What is Intuitive Eating?

YOU ARE A VICTIM OF THE RULES YOU LIVE BY

Quit following someone else’s rules. Once you stop trying to follow other people’s rules and focus on tuning into your own wants and needs, you will feel liberated, confident, and yes, healthy.

I can promise you this!

For those of you who have not seen me for nutrition counseling, I hope that this will help serve as a guide so you can learn more about intuitive eating and whether it is something that might simplify what “healthy eating” means to you and ease any anxiety around food. 

The Beginning

We are born intuitive eaters. As babies, we cry, we’re fed, we sleep, we do it all over again. As kids, most of us have the liberty to eat what we want when we want and then move on with our day. We’re not always fed on a schedule and we don’t eat the same foods or amount of calories or protein or carbs every day. Heck, we don’t even know what a calorie is! But in the end, our body does it’s thing and we learn to trust it. 

The Problem

As we grow older, we start comparing ourselves to other people. We begin associating food with weight and body shape/size. We may blame food for our body shape/size. We may try to eat like someone with the body we want. We listen to social media. We ask others for their opinions. WE ARE JUDGED. We also judge ourselves!! We read “extreme” books. We hear about FAD diets. We are victims of marketing and sales. Ultimately, we are victims of other people’s rules.

The Solution?

Intuitive eating might be your escape from the chaos.

So let’s learn!

Are Mindful and Intuitive Eating the same?

Short answer: No…

The terms mindful eating and intuitive eating are often used interchangeably, but mindful eating is just one skill that can be used within the paradigm of the 10 intuitive eating principles(shared below). 

Mindful eating quite literally means being mindful/present and deliberately paying attention while eating. This involves acknowledging all thoughts and judgments that guide food choices and actions around food and tuning into your senses so you can fully experience every bite. In today’s go go go world, it is easy to lose our sense of mindfulness with food and hunger levels. We have so much other stuff taking up our brainspace! Practicing mindfulness can help us slow down so we can better sense our hunger/fullness/satisfaction cues.

While intuitive eating involves mindful eating, it also involves being OK with NOT eating mindfully (say whaaat? I know…). Within the scope of intuitive eating, every meal does not NEED to be eaten mindfully, because… well… LIFE! When intuitive eating is done right, less time is spent thinking about food and what we should/shouldn’t be eating. Spontaneity and pure food freedom are key components of intuitive eating, so chipping away at any diet rules (including what, how much and when to eat) is essential. Sadly, these are lost within the framework of a diet or any sort of boundaries tied to food(This does not include allergies/intolerances/religious restrictions/other specialized diets!). Intuitive eating helps guide eating choices by helping you get back in touch with internal cues, like hunger/fullness, cravings, and how food makes you feel. You have to let go of your rules before you can effectively tune in and respond to your internal cues. 

The principle goal of intuitive eating is to kiss goodbye to the diet mentality so that we can make peace with food, body image, movement and nutrition. This is HARD WORK! I would be lying if I said I’ve mastered it myself, but it is a practice that I see tremendous value in and would love to one day master all 10 principles involved. My advice? Focus on mastering one principle at a time. 

Mindful eating can help address:

·     Binge eating

·     Mindless or bored eating

·     Picky eating

·     Disordered eating

·     General nutrition/health

·     Anxiety around food(s)

·     Food guilt

Intuitive eating can help address:

·     Everything above

+

·     Weight instability 

·     Obsession with food 

·     Obsession with healthy eating

·     Feeling a need to track macros, count calories, etc.

·     Tired of yo-yo and/or FAD dieting

·     Emphasizing external rules over internal cues

·     Judgments about food

·     Obsession with weight or body image 

·     Insecurities related to weight/body image/food

·     Fear of eating out 

·     Feeling a need to to be “in control” of food, body shape, weight

Most people can relate to at least one of the items listed above. NO SHAME. A perfect relationship with food/body image does not exist. Instead of seeking perfection, I challenge you to be honest with yourself about your relationship with food and with your body. Without showing judgment or trying to defend yourself, ask yourself if any of the above bullets apply to you. If you answer yes, ask yourself why and what purpose does it serve?

