Ways You To Practice Intuitive Eating
Tribole and Resch have clearly laid out the rules of this eating approach in their book called Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Program that Works. So, here’s presenting the factors that you need to keep in mind if you want to give it a try:
Reject the diet mentality: From social media to magazines to television, whatever it is that prompts you to follow restrictive diets has got to be kicked out of your life for good. Because not only can they mislead you into following fad diets that can cause nutritional deficiencies in your body, but they can also make you feel really guilty about not adhering to the said rules of dieting and spoil your relationship with food altogether.
Honour your hunger: Starving yourself or ignoring your hunger is ultimately going to lead to food cravings and make you to pounce on food and binge eat when you finally lose control. Hence, eat when you’re hungry and eat till you’re full.
Make peace with food: Food is food. It’s neither good nor bad. These are just labels we put on them according to our sweet convenience. Surely, a packet of chips isn’t the healthiest option for you, but an occasional binge in moderation is not going to do you any harm. However, if you resist or restrict yourself, you might just end up binge eating them in excess and feeling guilty about it later.
That said, it’s important to embrace healthy eating as well. Certain foods can make your body feel healthier and better. You’ve got to keep in mind the nutritional value of what you’re eating as well. It’s all about creating the right balance between nutrition and taste.
Feel your fullness: Eating till you feel satiated is important as dissatisfaction post a meal can prompt you to binge on snacks excessively and even make you feel irritated.
Since your brain takes almost 20 minutes to send signals of ‘satisfaction’ to your body, the best way is to chew your food properly, eat slowly, and pause between the meal to determine if you’re feeling full. Basically, the idea is to listen to your body, you see?
“Getting back in touch with the experience of eating and enjoying the food is important. So, be aware of what you’re eating and eat without distractions while focussing on the sight, smell, taste, and texture of the food,” suggest Kaul.
Discover the satisfaction factor: Another principle to keep in mind here is that eating what is prescribed till you’re full instead of eating what you feel like can also lead to dissatisfaction. Hence, you’ve definitely got to honour your body’s calling and eat what you’re craving for, while keeping the moderation factor into consideration, of course.
“By letting yourself eat what you feel like, you can prevent food cravings and overeating,” says Kaul.
Don’t use food to cope with your emotions: Relying on an ice-cream tub or a full-sized pizza in times of celebration, sadness, or confusion doesn’t fall under intuitive eating, girls. That’s nothing, but emotional eating.
“Emotional hunger involves using food to make yourself feel better/to fulfill your emotional needs rather than fulfilling your hunger. One tends to eat based on how he/she feels, rather than what the body needs,” Kaul points out.
“Physical hunger is eating in response to the need of the body to provide energy to carry out various bodily functions. Your body starts to provide cues such as stomach grumbling, headache, and fatigue/exhaustion when it needs to get refueled,” she adds.
Don’t get confused between the two and stop using food to cope with your emotions, okay?
Respect your body: Acceptance is key here. If you don’t like the way you look and are too critical of your body, then you can never eat without feeling guilty about it. Basically, a negative body-image acts as a barrier when it comes to improving your relationship with food.
Exercise, exercise, exercise: Not only can exercising help you burn a few extra calories, it’s also a great way to improve your overall health, boost your mood, and improve your body-image issues too. Focus on how your workout makes you feel and uplifts your mood rather than focussing on how many inches it can make you lose.
