What is Intuitive Eating?

Have you ever watched a young child eat? Here are some things you may notice:

• They know when they are hungry and become quickly irritable when not fed.

• They will let you know what they want and don't want to eat.

• They eat their food, often with pleasure and certainly without guilt or worry.

• They stop eating when full - even if it means leaving 2 bites of a cookie - WHAT?

• They then go about their business without thinking about food until they are hungry again.

This is intuitive eating.

As we age, we are exposed to diet culture through our families, peers, community, and the greater society. Diet Culture has taught us to believe that health and happiness are linked to having a smaller body, and the method to achieve this body is through controlling and restricting eating. Unfortunately, restricted eating and the resultant weight loss are rarely sustainable and can lead to poorer physical and emotional health. Removing body size as the primary route to health and happiness, allows individuals to explore what genuinely enhances their health and wellbeing. Intuitive Eating offers a framework to support people in making this in their relationship with food and their body.

Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch, the creators of Intuitive Eating(Tribole et al, 2020), designed 10 principles to help gently guide you back to your innate state as an intuitive eater. At its core, intuitive eating involves learning to listen to, trust, and respond to your body's needs. The 10 principles assist by fostering body awareness, eliminating barriers to this awareness, and providing strategies to care for the body that you have.

Principles that Foster Body Awareness

Honor Your Hunger 

Generally, the body is skilled at indicating when it requires nourishment, provided we learn to listen to and trust its signals. Consistent food consumption allows the body to feel secure and fulfill its energy and nutrient requirements. Overlooking or downplaying hunger can lead to negative outcomes such as an obsession with food (food noise), rebound eating, disordered eating, low energy, reduced cognitive/physical performance, poor mood, and diminished stress regulation.

Feel Your Fullness

Fullness should not be feared; rather, experiencing comfortable fullness helps our bodies learn that we trust them to indicate how much is needed to feel satisfied and content. Lacking this trust might lead us to undereat in an effort to exert control or to overeat as our body tries to fulfill its unmet needs.

Discover the Satisfaction Factor

Satisfaction is an essential yet often neglected aspect of the dining experience. When we consume the foods we truly desire with joy and pleasure, we finish the meal feeling content and fulfilled. The enjoyable experience is valuable on its own and can reduce the urge to eat later when not hungry, in search of the missing satisfaction.

Principles that Remove the Barriers to Body Awareness

Reject the Diet Mentality

Diet mentality is the belief that you need to manipulate your body size in order to improve health, feel attractive or have a sense of self-worth. For many this mentality increases suffering in the form of weight cycling, weight stigma, body shame, and food anxiety. Food freedom begins by rejecting the tenets of diet culture and taking care of the body you have regardless of its size.

Make Peace with Food

Many individuals limit certain foods in an effort to eat "right" or to avoid overeating. Unfortunately, this restriction often has the opposite effect, creating the very issue it aims to prevent. Denying yourself can heighten your focus on the restricted food (a.k.a. food noise), resulting in strong cravings and even binge eating. By ceasing to deny yourself, you can more effectively tune into your body to determine if you truly want the food, and if you do, decide on a portion that would be both satisfying and comfortable.

Challenge the Food Police

The food police symbolize the numerous internal voices that originate from diet culture beliefs, which categorize food as good or bad and dictate what eating behaviors are acceptable or not. They disrupt our ability to tune into our body's signals, so it's crucial to be aware of these voices and evaluate whether they are beneficial to our health or cause anxiety and stress.

Principles that Support Caring for the Body that You Have

Respect Your Body

Bodies naturally exists in diverse sizes and shapes and each one deserves care and respect just as it is. We show our bodies respect by treating them with dignity and kindness and meeting their basic needs. We want to shift from relating to our bodies with control and shame to care and compassion.

Cope with Your Emotions with Kindness

An overuse of food to cope with difficult emotions/stress can be harmful to our relationship with food and doesn't fix the underlying issues leading to the distress. It is important to develop additional self regulation tools and adaptive strategies that are more supportive to our overall well being.

Movement Feel the Difference

Think about how movement enhances your health and well-being beyond just altering your body. Discover enjoyable and comfortable ways to move and notice how it can bring various benefits, such as improved fitness, mobility, physical health ( blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar levels), mental health, and emotional health, even if your body size remains unchanged.

Honor Your Health with Gentle Nutrition

Taking into account the nutritional value and health benefits of food is a key aspect of intuitive eating, but it doesn't take precedence over paying attention to your body's signals and your personal tastes. The focus is on incorporating more nutritious foods rather than restricting others, and listening to your body to understand what makes it feel its best.

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Resch, E. Tribole, E. (2020). Intuitive Eating, 4th Edition. St. Martin's Essentials