Last
month I gave a brief overview of the concept of Intuitive Eating, also known
as mindful, and non-diet eating. In this article I would like to provide
some more in-depth strategies for incorporating this form of eating into
your life.
Again, intuitive eating is an approach to food that follows you body’s natural hunger and fullness cues. These cues are often lost or repressed by years of dieting, following eating “rules,” or perhaps from illness or taking medications that change your appetite signals. Some primary goals of this form of eating follow:
- A good place to start is by allowing yourself to eat and not worry about carbs, good or bad sugars and fats, etc. Also, learn to increase an awareness of how your body feels with certain foods. Let go of old attitudes of how a meal should be put together and when to eat. Some of what your “mother” taught is right, some may be wrong! You don’t need to “clean your plate,” or eat specific foods at specific meals. Any food is appropriate for any meal if it appeals to you!
- Ignore diet books. They all play games with food choices, but what really causes weight loss in these diets is that they are hypo caloric—regardless of the “trick” for losing and rules to follow, the bottom line is they are low calorie. You need to know that there are no bad foods. There are better choices, such as whole foods rather than refined sugars, but no food eaten within reason will cause you harm (unless you have an underlying medical condition, or are on certain medications).
- The primary goal is to trust your body to tell you when you are hungry or full, and what specifically appeals at that moment. If the family dinner hour is a time when you aren’t hungry, you don’t have to eat, or eat much, or you might want to tweak the time a bit. Snacking is fine. It is important to allow hunger, even wait for it before you eat, and then eat whatever appeals. Even a “sugar fix” now and then. Pizza for breakfast and cereal for dinner—no problem. Start to tune in and “listen” to your body. This is a gradual process. It takes time to really know hunger, and learning to stop at full, even if there is still food left! (That’s what doggy bags are for!)
It is interesting to note that your taste buds are heightened when you are hungry, so stopping at full and saving food for later will let you enjoy it more
- Lastly, intuitive eating goes both ways. If you habitually restrict your intake, begin to allow hunger, and eat to it. It is important to not be afraid of this—your body will find its comfortable weight when left alone to run the show.
So, relax, and make peace with your food!
© 2008 Good News Tucson™
