Intuitive Eating Series #1
Welcome to Week 2 of the Intuitive Eating blog series.
This week, I will outline the 10 Principles of Intuitive Eating.
However, before diving into the principles, I wanted to go over the origin of Intuitive Eating.
The phrase and theory of Intuitive Eating was first coined by two Registered Dietitians, Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch, in their book, Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Program That Works, in 1995. This book established the core principles of intuitive eating that we will discuss today.
Let's dive in:
1. Reject Diet Culture
This is the first principle for a reason. Rejecting diet culture is the first step in becoming an intuitive eater because eating intuitively is the opposite of what diet culture tells you to do. Restriction, following strict meal plans, and dieting will keep you from unlocking your full potential as an intuitive eater and fostering a healthy relationship with food.
P.S.: If you find this step hard, it is not your fault! Diet culture is often instilled in us at a very early age. These thoughts and actions may take a while to unlearn, and that is okay.
2. Honor Your Hunger
Although intuitive eating is so much more than eating when you are hungry and stopping when you are full, it is still a huge part of the bigger picture. If you ever let your body get to a biological state of excessive hunger, it becomes very hard to listen to what your body truly needs, and can often lead to overeating. Honor yourself and your hunger by fueling your body when you feel those hunger cues.
3. Make Peace with Food
Making peace with food involves dropping the labels of “good” and “bad.” It is okay to acknowledge that some foods are more nutrient-dense than others and that some foods make you feel better after eating them. However, the goal here is to never make a food “off limits.” This will often lead to intense cravings and overindulgence.
4. Discover the Satisfaction Factor
Meals and snacks should always be enjoyable and satisfactory. Most diets will leave you feeling unsatisfied and unfulfilled by pushing you to eat foods and meals that are not appealing to you. Intuitive eating involves exploring what foods satisfy you physically and emotionally.
5. Feel Your Fullness
Intuitive eating is all about being in tune with your body. As we have already addressed that honoring your hunger is a big part of intuitive eating, and so is feeling your fullness. Listening to your body for signals of fullness by pausing during a meal to assess your current fullness level is crucial in intuitive eating practice.
6. Challenge the Food Police
The “food police” is the voice in your head that shouts unreasonable food rules
and thoughts. These thoughts and rules stem from many years of being held hostage by diet culture. Challenging these thoughts and emotions by using words like “can” and “may” instead of “need to” and “should” when thinking of food.
7. Cope with Your Emotions with Kindness
Many people struggle with emotional eating. When you are restricting food and abiding by strict diet culture rules, this can increase the chances of emotional eating. It is important to recognize negative emotions and find healthy ways to cope. In most cases, food will not solve the problem, and will more than likely make you feel worse if overeating occurs.
8. Respect Your Body
Respect and acceptance of your body are crucial. You cannot reject diet culture if you are overly critical of your body size or shape. It is important to recognize and accept your genetic blueprint. Every body is different, so don't have unrealistic expectations for yourself!
9. Movement - Feel the Difference
Our bodies were meant to move. Instead of focusing on the calorie-burning effect of exercise, focus on movement that feels good to YOU and that you find enjoyable. I promise you will feel the difference. My two favorite forms of movement are long walks and golfing. What are yours? I challenge you to explore different types of movement that sound enjoyable to you this week.
10. Honor Your Health - Gentle Nutrition
Principle 10 is my favorite. Gentle nutrition involves honoring your tastebuds and your well-being while being aware of how your body feels. I like to think of this principle as the “eat what you want and add what you need” principle.
So, you may be wondering, what does this look like in everyday practice? Don’t worry! I am going to do a deep dive into gentle nutrition in Week 3 of the Intuitive Eating blog series!
Remember, the goal of intuitive eating is never to be perfect, but rather to focus on eating habits and trends over time. I challenge you to find ways to incorporate just a few of these principles.
Download this handout and put it on your mirror or fridge to remind yourself of these principles this week!