What the heck is Intuitive Eating?
by Chantal Collette, MSW, & Certified personal trainer
Intuitive Eating is first and foremost NOT a diet or a weight loss plan! You may be wondering, then what’s the point? Diet culture is shoved down our throats daily so it’s completely normal to wonder why even bother with Intuitive Eating if weight loss isn’t part of the plan. The overall goal of Intuitive Eating is to develop a comfortable relationship with food, movement, and in a way with yourself. One that’s sustainable & flexible! Once morality is removed from food choices, it’s easier to view all food choices from a more neutral perspective. Intuitive Eating understands that not one food will make you either healthy or unhealthy. It’s looking at the overall picture of healthy eating from a more balanced lens.
Intuitive Eating is based on following 10 Principles:
Reject the diet Mentality: Diet culture is sneaky and is all around us. In this culture it’s practically impossible to not get any messages regarding dieting. This principle helps you to explore the negative effects that dieting & diet culture has caused you & how you can remove the noise of diet culture from your mind & environment. Is this easy to do? No! However, we can only begin to change when we become aware. You can start by examining what type of diet culture you consume, social media, shows, etc, and how it affects your view on yourself and on your body image. By doing this you may decide to remove some of these diet items from your life & start breaking up with diet culture.
Honor Your Hunger: One of the downfalls of chronic dieting is getting really good at ignoring your hunger cues. For some beginning their Intuitive Eating journey their hunger meter can be downright broken! Hunger can be so scary and intimidating, especially if you see hunger as something negative. Intuitive Eating helps you in developing the insight in recognizing and honoring your hunger cues. It teaches you to listen and feed yourself when you are comfortably hungry, versus waiting for the “hangries” to appear which may lead to a less than satisfactory eating experience. To read more about how you can honor your hunger, click HERE.
Make Peace with Food: Giving yourself unconditional permission to eat all types of food stops you from feeling deprived. When you tell yourself that you can’t or shouldn’t eat X, Y, or Z, you will most likely develop strong cravings & desires for X, Y, Z, which may lead to a sense of loss and a binge episode. It’s programming you in doing the exact opposite of what you are wanting to do.
Challenge the Food Police: The food police can in your mind or/and from others. Have you ever caught yourself saying “I’m so bad for eating…” or “I’ve been so good today I just ate..” The food police are a powerful force that lies within your mind. It’s that nagging voice that whispers what you “should” and “shouldn’t” eat. Challenging and chasing away the food police is an integral step of becoming an intuitive eater. You can start challenging the food police by exploring your own food rules by asking critical questions, such as: is this science based? What is the evidence for and against this rule? Is this source of information credible?
Discover the Satisfaction Factor: The satisfaction principle is integral to Intuitive Eating. If you aren’t satisfied with whatever you are eating, you will simply be left hungry. By making food choices that are concurrent with your tastebuds, culture, and preferences, you will be more apt to regulate your fullness. When we are satisfied with our food choices it makes it easier to recognize that we have had enough and feel comfortably full.
Feel Your Fullness: Becoming more mindful of your physical and mental cues allows you to recognize when you are getting comfortably full. Taking the time during eating to pause and assess how the food is tasting, and how full you’re feeling allows you more control in identifying when you are getting full.
Cope With Your Emotions with Kindness: Eating away your feelings does not work in the long term. If you find yourself continuously reaching for food to comfort you during times of stress, sadness, anger, or boredom, Intuitive Eating provides the framework for exploring other ways to cope with your emotions.
Respect Your Body: View your body as you do like your shoe size, the genetic blueprint that it is. Bodies come in a variety of shapes and sizes, just like shoe sizes. It’s very difficult to respect your body when you think that it should look a certain way. It’s hard to reject the diet mentality when you are overly critical or have an unrealistic vision of what your body “should” look like.
Movement-Feel the Difference: Begin noticing how you feel when you move rather than focusing on the calories burned. Movement has so many benefits other than weight loss. Interestingly when people move (exercise) only for weight loss they are more likely to stop moving. Find activities that move you! Be adventurous and curious about all types of movement to explore ways that you enjoy moving! The next time you move, notice how you feel before and after the activity. You may notice benefits such as increased energy, reduced anxiety, or being in a better mood which may motivate you to move more.
Honor Your Health-Gentle Nutrition: Perfection does not exist. Not one food will make you healthy or unhealthy. Gentle nutrition is making food choices that are aligned with your taste buds, your culture, and your health needs. It’s more aligned with eating foods that are to your liking and that make you feel well. You do not need to eat a “perfect” diet to be healthy, it’s more about what you consistently eat over time, because perfection is an illusion-it simply does not exist.
Intuitive Eating can help you find a balanced approach to overall healthy eating. It’s 10 principles help sustain a healthy relationship with food. It’s a flexible approach that is adaptable and sustainable! Reach out to me with any questions or to schedule a free consult! Email me at ccollette@papillonwellnesscoaching.com or click here to send me a message. I provide 1-1 coaching to help people become Intuitive Eaters & incorporate movement in their lives.