Ep 17 - Intuitive Eating Through the Holidays & Beyond

This week we’re going deep into something most of us think about all day, every day…Food. 🍽️💭

Gina opens with an energy update for the week ahead that’s all about the heart: family dynamics, doing things differently around the table, and choosing peace and presence over holiday chaos. 

Then, Kim gets radically honest about something so many of us feel but rarely say out loud: the stress, resentment, guilt, and mental chatter around food. From potlucks and holiday tables to packing lunches and last-minute dinners, she shares how thoughts about eating, cooking, and “getting it right” hold her mind captive every day.

If you’ve ever:

• Cleaned your plate so you’re “not wasteful”
• Eaten something you didn’t want so you wouldn’t offend the person who made it
• Obsessed over a food you told yourself you “weren’t allowed” to have
• Felt like a failure around feeding yourself or your kids

…this episode will make you feel so seen.

Then Gina shares her personal journey from “happy plate” conditioning, constant dieting, keto and intermittent fasting, to healing her metabolism and body image through intuitive eating and self-love. Together, Kim and Gina unpack what intuitive eating actually is (beyond the trendy phrase), drawing from the original framework and layering in spirituality and energy work.

In this episode, we explore:

• Why kids are natural intuitive eaters—and how we unintentionally teach them to override their own bodies
• How restriction and diet culture wreck your metabolism and your mindset
• The core ideas behind intuitive eating: honoring hunger, making peace with food, feeling your fullness, coping with emotions with kindness, and dropping the “food police” in your head
• Gina’s simple “experiment”: eat what you want for a day, then notice how you feel the next morning—physically, mentally, and energetically—and adjust from curiosity, not shame
• How cravings can be messages (sugar for joy or more protein, carbs for comfort or rest, salt for hydration and minerals)
• Why no food is inherently “good” or “bad,” and how labeling yourself as good or bad because of what you eat shapes your reality

You’ll also hear practical, real-life tips for the holidays:

• Why it’s okay to “offend Karen” and not take the casserole you don’t want 😉 
• How to build your plate so you nourish your body first
• Why it’s okay not to take every single dish just to keep the peace (sorry, Karen 👀)
• A tiny fullness cue to watch for—a natural pause and breath while eating that may be your body quietly saying, “I’m good.”

We talk about blessing your food, cooking with intention, choosing “high-vibe” foods more often without demonizing the fun stuff, and shifting movement from punishment to something you do because it makes you feel good. And of course, we connect it back to manifestation and neuroplasticity: when your thoughts, beliefs, feelings, and actions around food line up, your reality starts to shift.

If food has ever felt like a battle or a burden, this episode will feel like a deep exhale. 🕊️

Transcript

Gina 1:38

Hey guys, Gina s Garino here, and I am giving you your weekly energetic update. So when we are diving into the energy this week, it is almost like the Christmas ornaments on your Christmas tree. There's so many different elements going on, but the main things that we're gonna focus on is. Piecing together, different family dynamics, and doing things differently. I feel as though this week there's gonna be a lot of unexpected players coming in and out of your life. You might have unexpected people showing up to your table, unexpected text messages coming in, but it is all for the purpose of you really getting into your heart. Center, what do you want to create, and I'm talking specifically within your family unit. What are you wanting to create within your family this week? Is it the vision of hustle and bustle and I'm going crazy and I don't have enough time? Or are you wanting to create the container of I'm peaceful, calm, and I am here with an open heart? The other theme that's coming in loud and clear for this week is the dynamic of getting into your heart center to create something that you want in your life. Also, there's this deeper calling of creating connections. If you haven't identified this theme of a deeper, heartfelt, weak, I am screaming it. So your mantra this week is all about getting into the heart space. So try a mantra like this. My heart space is open and willing to forgive anyone and everyone for the sake of me. Take that in.

