How do you "listen to your body"?

[hellicat]

Hi all,

Sorry in advance if this is posted in the wrong place.

But I don't understand what "listen to your body" means.

Sometimes I feel my stomach rumble - but I'm not hungry. So I don't eat.

But other times I feel hungry in my mouth/throat. I know Joel Furhman has talked about this before. In these circumstances, I eat.

I feel I'm missing something. Can anyone elaborate on what "listen to your body" actually means?

I should add that I'm recovering from depression, generalised anxiety disorder, and bulimia. The bulimia developed after I recovered from anorexia in 2005-2006.

Thanks to raw, I've already quit drugs and cigarettes. I know I can defeat my "mental health" problems too. I'm in therapy... but I could use some advice from all of you. I've banana searched for this topic already.

Thanks

[iluvmangos]

For me, listening to my body means that if I have a craving for a food, I eat it. If I feel like I want apples or oranges I eat them. If I feel like I want salad, I eat it. I don't worry about how much fat or calories is in it. I just eat it.

[artgirly4]

Hi hellicat, listening toy our body, to me, means that I go with my instinct.
Not my cravings for something bad for me. I would prefer to use the word attraction..what am I attracted to eat right now.
So when I am hungry and I say "ok what do you feel like" and it comes up "green juice"...ok go I have green juice.

Sometimes, for me, it comes up hot soup. On my plan, I have organic homeade hot soup. Or it might be heavy raw like nuts or soemthing like that.I think because I drink so much green juice, my body wants to slow down the detox a bit. Sometimes it is all too overwhelming and I want to slow it. The key is to stay raw. Otherwise this might lead you into the world of unhealthy eating.
Do what works for you and you alone....listen to your body. It knows.

If you eat something your body doesnt want, it will surely let you know..listen. If you eat something that brings total bliss, listen. And these things all change at times too. I am currently having a ton of green juice. What I am attracted to every day(how cool?)

I give my body what it wants...what I want. I shop that way too. Whatever I am drawn to while looking at produce is what I buy.

Good for you on your progress over cigs n such.
There is no quick fix for depression n such. Raw helps in the best way, by healing. However it is a rocky road sometimes to deal with al that come sup. Only way to heal it is to feel it.
If we are used to drugging and covering it with heavy foods or any other substance, we learn a new way..albeit a courageous walk.....to let it be and let it heal.
A tougher road but a more rewarding one.

I might be very careful with the bumimia/anorexia....I have seen some here merely replace one sickness for another. As in, you can get on raw as another fix, another way to control food. Still a "controlled substance" ugh.

Simply eat raw and living foods and you will heal.

This is all about healing. You are on your way.Congrats!

[back2healthy]

I listened to my body and it brought me here... searching for detoxing led me to this site and these wonderful threads.

My body was silently telling me that it needed a change, a detox and to get "back to healthy". After a major surgery and all of those aweful conventional meds... I needed to clean house. It's wild, but I just felt it.

This is my first week at raw and I feel fabulously different. I have a greater sense of clarity, I am losing my taste for sweets, refined foods and dairy.

So, for me, listening to my body was acknowledging a need for change. Then, everything else has fallen into place. It sounds like you already listened to yours because... you are here too:)

[juliebove]

Somebody else once posted about feeling hungry in their mouth/throat. I just don't get this! I have never felt this in my life. Are you sure it's not thirst you are feeling?

Gastric juices are what cause stomach rumbling. Doesn't necessarily mean you are hungry. For me it could mean my food is digesting. I have gastroparesis so my food digests slowly. If I am hungry there will for sure be an empty feeling in my stomach and I may feel a bit weak.

By listening to my body, I take heed to any cravings I might have. Now I don't normally have them. But I sometimes do. Mostly I will crave tomatoes or peppers. Sometimes lemons.

[cherry_lo]

I know what it's like not to be able to tell if you're really hungry or not. I am an ex anorexic, recovering bulimic as well, and I still have a hard time listening to my body. I first heard about the concept from my therapist, but it's difficult. I'm glad someone asked this question.

[Tenuho]

Yea i know what you mean by ''feeling hungry in the throat''....

i think being that you were anorexic you know what its like to go without food...

MOST people....usually eat continiously so dont really get that ''back of the throat feeling'' the back of the throat thing...its like being thirsty but instead of drink its calling for food...thats your body saying it wants food...

ive never been anorexic or anything...i used to be fat when i was younger but i know about the feeling because sometimes i do fasts for like 10 - 15 days and sometimes i get that feeling...if i get that i usually eat.....i normally want to eat around the same time anyway....so its no trouble and im not in conflict with myself....

infact at the moment im working on JUST following that....and eating when i feel that kind of sensation....otherwise im just eating for pleasure not cos my body wants it...

[iluvmangos]

Somebody else once posted about feeling hungry in their mouth/throat. I just don't get this! I have never felt this in my life. Are you sure it's not thirst you are feeling?

I don't get that "hunger in the throat" thing either. Never felt it in my life. I definitely feel hunger in my stomach, not my throat.

[LilacLavender]

I have a friend who recovered from bulimia. Whatever you decide to do, please make sure you hold yourself accountable to someone who will help you discern true hunger from the urges that those with eating disorders tend to experience. I say this in general and also because it can take a while to listen to your body to the point where you know exactly what it needs.

[kidkid]

...please make sure you hold yourself accountable to someone who will help you discern true hunger from the urges that those with eating disorders tend to experience...

I have definitely experienced those "urges", and they make listening to your body very confusing. I used to (and still do sometimes) binge eat. At those times, my body seemed to be screaming out for an entire bottle of agave nectar (at best), or an entire box of frosted flakes (at worst). I don't know whether to "listen to my body" or not, because it seems to want something that I suspect will make me feel horrible later.

And then I realized that I not only had to listen to my body in that moment when it seems to ask for something, but I also had to listen to what it was saying over longer periods of time -- I had to listen to how my body felt after I ate (did that make me feel sluggish or energized?), I had to listen to my emotions just prior to the urge to eat (am I eating because I'm sad? bored? uncomfortable?), and I had to listen to my emotional state after I ate (did that food make me feel anxious? depressed? hyper? calm? nourished?). I had to listen very objectively and honestly, without giving in to guilt or frustration when I was unhappy with what I was hearing from my body. Over time, I'm learning what my body is really, deeply asking for, even when it seems to be asking for something else superficially.

For me listening to my body means not only going on instinct but also examining my patterns and desires and discerning what it is I need.