A lot of you are asking for creative, on-the-fly support with your relationship to food, as life gets a little fuller in general this month, so let’s keep it rolling and continue the conversation we started around Thanksgiving in this post.
I could give you a list of foods that for some of you might give you energy, or at least don’t sap the energy you’ve already got. But I’d rather give you even more than that, and in a much simpler way, with no lists of anything that you have to try to remember.
Let’s go universal and simple instead.
Here’s a short and incredibly sweet tip for you to use both now and way beyond the holidays.
It’s so simple – you guys know how much I love simple. So easy. But you need to actually use it to make it work for you…kind of like seat belts and birth control, right?! Doesn’t seem to work nearly as well just knowing about them…
So. Learn it, then use it.
Ready?
This practice grew from an idea that originally came to me from my awesome colleague Marc, who calls it “eating to energy”, and that’s a perfect description. I absolutely love to eat and when I learned this it rocked my world. This is another version of “you can have it all”, and we like that.
As you’re sitting down to a meal, feel into your general state of body-
What’s your energy level before you start to eat? How hungry are you?
Good, okay. Now that you’ve got a clear snapshot of this, eat. Eat while keeping a little attention playfully, lightly and with curiosity on this question:
How is my energy level now? And now? And now??
Keep simply checking in on it. You’ll find a moment when you can tell you’ve just arrived at an “eating to energy” state. When you can feel that even one more bite will take you a little beyond your best, highest and yummiest energy state for this meal, this food and this moment right now.
The eating to energy state is subtle but wonderful. It’s the place in you that knows you’ve just eaten the perfect amounts for aliveness and sustenance.
You could eat more, but your energy will start to drop. The huge example of this is of course, is after the classic turkey dinner, when we’re sitting around drunk on tryptophan and mind-numbing TV, but we can’t really rouse ourselves to do much about it…maybe tomorrow…
This is a drastic example, I know, but so many women have a subtler yet equally destructive version of this going on all the time. It’s one of the most common habits and contributes to slow steady weight gain, especially this time of year.
This is pretty cool, because energy level and a little weight gain are very often closely tied together for a lot of us, so it’s a nice way to better your self-care in two places at once.
This practice is so great for all the distracted holiday eating that we encounter at every turn. It works amazingly well; once you really get a sense of what eating to energy feels like, you’ll be wanting to practice it more and more.
Interestingly, Hara Hachi Bu ultimately creates the same thing. Translated, it’s an Asian practice, which literally means, “eating to 80% full”.
For most of us, with most meals, this turns out to be the same as eating to energy.
It’s a beautifully supportive practice that’s easy to learn – you just did. While it’s fresh in your mind, commit to trying it out with your very next meal.
As always, when you’re ready for some highly personalized help, let’s chat. We’ll hop on the phone and I’ll help you get clear on how to change the habit you’d most love to let go of, once and for all.
Ready? Go HERE
Enjoy your holidays…go eat what you love, in a body you feel great about with a ton of energy!
Here’s to awakening your natural relationship with food, body and soul,
Love,
Marina