Kim 3:34

Ugh, I got way too much food and I'm already full, but I can't throw all of this away. The trash can is way over there on the other side of the room. I can't be that wasteful. What will people think? This casserole really is not very good. But didn't Karen say that she made it? The person sitting directly in front of me, she's gonna be offended if I eat everything else and leave this on my plate. I'm already full from the last house we went to, but I guess I better get a plate. Everyone's eating. I don't wanna be rude. Besides, it'll be awkward if I'm just sitting here and watching people eat. I'll just get a small plate and.. How many times have these kind of thoughts gone through your head at social events, particularly potlucks, where people who made the food are sitting right at the table with you? Do you feel like you need to try the food they made? Even if it's not one of your favorites? That you need to eat it all to prove that you like it. Do you think you need to fill up your plate as much as possible with everything you think you're gonna love? Because you don't wanna be the person that goes back for seconds? All of this chatter in your mind worried about what others think. Worried about being wasteful, worried about not getting enough of what you actually do. Like it all stifles your intuitive guidance. You simply can't hear the voice within when there is so much mental chatter created by what you think others are thinking. This happens all the time with food, not just at holiday gatherings, but pretty much every time we eat or that food is around. From a very young age, we were told an empty plate is a happy plate. That it didn't matter if we didn't like it, we had to eat it, that it didn't matter. If we wanted more, we couldn't have more, or maybe we could, but only after we finished everything else on our plate first. We all know good and well the pitfalls of this kind of language. We know that kids are natural intuitive eaters, and then we as parents teach them not to listen to their bodies, but to listen to us. Typically, the very people who have the worst relationship with food, but in all honesty. I still do it to my kids even knowing all of this, because let's face it, my daughter would eat the whole sleeve of cookies if I let her and my son, he'd only eat pizza and chicken nuggets if I didn't force him to try the other things on his plate. Navigating this is one of the most. Difficult things. As a parent, it's not only frustrating, it can be totally defeating. I feel more like a failure around food with my children than I do in any other area of their lives. And what's crazy is that I feel the same way about my own eating habits. It's the number one thing that I wish I had more control over, that I not only wish I had more intentionality and willpower around, but also more ease more joy around. Because if I'm being totally honest, the thoughts around what to eat hold my mind captive every single day of my life. I hate food there. I said it. I hate worrying about what to cook for dinner every single day of my life. I hate grocery shopping. I hate packing lunches and snacks. I hate how it feels when I'm eating something healthy instead of what I really want to eat. I hate how it feels when I've eaten what I really want. Instead of something healthy. I hate that most of our meals consist of frozen prepackaged products, but I also hate cooking. Hate is a strong word, and yet I mean it when I say it about this. And how can you hate something that you need every day in order to survive? How can you hate something that you crave? That sometimes you want more than anything. How can you hate something that brings people together, that creates intentional moments with family and friends around the table that can make your whole house smell warm and inviting that can taste so good. I don't know the answer to these questions, but today we are going to explore our relationship to food. We're going to really crack open that viral phrase we keep hearing over and over again, intuitive eating and really get to the bottom of what that means. In a fast and convenience loving world of food filled with addictive chemicals, quote unquote natural flavoring and drenched in salt and sugar and butter. How can we regain control over our food habits? When intuitive eating literally means letting go of control. How do we stop restricting, stop counting calories and following the latest fad diets when our waistline keeps getting bigger? I really hope Gina can answer these questions for us today because I'm tired of food being such a stress in my life and I want answers. I wanna live more in flow, more in my intuition and what better place to start than with the one thing I do three to four times a day. Okay, so Gina, help us. How can we begin to heal our relationship with food by practicing intuitive eating? Especially now around the holidays when we are surrounded with food and the pressure to stuff ourselves is at an all time high.

