How I feel about diets: Intuitive eating

I get a lot of questions about what kind of diet I follow for my Psoriatic Arthritis and the truth is I just follow my gut. I have tried so many crazy diets in the past in the hope to be pain-free. It sometimes worked but it was a lot of sacrifice to keep it going long-term. Starch-free diet, wheat-free diet or lengthy juice fast, you are ready to try a lot of things when you are in pain. I now mostly follow a healthy diet with very little sugar and no alcohol. I rarely eat meat as I find it is very difficult to digest and increase the inflammation in my body. I eat my greens and when I want to indulge, I do it. I spent too long cutting myself out from the outside world looking for a miracle cure in the hope to get better, life is too short to not eat the cake.

When I am having a flare-up, I am a lot more careful about what I eat and if my psoriasis get out of hands, I sometimes juice fast for few days. I know what works for me and I have my contingency plan in place.

Intuitive eating is all about listening to your body and honor your health. I enjoy eating healthy cause when I do I feel much better in my skin.

Have you ever realized that ever time you are telling yourself you are going on a diet this week or that you cannot eat one kind of food for a while, it is the only thing on your mind!?
And that’s why diet drive you insane and are so hard to keep up. Intuitive eating is more about differentiating your physical hunger and your emotional hunger as well as not beating yourself up about eating some dessert!

I used to drink, I used to smoke and now I sometimes reached for the chocolate instead of triyng to face what’s really going on in my head. I sometimes go for second serve and I sometimes decide to go for healthier coping mechanism. I address the problem by either calling a friend/going for a walk/shower/nap/run…anything that can potentially make myself feel better :)

I also eat at a table and not in front of TV, that’s the French inside of me, so when dinner is over it is really over. It’s also much easier to know when you are full! Your food will taste much better enjoyed slowly at a table than when scoffed down multi-tasking between your phone and TV on your couch.

When I move my body everyday, I am also most likely to make better food choices for myself. It actually does not feels like a chore for me to exercise since I have not been able to do it for so long due to my arthritis, it is something I don’t take for granted and that I am extremely grateful for.

What kind of lifestyle did you succeed to sustained for your health? I would love to hear about it!

If you'd like to learn more about Intuitive Eating, please visit www.intuitiveeating.org