Hi guys. I hope you enjoyed last week’s post. I know it wasn’t very educational, but I love to write about myself.
On a more serious note, however, this week, I wanted to write about intuitive eating. I’ve mentioned it in some of my previous posts, and I believe it’s fundamental to living a healthy life.
My Background with Intuitive Eating:
I first learned about this concept in my junior year of college when I read the book Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch. I read this book because, like so many other people with similar stories and struggles, I knew desperately that I needed help. I forgot what it was like to eat and live like a “normal person” without food and calories seeping into my every thought. Intuitive eating is a good place to start if you need a way out. I recommend reading the book and doing the workbook, which Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch also co-authored.
I read the book in 2023 and did the workbook in 2024 when I started to notice old habits and thought patterns resurfacing during what I thought was a fully recovered lifestyle. I must admit that not every day is easy. There are times I begin to overthink my food choices or feel guilty about what I did or did not eat on a certain day. I will say, though, I’ve gotten good at the self-compassion aspect of things. I know I’m not perfect, and always trying to be only made my life and my relationships worse. I do what I can each day to actively choose a healthy relationship with food rather than dwell on anxious thoughts and overanalyze every angle of my body. That was no way to live.
So now I want to share a concept that, in all honesty, changed my life. I know that sounds dramatic, but I’m not fucking around here. In a phase of life where I thought I was trapped and had no chance of a normal relationship with food ever again, things slowly began to change.
What is Intuitive Eating?
Intuitive eating is a way of eating that involves using instinct, emotion, and rational thought to listen and respond to biological and psychological signals of hunger. It is a mind-body approach that focuses on self-care and nourishment at the foundation of eating. This framework of eating involves the following 10 Principles:
10 Principles of Intuitive Eating:
1. Reject the Diet Mentality:
This principle is all about acknowledging the false hope that dieting truly is. It means recognizing the fact that diets are not at all effective and cause harm to your body. This involves full commitment and making the promise to yourself never to diet again. It may be tempting. Maybe you think you’ll try out intuitive eating, and if you don’t like how things are going, you have a diet to fall back on. However, this is not the mindset to have here. Be all in on wanting to heal your relationship with food and fully realize that dieting will never be a way to accomplish that.
2. Honor Your Hunger:
If you are hungry, eat something. Don’t let the clock or traditional meal times dictate what and when to eat. Your body knows best, so sit down, shut up, and listen.
It’s important to eat when you get those first subtle hunger cues rather than waiting until the point of primal hunger or feeling ravenous for several reasons. We all know that getting to the point of absurd hunger is not fun and often leads to overeating because you feel so deprived. Secondly, you never want to be around a hangry person. I can be a terror when I’m hangry. I’m at my meanest when I’m hangry. Be pleasant. Eat when you’re hungry. Lastly, I’ll mention that eating when the first signals of hunger emerge is important for building trust with your body and around food. If your body feels abandoned or like you’re never going to feed it, when you are around food, it can be difficult to remain in a state of self-control.
3. Make Peace With Food:
Give yourself permission to eat any food under the sun. Nothing is off-limits. There should be no rules when it comes to food. Aside from legitimate medical conditions and allergic reactions, food should not be feared or restricted. Each and every macronutrient serves a purpose and tends to balance each other out when we tune into what our bodies are craving and need.
When we tell ourselves we can’t eat a certain food, we will likely feel deprived and have even more intense cravings for that food than we ever had in the first place. When the feelings of deprivation reach a certain point, it can lead to binges and out-of-control eating. Eating clean 99% of the time and having uncontrollable binges and eating episodes the other 1% of the time damages your mind and body much more than eating whole foods half of the time and eating fun foods in moderation the other half of the time. In all reality, though, once you commit to intuitive eating, your body craves whole foods more often than not, making it much more than 50% of the time that you’re eating nutritiously. Just listen to your body and know that all foods serve a purpose.
4. Challenge the Food Police:
If you’ve been unfortunate enough to have strict food rules or periods of dieting and restriction in your life, this principle is especially important. Chances are you’ll know what I’m talking about here, too. Those dumb as fuck thoughts calling you Ms. Fatty Fat Fatass for having two pieces of candy at 3 pm on a Thursday because, for some undefined reason, that’s simply just not allowed. Or you ate a carb after 6 pm. Or you didn’t drink a whole ass gallon of water that one day. Well, how about fuck you and your gallon jug of water. These self-imposed rules are no reason to talk negatively about yourself or treat yourself poorly. Challenge these negative thoughts when they arise and see them for what they truly are—just thoughts and nothing more.
