Intuitive Eating
Intuitive Eating is an approach to food that has been shown to increase mood, improve self-esteem and help with maintaining a healthy BMI.
Intuitive Eating should not be seen as a set of rules that has to be followed, instead the key principles are there to guide you through this journey, encourage you to explore and enjoy food and all the pleasures it brings.
Intuitive Eating is not a diet, it is a journey of rediscovery. It’s time to find out what you really enjoy eating, not what you think you should enjoy. Let’s re-establish a healthy relationship with your body and food.
1. Honour your Hunger
It’s time to tune back into your hunger signals and really listen to what your body is trying to tell you... hunger is a natural biological process. It is your body’s way of telling you that you need more fuel.
Start to check-in with your hunger signals and learn to honour them. For guidance, see the hunger-fullness scale on the back.
2. Reject the Diet Mentality
What has dieting done for you so far? What has it done for your mind and body? Do you feel ‘guilty’ eating certain foods or do you feel as though you have ‘failed’?
Restriction associated with dieting doesn’t work! Deprivation often leads to binge cycles and overeating and research has found that dieting actually increases the likelihood of being overweight.
3. Make Peace with Food
The diet culture has created a fear of food. Get rid of your list of ‘forbidden’ foods and start to make peace with food. Stop labelling things as ‘good’ or ‘bad’ and strive for food neutrality.
Allow yourself unconditional permission to eat the foods that you want and stop the ‘restriction -> binge -> guilt’ diet cycle.
4. Challenge the Food Police
Stop beating yourself up and learn to challenge the voices in your head telling you that something is ‘bad’ and that you should feel guilty for eating it. This is your psyche’s way of monitoring all the dieting rules you have continuously heard and practiced.
Take control and gently stand up to friends and family who give you ‘well-meaning’ advice or comment on what you are eating.
What you chose to eat is nobody’s business but your own!
5. Feel your Fullness
Honouring your hunger and being an intuitive eater does not give you permission to complete over-indulge or over-eat and it is important to Feel (and respect) your Fullness.
Yes, it is important to eat when you are hungry and eat foods that you enjoy, that satisfy you, but it is also important to acknowledge when you are full and when it is time to stop. Pause throughout your meal, or snack, and check-in with yourself, taking the time to acknowledge and respect your hunger / fullness levels and if you are satisfied, don’t feel guilty about leaving food.
6. Discover the Satisfaction Factor
Start to notice and appreciate not only the taste, but also the texture of the foods you decide to eat, also the environment in which you are eating. If you eat until you are full, but you are not satisfied it is likely that you will carry on searching for the food that will give you satisfaction, leading to overeating.
Eat without distraction, eat what you really want to eat and enjoy what the foods you have chosen.
7. Honour your Feelings without using Food
We often eat for reasons other than hunger, to cover up unpleasant feelings of emotions that we don’t want to address. We may eat when we are anxious, stressed, bored, angry or lonely and it may be necessary to work with a trained therapist who
can help you learn how to comfort yourself and cope with these emotions without needing to use food.
8. Respect your Body
Intuitive eating is about accepting your body and your genetic blueprint. This is not a weight-loss plan, it is intended to empower you to allow your body to find, and maintain, its own ‘norm’.
9. Exercise: Feel the difference
Moving your body is important and has been shown to boost mood, be beneficial for cardiovascular health as well and maintaining good bone and muscle health but it is essential that you find something that you enjoy!
Exercise should no longer feel like a chore, it isn’t a diet tool to burn extra calories, it is there to make you feel more energised, sleep better and make you feel great!
10. Honour your health with gentle nutrition
YES, what you eat must gives you pleasure and satisfies you, but it is still important in the long-term to honour your health with nutritious choices.
This will come naturally once you have conquered the other principles as your body will guide you to make the correct choices.
Remember that there is no right or wrong, when it comes to Intuitive Eating, but if you feel in need of some extra guidance then please book your appointment with me today.
Isabella x
Sources: Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch l Health at Every Size by Linda Bacon l Just Eat it by Laura Thomas l l intuitiveeating.org l Alissa Rumsey Nutrition - Intuitive Eating