Are you tired of restrictive diets and looking for a healthier, more sustainable approach to food? Intuitive eating might be the answer. Developed by dietitians Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch, intuitive eating promotes a healthy relationship with food by encouraging you to listen to your body’s hunger and fullness cues. Is it a great thing to do if you experience binge eating, secret eating and emotional eating. These are signs that maybe your relationship with food isn’t the best it could be and you could benefit from Intuitive Eating. But how do you start? Here’s your guide to starting with intuitive eating.
You have got to Understand Intuitive Eating
Intuitive eating is a philosophy that ditches diet culture and instead focuses on your internal hunger and fullness signals. It’s not about following a strict set of rules but about fostering a positive and balanced relationship with food. There are 10 principles to work through.
10 Principles of Intuitive Eating
- Reject the Diet Mentality: Say goodbye to dieting and the belief in a perfect diet.
- Honor Your Hunger: Respond to your body’s hunger signals by eating.
- Make Peace with Food: Grant yourself unconditional permission to eat any food.
- Challenge the Food Police: Silence the critical thoughts and rules around food.
- Respect Your Fullness: Listen to your body’s signals that indicate you are no longer hungry.
- Discover the Satisfaction Factor: Enjoy the pleasure and satisfaction that eating brings.
- Honour Your Feelings Without Using Food: Find ways to cope with emotions without turning to food.
- Respect Your Body: Appreciate your body and its unique characteristics.
- Exercise—Feel the Difference: Focus on physical activities that feel good, rather than just burning calories.
- Honour Your Health with Gentle Nutrition: Choose foods that honour both your health and taste preferences.
The thing is as much as I love Intuitive Eating, these principles still are not enough to help you nourish yourself away from diet culture. I like to work from POV of challenging society around us and the ideals that society teaches us from a young age like perfectionism and anti fat bias. Being able to see how perfectionism really can keep us stuck in the ways we have taught and how anti fatness can stop us in our tracks to ending up with a good relationship with food and our body.
So this is all well and good, but HOW? How do I start?
Steps to Start Intuitive Eating
Educate Yourself: Dive into resources like books and podcasts on intuitive eating.
Recommended Reading: Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch and Just Eat It by Laura Thomas.
Podcasts: The Maintenance Phase, The Intuitive Eating Podcast by Elyse Resch and Evelyn Tribole, The Weighting Room by The Fat Doctor
Self-Reflection: Evaluate your current relationship with food and your body. Keep a journal to document your thoughts and experiences.
Take your time working out your runger and Fullness Cues: Use a hunger-fullness scale (0-10) to gauge your hunger before and after meals. Aim to eat when gently hungry and stop when comfortably full.
Challenging Food Rules: Identify and challenge any ingrained food rules. Replace them with flexible and compassionate guidelines.
Seek Support: Join a support group or work with someone specialising in intuitive eating, like me! My membership is called The Table and is where you can get informal support for intuitive eating and gentle nutrition for people with little time. It will really help you to get startd wth Intuitive Eating.
Challenging Internalised Anti-Fatness
Internalised anti-fatness refers to the negative beliefs and attitudes towards fatness that society often ingrains in individuals, including those of all body sizes. These attitudes can lead to harmful behaviours and thoughts about oneself and others. Challenging these beliefs is crucial for a healthy relationship with food and body which is why we need to work on this alongside our intuitive eating work.
Recognise Anti-Fat Bias – Understand that societal standards often equate thinness with health and worth, which is not accurate or fair.
Educate Yourself on Size Diversity – Learn about Health at Every Size (HAES) and the evidence that health is not determined solely by weight.
Challenge Stereotypes – Actively question and challenge stereotypes about body size and health. Recognise that people of all sizes can pursue health and well-being.
Surround Yourself with Positivity – Follow body-positive/fat positive influencers and join communities that promote size diversity and self-acceptance.
Practice Self-Compassion – Be kind to yourself. Recognise that your worth is not tied to your body size and that everyone deserves respect and dignity.
Advocate for Change – Support policies and practices that promote inclusivity and challenge weight discrimination.
Common Misconceptions About Intuitive Eating
There are many mistakes we go through when we start with Intuitive Eating. The first is trying to do Intuitive eating for weight loss. Intuitive eating is about listening to your body, not following a prescribed plan. Alot of people get started with Intuitive eating in hope that they will lose weight, this is totally normal. As you move through your journey, and you challenge the thinness ideal, it becomes easier to lean into Health at Every Size.
A fear is that you will just lose control around food. Trusting your body will naturally guide you to balanced eating over time can help. If this is a real fear, please seek support to be able to help you.
Practical Tips for Intuitive Eating
Be Patient: The transition to intuitive eating takes time and practice.
Be Kind to Yourself: Mistakes are part of the learning process. Avoid self-criticism.
Stay Flexible: Intuitive eating is about flexibility, not perfection.
Starting with intuitive eating can be a transformative journey toward a healthier and more balanced relationship with food. By trusting and honoring your body’s signals, you can cultivate a positive and sustainable approach to eating and overall health.
Intuitive eating offers a refreshing alternative to the rigid rules of dieting. By embracing this approach, you can develop a more harmonious and fulfilling relationship with food, leading to long-term wellness and happiness. Begin your intuitive eating journey today, and experience the freedom and satisfaction that comes from truly listening to your body.
