Recently, the idea of triggers has been coming up a lot. And, any time something comes up again and again, I take that as a sign that it is time to dig a little deeper.

I couldn't have said it better myself, really.

The thing is this €" you can spend your entire life avoiding your triggers like the plague or you can embrace them. Dig into them. Face them head on. Find the lesson in them.

Let's take me and nutella for example. For years and years, I avoided it because if I didn't, I would eat the whole jar. And then, when I first started on the intuitive eating path in the spring of 2007, nutella was one of the first foods I worked on legalizing. And
quickly, very quickly, that became permission to binge to the tune of a loaf of bread and a jar of nutella.

Eventually, I did make peace with nutella. Now, I can keep jars of it in the house, along with about 12 different varieties of dark chocolate, milk chocolate, nuts, nut butters, fried fruit €" you name it €" I am no longer like a moth to a flame.

I can also read "diet" books, look at myself in the mirror naked and feel genuine love for my size 14 curves, read the blogs of people who diet, talk to clients who diet, read nutrition information €" you name it €" I rarely find a food related so-called trigger anymore.

And when I do uncover a trigger, instead of saying "oh, that is a trigger for me so I must avoid it at all costs" €" I dig in and find out why it is a trigger. I ask myself questions like:

What am I afraid will happen if I go there?

What would it say about me if what I am afraid will happen does happen?

And why does the thought of that bother me so much?

And when I find the answers to those questions, I can work through the real issue instead of just avoiding whatever it is.

I'll give you a great, food-related example.

I've been working with a Naturopath for a number of months now. Her recommendations always include dietary adjustments as well as self-care stuff and homeopathic remedies.

I will be the first to say that the dietary recommendations of my Naturopath were triggering to me at first €" even as little as a couple of months ago. But, based on my previous experience, I know that her recommendations are in line with what I have come to learn about my body, anyway.

Therefore, if doing what is right for my body is triggering, that means I'm still punishing myself with food. It doesn't mean that I should avoid her recommendations, it means I need to dig deeper into why I am sabotaging myself by eating food that I know does not work for my body.

So, of course, I've been doing that work. And it is amazing to me the junk that still rises to the surface when I ask myself those questions, when I get really honest with myself about what it all means and when I stop avoiding my triggers.

If all I do is avoid the trigger, I am merely delaying my own healing.

To me, this is just one of the many, many layers that standard "count this count that" diets can't offer you. They tell you to avoid those foods like the plague. Never buy them again. If you really want ice cream, go out for it €" never keep it in the house. If you want chocolate, only have a very small amount. Peanut butter is the devil. Run, run far far away.

Restrict. Repent. Repeat.

I say, go into the darkness so that you may find the light.