Why try Intuitive eating? If you find yourself turning to food for comfort, have trouble knowing when you should eat and stop eating, or if you restrict foods or yo-yo diet, Intuitive Eating may be for you.
This way of eating teaches you to listen to your natural cues of hunger and fullness instead of external rules about when and what to eat. It’s about finding satisfaction in your food through mindful eating and developing a balanced, nourishing relationship with food.
Let’s delve deeper into the 10 Principles of Intuitive Eating:
- Reject the Diet Mentality:
Goodbye to diet culture’s idea that there is a “perfect” diet or that some foods are off-limits. Leave behind rigid dieting rules, restrictions, and unrealistic expectations about your body size or shape and instead embrace a more flexible, less restrictive approach to eating.
- Honour Your Hunger:
Listen to your body’s hunger cues and eat when you are physically hungry. Learn to recognize and respond to your biological signals of hunger instead of ignoring and suppressing them. This can help prevent overeating and undereating.
- Make Peace with Food
Learn to give yourself unconditional permission to eat and enjoy all types of food without guilt or shame. It’s about removing judgment: no more “good” or “bad” foods, to develop a more positive relationship with food.
- Challenge the Food Police:
Learn to recognize and reject the internalized critical voices about your food choices, eating behaviour, or body size, by cultivating self-compassion.
- Discover the Satisfaction Factor:
This principle is about mindful and enjoyable eating. It involves paying attention to the taste, texture and pleasure of food. Discovering the satisfaction factor of food is about slowing down and savouring your food.
- Feel Your Fullness:
Tune in to your body’s cues of fullness and stop eating when you are comfortably satisfied instead of overly full. Be aware of physical sensations and signals that your body sends; honour and respond to them. This supports mindful, intuitive eating and prevents overeating.
- Cope With Your Feeling Without Using Food:
Develop coping skills that don’t involve food for comfort or distraction. Explore the emotional triggers that lead to emotional eating, and find healthy ways to cope with stress, sadness or boredom without turning to food.
- Respect Your Body:
Treat your body with kindness, care and respect – regardless of your size, shape, or appearance. Appreciate and honour your body’s uniqueness and worth!
- Exercise – Feel the Difference:
Get moving for enjoyment and well-being rather than to burn calories or change your body size. Find activities that bring you joy and make you feel good!
- Gentle Nutrition:
Make food choices that honour your health and your satisfaction without getting caught up with counting calories or strict diet plans. Listen to your body’s cues and preferences while also considering the nutritional value of foods.
If you are looking to develop a healthier relationship with food and learn more about Intuitive Eating, reach out to the Carleton University Registered Dietitian at askadietitian@carleton.ca!
Wednesday, November 8, 2023 in Nutrition Blog
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