When I finally acknowledged that diets don’t work for me, a whole world opened up — one where I’m free of the vicious cycle of restricting, relapsing, and binging. Now I eat what I want, when I want. It’s called intuitive eating, and I let my intuition tell me what to eat.

Right now, for instance, it is screaming that I do need twelve servings of Hawaiian rolls. I will honor my body’s message.

A key part of intuitive eating is concentrating on the full flavor profile of what you’re enjoying, rather than passively consuming. So at movie night, I ate a family size bag of potato chips and made sure to lick the salt off my fingers each time I had a taste. Laura, the host, had to turn up the volume on the movie, probably because everyone was getting jealous of my sensual gastronomic experience. Sorry, crash dieters, this is what a woman who’s in tune with her body looks like!

It’s funny how intuition works—when there were no chips left, my intuition alerted me to the fact that I was full. The timing was very coincidental, and very perfect.

Sometimes my intuition won’t be quiet until I consume. For instance, after movie night, my intuition craved something to balance out the sodium from the chips. My body was speaking to me, sending messages that I could only receive. It was asking for… Coke Zero. Not Diet Coke, and not regular Coke – that’s just how specifically I know what my body needs.

Next thing I knew, there was an empty 24-oz. bottle of Coke Zero on the table in front of me, as well as a grocery store receipt for a package of Hawaiian rolls, the evidence of which was nowhere to be found. I didn’t remember making the purchase or eating the Hawaiian rolls on my walk back from the store, but that’s a sign of intuitive eating at its finest. When you’re truly in tune with yourself, your consciousness can just sort of operate in a flow state.

I feel so free ever since I stopped restricting my intake. Never again do I have to worry about food, or question my own choices. It’s truly for the best, as I’m so much more than just a number on a scale: I’m a 32 oz. smoothie from the airport; I’m a bar of chocolate whose nutrition facts I threw out immediately because I was scared to look; I’m four orders of chicken nuggets.

The billion-dollar dieting industry can kiss my ass. As I prove on a daily basis, true wellness comes from within.