How did an already thin and fit personal trainer lose 15 pounds over the course of a year without even trying?
So last week I weighed myself for the first time in almost a year, and I was shocked to learn that i had lost 15 pounds!
I hadn’t been trying to lose weight. In fact, I have been enjoying my favorite foods whenever I want them. Plus, I have been working out a little less lately than I used to.
The only thing that changed in me is my relationship with my body, all thanks to the Am I Hungry?(R) Workshop and Facilitator Training I took last fall.
The workshop helped me get in tune with my body’s signals of hunger and fullness. It helped me learn to break free from overeating. It helped me find more enjoyment out of eating.
Most importantly, the workshop taught me to be honest with myself.
You might think that Am I Hungry?(R) Workshop tells you to only eat when you are hungry. Not so. Instead, it teaches you to figure out whether you are hungry or not, and then make your own choice to eat or not.
At first, I would often notice that I wasn’t hungry, but decide to eat anyway. After a while, I found myself choosing instead to wait until I was hungry.
As I look back on these fifteen pounds, I can see that I was just being honest with myself. Before I would try to convince myself that I needed to eat at a given time even if deep down I knew my body wasn’t asking for food. Now if I eat when I am not hungry, I do so with full knowledge and acceptance. As a result, I don’t do this nearly as often as I used to. And when I do, I eat much less than I used to.
It is very easy to eat without thinking. It is even easier to lie to yourself to justify eating more than your body wants or needs. However, with a little practice, it can be just as easy to be honest with yourself, and take charge of your eating.
By Charlie Fields of kettlebody.com. Charlie is a San Diego personal trainer known for his pleasure-enhancing approach to exercise and eating. For more tips like this or to learn about Charlie’s bootcamps, eating workshops and coaching, or personal training, visit kettlebody.com.