One of my favorite things to say is that I know what it’s like to not have food be in control me and to not need to control food. To me, this is a state of nirvana and I experience it on a regular basis. That said, there are times when old behaviors creep in, when I’m feeling bingey, when I eat too much, when I eat even though I’m not hungry, when I think that a certain food is “bad” or that I “should” be eating some other “good” food. But mostly, I am able to catch myself, if not in the moment, at least pretty quickly. I’ve also gotten REALLY good at not beating myself up.

One of the Foundation classes here at Green Mountain At Fox Run is called “Becoming A Skillful Eater” and it’s taught by Robyn Priebe, GMFR’s resident nutrition expert (she’s a registered and certified dietician and has an advanced degree in dietetics). One thing that became evident immediately here at GMFR is that the staff is NOT about lumping everyone together and approaching health with a one-size-fits-all mentality. To that end, when defining “normal eating,” Robyn says, “Normal eating means different things to different people; in truth, what is normal is not always best. But when it comes to eating, an idea of what is normal and natural can help us to learn to eat to support health and fitness.”

She offers this definition of “normal eating” from Ellyn Satter:

Normal eating is being able to eat when you are hungry and continue eating until you are satisfied. It is being able to choose food you like and eat it and truly get enough of it – not just stop eating because you think you should. Normal eating is being able to use some moderate constraint in your food selection to get the right food, but not being so restrictive that you miss out on pleasurable foods. Normal eating is giving yourself permission to eat sometimes because you are happy, sad, or bored, or just because it feels good. Normal eating is three meals a day, most of the time, but it can also be choosing to munch along. It is leaving some cookies on the plate because you know you can have some again tomorrow, or it is eating more now because they taste so wonderful when they are fresh. Normal eating is overeating at times; feeling stuffed and uncomfortable. It is also undereating at times and wishing you had more. Normal eating is trusting your body to make up for your mistakes in eating. Normal eating takes up some of your time and attention but keeps its place as only one area of your life. In short, normal eating is flexible. It varies in response to your emotions, your schedule, your hunger, and your proximity to food.

Along with this Robyn outlines different eating styles – including skillful, chaotic, diet mentality, emotional, and dysregulated – and provides a questionnaire to help women determine their style. I found myself mostly skillful, with a side of chaos and every once in a great while, I have foray into emotional eating. I’ve come a long way, baby, but my eyes have been opened quite a bit in terms of how to handle that chaotic side of myself.

Based on the “normal eating” definition, I think I am a normal eater. What about you?

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Talk about having my Word of the Year show up front and center. Green Mountain at Fox Run (GMFR)  is a place where what I know to be true in regards to health, food, weight, exercise, and body image is practiced on all levels. And during this week I will be immersed in this practicing.

I plan to do a more comprehensive and detailed review when I get back, but in the meantime I’ll share some bits and pieces as I go along.

I took my first ever Nia class! I loved it and was surprised that I loved it. What a great way to start the day. Yes, I can imagine rolling out of bed and doing this…

You can never be too mindful. I like to think that I do a pretty good job of it “in real life” but with no outside distractions, and lots of reminders, it quickly became obvious to me that when it comes to listening to my body’s cues for hunger, rest, and movement, the more practice the better.

I am reminded that practice means improvement and catching myself sooner, not “never again” or “always.”

We don’t have to tabulate, calculate, measure, time, and chart every second of our lives in order to see progress…often the best progress is intangible and immeasurable.

Intrinsic inspiration is infinitely better than extrinsic motivation.

Physical investments are just as important as financial ones, if not more so.

Mindful eating is both short-term (while you are eating) and long-term (how do you feel not just immediately afterwards, but the next day…or the next week?). Oh, and being mindful doesn’t necessarily mean sitting alone, quietly, while you eat, with no distractions.

I finally met someone else who not only does not set goals, she doesn’t feel that she should set them. This miraculous woman is Darla Breckenridge, a psychologist and cognitive behavior specialist who teaches a variety of classes here at GMFR.

It’s all about experimenting, playing, and figuring out what works for you, not what you “should” do. How do you feel when eat a certain way? How do you feel when you move a certain way? Think a certain way? Don’t like it? Doesn’t feel good? Well, try this other way instead…

In each moment, we have a choice.

