Intuitive Eating Challenge

I've seen multiple posts on this lately and I think it's something I'd really like to try. You might ask, what is intuitive eating. From my understanding, the idea of intuitive eating is really listening to our bodies and trying to get in tune with providing our bodies with what they really need. Instead of restricting ourselves, cutting out foods and going on crazy diets that are hard to maintain, we try to listen to our body and give it what it really needs. I have struggled with body image and food issues for as long as I can remember but I think intuitive eating is going to be a healthy challenge for me. Many eating issues stem from emotional and psychological problems which I've really been working hard on lately. I think that working on the emotional aspect of my eating struggles at the same time will be incredibly beneficial (and hopefully more effective in the long run).

So here's my plan for this intuitive eating:

Step 1: Ask myself, "What do I want to get out of this challenge?"

• Answer (in parts): I have been struggling with my weight for a long, long time. I've been stuck at around the same place for a few years and I cannot seem to move forward. I fixate so much on the number that I forget why I want to lose weight in the first place. Here's what I'd like to see:

1.  I am sick and tired of seeing myself as the fat girl. I have been working so hard to make healthy changes but I never forgive myself for slipping up and I rarely give myself credit for what I've already accomplished. I need to revise the way I view myself and remember to give myself a little love. Here's how I think of it: I would never treat a friend the way I treat myself, so my goal is to start caring about myself the way I care for others.
2. My relationship with food is incredibly abusive and I have realized that I don't use food to satiate hunger as we should. I use food to avoid things, to procrastinate, to fill holes etc. Instead of dealing with issues as they arise, my instinct is to suffocate feelings with food. I really want to work on listening to my body and respecting it's needs. 
3. I want to be able to live a healthy lifestyle. No calorie counting, no points calculating, no guilt. I want to fill my body with the things it craves and I want to stop feeling guilty when I mess up. Basically, I want to end the vicious cycle of dieting and simply eat yummy, healthy foods that my body craves. 

• To sum it up: Love myself, revise my mentality on eating, break up with the scale and slowly get rid of the diet mentality. 

Step 2: How do I plan to do this:

• No more scales. I have been so obsessed with the number on the scale and I think it's holding me back. Every single time I step on, I am never satisfied. Ever. I partook in an exercise this week where myself and a few others had a little one on one chat with the scale (it sounds silly, but it was SO empowering). After we cursed it, and verbally ripped it to shreds for having way too much power in our lives, we literally ripped it to shreds. We smashed it with a hammer, snapped all the pieces, tore up the numbers and broke it apart. It was incredible. So yes, No More Scale (I'm going to go as long as I can without weighing in). 
• Journal: I used to write in my journal pretty much everyday and I stopped doing that when things got busy. I really enjoy writing and I think it will be good to sit down at the end of every day and sum up my feelings, even if it's only in a few words. 
• Hold Myself Accountable: I'll definitely be posting updates here to let you know how things are going!
• Allow Myself to Make Mistakes: I am not perfect (despite my valiant efforts!) and I need to allow myself to make mistakes without constantly feeling guilty. 

So that's that with the intuitive eating challenge. I'm super tired but I'll post more about it later this weekend :)