and on other days I don't want any.

If any of this is resonating with you, go check out my favorite intuitive eating coaches:

@julie.ohlemacher

@kathleenlayer

It's so easy to think this struggle is normal, but we can't live out our dreams in the world when we're hung up on what we're eating. It makes it a billion times harder to know what we want, let alone trust our gut and follow our heart when we feel out of control around food.