Everything You Need to Know About Intuitive Eating, The Anti-Diet Diet
Tired of yo-yo dieting? Sick of obsessively counting your macros? Sometimes being focused on eating healthy becomes unhealthy. Intuitive eating is an approach that will have you ditching fad diets for good.
Intuitive eating is a practice that encourages you to tap into your natural hunger, fullness, craving and taste satisfaction cues. It ditches the diet mentality, and asks you to follow your natural wisdom when making food decisions, according to Dr. Margaret Sala, a licensed Clinical Psychologist specializing in eating disorders and behavioral weight loss.
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If youre not convinced that you can eat whatever you want and still look good and be healthy, thats normal. It takes time to unlearn food guilt and relearn how to listen to your body. Intuitive eating doesnt mean that you should eat pizza and ice cream every day it actually teaches you to be aware of emotional eating and focus on fueling yourself with foods that feel good (and yes, that includes treats sometimes).
Below is everything you need to know about this anti-diet diet, from its guiding principles to its benefits, as well as tips on how to start eating intuitively.
Nutrition experts Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch wrote the best-selling book Intuitive Eating, which was originally published in 1995 and became a bible for intuitive eating. Its highly recommended to pick up the book if you want to go on your own intuitive eating journey. It breaks down 10 essential principles:
The biggest benefit of intuitive eating is that, over time, you will start to have a calm approach around food, says Sala. You will no longer obsess about food or your body image. Your body will reach a natural, healthy weight (for you) and will stop fluctuating. You will be able to be more present with other aspects of your life instead of obsessing over your body and food.
Your physical health may also benefit from this new approach. Studies have shown that some of the benefits of intuitive eating include improved cholesterol levels, lower rates of emotional and disordered eating, better body image and self-esteem, reduced stress, improved metabolism, higher levels of contentment and satisfaction, says Alana Van Der Sluys a certified intuitive eating counselor and coach who recovered from an eating disorder thanks to intuitive eating.
When you consider how you want your body to feel after you eat, when you truly begin allowing all foods, and when you integrate the principle of gentle nutrition, you will arrive at your body's genetically coded weight set range, where your body runs most optimally for you, she adds.
For some, that might mean six-pack abs. For others, it might mean making peace with your natural build and not trying to contort and punish your body for the sake of aesthetics.
Get real with yourself: Is your relationship with food and your body stressful and dysfunctional? Its important to realize this because the lure of another diet may be tempting when embarking on an intuitive eating journey. If you are constantly fluctuating in your weight, feel very tired and lethargic all the time, have preoccupations with food thoughts, believe your body size and shape are a large part of your self-worth, or oscillate between binging and restricting, it's time to ditch the diet mentality, says Der Sluys.
As Sala puts it, the changes may be scary over time. If youre used to relying on external cues to dictate your eating, say, how many calories you should consume in a meal, or what your meal plan says, you may not be able to snap your fingers and start eating intuitively right away.
Its a journey, and youll want to focus on progress, not perfection. For example, if you don't listen to your hunger cues and overeat during one meal, dont beat yourself up. One meal wont make you unhealthy or ruin anything thats the diet mentality speaking. Just keep practicing intuitive eating principles one day at a time.
A key part of intuitive eating is being mindful when eating. Are you scarfing down a candy bar because you feel stressed? Are you ravenous because you waited too long between meals? Get curious about your eating patterns without labeling anything as good or bad (again, thats the diet mentality speaking).
Once you let go of the restriction mindset, you can start treating food in a different way: it's there if you want it, you can have it anytime, and you don't have to have it all now. You will be able to be present for every bite and stop when you are satisfied, says Sala.
It might also be time for a social media clean-up. My top tip for beginners is to unfollow all diet-related content on social media, which effectively helps you ditch the diet mentality, and start following accounts about non-diet, anti-diet, body liberation, weight neutrality, body positivity, health at every size and intuitive eating, recommends Der Sluys.
Intuitive eating encourages physical activity that makes you feel good. If you work out as a form of punishment because you overate or because you hate the way you look, youll want to reframe that perspective and start doing workouts you actually enjoy.
Der Sluys also suggests working with an intuitive eating coach, as it can be emotionally taxing and nuanced to rework your entire relationship with food. Getting one-on-one support can help you retrain yourself to view food differently and reconnect with your bodys natural cues. Food freedom is worth the effort.
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