Intuitive Eating - do you trust yourself?

People often underestimate a mother’s intuition when it comes to her kids. Mum’s often know their kids are unwell even if initial testing suggests otherwise. Further investigation often proves that these mums and their intuition are very powerful barometers when it comes to their children. But what about your intuition when it comes to how you interact with food – what your body actually needs? Do you listen to yourself when it comes to what you eat and when you eat?

What is Intuitive Eating?
Intuitive eating is the opposite of a traditional diet in that there are no rules, no guidelines, no good foods, no bad foods. No trends – no avoiding carbs, low carbs, high protein, only vegetables for three days, juice fasts, paleo, meat free, grain free, plant free. No celebrity face telling you they feel awesome and you can too but only if you follow their choices and pay out the big bucks!

Rather, intuitive eating is as the name suggests – you listen to yourself because you are the best person, the only person, who knows how your body is feeling. It’s a style of eating that promotes a healthy attitude toward food and removes labels that demonise or popularise different food types.

How does it work?
Intuitive eating means trusting yourself and your body to let you know what it needs and when it needs it. It means understanding the difference between eating because you are legitimately hungry as opposed to emotional or responsive eating or eating simply out of habit – just because it is 12:30pm doesn’t mean you have to eat lunch if you aren’t actually hungry!

It means understanding which foods make you feel good and which ones make you feel bloated or drive cravings. Which foods give you energy and which make you feel sluggish and lazy. It means that you eat the food that makes you feel great most of the time and if you want the other stuff, you just remember that it is sometimes food. Let’s face it, chocolate tastes great but if we ate it all the time, we would feel awful. It doesn’t mean it is bad, it just means you eat it occasionally and in limited amounts.

Intuitive eating means listening to your body and understanding the signals that let you know you are sated. Not overstuffed. We all know that feeling of having eaten too much and it’s incredibly unpleasant. But if you savour your food and take the time to listen and actually act upon the signals your body is sending you, you can eat until you are comfortably full without the need to unbuckle your belt.

The big question is – how do you start?

It’s too easy! You simply wait for your body to let you know when it is hungry. Not craving a treat, actually hungry. And then you eat something that will make you feel great, that will provide you with energy and the nourishment you need. And make it something you enjoy – if it’s a tasty salad, a soup, a piece of chicken and some vegies. Maybe some grilled fish. Pack it with flavour – use herbs and spices. And you eat until your body says you it’s full.

And that’s as easy as it gets. The trick is in listening to your body and trusting yourself to correctly understand what it is telling you. This could be a completely liberating experience if you give it a go! I’d love to hear your experience.