31 Day Blog Challenge - Day 5

Yummy... Day 5 gives me two topics I like to write about...

My guilty pleasure is...

I have a lot of them, yet I oddly don't feel all that guilty about many of them. Perhaps the only one I really do feel guilty about is my love of cereal. My tastes change regularly, but I love sugary cereal, within limits, and could eat it several times a day.

No, I'm really not supposed to eat cereal at all, according to my doctor, but after she cut yet another group of foods out of my rapidly dwindling list of "okay" foods, I finally decided I'd had enough. Yes, I lost 50 pounds eating the way she wanted me to. However, when my short list got shortened even more, I made the brave decision to find joy in food again. Oddly, I haven't gained any weight back, so maybe there's something to this.

Maybe my guilty pleasure is simply that I love food, and I love eating again. I'm learning to honor my hunger and my body's needs and wants, and I'm finding that I come full circle once again, and I'm craving more nutritious foods again, though now, it's from a place of "this is what I want to eat" not "this is all I'm allowed to eat." Funny how that makes all the difference.

What's my guiding principle now that I've quit dieting? Intuitive eating. I'm learning to listen to my body's hunger signals, stop when I'm full, and savor what I eat. Make a fist. That's really all the bigger your stomach is! Now, think of how much food you cram onto a dinner plate. Do you really think you're enjoying all that food? Do you walk away from the table feeling like a fattened calf?

I'll step off my soapbox, but will highly recommend this book (you can grab it on Amazon by clicking the link):

10 songs I love right now...

I picked 10 songs off my favorite playlist that I listen to every day while I'm writing or creating. They fuel me, give me some oomph to carry me on into my day, and move me forward. They are:

1. FIGHT SONG - RACHEL PLATTEN
2. FIGHTER - CHRISTINA AGUILERA
3. STRONGER - KELLY CLARKSON
4. LET IT GO - PENTATONIX
5. POCKETFUL OF SUNSHINE - NATASHA BEDINGFIELD
6. TEN THOUSAND HOURS - MACKLEMORE
7. BANG A DRUM - SELENA GOMEZ
8. UNSTOPPABLE - SIA
9. BEST DAY OF MY LIFE - AMERICAN AUTHORS
10. WE'RE TAKING OVER - BEA MILLER