I wasn’t going to get involved in or address this, but I’ve seen a couple of posts from other bloggers lately that have been almost tentative because they are going against the grain of what has recently been referred to as the “intuitive eating” movement. I just want to go on record as encouraging these people to not be so tentative because there is no need to be timid about your beliefs. Everyone is entitled to an opinion and to live their lives their way. I applaud those people who want to live and eat intuitively. It is something they aspire to and I will support and encourage anyone trying to achieve anything, no matter what it is (as long as it doesn’t harm others).
Personally however, I won’t be joining the intuitive eating movement just yet, because what I aspire to is to be the best athlete I can be. To be an athlete in any sport takes tremendous discipline and self-control. It takes hard work, sweat and tears. It takes eating the right kind of food to fuel performance. I’m not saying that being an athlete and intuitive eating can’t go hand in hand, but when it comes to the sport I have chosen to participate in, which is the sport of bodybuilding, you can’t eat a piece of chocolate cake two days out from comp because you feel like it. Well you can (and please go right ahead if you’re in my class… LOL!!), but it would be a silly choice as it jeopardises all the hard work you’ve put in up to that point.
I also think that there is no other feeling on earth like setting a goal and achieving it, but then again I have never had children. I am sure if I did have children, then this view might be altered. While some people think that setting goals can be detrimental, if you want to be an athlete I think a personal trainer by the name of Scott White said it well… “To become an athlete you will need to learn how to set “performance” goals. Performance goals give you clear ‘markers” of where your athletic skills are presently at and also a clear idea of where you would like them to go. You can use these “performance goals” to measure how well your skills are progressing, or to signal a need for some changes to take place so that your skills can improve.”
I am not one of those people that can live without goals either. It makes me feel like I am wandering around lost. I feel like it’s having a destination in mind, but no roadmap on how to get there. Some people are fine with not having goals, and I am fine with them being fine with that! My belief is that setting a goal gives my mind a set of instructions for my subconscious to carry out. I wouldn’t take a long roadtrip in a country I had never visited without a map, and I feel the same way about the destination and direction of my life. Some people are fine being free-spirits and seeing where it all takes them without any plans, but me… meh… not so much!! But by the same token, a life without daily challenges whether they be physical, emotional or mental, to me is a life half lived. I want a life full of challenges and to push my boundaries until I reach the edge and then push some more. I need to be stimulated, tested and stretched to feel totally alive. I am not afraid to admit that I need a daily thrill, whether it comes from me thrilling myself by achieving something, or someone else giving me a thrill!!
I am a driven and focused person when I am passionate about something or someone. I am happiest when I am chewing on and digesting mountains of information and inspiration to aid me in being the best person I can be. I can’t get enough of trying to improve myself, my thought patterns, my heart, my physique, my fitness and my life. Having a goal to aim for is what gets me bouncing out of bed in the morning and heading over to my inspiration and goal wall before my eyes have barely begun to focus. This daily ritual reminds me of where I want my life to go and gives me something to strive for.
So don’t be sorry or tentative about what you are trying to achieve with your life no matter what it is and how you choose to go about it. It doesn’t make a difference whether you are someone who wants to throw away the dieting and workout plans, or someone who wants to weigh yourself and keep an eye on your daily intake in order to ensure you never go back to a place and weight that made you absolutely miserable. I weigh myself a couple of times a week to make sure that I am not getting too far away from a good starting place with regards to preparation for my next comp. I won’t apologise for that ever and I don’t expect someone who never wants to weigh themselves ever again to feel apologetic for that choice either.
You may have tried dieting and setting fitness goals and found they didn’t work for you, or you might have tried intuitive eating and found out that didn’t work for you. What matters is you tried it. If it doesn’t work for you then search elsewhere. Life is one big adventure and I believe the day a human being stops searching for what truly makes us happy or a better way to live our lives is the day we die.
I’m not trying to stir the issue up again, but I am trying to stir YOU up!! Follow your own dreams, not someone else’s. Don’t compete just because all your friends are competing at a certain comp and you fear missing out on the experience. Don’t diet just because the girl who sits next to you at work is dieting. Don’t follow whatever “fad diet” or “no diet” is the new in thing just because everyone else seems to be doing it. Don’t run 10k because you read or heard that someone else ran 5. Be inspired by others, but do your own search for your own life destination and be true to yourself. It may sound cliche, but this is your life… live it your way. Life is too short to live yours as a poor carbon-copy of someone else’s. Find the beat of your own drum and dance to it!!
