How Intuitive Eating Is More of A Lifestyle Than A Diet
What is intuitive eating?
Intuitive eating is an approach to health and food that has nothing to do with diets, meal plans, discipline or willpower. It teaches you how to get in touch with your body cues like hunger, fullness and satisfaction while learning to trust your body around food again.
Intuitive Eating is not a diet. In fact, it’s exactly the opposite because there’s no counting calories or macros, and no making certain foods off limits. It’s not about following a meal plan or measuring out your portions, and instead is about re-learning to eat outside of the diet mentality. Intuitive eating is about putting the focus on your internal cues like hunger, fullness and satisfaction, and moving away from external cues like food rules and restrictions.
Intuitive eaters give themselves unconditional responsible permission to eat whatever they want without feeling guilty. They rely on their internal hunger and satiety signals and trust their body to tell them when, what and how much to eat. They know when they want to at eat veggies and also when and why they feel like having dessert, and don’t feel guilty or have any regrets with either choice.
In short, intuitive eating is realigning with human being eating.
Benefits of intuitive eating
Although food freedom and a better relationship with food are one of the benefits of intuitive eating, you will also see tremendous benefits in your physical, mental, emotional health, and spiritual health. The following are just some of the benefits that come with intuitively eating:
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Improved cholesterol levels
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Better body image
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Higher self-esteem
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Improved metabolism
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Decreased rates of disordered and emotional eating
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Diminished stress levels
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Increased satisfaction with life
These mental and physical health benefits are fantastic, but when you’re in the midst of the intuitive eating process, and are working to come to terms with your relationship to food and your body, it can be hard to relate to these science-y benefits. That’s where the principles of intuitive eating come into play.
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How you can tap into your intuition
It takes practice and the willingness to attend and befriend uncomfortable feelings, and to apply pause and inquiry towards it. Intuition is a feedback loop and requires a courageous heart.
Additionally, there are many ways you can tap into your intuition and master the art of intuitive eating. When trying to tap into your intuition, it’s best to first focus on these three tips:
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Cultivate a healthy relationship with food
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Avoid distractions when first getting started
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Stop eating before you are full
In addition to physically feeling better and in more control of your relationship with food, intuitive eating also has mental health benefits. Because it fosters trust with your body. For example, your hunger cues and your fullness cues, it also supports a healthy connection between mind and body. Becoming disconnected in this way is related to mental stress, so engaging in a practice that encourages you to be more attuned to your body should also be good for your mind and mental wellness.
Can you lose weight with intuitive eating?
Though it’s entirely possible to lose weight via intuitive eating, that’s not the ultimate goal. The intention is to deepen the connection to your body’s desires and learn to allow yourself to enjoy food and be accountable to your goals.
If your goal is weight loss, then it can be a strategy, but you will need to understand the building blocks of nutrition and have support and strategies in place for times when emotions arise around foods and circumstances that can trigger overeating.
Potential drawbacks of intuitive eating
As with most things, there are a few considerations to keep in mind when considering the intuitive eating approach. For starters, it takes some serious practice to get the hang of.
Intuitive eating is a learned skill, and therefore it may be hard for some people to master it right away. Additionally, intuitive eating doesn’t provide structure or a road map to success and is different for everyone. Some people may struggle with this format. With this little structure, it is easy to overeat and indulge instead of listening to your body.
In that sense, there’s a real learning curve here that can lead to some frustration or confusion until you figure it out. It’s the same concept with any new-to-you endeavor, though, whether that’s learning how to ride a bike or starting a new job. Eventually, we get the hang of whatever we’re trying to master, so there’s always that aspect to look forward to.
3 myths/misconceptions about intuitive eating
1.Intuitive eating is only for people with eating disorders
Intuitive eating is for everyone, eating disorder history or not. Just because many practitioners who use intuitive eating have a background in treating eating disorders, doesn’t mean intuitive eating is solely for those who suffer from eating disorders. And keep in mind, you don’t have to be diagnosed with an eating disorder to struggle with your relationship with food.
2.You can’t have dietary restrictions while intuitively eating
There are many non-diet reasons one might have a dietary restriction, for example celiac disease, a food allergy, IBS issues, religious or cultural practices. These restrictions, or practices really, can and should be honored within the framework of intuitive eating. There are a variety of food options out there that will let you intuitively eat, even if you have a dietary restriction.
3.You’ll lose weight while intuitively eating
With intuitive eating, your body will do one of three things - go down, go up, or stay the same. None of those outcomes say anything about your success as an intuitive eater. Anyone who says or suggests differently is distorting intuitive eating, and promising you something they do not have control over and nor do you.
Lifestyles that would benefit from intuitive eating
While anyone can benefit from intuitively eating, there are certain lifestyles that would greatly benefit from it. Once you recognize that you fall within one of these lifestyles, you can begin your experience and be one step closer to a healthy lifestyle. However if you don’t relate with one of these lifestyles, you might find that you could still benefit from intuitively eating.
Food anxiety
Those who have stress or anxiety, no matter how much or how little it may be, surrounding food would benefit from intuitively eating. Those who have food anxiety may find it difficult to go out to eat with friends and family because they are too stressed and anxious about their diet. They may not even be able to enjoy the food they do eat, because of the amount of stress and anxiety that surrounds it.
HOW INTUITIVE EATING HELPS
By intuitively eating, you will no longer have stress and anxiety surrounding food. This means you will have free up space to just be and enjoy the food, and the people, around you. You can engage in social interactions more often and can put your attention on spending time with friends and family, rather than worrying about your diet.
Non-detectable hunger cues
Those who can’t, or have a difficult time detecting their own hunger cues would benefit from intuitively eating. Those who can’t detect their hunger cues, typically tend to over eat because they can’t tell when they’re full. They may also even continuously reach for a snack or a meal because they can’t tell if they’re actually hungry or if they’re reaching for something to eat for a different reason.
HOW INTUITIVE EATING HELPS
You are able to notice when your body feels hunger, and honor that hunger by feeding it. Even if it’s late at night, or it’s only been a certain amount of hours since your last meal. Even if you think you already ate enough today, you will be able to trust your body when it tells you it’s hungry.
IBS
Those who suffer from IBS, whether frequently or every now and then, would benefit from intuitively eating. Those who experience IBS tend to eat in a stressed state, which typically results in their digestion completely shutting down. They may also experience frequent constipation and can be the victim of other gastrointestinal related issues.
HOW INTUITIVE EATING HELPS
As your food anxiety and stress decreases, and you get to learn how certain foods affect your body, you may experience less gastrointestinal symptoms. You can also eat the foods on the Low-FODMAP list too while intuitively eating.
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Intuitive eating is a framework that helps you to keep nutrition interventions behavior-focused instead of restrictive or rule-focused. Most importantly, remember that we are all different; our natural tendencies, as well as our lifestyles and personalities, mean that different things work for different people. You may read this and immediately know that it’s not for you, but maybe this sounds like something you think you could get on board with.
Extra tips for intuitive eating
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Stay appropriately hydrated. When you’re working to discern your hunger and fullness cues, you want to maintain appropriate hydration so as to allow for clarity in what your body is asking for.
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Remember that your body is an instrument, not an ornament. Repeat that often. Your body houses your soul and is the vehicle that allows you to move through the world.
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Practice mindfulness. Recognize that you do not need to attach to every thought, and if an unwanted thought arises, try to imagine letting it go.
