Eat When You're Hungry

Eat what you want. Stop when you're full.

It sounds sooooooo deceptively simple. But for a woman who was bulimic for 13 straight years, not so much. I'm seven years out from the disease now and I've slowly but surely been becoming more of a "normal" eater which of course for a woman in American society is anything but.

Still, I've felt chained in by my eating patterns as of late and in this life coach program I was guided through by a friend of mine what came through for me after some deep introspection was that I need to let go. Let go of the idea that if I eat dinner before 8 o'clock at night something bad is going to happen. Let go of the need to eat 8,000 pounds of steamed vegetables a week. Embrace what my body really wants. It may want 9,000 pounds of steamed vegetables. Or it may want macaroni and cheese, as it is starting to right now, the frozen Howard Johnson's brand that has 47% of your daily supply of saturated fat in one wee serving. Let me tell you, eating nearly half the satfat you need in your day in one sitting is pretty tasty.

Anyhoo. Today's the day. The big day where I test out my new eating. I'm really trying to not remain chained to anything -- and it's, honestly, really scary. I keep running through what I might eat for dinner in my head and then stopping myself. I tucked a protein bar in my tote bag to bring with me for when I get hungry at work later. Part of the problem is that I am flat broke, so if I have a craving for, say, sushi later it's a no-go. My dinner options include leftover chicken and stuffing, reheated frozen pizza, ravioli, frozen chicken pot pie, and scrambled eggs. And of course the requisite 8,000 pounds of vegetables.

I just need to breathe through it and not judge myself. I've already come a really long way.