Just remember always… each to their own and respect everyone’s choices on what to do with their lives, including your own.
Love Rae xxx
“Your life is the sum result of all the choices you make, both consciously and unconsciously. If you can control the process of choosing, you can take control of all aspects of your life. You can find the freedom that comes from being in charge of yourself.”
~Robert F. Bennett
15 Users Responded In This Article
Glad you liked it Kristin! Have a fantastic day 
Great post Rae!
Just on the goal setting and children thing, I have two daughters who have a lot of potential as incredibly intelligent and strong human beings. I encourage goal setting for them especially as they reach their teens and are faced with life choices.
Ever since they were little, my favorite question to end their day is “Have you being the best (version of) You that you can be today?” If they can answer Yes, then they have succeeded…no, I am not a pushy parent but I have expectations of them based on what I know is their potential, I am not talking about major decisions, but setting small goals is good even for children.
xxx
Great Post! I guess the important thing for people to do is figure out what they want for themselves-and then follow through with it. If you want to compete-then you put in the hard yards, if you want to just be comfortable with your bod-you don’t have to work as hard. It’s up to each individual…and as long as you are HEALTHY and happy-then it really doesn’t matter which route a person takes.
What a fantastic way to bring your children up Sandra. Those girls are lucky to have a mother who encourages and inspires them to be the best versions of themselves they can be xxx
wow, its like you climbed into my head and wrote that! some parts of it are scarily the same as me Rae!!!
xxx
Absolutely Raechelle… each to their own!! I don’t force my opinions down anyone’s neck and get my back up quick smart if someone tries to force them down mine. And while I type this I am thinking of my older sister as one example… LOL!!
Oh didn’t you know Tara? I’m psychic… LOL!! 
Please excuse the length of this :-p.
Personally I’ve been on or near the bandwagon thing myself.
I knew people who started getting into Golf, to the point I asked for clubs when I was about 15. Thinking I’d need to do it, to get more time with them. Frankly I realised the pointlessness of my actions about 10 days later, when I hadn’t actually played and realised I didn’t want to either. I just got suckered by the thought of doing it, to be like other people, or retain more of their time.
I don’t really think I’ve never been a herd type person. Never craved big money, never even ridden a Bike. I think basically I got to a stage, where I thought if people were meant to do that, we’d have been born with Wheels not Feet.
Note to self, Rollerskating once, confirmed I’m crap at it and it blows big time.
Then I learned to drive, so that theory got corrupted somewhat 
.
As far as eating habits go, Im not perfect, nor do I expect other people to be. My only issue is if I knew someone was doing something, that might not serve them well.
Frankly the amount of stupid diet systems out there, it can be a frustrating exercise for some, or one where they see visable results, but not the risks of stupid diets.
I even get a little narked at things like Zone diets, that are better than many, but outright talk about things like Whole-grain Bread, Potatos, Pasta and Rice, as if they’re as bad as Pizzas and Cake.
When someone grows a Potato that’s riddled with Salt and Saturates, then I might heed caution, but moderation is fine, even for obese people. Good nutrition doesn’t mean giving people 10 choices and so be it, but at the same time, people feeling emotionally hurt from their decisions, is counterproductive and sometimes people need to strike a balance, between something that is physically right, and something emotionally right, because one persons utopian way, is another persons rock and a hard place.
Plus we know the body adjusts accutely so many times a day, for someone to even attain, what could be technically called absolute, physical perfection, would probably change in the blink of a hypothetical Eye, when someone gained another millionth of a percent Fat, or excess water storage.
To try and help people properly, you have tap into their inner selves somewhat, and try to understand them somehow, to give them reassurance you’re not the cane that thwacks the ass, when they don’t measure up at any point from the getgo.
My experiences on messageboards teaches you, there must be this humanity, humility and understanding of people, in order to make them, feel part of something good.
Your attitude here, demonstrates such humility and that’s why you understand people so well. It’s not all about experiences, or things you hear of or read about, but also tapping into a persons expression of self, to try and understand how they feel.
Written emotion is still, compared to visual emotion, a very powerful language and to want to read between the lines and want to understand it, like you do, is something we can do as individuals, to try and empathise with others, that reach out and want help and reassurance.
You do that so well, because you have a rarer type of mind, muscle connection, the one between head and Heart and it’s part of what makes you such a beautiful human being, in so many ways and a true source of humanity to others.
