The 10 Principles of Intuitive Eating That Will Help You Ditch Your Diet
So What Exactly is Intuitive Eating?
My guess is that you have heard of Intuitive Eating as it has become quite the buzzword. You may have heard about it on social media and become more confused when the influencer talking about it made it seem like another diet plan. Much in the way that the body positivity movement got co-opted by small-bodied white folx, Intuitive Eating has suffered some of the same fate. You might hear well-intentioned influencers talking about Intuitive Eating in the sense that you can simply “eat when hungry and stop when full,” all the way to giant diet companies (that I will not name here) trying to confuse you by saying things like “there are no good/bad foods!” while simultaneously making you track every calorie that you eat. These companies profess that they “aren’t a diet plan” while literally making you….diet. Yea, I know that this seems really freaking confusing. The good news is that Intuitive Eating, written by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch, is a framework that encourages you to ditch all that BS and embrace your body’s own wisdom.
Why Intuitive Eating is the Opposite of Dieting
The 10 principles of Intuitive Eating are in no way another diet plan trying to trick you into submission. It is an empowerment tool - not a plan for exactly how to eat or not eat, and most certainly not a “hunger/fullness” diet as many think it is. What I mean by empowerment is helping give you the tools you need to figure out what works for your body, what foods you like and don’t like, how to ensure you are getting what you need, and more. This is much the opposite of a diet plan. When we go on a diet, we are choosing some sort of plan that tells us exactly what we need, whether that is what time of day to eat, how much to eat (or not eat), and all of this with the intent of changing our body in some way. Intuitive Eating takes the opposite approach - that no one except you knows what’s best for your individual and unique body.
The truth is that we are all born intuitive eaters. As children, most of us were able to self-regulate and ensure that we ate when we needed food and/or when it was enjoyable, and over time were able to get all of the nutrients we needed without giving it any scientific thought. Fast forward a bit, and we were all eventually inundated with diet culture messaging about what foods were “good,” which ones were “bad,” convincing us that we actually had no idea how to nourish ourselves and needed someone else to give us an exact blueprint on how to do that. Do we really think the human race would have survived if we had no internal barometer for figuring out what we needed to eat?
How Intuitive Eating Can Help You Heal From Diet Culture
If you are looking to heal from diet culture, the 10 principles of intuitive eating can be a great tool in your toolbox. Although I don’t think it is a stand alone “answer” it can help you start to take back some of what dieting steals from us. Diet culture tells us that we should not trust our body and that we need another diet or plan to tell us exactly what we need. Diet culture not only leads to disordered eating patterns and body image distress, but it can also make us question our own self-worth. When we are made to believe that the most interesting thing about us is the size of our body and the way that it looks, it reinforces the harmful narratives about bodies that are considered “other” and can make us question our place in this world.
Why Intuitive Eating Works and Where to Start
Intuitive eating works and is backed by a multitude of studies and research that shows that it has a positive impact. It is important though to note what your definition of “working” is. If you are measuring this by if you are going to lose weight, then intuitive eating likely won’t feel like it “works” for you. The truth is that we have no idea what your body is going to do while moving towards becoming an intuitive eater. You may lost weight, gain weight, or stay the same. If you are coming out of a period of restriction (which most people who are dieting are), your body will likely gain weight which is expected and necessary.
If you are struggling with deciding if you are ready to give up dieting for the 10 principles of intuitive eating (which is 100% your choice, no judgment here), try taking an inventory of all the diets that you have tried in the past. Did they work in the long term for you? Even if your body did change, was it sustainable? Did it take away all of your body image struggles? If the answer to any of these were “no,” then perhaps you are ready to give something else a try.
The 10 Principles of Intuitive Eating and How to Make Them Work in the Real World
1. Reject the Diet Mentality
As I talked about above, embracing intuitive eating requires a huge shift. It means rejecting the idea that a diet plan knows more about your body then you do. It means getting angry at diet culture for telling you this lie and for making you feel like you didn’t have a choice. The good news is that this is a process and you cannot expect yourself to read this paragraph and have changed your mind. This takes a massive amount of unlearning past stuff and embracing the new. For many folx it can be helpful to find in-person or online community that is talking about the harm that diet culture has caused and what to do about it. Some of my favorite books to start unlearning are Reclaiming Body Trust and The Body is Not an Apology.
2. Honor Your Hunger
When was the last time you actually paid attention to your hunger and fullness cues? Do you even know what they feel like? These cues can be really different for each person - for example when I start to get hungry it doesn’t always feel like a “rumbling stomach,” but instead manifests as light-headedness or a bit of irritability. For this step I would recommend worrying less about stopping eating when you feel full and instead being more curious about what it feels for you when you are satisfied. Also remember that it is OK to keep eating past fullness!! This is where people get it twisted - if you want to keep eating past your fullness (for whatever reason), it is perfectly okay to make that choice. But this is the key - it is honing in on your ability to make the choice vs someone else making it for you, or feeling like there is a “should” and “should not.”
