Intuitive Eating: A Beginner’s Guide to Enjoying Your Food, Body, & Life
Make peace with your body — not war
Are you sick of trying diets? Do you feel like they just don’t work for you?
Well, if the answer to either is yes, you’ve found this story at the right time. Because intuitive eating isn’t a diet — it’s a lifestyle.
There are no rules or restrictions. Just a more mindful way to look at food — with powerful results.
Here’s everything you need to know about intuitive eating.
What is intuitive eating?
Simply put, intuitive eating is a method of eating that’s based on listening to your body. Many people feel that dieting leads to an unhealthy relationship with food.
You may have experienced this yourself.
Intuitive eating creates a healthy relationship between your mind, body, and food.
By following your body’s natural cues, you can create a healthier and more balanced relationship with food. A few simple ways to do this are:
- Only eat when you are hungry — not because it’s time to eat
- Stopping when you’re full — even if there’s food left on your plate
- Not eating simply because it is time for a meal — or because you’re bored/stressed
Instead, get to know your body. Listen to it. Understand what it’s asking for. The best part is, you don’t have to worry about counting calories.
The benefits of intuitive eating
Intuitive eating is a healthier way of both eating and living. This means listening to your body and giving it what it needs.
You do not have to follow a strict diet plan.
It can have profound benefits such as eliminating binge-eating, reducing your risk of 2 diabetes or eating disorders such as anorexia or bulimia.
Intuitive eating creates a healthy relationship with food.
It also promotes self-love and appreciating who you are in this present moment.
How to practice it
Intuitive eating is about enjoying healthy food without feeling guilty. This means listening to your body and respecting its signals.
First, forget about any ideas you have about “good” and “bad” foods.
Your body will let you know what it likes and doesn’t like. When first starting, you may want to eat sugars, carbs… all the delicious yet “bad” stuff. But intuitive eating involves paying attention to how you feel that night, the next day, week, etc.
Eating donuts for breakfast might taste good, but you’ll notice your mood and energy suffer.
Unhealthy foods affect all aspects of your being. Part of intuitive eating is to understand how you feel mentally and emotionally in addition to physically.
Intuitive eating is not about depriving yourself of anything; it’s about listening to your body’s needs.
Second, learn to listen to your hunger cues. Eat when you’re hungry and stop when you’re full.
If you wake up and you aren’t hungry, there’s no need to eat.
If you’re starving after an intense workout, eat what your body is craving. The important part is to be mindful. Understand that hunger cravings can occur due to stress — looking for comfort.
If done right, intuitive eating can be liberating, empowering, and far more effective in the long term, than dieting.
How it can change your life
There is no doubt that eating healthy foods contributes to a healthy lifestyle. When you listen to what your body needs as opposed to what your mind wants, you will naturally eat healthier foods.
This improves digestion and improves energy.
According to multiple studies, intuitive eating can contribute to:
- Increased self-esteem
- Improved body image
- lower levels of depression & anxiety
When compared to conventional dieting/calorie-counting.
Intuitive eating therapies also have very high retention rates, implying that individuals are more likely to keep practicing the behavioural changes than they would be on a diet.
To Summarize:
Intuitive eating has the potential to change your life for the better in so many ways.
If you struggle with anxiety, depression, or body image issues, intuitive eating may be able to help.
By becoming more mindful of your own body and what it needs, you can find peace of mind that comes from within. And as you become happier and more content with yourself, your self-image will likely improve as well.
I hope you learned a lot from this story and are on your way to living healthier and happier.
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