Gina 8:44

Girl, girl, girl, girl, girl, girl. Listening to you say all of that, I feel that so deeply in my heart. You have absolutely no idea. I have been there, but I will also say I'm on the other side of that When I say I feel that we have all gone through situations like that, and a lot of us feel like that every single day, but I'm here to tell you, there is hope you can get on the other side of it, but you must know where I started with all of this and how I transformed it because it is taken me a very long time to understand this and work through it and make these positive changes. So in my childhood. I remember my father making me sit at the dinner table until I finished my food. Every single night, like I had that happy plate that you talked about. And I would have to sit there all night until I finally finished my plate and eventually he would give in and I would give up or one in the same. But that's a core memory for me sitting at the table until I ate. But one of the positive things is I don't have a lot of adversities to food because all of our food was farm to table. My father hunted our own meat. We grew our own fruits and vegetables, like my parents were hippie dippies before it was cool to be hippie dippy. My dad always says that he was the. First organic farmer before it was a fad, so I had that in my roots, but from there in my family, I love my family, but my whole entire life. I was raised around primarily women who talked all about weight and what diet they were on. But when my baby cousin was born and she's 15, 16 years old, around the time that she was born and she got to be around two or three, they started talking about this weight stuff in front of her. I put my foot down and I said, absolutely no more food talk or weight talk in front of this new generation, because it created such different thoughts in my mind of relationship to food. My family was always on a diet, always trying to lose weight. There was never any intuitive eating And with that, the healing that had to take place so that we moved away from eat whatever you want, and then dieting, eat whatever you want, and then dieting that wrecks your metabolism. So when. I became an older teenager. I became a, pescatarian. I became a vegetarian, and then I went through keto eating and intermittent fasting. And guess what happened with all of that? It ruined my metabolism. Now I will say that keto is great. Intermittent fasting is great, but the way I was doing it was wrecking my body. And it just makes me think also about kids in intuitive eating. Like you said before, kids are very intuitive. I can't tell you how many times a parent has told me that their kid doesn't like eggs. And then a few years later they go through food testing and that kid's allergic to eggs. And it's mind blowing. So this is how I healed my metabolism, but it's also healing your body image as well, and what you see in the mirror intuitive eating is very linked to self love and what you think about yourself when you look in the mirror. So simultaneously healing my metabolism. Through fueling my body and using mirror work where you sit in front of the mirror, clothed or naked, whatever you want, and you start to give yourself love in the mirror while simultaneously healing this food adversity or this food addiction. It is huge, huge, huge. So with intuitive eating. This is the first tool. Eat whatever you want in one day. Eat whatever you want. And this is like a scientific, like curiosity research program. Okay? So day one, Kim, eat whatever you want. Then the next day when you wake up, you're gonna write down how you feel. How did yesterday's eating make you feel today? All right. And that's where you're gonna evaluate, because here's the thing, I'm Italian. Food is my family's life. When my dad comes to town or I go see my dad, that's all that we do is we cook in the kitchen and it is glorious and amazing, and we make all of this nourishing, healthy, but delicious food. It is ingrained in me. Food is my life, and food is how I show love actually. Like I love cooking for my families and friends and entertaining and all of that. So step one, eat whatever you want, and then the next day, see how you feel. Then for eating habits, the next day you can say, okay, some of the things I yesterday didn't make me feel so good. What can I eat today that might make me feel a little bit better? All right. And then you evaluate how you feel when you wake up the next day. And I started this experiment with myself probably a couple of years ago. And I noticed that when I ate a lot of carbs and a lot of sugar at night.'cause that's the only time I'm going to eat it.'cause I go to sleep right after and I don't feel like crap the whole day. I realize that when I eat sugar at night, the next day I wake up foggy. Now you have to then tune in. Is that fogginess helping me or taking away from me? Is it something that I'm okay with occasionally or is it something that I'm okay with always or is it something I'm not okay with at all? And through my experiment I realized I'm okay with it sometimes, but I'm not okay with it all the time. So if I have a heavy day of readings or I have a big group reading that I'm doing, am I gonna jam my system with sugar the night before? No,'cause I wanna be clearheaded the day before. So that'll get you started with intuitive eating, of feeling, how you feel the next day, and adjusting from there. What do you think about that?

Kim 15:57

Yeah, I think you're right. So much of the problem here is about restricting. Mm-hmm. When you restrict yourself from eating certain foods, or even eating too much, you know, when you want another cookie and you tell yourself, no, I'm not gonna eat that other cookie. That's bad. I'm not gonna do it. Well then guess what you're thinking about. For the whole next day, that cookie.

Gina 16:19

Yeah, totally.

Kim 16:19

Whereas if you ate the cookie, it would probably make you feel a little sick and you're not gonna want the cookie anymore. Mm, mm-hmm. And so I do think restricting is a key thing here that you have to, it's very difficult to get over that hump we're so used to restricting. Yeah. But that's actually one of the principles of intuitive eating. So I thought I'd tell you a little bit about the background of intuitive eating since. I'm not good at practicing it myself. I did some research

Gina 16:46

bring on the research sister. Yeah.

Kim 16:48

So, intuitive eating was developed by two registered dieticians. It was first introduced as a book in 1995 and it was called Intuitive Eating, A Revolutionary anti-D Diet Approach. And that's really what it is. It's anti-D diet. Mm-hmm. So these dieticians were working with clients. They kept seeing them, doing all of these yo-yo diets and going back and forth and like you said, it was wrecking their metabolism. Mm-hmm. It was wrecking their mental, relationship with food and it was also wrecking their bodies. And so they created this intuitive eating framework. In response to that cycle of chronic yo-yo dieting mm-hmm. Which was just wreaking havoc on their bodies and their minds. And they created this model that was based on 10 core principles. And so I thought I'd go through those just so that everybody, knows what intuitive eating is. Yeah. So, yeah. Number one is to reject the diet mentality. Again, it's to decide I'm not gonna go on diets anymore. I'm going to eat intuitively and I'm gonna commit to that. And understanding that diets are restrictive, they are harmful, they're temporary fixes, they're not sustainable, lasting changes. And anybody who's ever gone on diets knows that. We know that logically. Mm-hmm. Yeah, we still do it. Right? Yes. So reject that diet mentality. Number two is honor your hunger. Learn to recognize and respond to your body's biological hunger signals before they become overwhelming. And I thought that this was key before the hunger becomes overwhelming.

Gina 18:31

Mm-hmm.