My goals are simply to enjoy better quality of old age. That’s what I’m working towards. It’s a long-term thing, that keeps me going. I think everyone should copy it. They can have short-term goals, I.E. run a marathon, climb Everest etc etc, but the long-term goal, is a great one, and it keeps you focused on some very important tomorrows. The ones we all hope we’ll get to see.
I hope to see you there. Maybe even standing shoulder to shoulder for real one day, feeling that sense of satisfaction, that comes from being mature and healthier than many who could but don’t live like us.
Keep up that brilliant attitude, because we all need people like you, to make life a little richer. We don’t take nor demand, but merely enjoy the humanitarian words and offerings, you give to us from your big heart of Gold.
THANKS as always to you for everything, BIG HUGS and best wishes.
:-).
Matt
That was a great post Rae and really sums up how I feel about all of the different approaches to eating, exercising and dieting that the blog world is filled with at the moment.
Funnily enough I only started weighing myself and tracking calories a few months ago for the first time ever and I LOVE IT! It is really working for me and helping me, for the first time ever, to make decisions about food based on evidence. Prior to this I was just eating what other people told me to and never understanding why.
I also, as a Mum, am a total and utter goal setter. I love setting a goal and achieving it and then setting another one. But I ALWAYS live in the moment and love my life each day too
Thanks Rae xxx
Rae, I hope you don’t mind but I used this blog post to illustrate that you just may be a little bit more intuitive than you think ie you know intuitively it doesn’t make sense to eat chocolate cake 2 days before a show… and that eating whole foods is essential to good athletic performance. see my blog
There is a place for intuitive eating. It depends entirely on the context in which you view it.
I did enjoy the bits of your post about following your own dreams and standing up for your goals. Enjoyed that a lot!
Cheers
liz N
You are one of the people in my life who inspire me and challenges me to think outside the box and at others’ points of views Matt. I really enjoy reading comments like the one you left… no matter how long it is
I am absolutely wrapped that you are taking control and learning about what works for you Rene. There will come a day when you won’t have to keep counting the calories because you will begin to be able to eyeball the portion sizes. I love that you have taken teaching yourself about nutrition onboard… AWESOME stuff!!
Thanks Liz and I enjoyed reading your blog.
I’m not sure I would call it intuitive, more common sense, but then I am not sure the two are mutually exclusive. I do believe there is a place for intuitive eating also. That is why I stated that I am not ready to take in onboard yet. I am not saying I would never take it on, but there are things I want to achieve before I settle into that sort of a lifestyle. I may make what appears to be intuitive decisions, but I would actually say they are more a learned action and decision based on the nutrition plan I have been given by my coach. Due to this nutrition plan I know what I should be eating and when. A lot of people may call that being intuitive, I would perhaps think it is more like I have been trained in making the right choices.
One of the reasons I wouldn’t eat cake before my show is not just because it would be insanity after the hard work, but because I would get my butt kicked by my coach, and I would also be kicking my own butt, for not sticking to the diet he instructed me to be on. What my coach tells me to eat in the leadup to comp is by the very definition on all the intuitive eating websites as a strict diet… the kind they advocate throwing away. But it is something that needs to be done in order to achieve my goals.
It would be very rare to find any athlete at elite level not on a diet presribed by either a nutitionist or their coach. Swimmers, marathon runners, cyclists, etc. Every single competitor under my coach’s tuition is on a diet to fuel their performance. We are instructed what to eat and when. I think that rightly or wrongly we would be very hard pressed to find intuitive eating instructions given to any elite athlete, except for perhaps in the off-season. I am pretty sure they would all be on a diet, especially in the leadup to a competition or event.
I agree there is a place for intuitive eating, and that would be in the off-season or once your competing career was over. I don’t think there is a place for it when trying to achieve an athletic goal, especially when it is to do with bodybuilding.
Thank you for your comment and blog, it has really given me pause for thought xxx
Totally agree, intuitive eating is GREAT as long as you stick within the plans you have for your fitness goals.. eg, I always make sure i have lean protein and fibrous carbs with every meal, intuitively speaking I will decide at the time what those fibrous carbs will be, but it still fits withing my plan. It’s no use eating icecream when you feel like it, as it’s just NOT part of a successful body composition goal! surely people don’t think that they can do both! Great post, we need more REAL people out there like you Miss Rae. Kudo’s to you for speaking up!!!
Lindy xx
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Love it Rae… couldn’t agree with you more. Thanks, great post! Kristin xoxo