More Weight Loss Solutions

What is intuitive eating, and how do you do it? – TheRecord.com

Sep 22nd, 2019

One common fear people have when they start to explore intuitive eating is that if they allow themselves to eat formerly off-limits foods, they'll never be able to stop. Tribole said this is understandable. "When someone fears that they're never going to stop eating their favourite food, it's probably because they've been deprived of it for so long," she said. "If you come to intuitive eating really hungry, it's easy to be afraid that you're never going to stop eating."

Harrison said the radical desire to eat, say, cookies, will eventually lessen, even though the pendulum swing from restriction to freedom is going to feel wild and chaotic at first. "It's worth a few months, or however long it takes, of feeling a little chaotic if you want to have a balanced relationship with food that's going to last decades," she said.

Rumsey said another common misperception is that intuitive eating means eating whatever you want, any time you want. "With intuitive eating, you have permission to eat what you want, any time you want, but that doesn't mean you always do that. Hunger, fullness, satisfaction, how food makes us feel those are all important, but intuitive eating also means using your brain and life experience."

Rather than being "one big cheat day," intuitive eating is about developing and using interoceptive awareness, the awareness of internal body sensations, Tribole said. "Interoceptive awareness is your superpower," she said. "When you know what your needs are physically, you have a treasure trove of information to help guide you."

After years of dieting, it can be hard to tune back into the body's signals, Harrison said. Intuitive eating's "unconditional permission to eat is a gentle way back into that," she said.

She suggested thinking about "what sounds good, what tastes good, what brings me pleasure and joy. Then, come back to how foods are sitting with you. It's important to let yourself get enough food, and enough varieties of food, first."

Untangle nutrition from dieting

One of the intuitive-eating principles is "honour your health with gentle nutrition," but once people start practising intuitive eating, they often worry that they're doing it wrong, or that "diet mind" is creeping back in when they want broccoli, salmon and quinoa instead of a cheeseburger and fries.

"Intuitive eaters don't apologize for eating a doughnut or a salad," Tribole said. "But the confusion is understandable." People should ask themselves, "What's the intention behind the desire to eat a healthy food? If the intention is to shrink your body, then that's a clue that diet mind is at play," she said.

Other clues are the presence of guilt or fear. "If there's any of that feeling of, 'If I don't eat that broccoli, I'm going to ruin my health, or I'm going to gain weight,' those are clues that diet mentality is creeping in," Harrison said.

She points out that choosing the broccoli can be an act of self-care. "Maybe you've noticed that when you include a few servings of vegetables, you feel more energetic and your digestion works better. A truly peaceful relationship with food is about self-care, not self-control."

Give intuitive eating time to feel intuitive

Tribole said that although there are 10 intuitive-eating principles, they are not absolute rules.

"There's no such thing as pass or fail; there's learning and discovering," she said. "So, you overate at lunch. Let's see what happens. Maybe you don't feel hungry for an afternoon snack; maybe you aren't as hungry at dinner. Ultimately, it's not satisfying to undereat, and it's usually not satisfying to overeat, but you get to decide."

Rumsey said dieting is usually easy at first because there's a plan to follow and clear rules. But it gets harder over time because the rules aren't sustainable in real life, and our bodies often push back against the ongoing restriction.

"Intuitive eating is the opposite: it's really hard at first because for most people, it's totally different than what they've been doing," she said. "But over time, intuitive eating gets easier and easier."

Ultimately, said Tribole, "it's about putting the pleasure back in food and about healing your relationship with food, mind and body so you can live your best life."

Dennett is a registered dietitian, author of "Healthy for Your Life: A Holistic Approach to Optimal Wellness" and owner of Nutrition by Carrie.

Dennett is a registered dietitian, author of Healthy for Your Life: A Holistic Approach to Optimal Wellness and owner of Nutrition by Carrie.

Read more from the original source:
What is intuitive eating, and how do you do it? - TheRecord.com

Related Posts

Contact One Of Our Consultants Today


Your Full Name
Your Email
Your Phone Number
Select your age (30+ only)
Confirm over 30 years old  Yes
Confirm that you are a US Citizen  Yes
This is a Serious Inquiry  Yes
Select A Program
Duration
Select Your US State
captcha Please Enter Code:


Tags:
Comments are closed.
Weight Loss Solutions
matomo tracker