3. Make Peace with Food
I get it - this one might feel tough. But yes, you read it right! The goal here is to make peace with all foods. Ditch the idea that there is “good” or “bad” or foods you “should” or “shouldn’t” have. Your aim here is to completely neutralize foods so that food is just….food. When we restrict ourselves from certain foods we tend to have a more difficult time tuning in with what we really want and need. This could look like stocking up on foods you typically “don’t allow” in your home, or truly being open to ordering whatever it is that you are craving off a restaurant menu.
4. Challenge the Food Police
We know that making peace with food might bring about a lot of negative thoughts and rules that you are breaking. This is normal and to be expected. You are not good or bad for eating or not eating certain foods. Unless you punched an innocent kid in the face and stole a cookie out of their hand, then you have not done anything wrong by eating that cookie (insert whatever food you feel “bad” about here!). Most (if not all) of these food police thoughts in your head are food rules that diet culture has placed there. You may not even be hearing your own voice - it might be a parent, teacher, or celebrity that you hear, echoing some sentiment they have said in the past or present. Just because we were taught a “rule” does not make it right or one we need to follow.
5. Discover the Satisfaction Factor
Can you remember the last time you actually enjoyed a meal? Or have you been trying to get through it as quickly as possible or found no enjoyment because it wasn’t what you actually wanted? Food is love and pleasure and fun. This doesn’t mean that every eating experience has to be an enjoyable one, but it is important to show yourself that food CAN be enjoyable. Try this out - the next time you are ready for a meal (and have the time and space to do this), ask yourself what you truly want to eat. Easier said than done, I know, when you may have not asked yourself this question in a long time. There is so much more to this principle (more to come in a future post!) but this can be an interesting place to start.
6. Feel Your Fullness
When you have been eating by a prescriptive diet, fullness isn’t even taken into account. The truth is that everyone needs a different amount of food in any given meal or snack - and you may need different amounts from day to day. So how do we deal with this? We listen to our body for signs of fullness and satisfaction and eat accordingly. Now here’s a super important caveat to note - this does NOT mean that you MUST stop eating when you are full. You may be at an amazing restaurant and loving the meal you are having, or you just simply want more of what you are eating. Intuitive eating is about making the choice whether or not to stop based on all the facts - there are times you will eat past fullness on purpose and that is ok.
7. Cope with Your Emotions with Kindness
Hunger and fullness are both physical sensations and emotional ones. We can feel physically OR emotionally full, for example, and it can be important to be able to be in tune with our emotions when it comes to truly being aware of what we need in any given moment. Mindfulness is a great way to approach this! Now I don’t mean needing to stop and do meditation in the middle of lunch (unless you want to). At it’s core, mindfulness means being aware of the present moment (and all of the thoughts and feelings that come along with it) without judgment. A great first place to start is to simply notice what thoughts and feelings you have around food and meals. There is nothing else to do right now except notice and be aware of your feelings with kindness and compassion.
8. Respect Your Body
Many folx end up having a negative reaction to the idea of body positivity, and for good reason. If you are feeling negative about your body, it can feel literally impossible to get to a place of feeling like you love your body. Instead, what if we approach our body with respect and kindness? Bodies come in all shapes and sizes - would you feel negatively about someone because of their height? Weight and shape are mostly genetic in the same way as height, yet we would never blame ourselves or feel morally inadequate for how tall we are. Work on accepting your body for what it is (and note that acceptance does not have to mean love or that you are “super happy about it”) and see how that lands.
9. Movement - Feel the Difference
Ditch the idea about exercising for weight loss or that it is something you are required to do. Start to make a shift around the idea that you are allowed to do joyful movement wherever, whenever, and however you please. Yes, we all know that moving our bodies and has many benefits. It also can impact us negatively if we aren’t listening to our body or if it is a way to keep us stuck in diet culture. Put aside the idea that you need to exercise and try to imagine what would feel good to you. Maybe that means taking a walk, riding your bike, or taking a break from “exercise” entirely while you heal. Yes - deciding to take a break from movement is allowed if that is what you need! There are no rules here - see a pattern?
10. Honor Your Health - Gentle Nutrition
It is no coincidence that there is no talk at all about nutrition until this last principle. Also please note that for *most* people, it takes quite some time to get to that step. If we start to focus on nutrition too soon, it just becomes another rule or diet and will not allow us to truly listen into our body first. When you are ready for this step, it involves making choices around food that make you feel good. It can also mean eating something you know won’t make you feel your best because you truly want it and are making that choice!
So how does it feel reading about the ten principles of Intuitive Eating? My guess it that it might sound like a great idea in theory but also feels overwhelming. We have been taught for so long that we cannot trust our bodies or our hunger so it is completely normal to question this massive change. I also know that you read this post because you were interested in a different way of living - maybe you are looking to break free of diet culture or disordered eating, or want to get to a place of respecting your body. The good news is that this is a process and you can take as long as you need. Stay tuned for more posts breaking down each principle further and for learning more tips for how to move towards being a more intuitive eater. You also 100% deserve and are worthy of additional support if you are ready to take the leap and don’t want to do it alone. As a Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor and therapist in FL, I would love to walk alongside you and help guide you on the path to food and body liberation. Click the button below to connect!