Kim 18:32

If you want to trust your body, your body needs to be able to trust you. So you need to feed it on a regular basis, nourish it on a regular basis. And that way it's not just ravenously hungry, in survival mode. You haven't fed me, I'm going to eat everything in sight. That's how it responds when it feels like it's not getting enough nourishment.

Gina 18:56

That goes straight into eating disorders. Mm-hmm. And a lot of diets create eating disorders, especially like with intermittent fasting it's like, no eating until a certain time, and then you can eat whatever you want. Yeah, and that's where I binge eating

Kim 19:13

basically.

Gina 19:13

Yeah. And that's where I took it to the extreme. And I'll be vulnerable and saying like, when I was doing intermittent fasting, I was so unhealthy. I was eating one time a day, but that one time a day. Spanned over like several hours, okay? Mm-hmm. So it was like I was eating dinner and then whatever I else wanted after dinner, and that's how wrecked my metabolism was back then. Mm-hmm. So before you get to that hugely hunger place, like that's super important. I like that tool.

Kim 19:46

Yeah, I did intermittent fasting as well. Mm-hmm. And, um, it did, it worked. But again, it was this restricting feeling. It's not a good relationship with food. Yeah. You know, you need breakfast, you need lunch, you need dinner. Like, these things are important. And your body needs to be nourished properly. Yeah. And I do think, not just when it comes to diets, but like, if you look at our typical schedules now, we simply aren't eating consistently enough because of our schedules. Like mm-hmm. Maybe we skip breakfast because we're running late, we're trying to get out the door and then, we have a meeting that runs over, we gotta get this email out before we go to lunch, you know? So by the time you go to lunch, maybe it's. 2:00 PM Again, your body is like screaming at you. It's starving. Yeah, it's hungry. And when you're that hungry, McDonald's looks like a five star restaurant. That's just the way it is. Yeah. Or maybe you had an early lunch at like, say 11, and then after work you went straight to a workout class and so you don't get home till seven 30 or eight. Well, guess what? Your body hasn't had enough to eat for the day. So hello to whatever you can get your hands on. Again, if you wanna trust your body, your body needs to be able to trust you. You need to nourish it, you need to feed it on a consistent basis. Mm-hmm. And then number three, make peace with food. So. Give yourself unconditional permission to eat all foods without guilt or judgment, which is what you were just saying. Eat whatever you want. Because that eliminates those cravings and it actually eliminates binging because you'll see how you feel afterwards. And that's, yeah, it's like that. Natural consequences, right?

Gina 21:25

Mm-hmm.

Kim 21:26

But you know, I do have a question about that because I think people go on diets because they feel like they're eating everything they want. Mm-hmm. Then they, start seeing the weight going up on the scale, and that's when they go, oh, I can't do that. Mm-hmm. So how do we. How do we find that happy medium? I think that that's, in all things you have to find the happy medium of, I'm not going to just stuff my face with any and everything that I want. Mm-hmm. But also I am going to honor my cravings. How can we find that

Gina 21:57

Well, I think finding that happy medium, first and foremost you have to really be in tune with your body. Mm-hmm. And hopefully by this time, listening to all of our podcasts, hopefully you guys are tuning into your bodies at this point.

Kim 22:16

Mm-hmm.

Gina 22:17

Okay. And really learning the subtleties of all of that. And here's the thing, like I might have a day where I eat. Everything in sight, and I have insatiable hunger, but guess what? The next day I'm gonna make sure that I eat very healthfully the next day. You know, and it, and it's all about tuning into, if, if there are extreme cases. Now extreme cases of I have no self-control. I'm just eating whatever I want whenever I want. That's like a different scenario that has different trauma lines tied to it. What I wanna speak to is the average person that is, pretty healthy, but still trying to get their health ultimate. And it all comes down to discipline and making a decision that your body is your temple. And your temple is the most important thing, how you feel, and if that is your number one goal, I want to feel my best. And you really feel it and want it. It's not about weight. It's not about food. It's all about how you feel inside. And at that point, you can really. Go into the eating intuitively with that intention of, alright, what is going to fuel my body? And I always say this when I teach intuitive eating, or say I'm working with someone on a full body mind and spirit audit, and we get to the food and eating portion of it all, I never tell people to take things out of their diet. I tell them to add it in. So I will say, you can eat whatever you want all day long, but make sure you have. So many calories, so many grams of protein, so many fruits, so many vegetables. And then you can eat whatever else you want next, but make sure you get all of that. So I have them add in the healthy elements and just naturally some of the unhealthy elements there won't be room for them. There'll still be a little room, but not a ton of room.