Anytime you feel guilty or negative about a food choice or your body, challenge the foundation that the thought sits on. What makes that negative thought you had or the negative comment someone said about you gospel? Probably nothing. It might just be all in our heads. Once we can consider that, life becomes a little more free.
5. Feel Your Fullness:
This is probably the principle I used to struggle with and sometimes still do struggle the most with. Just as our bodies tell us when they’re hungry, they give us signals when we start to feel full. It’s important to slow down when you’re eating so you’re able to observe these signs and stop eating when you reach a place where your body feels comfortably full and satisfied. It helps to pause in the middle of meals and eat without distraction to become more aware of emerging fullness.
This was challenging for me at first because I love food and eating so much that I found it difficult to stop after I felt full. I had this perfectionist mindset that revolved around clearing my plate at every meal, which, coupled with food deprivation, was a recipe for habitual overeating. I know now that I can eat whatever I want and whenever I want, so I don’t feel controlled by food so much anymore. I also acknowledge how miserable I feel after I overeat. I’m doing a disservice to my body when I eat past comfortable fullness. This principle of intuitive eating taught me that taking the best possible care of myself involves learning to identify and respond to my fullness signals.
6. Discover the Satisfaction Factor:
Food is a positive thing, and it is meant to be a pleasurable thing. I firmly believe you should never eat something that does not taste good to you. Eating what you truly desire is foundational to intuitive eating. Our bodies crave certain foods at certain times for certain reasons. Listening to and responding to those cravings is a form of self-respect. When we eat what we actually want, it also takes less food for our bodies to feel satisfied. Often, when we go against our bodies in the name of “health,” we feel dissatisfied with our meals and end up reaching for the thing we craved in the first place, thus eating more than we intended and more than what our bodies need. Listen and respond to the cues you receive from your body, and you’ll be just fine.
7. Honor Your Feelings Without Using Food:
It’s important to have coping mechanisms that don’t involve food to help you through difficult situations. Life is full of highs and lows. We have the capacity to feel a very wide range of emotions, some of which are incredibly difficult and painful. Emotional eating won’t actually solve the root of the problem and oftentimes just leaves you feeling worse off. My advice would be to have a mental list of the activities, people, and things you can utilize to either comfort or temporarily distract yourself from overwhelming negative emotions.
Some things on my list are music, journaling, making collages, reading, going for a walk, and talking to someone about whatever I’m feeling.
8. Respect Your Body:
We may not want to hear it, and we may rebel against this fact, but our bodies have a predetermined set point that is heavily influenced by genetics. An example used in the book is that someone with a size 8 shoe wouldn’t realistically be able to shrink it down to a size 6, and we should think about our bodies in the same way.
Don’t have unrealistic expectations about the way you should look. I know it’s hard with a culture that promotes unrealistic and edited ideals of what a woman should look like, but it’s just that—not real. Own your body and be proud of it even if you have insecurities or things you wish you could change. Be grateful for all the things your body can do. Focus on your abilities. I love the saying that your body is an instrument, not an ornament because it’s helped me shift my mindset about the way my body looks. I’m not a size 2. I never have been, and, likely, I never will be. But that’s okay because I am a living, breathing, dynamic, intelligent, and capable human being with a lot more to give than my size, shape, or figure.
I know it can be really hard to think about yourself positively. I still have days where I think I’m a fat hunk of shit. Tell yourself to shut the hell up, snap out of it, and list at least one thing about your body that you’re grateful for. It helps.
9. Exercise- Feel the Difference:
I’ve touched on this subject quite a few times already in some previous posts, but the idea here is to exercise and move your body because it feels good and is health-enhancing, not because it burns calories. I feel more productive and energized when I work out, which motivates me to stay consistent. Just like food should not be tied to or dictated by a number, neither should exercise.
10. Honor Your Health with Gentle Nutrition:
The final principle of intuitive eating involves basing your food choices not only on what you desire but also taking into account how certain foods make your body feel. Eat the things that are satisfying yet still leave your body feeling at its best.
Closing:
Thank you guys so much for reading. Once again, this is a very brief overview of intuitive eating, and if you want to learn more, I suggest checking out the website and reading the books about it. The things I learned from these books changed my life for the better, and I hope some of you can benefit from these resources as well.
Til next time 😉