Great Healthy Eating Habits Start by Listening to Your Body

When I think about healthy eating habits, I realize that I often ate simply because there was still food on my plate. Since childhood I had been an esteemed member of the clean your plate club.

When I bravely told my daughter to ask her body if she was really full, I did not know what was going to happen next.

My daughter proceeded to pull up her shirt, look at her belly and say, “Tummy, are you still hungry?” She thought about it for a minute and then reported back that her belly was really full and she was done with her dinner.

It was a four year old who taught me how to easily assess my own state of fullness after a meal.

I realize now how important portion control is to my continued success. On days when I feel life is spiraling out of control, and I am on the brink of not keeping it together, I want to just sit.

And eat.

But then I think back to “Tummy, are you really hungry?” I find that I might indeed be hungry, or I just might want a cold glass of mineral water and five minutes to myself with the newspaper.

I can have the water, but my alone time with the paper usually falls victim to a game of Go Fish with my three year old.

I'll enjoy that while it lasts.

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