Kim 24:46

That makes sense, especially with protein. When you start actually looking at how much protein you should be eating in a day and start trying to get that in. Mm-hmm. You get full, you get really full on protein. You're not wanting all of the snacks and all the sugary and salty, things. So that makes sense. I also think, you mentioned. Tuning into your body. It's, and it's not just about tuning into your body, but it's also about tuning into your feelings as well. Mm-hmm. And one of the principles with, intuitive eating is to cope with your emotions with kindness. So basically, start recognizing when you feel hungry and why, you know, are you just bored? Are you anxious? What is causing you to run to the pantry and what can you do, instead, if that's what it's about. If it's really just about different emotions and trying to find non-food coping mechanisms for emotions like stress, sadness, anxiety, or boredom, instead of using food for comfort.

Gina 25:50

Food gives your body a chemical response. And so if you can identify, and this is where the curious cat comes in with your scientific research. So different foods give your body a different chemical reaction. And so if you wanna get super curious, you can document this. And during your, I'm going to eat whatever I want. Jot down what emotions come up for you or what feeling comes up for you when you eat a specific food. Like I know when I'm craving carbs that I'm sleepy and that I'm like trying to warm up my body. I know when I'm craved chocolate, I need joy. I need passion, I need connection. And so each food that you eat is gonna give you an emotion. It's gonna give you a feeling. So then if you can identify what feeling you're needing from said food, then you can negate the food and give yourself that feeling in a different form.

Kim 27:00

Yeah, And I think part of this also is, two more principles with intuitive eating, which I think go hand in hand, which is to make peace with food and to challenge the food police. Give yourself, like we said, unconditional permission to eat all foods without guilt or judgment. So that you can eliminate those cravings and binging, but also stop labeling food as good or bad and yourself as good or bad based on those food choices. Mm-hmm. So when you start noticing, oh, I ate that because I was bored or because I was anxious, don't put a label on that of that was bad. Yeah. Instead. Start looking at it as information, just like you're saying, it's only information. You're either winning or you're learning, right?

Gina 27:46

Yeah.

Kim 27:46

Yeah. And I think like so many of us. We've learned that the way to survive in this world is by finding a map. Here's my religion map, here's my work map, here's my diet map. But the problem with maps is that someone else has made them, and it may work for them, but not necessarily for you. And when it comes to eating, one size does not fit all. One person may thrive. Being gluten-free or being vegetarian, or eating little carbs but if you crave bread or animal products or pasta, trust your cravings and trust when you have those cravings, again, you're going to get information. Whenever that happens, and then you can make different choices the next time. Nothing is good or bad. It all just is, all foods are neutral and you really need to let your inner compass guide you. If something is calling you to eat it, eat it, period, and do so without the guilt and without the shame. This, goes into, when you look at. The fact that our minds create our reality. If you're constantly thinking that you are eating bad or you're labeling certain foods as bad and then eating them, what do you think that that is going to create? And this is definitely the hardest principle to master because people think that they can't control their thought. But they can. They just have to catch the bad thought, and they have to pivot it, replace it with a better thought, and do that every time it pops up. Eventually, you will rewire your brain, and we've talked about that in prior episodes, but ultimately rewire your reality as well.

Gina 29:31

I know. I was gonna say, if you need help with rewiring your brain, check out our neuroplasticity episode that just came out recently. It will help you tremendously. And to go on what you were just saying about good or bad, it helps me think of a beautiful cake for dessert. I love baking and I love making things beautiful. And I love baking cakes. And when I do, if someone were to say to me, oh my gosh, no, that's too bad. I'm not gonna have a piece of cake. I don't wanna be bad today. Or I'm gonna be bad, I'm gonna have a piece of cake. Like, what's bad about that? Think about it from it. From this perspective, I put all of my heart and soul into baking this, and my cakes take like. Two days to make like they're fancy. I love them. I took two days to put all of my heart and soul and love into this cake. What's bad about it?

Kim 30:31

Yeah.

Gina 30:31

What's bad about it? It's beautiful. It's an expression of love. It tastes really good and it can be a heartwarming, amazing experience, you know? And so just food for thought. But another thing that came up that you talked about. Are, really respecting your cravings because they can be telling. So if you have a craving of salt, like it can show that you're dehydrated and that you need more, sodium in your diet. If you get a headache, it can be signs of needing more, Sodium or more sugar in your diet. If you're craving sugar, that is a huge sign that you need more protein. It's also a huge sign that you need more joy. If you're craving carbs, you need more sleep or you're not getting enough nutrients, and it's like every craving that we have shows what emotion we need, but also shows what nourishing food will help our body function better. And oh, by the way, if you don't know this, listen, hear sisters and brothers, your brain needs carbohydrates. To function. If you're not eating carbs, and this can be potatoes, this can be, pastas, whatever is a healthy carb for you, your brain needs it to function, so. Doing things that, oh, I'm, oh, I don't eat carbs. Like that is not where we are anymore. That's old school thinking. Your brain will function much better with a healthy dose of carbs every day.

