Intuitive Eating

What is Intuitive Eating (IE)? ⠀⠀
⠀⠀
It’s not some new fad or diet. Quite the opposite. It’s about not dieting and listening to your body, something a lot of people struggle with. IE has also been around for years and there are studies regarding the positive physical and mental aspects of it. ⠀⠀
⠀⠀
Within IE, there are 10 principles ⠀⠀
1. Reject the diet mentality⠀⠀
2. Honor your hunger⠀⠀
3. Make peace with food⠀⠀
4. Challenge the food police ⠀⠀
5. Respect your fullness⠀⠀
6. Discover the satisfaction factor ⠀
7. Honor your feelings without using food⠀⠀
8. Respect your body⠀⠀
9. Exercise - Feel the difference ⠀⠀
10. Honor your health⠀⠀

LET’S DIVE IN!

Principle #1: Reject the Diet Mentality ⠀
Some people think, “Salads are a great way to lose weight!” Others will think, “How many macros does this have?” And then there will be a few that think, “This is perfect! More than half my plate is vegetables!” ⠀⠀
⠀⠀
The first principle of becoming an intuitive eater is pretty simple... reject the diet mentality. I know, easier said than done and if you have a lifetime of dieting under your belt, it will take some time to work through this principle. ⠀⠀
⠀⠀
Think about it though. If you have been dieting for years, then are any of those diets actually working? Diets are set up for failure and research shows that the act of dieting increases your risk of gaining weight. Really, it does! Every time you diet, you restrict in some way. Whether it’s a food group or calories, each time you restrict, your metabolism slows (bc the body was not designed to be micro managed) and then when you “fall off the wagon” you gain all the weight back plus some. You didn’t fail the diet, the diet failed you! The whole diet industry is set up that way to keep you coming back because it’s not something that is sustainable for long periods of time. ⠀⠀
⠀⠀
So how do you reject the diet mentality? Dismiss the idea that there are good diets out there. Unfollow people that promote a lifestyle that are not sustainable or promote dieting and body shaming. Toss out all your diet books with their empty promises. ⠀⠀
⠀⠀
This step takes TIME. Intuitive Eating isn’t glamorous. It doesn’t promise weight loss but rather healing your relationship with food and body image. That’s a freaking win in my book 🙌🏼⠀

Principle #2: Honor your Hunger⠀
Hunger is there for a reason. It’s our body’s subtle way of saying, “Hey! You Who! I need some energy”. Your body is incredibly smart and does not like to be micro managed. When you give it less food than it needs, your body essentially goes into starvation mode and holds on to that energy for dear life because it isn’t sure when it will get sufficient energy again. ⠀
⠀
With a lifetime of dieting, our hunger signal can get off track or even suppressed. When beginning IE, it may take some time to recognize it again. That’s ok! It’s a learning process. ⠀
⠀
Check in with yourself: if you have dieted in the past and lost the ability to feel hunger, that’s ok. Do you have any of the following symptoms - light headedness, irritability, headache, difficulty concentrating, stomach pain but no tummy growling? These can all be signs of hunger!

Principle #3 Make Peace with Food⠀
Making peace with food means no longer being in a battle with it. Giving yourself unconditional permission to eat. No longer categorizing food as good or bad (I like to say a food is either more nutritious to the body or more nutritious to the soul 😉). ⠀
⠀
Not allowing yourself to have a certain food gives it power and makes you crave it more. The more that restriction occurs, the more bingeing that can occur. Unconditional permission to eat a food re programs your mind that that food is always there. Always available to you. You won’t feel deprived and therefore less likely to binge on it. ⠀
⠀
Check in with yourself: Have you ever abstained from a certain food and when you do allow yourself to have it, you over indulge or gobble it up so quickly, you can’t even recall the taste, texture or pleasure of it?? Once you give yourself permission to freely have it, you might find you no longer want it or only desire a specific kind (ex: all brownies vs moms homemade brownies).

Principle #4: Challenge the Food Police⠀
Have you ever looked at a food or meal and immediately thought “I can’t have that, it’s bad”. That’s the food police talking and telling them to GTHA will heal your relationship with food quicker. You see, food is neither good nor bad. Food has no morales. It’s the dieting industry that has placed unrealistic rules deep in your psyche ⠀
• you don’t need x,y or z⠀
• eating carbs make you fat⠀
• you exercised today so now you’re allowed a “treat” or “cheat meal”⠀
• eating according to a clock or plan⠀
• obsessively checking nutrition labels⠀
⠀
Perception becomes reality in the dieting world so to become an intuitive eater and challenge the food police, we must replace irrational thoughts (I can’t control myself around sweets OR I gained so much weight from that chicken fried steak last night) with rational thoughts (I probably overindulge because I don’t allow myself to have this often OR I feel bloated because that chicken fried steak had a lot of salt). Changing your inner dialogue is an important step to becoming an intuitive eater!⠀
⠀
Check in with yourself: Have you had any negative thoughts today associated with food? How can you rephrase that thought to make it more rational?

