![\"foodgasm\"](\"http:\/\/angelaminelli.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/06\/foodgasm-150x150.jpg\")
There’s a little thing known as pleasure that is highly underestimated in the world of weight loss, and I have to admit, I’m guilty of teaching it but not necessarily always practicing what I preach.\n<\/p>\n\n\tThere’s a little thing known as pleasure that is highly underestimated in the world of weight loss, and I have to admit, I’m guilty of teaching it but not necessarily always practicing what I preach.\n<\/p>\n
\n\tI always primarily focused on what I should remove from my diet versus how I felt about what I was actually eating. For example, when I found out I was gluten intolerant, I eliminated gluten altogether even though foods with gluten made me indescribably happy. \n<\/p>\n
\n\tSome notice an immediate difference by cutting out an offending food like gluten, but for me, I noticed no difference at first. It actually took a while for me to realize how less bloated and less lethargic I was by not eating gluten, and it was hard finding suitable replacements<\/strong> for my favorite foods for a while until I finally did. \n<\/p>\n \n\tAll the while, I longed for pizza, bread and cake that were gluten-filled wonders of delight.\n<\/p>\n \n\tGluten is scientifically linked to thyroid disorder too, so I assumed by 86’ing it, my thyroid would automatically improve. Improve it did, naturally, without medication, yet I can't give the absence of gluten all the credit. There have been plenty of times on occasion that gluten has made its way into my diet. Unbeknownst to me, consciously or subconsciously, I found myself eating something that had gluten in it, after I ate it, when there was nothing I could do about it, other than hope it would hold harmless my thyroid.\n<\/p>\n \n\tTherefore, it's impossible for me to say conclusively that eliminating gluten is what made my thyroid improve in and of itself. Even a communion-sized wafer of gluten <\/strong>stays in your gut for as long as six weeks, and it can take almost a year to heal the damage from it. That being the case, if going gluten-free was the only reason <\/strong>my thyroid was once again healthy, it couldn't be, because I never truly was, despite the fact I had greatly reduced my intake of it.\n<\/p>\n \n\tSame goes for dairy. No one wants to be around me when I eat dairy, not even me, so for years I’ve avoided it. At least in doing so I’m able to pinpoint the source of my rumbling gut, and yet, as with gluten, the times I’ve been inextricably drawn to it, why is it that when I give in, if I simply hold the intention that it won’t create the reaction it might otherwise, it doesn't?\n<\/p>\n \n\tTake airport food for example. How many times have you been stranded in an airport with no options other than to eat airport food? You have to eat, so what do you do? Gelato, Auntie Anne’s pretzels, Cinnabon all tempt and dare you to indulge, yet you resist, regardless of how pleasurable they'd all feel on your palette.\n<\/p>\n \n\t(Let's face it. Junk food tastes good!)\n<\/p>\n \n\tSure, they’re inferior quality foods, but how do they make you feel?<\/em> That's the question here. In other words, how often are you aware of how you feel about what you’re eating versus feeling guilty and ashamed about it? More than likely, not often. Ask yourself, if you had to rate your food on a scale of 1-10 in terms of pleasure, what would it be?\n<\/p>\n \n\tWhen I finally figured it out for myself, and really understood what pleasurable eating was – which leads to what I call food-gasms -, I had an enormous breakthrough. I was a fraud! I had been regaling the virtues of pleasurable weight loss, but hadn’t truly been living it!\n<\/p>\n \n\tInstead, I spent my time longingly passing the bread and cookie aisles wishing I could eat just one bite. I refused birthday cake and cupcakes because they weren't gluten and dairy-free. And no matter what anyone wants to say, the GFDF versions just don’t cut it!\n<\/p>\n \n\tI then began to notice how others around me who never thought about their weight on a perpetual 24\/7 cycle like I did didn’t think twice about what they ate. They just ate. They never felt deprived either. I’m not talking about someeone who’s underweight. I mean just normal everyday people who think of eating like riding a bike. It's something that comes natural to them, they never forgot how to do it once they learned how, and they rarely overdo it.\n<\/p>\n \n\tAnd, they never feel guilty<\/strong> about doing it either.\n<\/p>\n \n\tThe point is, whatever conversation you're having with yourself when you're eating is the real reason why weight won't budge. It's so much less about the actual food than it is about your fear of gaining weight, your belief that you’re genetically stuck <\/strong>with excess fat, or your disbelief in the fact that your body is the ultimate nutritional expertise and knows what to do without the input of your doctor or local diet center.\n<\/p>\n \n\tYour intention trumps everything, so if you are ever stranded, or diagnosed with a gluten intolerance, or tell yourself you’ll gain weight if you scarf down an extra piece of gluten-filled pizza, then you will.\n<\/p>\n \n\tMy gluten DNA tests are merely a black-and-white representation of what proved to be true. I am gluten intolerant, however, my belief that my body can in fact tolerate gluten to a certain degree proves to be more true. While I make it a point to avoid it, if I accidentally eat it, it's neither here nor there because I know I'll be ok anyways. For too long, I let a piece of paper control my behavior with food over my own body, and I did nothing more than deprive myself of the foods I love. \n<\/p>\n \n\tThe very foods that literally bring a smile to my face so much so that I can feel it all the way down in my belly. \n<\/p>\n \n\t[bctt tweet=”Food is one of the greatest pleasures in life, but there are no hard and fast rules.”] It’s bio-individual, meaning you have to figure out for yourself what works and what doesn’t, no matter what your test results or anyone else has to say about it. You can<\/span> think your way thin, you just have to trust your body enough<\/strong> to know what to do in order to do it. \n<\/p>\n \n\tWhen it comes to rules, there’s only one in my book. If what I’m eating doesn’t give me a food-gasm, I don’t eat it. No matter what. We are programmed to seek pleasure and avoid pain, so why do anything else? It’s true. I am a bit of a food snob, but then again, my body loves me for it. \ud83d\ude42\n<\/p>\n \n\tOh! If you want more help, sign up for my free 7-video eCourse on how to stop emotional eating by clicking the button below. And be sure to leave your feedback on the blog!\n<\/p>\n\n\t![](\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/Qfbh1FeawwWcO--2T74aevh0yfmkKRn_kP_WHJQTQiowEttJV7Vxf37dlsdDB2uQZAIJRtQECwkyi__wA7h5MA=s0\")