To be continued…I’m going snowshoeing!

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A while back Marsha Hudnall, the director of Green Mountain At Fox Run (GMFR), Ludlow, Vermont, invited me to spend a week, experience all that GMFR has to offer, and write about it here on this blog. GMFR is a holistic healthy living retreat for women that focuses on repairing your relationship with food and your body. And best of all, I am going to give away a free week’s stay at GMFR to one of my readers. Stay tuned for that. I head to Vermont tomorrow, so next time you hear from me, I’ll be there! In the meantime, GMFR maintains an excellent blog and you can find it on Facebook and Twitter.

I’m also thrilled and honored to announce that I will once again be speaking at Fitbloggin along with Shauna Reid (The Amazing Adventures of Dietgirl), Mara Glatzel (Medicinal Marzipan), and Intuitive Eating & Body Image Coach Christie Inge. This year we will be addressing the role of self-acceptance AND weight loss (NOT “self acceptance versus weight loss”). It’s most definitely a both/and thing, not an either/or thing!

I am starting to fill my 2012 calendar with various events so check out my Events & Press page.

A quick update on wheat-loss: so far, so good. I haven’t found this to be all that hard (as I said, announcing that I was going to do it was harder). I may have gotten some wheat/gluten via my oatmeal, which isn’t labeled “gluten-free” but which does not have wheat or gluten listed in the ingredients. Based on what I’ve read however, because many brands of oatmeal are processed in factories that also process wheat products, oats can be “contaminated.” I have since purchased some gluten-free oatmeal. But here’s an interesting bit: last night we ordered take-out Indian food and I decided ahead of time that I wanted some naan. I was consciously making the choice to eat it. But once we got it home, I had no desire for it. Hmmmm…

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This week’s Hateloss Challenge exercise: between now and Thursday, think about an activity that would challenge your comfort zone. Then confront that fear and do it. This is your challenge, so be as daring or as conservative as you want – but stretch yourself beyond what you think you can do.

I’m stepping outside my comfort zone to make an announcement:

I’m giving up wheat/gluten.

BOTH choosing to give up wheat AND announcing it are, for me, an act of stepping outside my comfort zone.

And speaking of both/and statements, I had a HUGE ah-ha moment as it regards my comfort zone.

The other day, in my Practicing: Force post I said:

“Force yourself…outside your comfort zone” sets off alarm bells in Resistant Karen’s head. She doesn’t like to think about being forced anywhere, and most definitely not outside her comfort zone because she equates “comfort zone” with “healthy emotional boundaries.”

It took me 45 years to get my comfort zone/healthy emotional boundaries firmly in place and I’m NOT gonna let anything get in the way of that!

But what if I could BOTH establish and maintain my comfort zone AND step outside it? Or more specifically, what if there are several different zones of comfort, some of which are sacrosanct and meant to be protected and some of which are meant to be stepped out of?

I have the safety and security of a wonderful marriage to an amazing man who loves me unconditionally. I often marvel at what I was able to create for myself, given the examples I had growing up. This comfort zone is sacrosanct. I don’t have to step out of it.

Now that I know that and see the distinction, I feel more liberated and courageous! So getting back to my announcement…

No, I don’t have Celiac disease. I don’t even consider myself gluten-sensitive. But the other day, right after I watched Mel Robbin’s video on how to get what you want, I happened to come across an interview with Dr. William Davis (author of a book called Wheat Belly: Lose the Wheat, Lose the Weight, and Find Your Path Back to Health).

The interview is entitled, “On The Evils of Wheat: Dr. William Davis on why it is so addictive, and how shunning it will make you skinny.” 

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That’s me rolling my eyes. It wasn’t necessary to use words like “evil” and “skinny” in order to get me to read the article, but that’s another issue for another day.

I read the article because I was interested in what he had to say about the affect of wheat on health and in particular, inflammation, which can cause or exacerbate all kinds of issues including arthritis, which I have.

With Mel Robbin’s voice still echoing in my head, I decided right then and there to go wheat-free in an effort to make my body hurt less so I feel like exercising more. And what’s interesting is that I had no idea that Week 3 of the Hateloss Challenge would involve a call to step outside my comfort zone! I love how the universe works…

So now I’m also practicing wheat-loss. I’ll keep you posted.

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