Principle #5: Feel Your Fullness ⠀
Most people know what it’s like to feel hungry and overfull but few know that sweet middle. Feeling your fullness means being present and engaged while eating meals. Truly tasting the food. What’s the flavor like? What’s the texture like? Putting the utensil down between bites. Checking in halfway through your meal to see if you are becoming satisfied/comfortably full or overly full. Think of hunger and fullness on a scale. To the far left, your are beyond hangry. To the far right, you are Thanksgiving Day stuffed. In the middle, you are neutral and just notch to the right of neutral is satisfaction (the sweet spot). ⠀
⠀
Sometimes we eat a meal, can be comfortably full and an hour or two hours later be hungry again. That’s ok! Your body ebbs and flows. Some days it requires more food. Some days it won’t. If you eat but are no longer hungry, you might be using food as a coping mechanism. We will talk about this more in another post!⠀
⠀
Check in with yourself: When you woke up, where did you lie on the hunger/fullness scale. How about when you ate breakfast? What about at lunch? ⠀

Principle #6: Discover the Satisfaction Factor⠀⠀
Have you ever craved a particular food (let’s say a dark chocolate almonds with sea salt) and ate your way around the food? Let me explain. You craved the almonds but decided to have a 100 calorie pack of cookies instead. This led to you being unsatisfied so you had something crunchy, sweet and “healthy” like an apple. This left you full but still unsatisfied so you ended up eating the dark chocolate almonds with sea salt plus a handful more. ⠀
⠀
When you don’t give yourself unconditional permission to eat, it’s difficult to discover the satisfaction factor because you are constantly trying to out smart yourself. This leaves you over eating the food you probably only wanted a little of in the first place and probably left feelings of guilt. Meal time should be pleasurable (as much as possible anyways!). ⠀
⠀
Check in with yourself: What was the last food you craved but you ate your way around it, only to end up eating it anyways? Next time, allow yourself to have some of the food. Take a few breaths before eating it. Savor it. Note all the components of that food (flavor, texture, are you rushing to eat it). Then refer to this saying, “if you don’t love it, don’t eat it and if you love it, savor it”.

Principle #7: Cope with Your Emotions without Using Food⠀
Sometimes we use food to cope with emotions even when we don’t have physical hunger. Celebration, comfort, punishment, boredom, distraction, bribery/reward, or to numb feelings. It works for a short time but doesn’t fix the actual problem. Finding things to help you cope with a situation without resorting to food is an important part of IE. ⠀
⠀
Ex: going on a walk, meditating, call a friend, get some rest, self care, cry, rent a movie, read a book, and the list can go on. ⠀
⠀
Check in with yourself: ⠀
1. Am I truly hungry. Yes? Eat. No? Go to #2-4⠀
2. What am I feeling? If you’re not hungry but using food as a coping mechanism, write it out, call a friend, sit and meditate or seek out a counselor. ⠀
3. What do I need? Sometimes we need rest or just a conversation with someone. What is it that you really need?⠀
4. Would you please...? Speak up and ask for help!

Principle #8 Respect Your Body⠀
Respecting your body means to stop being at war with it and it also means taking care of your health. Did hating your body cause it to turn out like the picture in your head or did it only make your self esteem and relationship with food worse?⠀
⠀
If you continue with the “I hate my body mindset”, you’ll miss out on so many possible memories. Family photo shoots, beach trips, hangouts with friends, or going for that job promotion. I promise, your kids are not going to comment on your weight but they will remember if you were engaged with them or not! ⠀
⠀
Check in with yourself: Are you respecting your body by treating it with dignity and meeting basic needs? Are you feeding it when hungry? Are you wearing clothes that fit comfortably and give you confidence? Are you weighing yourself constantly? Are you comparing yourself to others? Are you speaking negatively about your body with inner dialogue or out loud?

Principle #9: Exercise - Feel the Difference ⠀
Are you exercising because you love it or are you doing just to hit a calorie goal each day? The later is not very motivating for the long run and will leave you hitting the snooze button more times that you can count. ⠀
⠀
Putting a heavy emphasis on the scale when it comes to weight only adds more stress. Shift your focus to increasing bone strength, decreasing blood pressure, improving mood, living longer!⠀
⠀
If you find something you truly enjoy, exercise turns into joyful movement without the burden of reaching X calories or X minutes. This is where you get to feel the difference. ⠀
Check in with yourself: Does it give you energy? Does it relieve stress? Does it help you sleep better? Does it allow your body to move more freely throughout the day? If you answered no to any other following, it’s time to assess if that particular activity is best for you.

Principle #10: Honor Your Health with Gentle Nutrition ⠀
This principle takes nutrition and health into consideration. While no food is off limits within Intuitive Eating, you must take a look at your own personal health. Do you have Celiacs disease? It would be in your best health interest to stay away from gluten. What about a food that just does not agree with you and makes you feel physically uncomfortable. That would be a good you might have very little of or none at all. ⠀
⠀
When talking about the nutrition side, looking at labels is not a bad thing unless you are saying no to a food you love that has a higher X content. Making informed choices is empowering but don’t allow that food to be put on a pedestal and have control over you.