How To Stop Counting Calories and Start Enjoying Food Again w/ Caitlin Ball

Are you suffering from a food lifestyle hangover? Counting calories and quantifying every little thing that you eat could actually be keeping you from listening to your body. Intuitive Eating is all about a more pleasurable and enjoyable way to eat that will help you start feeling better and enjoy food again. Key Takeaways If You Want To Stop Counting Calories And Start Enjoying Food You Should: Trust the process of Intuitive Eating and find a system to support you Focus less on the calories of foods and more on how certain foods make you feel  Be patient with the process and allow yourself grace when navigating which foods are right for you Lead by example to create a future legacy that is not focused on restrictions and rules The Power of Intuitive Eating Caitlin Ball is a health coach who specializes in Intuitive Eating. After moving to Switzerland, Caitlin saw the astronomical difference between how food is approached in Europe compared to the United States. Once she experienced a transformative glimpse of Intuitive Eating, she knew she couldn't go back and had to share this information with the world. Rejecting Diet Culture Once and for All When working to gain more body awareness, trusting the process and finding a support system is key. As women, we have been told for so long that our worth is based on our appearance, and restricting ourselves and placing rules around food is the only way to achieve the goals society has set for us. Instead of giving into these restrictions, Intuitive Eating supports you so that you can feel great in your body, which is really all that is important. Stop Restricting Yourself and Start Feeling Caitlin realized that rather than counting calories, truly acknowledging how you feel after eating a certain food is a much better indicator of what your body needs. If you allow yourself to listen to your body, you will start making decisions based on what you feel you need next, not focusing on the 'should' or 'should not's' of certain foods. By jumping into the mode of curiosity and observation regarding how food makes you feel, you can start to figure out what is right for your body, right here and right now. Are you ready to leave the calories counting behind and walk away from the strictness and mental time it takes to quantify your food? Share which of Caitlin's Intuitive Eating tips you are going to implement into your routine in the comments section on the episode page.   In This Episode How a rejection of diet culture has resulted in a totally different relationship to food in parts of Europe (8:08) Tips for breaking away from the need for control as an avid calorie counter (17:45) Why relating how you feel towards what you are eating is a much better indicator than calorie counting (19:39) How to make peace with food if you are worried about what is going to happen when you allow yourself certain foods (22:42) The role of legacy in the work that you do through children and other young souls (34:01)   Quotes "Once I tried out [intuitive eating], and I changed my personal relationship with food and realized I could travel and eat these foods and not eat too much and feel disgusting, and I could enjoy my life and start liking how my body looks without having to cognizantly want to change it, once I realize how much better life was with Intuitive Eating I had to share it!" (16:20) "I knew in my heart that it wasn't working, I knew that there must be another way because I got a glimpse of it from the people around me." (18:19) "I realized that the calorie-counting wasn't actually doing anything for me, and the much better indicator was eating something, seeing how it made me feel, and then going from there and seeing what food I needed next after that." (21:30) "You do have to test your patience a little bit, but you will start to notice how these foods make you feel, and you will be able to start listening to your body a lot better and then be able to make changes from there." (26:53) "There are so many factors to how you feel because of this pandemic and everything that is going on in the world right now that do not have to do with food, so a juice cleanse is not going to solve all of your problems." (33:08)   Links Join the Tune In Membership Here Caitlin Ball Website Quit Dieting For Good Podcast Follow Caitlin on Instagram Join the Listen To Your Body Newsletter Steph Gaudreau Website Check out the full show notes here! Follow Steph on Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | Pinterest I'd really love it if you would take 1 min and leave us a rating and review on iTunes!