Perfection *Guest Post*

Today's guest blogger is Val, from Balancing Val. I found her blog recently and have really enjoyed reading about her successes while practicing Intuitive Eating.

I wanted to feature another blogger who is practicing Intuitive Eating and is proof that you don't have to be perfect to be successful. And I know what you're thinking...isn't Intuitive Eating what got you to be as fat as you are?

No. Not listening to my body's signals is what got me to be as fat as I was/am.

You can see from Val's picture below - she looks great. Her optimism is refreshing as is her drive to become a chef. Even though she's younger, she's a lot of how I want to be when I grow up.  And she's right, cheesy though it may sound, loving yourself seems to be the key to shrinking yourself. 

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Helloooo Smaller Fun Pants Readers! I am Val, the mastermind behind Balancing Val where I blog about my crazed adventures trying to find a healthy balance in my life.

Anne asked me to do a guest post while she is recovering and I hope she is doing well!

I have been battling disordered eating for many years. I was COMPLETLEY obsessed with dieting, my weight and swore that being thin would solve ALL my problems and make me PERFECT!

NOT!

I've been through the ringer and I can tell you that I am still at the very beginning of my journey and the ONLY thing that has shown me the light has been . . .

Intuitive Eating

Intuitive eating is a way in which you completely trust in the wisdom of your body and not your mind to let it tell you what to eat and when to eat it. Sounds scary huh?

I promise you . . . IT IS!

At first, it's incredibly difficult to give up the notion of dieting, to feel like you deserve carbs, to feel like you can eat at midnight, to gnaw at the feelings that have been buried but it is COMPLETELY worth it! I recommend it to ANYONE struggling with any type of disordered eating.

Of the many lessons I learned in the past few months I want to share with you the most important one . . .

THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A PERFECT EATER!

Yep, that's right. When you listen to your body or even listen to a diet . . . You will screw up! You will get knocked off the path, I guarantee it! But you know what?

THATS OK!

Seriously, life is not perfect and so you can expect your eating to be all the time also. It is so important to focus on not being guilty rather than how much weight you will gain.

If you are habitually over eating then stop and think of WHY? It's never about the food, I promise. Take your mistakes as lessons always and try your to be kind to yourself even in your worst moments. YOU WILL LEARN SOMETHING EVENTUALLY.

You have to want to love yourself MORE then you love the thought of losing weight. Once you start believing this and taking the steps you need to take, you will realize things are perfect NOW the way they are already. :)

I know all of this sounds scary and its not easy to achieve by any means! If anyone has any questions or would like me to guide them to some wonderful information on Intuitive Eating please feel free to drop me a comment on my blog or email me at Valerie@allstewart.com

Thank you Anne for this opportunity :)!