Kim 32:15

Your brain and your body, your, you, that's energy. Carbs are energy. Mm-hmm. And so yeah, it's an essential trying to, I think anytime that you try to remove, one of the essential nutrients, you are setting yourself up for failure. You're not gonna feel good. If you remove carbs, you're gonna feel sluggish, you're gonna be very, very tired. And it's the same with anything. If you remove fat or protein or whatever. And so again, that's Going back to what you were saying, let's add it in. Let's not try to remove, because that's really where the problems start. Yeah. And what you were talking about with the cake. That's one of the principles as well. Discover the satisfaction factor. So find pleasure and satisfaction in the eating experience. Eating should be a source of enjoyment and not just a means to an end. Yes, food is fuel for sure, but you also want to enjoy it. That's important as well. Food is meant to be enjoyed.

Gina 33:12

Absolutely. Which bends my mind a little bit. So are you, are you open to trying something? Sure live while we're recording. Yes.

Kim 33:24

Let's hear it.

Gina 33:25

This is not premeditated, but something that just came up. So you said at the beginning of the episode you hate cooking, you hate food, all of these things. Thinking about cooking because you know you have babies and a husband and all of that. What do you think will make cooking better for you or easier for you? How can you bring a little bit of joy into that?

Kim 33:52

Well, we do always turn music on when we're cooking. I think that that, oh, I love that. You know, it kind of sets the scene, it makes things feel, a little better. Right now it's hard because when I get off work, my kids want me, they don't want me cooking, and so no matter what it is that I'm going to make, I mean, even if we did like the HelloFresh meals there for a while. It may say 20 or 30 minutes. No, it's gonna take me an hour. Yeah. And like that's time that I could be spending with them. And you say well involve them in the cooking experience, you know, get them to Yeah.

Gina 34:26

No.

Kim 34:26

To help you. No, I mean, then it's gonna be two hours. Okay.

Gina 34:30

That's a, that's a beautiful Pinterest life that you see pictures of. That's like that.

Kim 34:36

I've tried it. I've tried

Gina 34:38

it. That is not reality. On a Wednesday night at six 30.

Kim 34:42

No, not unless you just wanna be in the kitchen all night, you know? Yeah. And so I think that that's part of it is that, I'm going straight from work to doing something else that's like work. Yeah. And I'm not spending that time with my kids. And then what are my kids doing? Most of the time they're watching a show on TV or whatever it is. Mm-hmm. Just to keep them occupied. And so, yeah. I mean, I don't know the answer to that question. Yeah. So what do you do?

Gina 35:08

Something that helps me is because I am an insane type A I'm insane, but something that helps me a little bit is getting everything prepped beforehand. And so if I'm cooking a meal, like during a break, sometimes I get like a 20 minute break in between readings or something like that. And if I'm working from home, I can prep all of that food for later on that day or on the weekends. I have all the time in the world to cook dinners, So something that helps me is really prepping everything beforehand so that I don't have everything to do all at one time. Mm-hmm. And I also create less intensive. Meals for the weekdays, and then I'll do my more intensive recipes on the weekends. And something that helps me is trying one new recipe a week, and I typically do it on a weekend so that I have more time, but it helps me with my creative process. And something else that I love to do because, you know, food is such a huge part of my life. I love being intentional with my cooking, meaning like my thought process that I infuse in the cooking. So I might say as I'm cooking up, I don't know, green beans, like I might set the intention of. Help these green beans really nourish our bodies. Help them bring some magic, you can even be specific, like infuse these green beans with magic. So Knox will eat them all, you know, like, you know, infuse your food and put love into it and it helps me reframe it versus, oh my God, it's six 30 on a Wednesday. I don't feel like cooking right now. This is gonna be terrible. Okay. Another thing that's super helpful if you have a partner, something that Nicholas and I have been doing recently that has really taken a huge weight off of my shoulders cooking wise.'cause I kind of like come up with all the recipes, what we're gonna cook, do all the shopping, all of that. But he'll cook an element. Of what we're using. So like he'll either do the protein and I'll do the sides or vice versa, and that has been the biggest help ever. So that could work also.

Kim 37:48

Yeah, I do enjoy it a lot better when Kyle and I cook together. Um, yeah, that always makes it a little bit more fun and of course quick as well. Mm-hmm. That sounded a lot like what you were talking about, like blessing your food. Which I think is always a good practice, whenever you're eating or drinking anything is to, to bless it first. It's just that intentionality, you know? Mm-hmm. It's not mm-hmm. Some religious thing or you know, whatever, but it's just having intention about what you're doing before you do it changes the entire experience. So I definitely get that. I think that makes sense.

