Everything you need to know about intuitive eating
In 1995, two very intelligent women (GIRL POWER🌟) Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch, conceptualised what we know today as intuitive eating. And it is one of the best health tools a woman can have in her inventory…
In this post, I am going to explain what exactly is intuitive eating, the 10 key principles of it, common myths around this practice, and I will give you some tips on how to start.
So what is intuitive eating?
Intuitive eating is a holistic approach to combat diet culture. It is more a way of life than a habit or diet plan. To eat intuitively is to eat mindfully, meaning to learn your hunger cues, to understand the relationship you have with food and how it affects your body and to be aware of the connection of your mind, body and soul through nourishment. It’s aim is to foster positive relationships with food, not labelling food groups as good or bad but noticing how each make you feel.
There are 10 principles of intuitive eating, they are:
1) reject diet mentality
This can be the hardest principle to stick to, but its the first stepping stone you have to cross in order to start eating more mindfully. Let go of any prejudices you have towards foods, beliefs of quick weight loss or diet plans - all of these negative beliefs MUST be left behind.
2) Honour your hunger
Learning about what the different sensations of hunger are can help you understand your body’s personal cues. There are 7 types of hunger (I know crazy right!) and they are:
Physical hunger (the natural sign your body needs fuel)
Emotional hunger (cravings driven by emotions and NOT need)
Sensory hunger (desire to eat based on the food’s texture, smell or looks)
Habitual hunger (eating because of routine)
Practical hunger (eating not because you’re hungry, but because you know you will be later)
Craving/Specific hunger (hunger for only one particular meal or thing)
Mindless hunger (eating without awareness due to distraction)
If you take time to actually understand what type of hunger you’re feeling in that moment and whether or not you genuinely need energy or are eating for the sake of it, can help prevent you from over or under eating and stop bad eating habits.
3) make peace with your food
Start giving yourself permission to eat all and any foods. No food is “good” or “bad”. All food is fuel for your body in some way. Detach from labels and start to love your food rather than hate it.
4) Challenge the food police
Silence that critical inner voice (and possibly critical voices around you as well😩) and realise you DO know what’s best for your body. Eliminate the shame or guilt you have around eating.
5) Know when you are full
Listen to the signs your body gives you to know when you’re comfortably full. Avoid over indulging and making yourself bloated and uncomfortable.
6) Discover the satisfaction factor
Try to find joy and pleasure in eating. Cooking more of your meals and understanding the love and care that goes into preparing it. Eat more things that make your heart sing.
7) Cope with your emotions kindly
Start to recognize your emotional triggers when it comes to eating. Try to swap out food related coping mechanisms for non-food related ones. Start practicing more self care and emotional awareness to avoid mindlessly eating when you’re stressed, sad or angry.
8) respect your body
This can be so tough, especially for us women who are taught to self criticse our bodies. But we MUST learn to accept and embrace our individual shapes and sizes. Honour your natural looks and feel comfortable in the way you look right now (because you are BEAUTIFUL 🫶🏻).
9) Feel the difference of movement
Change the way you view exercise. It is not a means to an end, it’s not just a way to burn off the food you have eaten. It is a way of nourishing your body, exercise should make you feel good and GIVE you energy.
10) Take the gentle approach
Make mindful choices that honour your health and your body alone. No one can tell you what works best for your body, you know what it likes and does not like. You know your eating habits and personal hunger cues. Use that feminine intuition to change the way you view food.
How can I start intuitively eating?
So now you know the 10 principles of this approach, here are some ways you can start doing this day to day:
Journalling can be your best friend here, asking yourself questions such as, How did my body feel after eating that? What emotion triggers me to eat? How can I be more mindful with my food choices? can be a great way to fully understand and change your current relationship with your food.
Ditch all those diet and food tracking apps (like right now please…)
Practice having a mindful meal once a day, take time to prepare it with love and care, sit down with no distractions whilst you eat, maybe say a little prayer or thank the meal for all of the nourishment it is about to give you.
Some common myths about this practice:
“Intuitive eating will not help me reach my health and fitness goals” - this is wrong on so many levels. First of all, we are ditching the so called “health and fitness goals”, that are solely about how we look. We are loving our natural body and making health and fitness goals that instead focus on how we feel. Plus, when you start to take away the stress you have put on your eating and diet habits, your body naturally relaxes and therefore your physical appearance will change. Cortisol (stress hormone), is one of the biggest players when it comes to keeping us bloated and puffy. So by changing our relationship with food to be more relaxed, we say bye-bye to the puffy face and bloated stomach that is often brought on by stress…
“Intuitive eating means eating junk food all the time” - that’s not how this works. When we take away bad labels from food, it doesn’t mean we lose our understanding of the benefits and disadvantages of foods as well… Yes, when you intuitively eat there will be space in your life for the occasional takeaway or pack of biscuits. But more importantly, this way of eating encourages you to learn when you need food and what food you need. So the more in tune you become with your eating habits, the less you will reach for unhealthy foods as you understand it will not nourish your body the same way the healthier option will. Moderation and understanding of all foods is a huge part of intuitive eating
DISCLAIMER: I am NOT a medical advisor, I am simply sharing tips on a holistic health approach that I have experienced and found to be beneficial for ME. Please seek professional help if you know you have real issues with eating.
I hope you found this post helpful - Happy Eating!😋
