This week, I’m answering questions from a reader who wants to learn more about intuitive eating, a concept developed in 1995 by two American nutritionists, Elyse Resch and Evelyne Tribole. Good reading!
The message that we must deprive ourselves to achieve our ideal body is still well anchored! What if we gave more space to the “reasons for eating” rather than the “content” of one’s plate? This is exactly what intuitive eating offers. Instead of running into a wall each time you embark on a restrictive weight loss diet, let’s learn to listen to your body and trust it by observing its signals of hunger and fullness.
The 10 Principles of Intuitive Eating
How to integrate intuitive eating into your daily life? Here are 10 ways to do that.
1- Reject the mentality of weight loss diets
Powders, capsules, cures, low carb, high protein diets, etc. Not only do these weight-loss methods completely screw up the body’s natural signals, but they lead to guilt and possible weight gain. The best way to reach a weight that you feel good about in the long term is to change your lifestyle habits with kindness.
2- Eat when feeling moderately hungry
Hunger is perceived by physiological signals (rumbling belly, lack of concentration, etc.). These sensations are clues that the body needs to receive fuel as soon as possible. If we ignore them, we are very likely to have food cravings later and eat anything too quickly and in too large quantities.
3- Give yourself the right to eat all the foods you like
The prohibitions only reinforce the feeling of deprivation and the appearance of rages and food excesses. When we give ourselves the right to enjoy our favorite foods, it keeps guilt away and promotes an atmosphere of “food normalcy”.
4- Put a stop to the categorization of foods as “good” or “bad”
No food alone can ward off or cause disease. It is rather the set of lifestyle habits practiced daily that positively or negatively influences health.
5- Observe his feeling of fullness
Satisfaction is the feeling of having eaten enough. We feel good, filled just right! If we have the feeling of overflow and it is difficult to get up from the table, it is because we have eaten beyond our level of satiation. When the last bite starts to be too much, it’s time to get up from the table.
6- Rediscover the satisfaction and pleasure of eating
You can feel full, without feeling satisfied! For example, the person who wants to eat chocolate, but opts instead for yogurt because it is “healthier” is very likely to not feel satisfied. Then follow the apple, the piece of cheese, then the famous piece of chocolate! If she had respected her craving for chocolate from the beginning, she would have saved herself a belly filled with superfluous food and guilt.
7- Learn to experience emotions without the use of food
Not every “emotion” requires a “reaction.” Whatever the emotion, the solution is never in the cupboards or in the fridge. Rather than sweeping the emotion temporarily under the rug (while eating), let’s learn to welcome it and understand the real reasons why it has arisen.
8- Accept your body as it is right now
If only we had as much compassion for ourselves as for others, life would be so much easier, wouldn’t it? Learning to accept yourself as you are today is the work of a lifetime! Let’s learn to do it on a daily basis and with kindness.
9- Enjoy being active
If we’re training to lose weight, we’re doing it for the wrong reasons! Instead of focusing on the number of calories burned, let’s focus on the physical and mental benefits of our favorite activities.
10- Take care of yourself
To promote well-being and health, here is the winning formula: we do not forbid ourselves any food, we adopt healthy lifestyle habits, we cook more, we promote a varied diet and the least processed possible, we promote sleep repairer, we hydrate and we move every day!
Want to go deeper into the subject? Here are two books that might interest you: From Diet Culture to Intuitive Eating, by Karine Gravel and Eating and Moving Intuitively, by Geneviève Nadeau and Karine Payment.
Have a good Saturday!