Intuitive eating is a dynamic, self-care framework that was created by dietitians Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch in 1995. The goal of intuitive eating is to remove the stress/stigmas around eating, as well as help people become more in tune with their biological and psychological needs. By focusing on the ten principles below, you can begin your journey of intuitive eating!
- Reject the Diet Mentality
-
Intuitive eating is not a diet, it is meant to be a framework for self-awareness and love surrounding food. If you have ever been on a diet, you may know just how restrictive, suffocating, and hopeless they can feel. Diets can be great for some people who thrive in structured environments and have an impressive amount of self-control. However, for most people, the diet goes straight out the window as soon as a craving hits. Intuitive eating is about rejecting the diet mentality and simply focusing on what will nourish your body and make you feel good.
- Honor Your Hunger
-
At the first sign of hunger, eat. Hunger is a biological signal from our bodies telling us that we need fuel! It is important to listen to this signal and honor it. Not only will you feel better, but you will become more in touch with your body’s biological needs and rhythms.
- Make Peace With Food
-
Give yourself permission to eat those special snacks typically reserved for “cheat days,” or feed into those cravings during that- time-of-the-month. By allowing yourself to feed into your cravings or desires, you will remove those feelings of deprivation and restriction that tend to lead to overeating.
- Challenge the Food Police
-
Ignore those thoughts in your head that tell you to look for the calorie count on a menu or food item. Tribole and Resch describe the “Food Police” as a part of your subconscious that houses all of the negative, deprecating thoughts about food that have been brought about by diet culture and today’s society. By challenging the “Food Police,” we allow ourselves to reject and steer away from negative beliefs surrounding our relationship with food.
- Discover the Satisfaction Factor
-
Enjoy your food, like really enjoy it. There is a pleasure involved in eating food that many of us have forgotten about. The way that flavors blend together, the texture in your mouth, it is a whole experience! An experience that we have become blind to because we are more focused on how many calories a dish has rather than how it tastes.
- Feel Your Fullness
-
Observe how your body feels when you are eating. Are you still hungry? Okay, keep eating. Feeling full, stop. Of course, it is not always that simple. Sometimes food just tastes so good. But, it is important to try our best to feel our fullness because it helps us to get in tune with our bodies and what they require to feel nourished.
- Cope with Your Emotions with Kindness
-
Diet culture and the photoshop-filled society we live in today can have a major impact on our mental health. Many girls and guys alike suffer from self-esteem and body image issues. It is important to not beat yourself up about food. By treating ourselves with kindness, we can foster positive growth and elevate our mindsets. By doing this, our relationships with both ourselves and food can improve.
- Respect Your Body
-
Everyone is unique. Although it may seem hard at times, be sure to love and respect yourself for who you are, that includes mind, body, & soul. You have to learn to love yourself in order to open the doors for growth.
- Movement- Feel the Difference
-
Get moving. It can be as simple as a walk around the block or ten jumping jacks. The goal of movement in terms of intuitive eating is not to run a marathon or do one hundred pushups, it is to see how your body feels. By getting in touch with how our body feels during exercise, we can get a better gauge of how our eating is affecting us. How we nourish ourselves can change our energy levels, how strong we’re feeling, and our performance overall. It is important to regularly get active so that you can actually see the progress and positive benefits of intuitive eating.
- Honor Your Health- Gentle Nutrition
-
Be kind to yourself and trust your body. If you have been craving a piece of chocolate cake all day, eat the chocolate cake. If you know that dairy upsets your stomach but you have really been craving ice cream, then eat the ice cream and face the repercussions later. If you have a long day ahead and know that eating a nutritious salad for lunch will give you the most energy, then eat the salad. Intuitive eating is all about balance, which goes hand-in-hand with treating yourself and your relationship with food kindly.
The principles provided by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch are not meant to be followed perfectly, they merely provide a guide to help you become more in touch with your mind and body. This is not a diet or health plan, it is a way of thinking. The goal of practicing these ten principles is so that, eventually, intuitive eating will become a part of your mindset/lifestyle. Intuitive eating is not a one-size-fits-all and is catered to fit your specific needs by the person who knows you best- YOU! So, focus on your mind, your body, and find balance!