Intuition vs. Compulsion, halfi-versary, and more

How many times have you read or heard somebody say "If I ate intuitively, I'd weigh 500 lbs!" or "Eating intuitively is what got me to nearly 300 lbs in the first place!" or something along those lines?

If you've been following me for long, you know that I have been struggling more with eating the last few weeks. It doesn't matter why - we all have our excuses and our times when we struggle more than others. I've been eating for entertainment which is the hardest habit for me to break. Yes, I love food -yummy yummy food that isn't good for me. Yes, I find comfort in eating what i want. And when I feel "blah" for whatever reason, I am compelled to eat and eat and eat said yummy, fattening food because that's what I want to do in the short term. That's what compulsion is all about - satisfying urges for short-term pleasure as opposed to using your intellect and determining what it is we really want out of our food and out of our lives as a whole.

Setting aside the compulsion and focusing on what we know is eating right is at the center of every one of our "diets" or attempts at healthy living. We have to make ongoing choices and sometimes circumstances make those choices more difficult than others. It's okay to have setbacks as long as we don't let them become a way of life. Replacing the compulsion to eat with other compulsions isn't going to lead us to where want to be either. Working things through, keeping your intuition keen and sharp, that's where it's at. And that's what we all work to do every day to make our lives better and longer.