What’s next?

My body asks for chocolate every single day after lunch. And dinner.

And breakfast, if I’m honest.

I have that charming, Irish-y way about me where I need a cuppa and something sweet after every meal in order to feel done. ☕🍫

But then a funny thing started to happen - I noticed that I was feeling exhausted every afternoon. Literally draggggging my bum through sessions (which I love and want to be 100% present for!) and thinking of nothing other than my cozy bed, two doors away.

I'd sneak out for a 5 minute nap every chance I could, and was becoming less and less productive. I started to wonder if I needed to change careers or had an unknown terminal illness. I was, as they say, SPIRALLING. 🍥

I did blood work and took some time off.

The blood work was normal and the time off felt good but I was still exhaustipated. Which is a new word I created to describe when you're so tired you can't even go to the bathroom.

In an act of sheer desperation, I made some changes to my diet. I wasn't fully on board with this idea on account of the anti-diet mind-fuckery I chatted about in my last email but desperate is desperate and so, I decided to limit sugar during the work day.

And whadd'ya know?

I stopped feeling so tired.

But the weirdest thing is that the cravings for chocolate didn't fully stop. I could go for handful of cocoa covered hazelnuts right now...

Which prompted the question: is my intuition leading the way? And if so, why does it keep leading me to fatigue?

I get asked that question a lot, especially when a woman’s intuition is asking for Oreos every night or jalapeño poppers for breakfast. It tends to sound a little more unhinged/ Something like: “there’s no fucking way my intuition wants chocolate five times a day, right? RIGHT? Is my intuition trying to MURDER ME?”

As far as I know, no intuitions have ever been formerly charged with murder but at times they can feel a bit murder-y. Like, whose side are you on? Do you want me to have blood sugar stability and heart health or not?

Or, if I were a less dramatic person, maybe I wouldn't call intuition murder-y, I just say - in a hushed whisper and with air quotes - that it can get confused. That there are 5,345 things that will interfere with your intuition and body wisdom, on any given day.

Your intuition (just like the late, great, Jesus Christ) loves you! But life is busy, and convenient (delicious!) foods are designed to be tricky and make you want to eat moremoremore. Social media is designed to get you addicted to thinking about nothing other than pimple popping videos and your body's impacted by all that’s happening in your environment (War! Pollution! Elon Musk!). Not to mention hormone changes. The hormone changes! Hormone changes can really f*ck a b*tch up.

Sorry. I feel like this email is taking a turn for the worse.

Here’s what I’m trying to say:

It can be hard to hear your intuition in the noise of modern life and easy to fall into habits that aren't serving you.

And, instead of badgering your intuition day and night for in the moment, 100% in-tune, information when she's already in a twist - how about you take your foot off the gas pedal and take some time to get to know her? Figure out when she's on her game and when she's off in la-la land. Introduce her to your brain and help the two of them make a plan that can withstand all the static feedback. Allow your brain to recognize patterns (for better or worse) and step in to help out when you and your intuition are overwhelmed.

In all my intuitive eating years, I never had anyone teach me how to integrate information from both my body AND brain - or the importance of it.

Diet years were all BRAIN BRAIN BRAIN

and

Intuitive eating years were all BODY BODY BODY.

Early on in life I was taught to say no to chocolate, as often as possible. And then, as I learned to eat intuitively, I swung into saying yes all the time. Neither felt great. When I allowed my brain to weigh in on my body's desires, without making either of them more important or more right, THAT is when I actually started to make good decisions and feel good.

Healthy-ish is what's next - Intuitive Eating Part Deux - the merging of brain and body that'll help you make intentional, intuitive decisions that allow you to find your happiest, healthiest self.

Jill