Ever Heard of an Intuitive Eater?

So when I was at BYU going to school, I remember an article being published about intuitive eaters. I rather enjoyed it and thought it very practical. The gist of what it said was that we have a hunger scale, say 0-10; 10 being so full you're going to die and 0 being so starving you're going to die. The author goes on to say that intuitive eaters eat when their hunger scale tips from 5 (satisfied) to 4 or 3 or so, and they just eat enough to satisfy--5 or 6. This means that they don't eat just for social or emotional reasons; rather, they listen to their bodies.

Isn't this how we were born? To listen to and be aware of our bodies' needs. Sometimes our bodies may want a little sugar, and that's ok. The author says it's important to not totally ignore those little guilty pleasures of sweets and such, but to moderate them and not to eat them just because you're bored, or it's laying around. I know a bite of something sweet after dinner is a frequent thing for Paul and I, so we just have a few bite-sized candy bars or individually wrapped things we can grab if needed. IF you didn't have anything around, you might be too hard on yourself and go crazy..eventually running to the store and buying a gallon of ice cream or something. :P

PArt of this intuitive eating, I've found, is paying attention to what your body really likes and making sure you have those healthy options on hand. I like to keep some trail mix and cranberries and almonds laying around for healthy snacks. I also keep plenty of fresh, frozen, canned and dried fruit around for my sweet tooth. Costco sells these 100% fruit bars with nothing added. They are at least 2 servings each and great to take hiking or for emergency kits.

Now dark choc. is great to have around. It's full of antioxidants, but be sure its got at least 68% cacao to benefit most from it. Cheap, low cacao% choc. isn't worth it. I also keep a jar of neutella choc. around to dip pretzels and things in for a little etc. sweet-toothing (Iknow that's milk choc., but we're allowed some lee-way, right).