Gina 38:24

Absolutely. And even if you're cooking something, traditionally that's like a heavier food or that's coined an unhealthy food especially. Bless that. If you're sitting down with a package of Oreos, bless the heck out of those Oreos. You know what I mean? And then it's like, all right, then it, it still has a different value because you also have to know. That food has vibration. And this will be my last tangent on intuitive eating, but every food has a vibration to it. Every food has an energetic frequency. If you wanna be a high vibe living person, you have to eat more high vibe, foods and a high vibe. Food comes from the earth. Or walks the earth. Okay. That is no process. Not a lot of hands have been on it. That's gonna have a higher frequency, so. A sweet potato is going to have a higher frequency than say a, you know, piece of pasta or a green bean or a piece of steak is gonna have a higher frequency than say a chocolate chip cookie. So if you look at it from that aspect and be like, okay, how high vibe do I wanna be today? Then I'm gonna choose high vibe foods. If you're like, nah, I wanna be a couch potato and be an introvert today, then maybe you're gonna choose lower vibe foods, but try to pick the vibe that you want for your intuitive eating.

Kim 40:02

Yeah, and that goes with, principle number 10 of intuitive eating, which is honor your health, but gentle nutrition. So again, making food choices that support your health and wellbeing, but doing so with a flexible and kind approach without rigid roles or restrictions. Don't beat yourself up your human. It's all okay. We've talked about it before. It's just information. And then I also wanted to mention the last two, which was Respect Your Body. Which basically says to accept and appreciate your body for what it is, regardless of its size or shape, and focus on caring for it rather than trying to control it. And I do think this goes right along with, principle number nine, which is movement feel the difference. And it's basically to engage in physical activity that you enjoy rather than exercising as a punishment or to burn calories. I think so much of our fear about our body comes from what we think other people are thinking about us. Mm-hmm. Um, but people aren't thinking about you as much as you think they are.

Gina 41:11

Yeah.

Kim 41:11

And when they do have some kind of passing judgment about you, it really doesn't matter. I mean, you know, we judge people all the time, even people that we love dearly, and it doesn't change how much we love them or like them. There's always gonna be things about other people that you are in judgment of, but again. Who cares. And the people that you don't like that are judging you, again, who really cares in that situation. Mm-hmm. What does it matter what they think about you? Think about what you think about them, right? So

Gina 41:40

yeah,

Kim 41:41

Once you come to that realization and you stop putting so much pressure on yourself to please everyone else. Mm-hmm. With your body and the way that you look. I think that that's really a game changer. And it's the same with exercise. Exercising shouldn't be a punishment. It shouldn't be like, oh, I have to exercise to eat this, or I have to exercise because my body doesn't look the way I want it to look. Mm-hmm. Or I need to burn these calories. And, I can relate to this one because. I did get to this point with exercise just in like the past year where exercise for me was, had always been about losing weight.

Gina 42:20

Hmm.

Kim 42:20

And. Just with my studies on the brain and quantum physics, I realize I look good when I feel good.

Gina 42:28

Yes.

Kim 42:29

And I feel good when I've worked out that day.

Gina 42:33

Mm-hmm.

Kim 42:33

And that is really what it's all about, feeling good. The more that you feel good, the longer you feel good on a daily basis, the outside will start to change to match that.

Gina 42:43

Mm-hmm.

Kim 42:44

And it's not just about feeling good in the moment. Like grabbing a bag of chips can feel good. Sure. But feeling good after you do things too. Like what feels good overall? And when I work out, I feel great. I've got a pep in my step. Like I feel good about myself. And the more that I'm in that energy, then I start looking in the mirror and my body's changing, right? Mm-hmm. And I'm not even focused on changing it. It's just happening. Yeah. And so I think that that's really important as well, is, you know. Move in a way that feels good to yourself and do it because it feels good and just accept your body how it is., Things will begin to change when your mind starts to change, but that can't be the focus.

Gina 43:26

Yeah, no, not at all. And it, and it made me think of, so many times I see people that have gone through like drastic weight changes and I'm a blunt person, so I'm like, oh my gosh. I was like, you look like a totally different person. And these are, you know, very close relationships. I wouldn't be this direct with people that I don't have a close relationship with, and I'll say. Were you trying to lose weight or is it stress? And I already know the answer. Majority of the time when I see these drastic weight changes, it is because of stress and it doesn't look good on them because they don't feel good inside. Mm-hmm. And. How you feel is the most important element of all of this. It doesn't matter how you look, it doesn't matter how you look in the mirror. It matters how you feel, because how you feel is the true essence and the true beauty of who you are.

