If you are new to Intuitive Eating, you may want to read on to find out more about it.
Intuitive Eating is a set of principles used to take care of ourselves and our bodies in a compassionate manner. These principles are not a set of rules, but rather guidelines to follow, and do not need to be followed in any specific order.
The Ten principles are:
- Reject the Diet Mentality. Have you tried diet after diet, only to continue feeling that you have “failed” each time? Our bodies are biologically designed to crave food when we are restricting food – either physically or mentally. Dieting may help someone lose weight in the short term, but research shows, that up to 85% of people will gain the weight (plus more) within five years after a diet. So, maybe it’s time to try something new and see that it is really the diet failing you!
- Honor Your Hunger – Learning to recognize your hunger cues and then feeding your body before it gets too hungry is an important step of becoming an intuitive eater. Waiting too long after hunger sets in, can easily cause someone to eat in a way that feels out of control.
- Make Peace With Food – This principle is probably the most misunderstood part of Intuitive Eating, and until you go through the process it can be hard to believe that it can be done. However, dieting and restricting foods makes one want to have the food they are restricting. This principle, which is done when one is ready and comfortable to do so, allows you to have all foods, which makes all food equal – and none are exciting anymore!
- Challenge the Food Police – Dieting and diet culture has taught us that certain ways of eating are “bad” and “good”, and that we are “good” or “bad” for eating or behaving in different ways. With Intuitive Eating, you relearn that there is no one right or wrong way to eat/exercise/achieve health. Eating something does not make you a good or bad person. When we challenge the voices in our heads and reframe the messages, we can continue on our way to becoming intuitive eaters.
- Discover the Satisfaction Factor – Food is here to give us satisfaction and pleasure. If you are an Orthodox Jew like me, you know how often we use food as part of celebration(Think of Shabbos and Yom Tov meals, Siyumum, Simchas etc.) Doesn’t it make sense that we are supposed to enjoy food? Eating food that you really want – not what you are told to eat on a diet plan, will help achieve this satisfaction and enjoyment.
- Feel Your Fullness – Recognizing your fullness is another key step to becoming an intuitive eater, however is much easier to achieve when you know you can always eat later. Taking the time to see how full you are during your meal is helpful to practice this principle.
- Cope With Your Emotions with Kindness – sometimes food can be used to bring comfort or distract from negative emotions, but it won’t solve the issues. Finding other ways aside from food to solve, distract, comfort is important.
- Respect Your Body – Even if you don’t love your body, you can work toward respecting and appreciating it. Focus on gratitude for the things your body can do. Practice basic self care – sleep, nourishment, showering etc.
- Movement – Feel the Difference – Find the movement you enjoy and focus on how you feel when you move your body. Focus on all the benefits exercise has and try to sit less!
- Honor Your Health with Gentle Nutrition – Once you do the inside work of working on hunger, fullness, satisfaction, thoughts and feelings that come up, you can focus on external health values and knowledge. Focus on how certain foods feel in your body- what keeps you feeling nourished, sustained and energized?
Which principle sounds most challenging to you? Which principle are you ready to start with?
Nutrition Reframed by Dvora 