What are the principles of Intuitive Eating?
Intuitive eating has gained significant traction in recent years. If you’re unfamiliar, intuitive eating is all about tuning into what your body tells you—recognizing when you’re hungry, satisfied, or full—to guide how you eat. It’s not about obsessing over weight; instead, it’s about embracing your overall well-being, both physically and emotionally. Getting into intuitive eating might feel tough at first since it involves paying close attention to your body’s signals, and a framework that involves rejecting diet culture and allowing room for all foods. This can be a helpful framework for some, but might not be the right fit for everyone!
In this blog post, we’ll explore the 10 core principles of Intuitive Eating. If you’re interested in diving deeper into this topic, we suggest checking out these related blogs: Break Free from Diet Culture: Let’s Dive into Intuitive Eating and Dispelling Common Misconceptions About Intuitive Eating.
1. Reject Diet Mentality
This involves embracing the fact that diets aren’t the answer and can actually be harmful. Instead, focus on a positive relationship with food by letting go of food rules and restrictions. Remove any diet culture influences from your life, such as books or apps that promote harmful ideas about eating and body image.
2. Honor Your Hunger
The essence of this principle is to honor your body’s hunger cues by eating when you’re hungry and stopping when you’re full. This can be challenging if you’re used to diet culture, which encourages us to ignore these natural signals. Your body may communicate its hunger through stomach growls, feelings of sleepiness, lightheadedness, or low energy.
3. Make Peace with Food
This principle is all about celebrating food without assigning labels like ‘good’ or ‘bad’. By letting go of restrictions and judgments, you empower yourself to choose any food that feels right for you, while staying mindful of your body’s cues. As you embrace a non-restrictive approach to eating, you’ll find that the appeal of previously off-limits foods naturally decreases. Granting yourself unconditional permission to enjoy food fosters a positive and joyful relationship with eating, helping to alleviate anxiety and negative feelings around meals.
4. Challenge the Food Police
The food police represents that critical inner voice echoing society’s unrealistic standards around food. They often make you feel guilty or ashamed for enjoying foods like cake at a celebration or a cookie after dinner. But ask yourself, who sets these rules? While some foods have different nutrients than others, all foods can fit into a balanced intake and bring joy to your life when enjoyed mindfully.
5. Discover the Satisfaction Factor
In a world obsessed with diet culture, we’re often told that eating for pleasure is somehow wrong. However, food serves more than just nourishment; it’s about comfort, connection, and joy. Your meals should bring you happiness, not stress. Take time to savor each bite mindfully, without distractions, and truly enjoy the experience. This way, you can tune in to your body’s signals and know when you’re truly satisfied.
6. Feel Your Fullness
Listening to our bodies means not just acknowledging our hunger but also respecting when we’re full. It’s about being mindful during meals, savoring the flavors, and pausing to check in with your body’s signals of satisfaction. Feeling full is a natural and positive indication that your body has received the nourishment it needs!
7. Cope with Your Emotions with Kindness
Using food as a way to deal with emotions is a common and natural response. It’s okay to seek comfort in food during times of anxiety, loneliness, or boredom. However, relying solely on food for emotional support may not always be beneficial. It’s important to have a variety of coping strategies in your back pocket, like taking a walk, practicing self-care activities you enjoy, or addressing the underlying issues behind your negative emotions.
8. Respect Your Body
Every body is different, and that’s what makes us all special! Letting go of impossible body ideals means you can love and respect yourself at any size. This positive mindset helps you make healthy choices about food and exercise based on what feels good for you. Celebrate your body’s strengths and embrace your unique self!
9. Movement—Feel the Difference
When it comes to exercise, we often think of intense workouts geared toward burning calories or shaping our bodies. However, we can view exercise from a different perspective—one that empowers our bodies. Movement can also strengthen us physically, boost energy levels, and bring joy. Joyful moevment is not defined to be for a certain time, intensity or burn a certain number of calories.
10. Honor Your Health with Gentle Nutrition
Opt for foods that nourish your body and make your taste buds happy, that way you’ll feel energized and ready to take on your day. And remember, it’s totally okay not to eat perfectly balanced all the time. What really matters is finding overall balance that works for you.
Intuitive Eating was founded by two dietitians, Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch. For more information on Intuitive Eating, click the following link: https://www.intuitiveeating.org/