Kim 44:29

Yeah,

Gina 44:29

it truly, truly is. And if you do things that make you feel good, including intuitive eating, you're gonna be set. You're gonna be golden.

Kim 44:39

Yeah. And when you're talking about feeling things, I realize that I actually missed, one of the principles, which is a really practical tip, as well, but it's feel your fullness. So pay attention to your body's signals to know when you've eaten enough and stop eating when you feel comfortably full. Not uncomfortably full, but comfortably full. And I think a big part of this is eating slowly and again, enjoying your food rather than, you know, just stuffing yourself or inhaling your food because you don't realize that you're full until it's far too late. Mm-hmm. Um, my son will. In the morning, he'll scarf down his waffle, and he'll ask for another one right away. Mm-hmm. And then by the time it's done toasting, he'll go, oh, I don't want that anymore. Because he's to realize that he's full. And that's how it is. You don't know why you're in the process of eating that you're full unless, mm-hmm. Unless you slow down and you're mindful about it. Don't multitask mindlessly like. Chomping away while you're watching tv. You're working. Actually focus on your food. I learned sometime back, and I don't know where it came from, but it is true that there's this moment while you're eating where you will hesitate and you'll physically take a deep breath. And that means that you are full. And it happens every time if you really start to pay attention.

Gina 46:01

I have never paid attention to this and I just learned something new and I'm gonna try this.

Kim 46:06

Yes,

Gina 46:06

no way for real.

Kim 46:08

Yes, pay attention. Okay? You'll take the deep breath and I promise you, you will experience it. And if you're mindful of it and you go, oh, that means I'm done. You're not gonna actually feel full at that moment. But your body is telling you it is full. And if you put your fork down and you, you know, walk away, do something else, you can always tell yourself, I'll come back to it. If I'm not actually full, I'll come back to it. Um, but yes, if you put your fork down at that moment, you're gonna feel great because your body's full.

Gina 46:34

Okay. You know that I'm a big O dweeb over here and I love experimenting, so I cannot,

Kim 46:40

yes. Tell me

Gina 46:41

how it go. Wait, I cannot wait for all of this because I'm gonna test it out. This is gonna be absolutely amazing.

Kim 46:50

You know, when it comes to holiday gatherings too, I think sometimes we fill up our plate'cause we're just so excited. There's so much food. We don't realize how much food there is, so we start piling it on and then we get down and we see that there's more. Just put a little bit on your plate. Yeah. Like, don't worry so much about what people think about, if you go back for seconds, just put a little taste of everything on your plate because what you think you might like, you might not actually like, and then you're gonna feel guilty and have to eat it. Mm-hmm. But this also gives you the opportunity to, one, eat what you really want.'cause you're gonna know what you like. You can go back and get more of it, but it also gives you a chance to feel those hungry cues. It also gives you a chance to, when you get up to go get seconds, you know you've taken a little bit of a break there where you can actually feel full and not just load up on a ton of food.

Gina 47:40

I love that. And so I actually have intentionality around holiday events with this, and so something that I do specifically because I am a foodie and I also often don't feel full, so I can just like. Gorge myself because I just grew up this way. Like, I go over to my mom's house, she's like, you hungry? And I say, no, I'm, I just ate. And she's like, okay, I'll fix you. I'll fix you this., It's just, you can't get out of there without something. So what I do around the holidays is I create my plate of food with the things that nourish my body first. And then I'll go back and if I have room, I'll try all of the different things. So I don't care if I offend Karen, like I'm not gonna put anything on my plate that I don't want to eat, period. Mm-hmm. All right. So everybody out there offend Karen if they want to eat what's good for your body and what you want to put into it first, and then pile up everything else and see what's left.

Kim 48:40

Yeah. I mean, that's just the number one most basic rule for life if you ask me, is stop worrying so much about what other people think about what you are doing. It does not matter.

Gina 48:50

Amen.

Kim 48:50

Your main goal is to make yourself happy. Obviously, you never wanna hurt anybody else, of course, but your main goal is to make yourself happy and to do the things that you want to do with your life. And if you're so concerned about what everybody else is thinking about what you have on your plate or otherwise, I mean, you're just setting yourself up for failure. Tune in. What do you want? Ask yourself, what do I want? And then move accordingly. That's that alignment piece. You know your thoughts, your beliefs, your feelings, and your actions. They all need to align if you wanna manifest the kind of life that you want.

Gina 49:26

Thank you so much for that, Kim. That was beautifully said. If you have any questions, concerns, comments about intuitive eating, please reach out to Kim and I. We hope you have enjoyed this episode and we will be back next week. Bye.