Does your relationship with food and your body serve both your health and your happiness? Because it should!!

Is there anyone I would not recommend intuitive eating to?

Intuitive eating might be contraindicated for some, including certain disease states, the food insecure/homeless, early on in eating disorder treatment (especially when weight restoration needs to happen or hunger cues are no longer present), high volume endurance athletes who may not intuitively be eating enough, etc.

If you have personal questions, please reach out to me on www.kyliekainnutrition.comor send me a direct message on instagram @kyliekainnutrition.  

Proven Benefits of Intuitive Eating: 

Higher HDL (“good”) cholesterol, Lower triglycerides, Lower rates of emotional eating,Lower rates of disordered eating and eating disorders,Higher self-esteem, Better body image,More satisfaction with life, Optimism and well-being,Proactive coping skills.

(Find referenced studies by clicking here.)

The 10 Principles of

Intuitive Eating

1: REJECT THE DIET MENTALITY 

2: HONOR YOUR HUNGER

3: MAKE PEACE WITH FOOD 

This means giving yourself permission to eat all the  foods you enjoy, including those that may have been off-limits. 

4: CHALLENGE THE FOOD POLICE 

This will help you look at nutrition in a more helpful way that’s rooted in self care rather than punishment. This might involve unfollowing some accounts on Instagram or even reevaluating your friendships and who you choose to get your energy from every day. Does their energy serve you?

5: RESPECT YOUR FULLNESS 

This also involves addressing your hunger…and not waiting until you are starving to do so!

6: DISCOVER THE SATISFACTION FACTOR 

Let the experience of food connect you with others.

7: COPE WITH YOUR EMOTIONS WITH OR WITHOUT FOOD 

Food can help us cope with emotions, but it also shouldn’t be your only coping mechanism. After a long day of work, a Neapolitan pizza and beer might be what you need. Get a promotion? Maybe you celebrate with a steak and martini! Acknowledge your emotional needs and respond in an honest way that will help improve the situation… Eating the whole box of chocolates probably won’t improve the situation, but having a few might!?

8: RESPECT YOUR BODY 

This doesn’t necessarily mean love your body. You can’t force body positivity, but you can always practice treating your body with more kindness and respect. 

9: EXERCISE - FEEL THE DIFFERENCE 

Learn the art of pleasurable movement - moving your body for fun and for purposes of self care, not as punishment or to burn calories! 

10: HONOR YOUR HEALTH WITH GENTLE NUTRITION 

Intuitive eating was created by two dietitians, so of course, nutrition is woven in somewhere! Nutrition comes last, because you have to heal your relationship with food before you begin integrating nutrition. Gentle nutrition involves taking a birds-eye view at eating. Every meal and every day of eating is different, but zoomed out, the variety balances out.

Nutrition can be intuitive when you begin considering how food makes you feel and your personal health goals. Contrary to popular belief, you can still work towards your health goals with intuitive eating. If you are honest with and respect yourself, your cravings, your wants and your needs, intuitive eating can be healthy eating for you.  

Final thoughts: 

One of the reasons I believe mindful and intuitive eating have become so hard for many of us is because of the confusion around food/health, the mixed messages and the unparalleled amount of judgment and criticism that we see on social media. Social media will shame people for eating added sugar, yet it will also mock people for avoiding foods with added sugar… It becomes so hard to focus on yourself and your own mind when your mind is constantly “influenced” by “influencers”.

Simplify, simplify, simplify.

Living a healthy lifestyle does not need to be complicated for most of us, so why make things hard on yourself?

If you’re experiencing anxiety or confusion around food and/or exercise, I would love to talk you through it. I’ve been there. It sucks the fun out of life!

I am here to help you rediscover what healthy means to YOU!!!