This guest post is part of our New Year, New Approach feature to kick off 2011 with a renewed passion for healthy eating.
Over the next few days Estela Schnelle will describe three ways you can adopt a more mindful approach to eating with her Concrete Steps for Letting Go of Diets:
1. Part One - Stop counting calories
2. Part Two - Let go of the ‘Cheat Day’
3. Part Three - Define what ‘Normal Eating’ means to you
Part of embracing “not dieting” is to stop counting every piece of food that crosses our lips. I know calorie-counting works for a lot of individuals. But for those having a hard time counting calories and maintaining a healthy relationship with food, you should stop counting…calories, fat, carbohydrates, stop counting all of it.
When we count, measure, weigh, or calculate food, we’re not listening to our body. We’re letting other factors control how much and when we eat. How can that be fun? Having to count, weigh, and measure everything can become exhausting and time consuming.
For a long-term calorie-counter, to stop counting can be scary. The goal is to start small. Start with one meal, and don’t counting anything. Just listen to your body. Let your body tell you when to start eating and when to stop.
After a few days, try to eat two meals without counting. Continue at your own pace until you’ve stopped counting all together. The ultimate goal is to start eating in response to your body.
How about you, do you tend to count calories, fat or carbs? Will you have a difficult time letting that go?
Tomorrow’s post will look at letting go of the “cheat day.”
Find related posts on Twitter by searching #NYNA.