Over the years there have been many diet trends. The Keto diet, the no calorie diet and even one where you only drink juice for a week. We often make excuses for our food choices and our lack of exercise because of these diets, but are we being too hard on ourselves?
The main principle of intuitive eating – eat when you are hungry and stop eating when you are full. This means trusting your mind and body to make the right connections on what is good for you, instead of following a strict diet plan.
Intuitive eaters give themselves permission to eat whatever they want without any guilt or shame. This process involves relying on signals like a rumbling stomach or low energy levels which then tells them they need to eat, as well as what and how much. They know when to eat their vegetables and when to have chocolate cake, without feeling bad for choosing either option.
“Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Program that Works” written by Elyse Resch and Evelyn Trioble outlines ten main guidelines to remember when starting the process of intuitive eating. These aim to break away from the traditional “good’’ vs “bad’’ categories for food. Resch and Trioble’s guidelines include rejecting a diet mentality, honouring your hunger, and paying close attention to what your body (and stomach) needs at that time.
Intuitive eating has many benefits, both mentally and physically. It lowers cholesterol levels, high blood levels which reduces cardiovascular risk and reduces stress levels. Over time, becoming an intuitive eater can also have benefits for your mind too.
Diets can often make you feel bad and shamed for not looking or eating a certain way. By choosing to eat in this way, you can improve your self-esteem and attitude towards body image. Think of all the times your body has gone through – a tough workout, a gruelling menstrual cycle every month, a three-hour spin of dancing at the nightclub.
In essence, the process of intuitive eating is about respecting your body for all that it does. Sometimes diets and exercise plans mean we are not happy with how we look or how our body works. “I’m too chubby in that area’’, or “why don’t I look like this’’ are something all women are familiar with.
When you speak badly about yourself, you send your body a message that you do not value it. Most people try to avoid disrespecting people they care about, but do we ever consider we might be doing it to ourselves?
By choosing to eat only when we are hungry, so many great things can happen. You are no longer bound by eating at certain times or eating small meals that make you even hungrier. The greatest thing of all, is that intuitive eating teaches us to love ourselves and our bodies a little bit more. Confidence will make you happier than any diet will.