Hi there,
Feel like it has been a while since the last time I published something over here. I've to admit that I was quite busy during those last few weeks. Between my departure from Van and my come back in Belgium, I didn't have much time for blogging (sniff).
Anyway, here I am back on Live My Way with a super cool new article: "the intuitive eating: Can you explain, I'm lost". Have you got any ideas of what intuitive eating is? I'm pretty sure some of you guys have already heard about this trendy concept, but maybe it's still a bit blurry or confused?!
Let's explore intuitive eating together.
What is intuitive eating?
This concept is not new at all. It has been created in 1995 by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch two award-winning nutritionists.
In a society where the diet industry is growing and growing by dictating the standards of beauty and reframing what being healthy means, at the expense of the women's self-love and acceptance (of course), a call for help was more than needed. This is why intuitive eating has finally boomed.
This philosophy is mainly hailed for rejecting the diet mentality. We do not talk about losing weight, we do not mention the food we should eat or not eat, neither when nor how to eat! It's all about listening to our body's signals in order to achieve our balanced weight (the one we should weigh naturally by simply listening to ourselves).
But that's not it. Intuitive eating is also about making peace with our body image. The approach is thus body and mind centered honoring both of our relationships with food and with our body.
Along these lines, we understand that intuitive eating is ruled by 10 principles:
Reject the diet mentality: As simple as it sounds it's all about stopping dieting and believing in those meaningless rules.
Honor your hunger: Listen to your body. If you're hungry at 11:30 AM just eat. Too many people eat because of social pressure or society's codes. This is not because it's 1PM that you should have lunch. If you're not hungry that doesn't make any sense. Respect your hunger.
Make peace with food: Keep in mind that there's no good or bad food! Everything, yes you heard me, is allowed. Even a burger, or a pizza, or whatever you have a craving for. By restricting and preventing yourself from some food you'll simply end up binging and feeling guilty (the so-called diet cycle). Please yourself when needed and be moderate by listening to your REAL hunger.
Challenge your food police: Stop the food fight! Stop controlling everything you eat. Why do we make it so complicated?
Respect your fullness: Once again listen to your hunger and you'll soon realize that you might have been used to eat way too much.
Satisfaction factor: Enjoy the eating experience. Make your environment ready to savor your breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Feel the pleasure your food gives to you. Put your phone away, switch off the tv or the radio, and just enjoy the moment.
Honor your feelings without food: It's important to find another way to cheer you up. Eating won't help in the long run, this is not the answer.
Respect your body: Accept your body and be thankful for what it allows you to do. It's also about accepting your genetic blueprint. Everyone is different. Stop comparing yourself to your skinniest pal having a totally different morphology. Accept who you're and let the inner fight go away.
Exercise: Working out remains part of the philosophy. Find something you truly like, your fitness pal ,and go move your body. Shift your mentality from: "I work out to burn" to "I work out to feel good".
Honor your health: Eat balanced! When it comes to choosing your food, be clever and pick something that you'll appreciate while remaining good for the health. Keep also in mind that you don't need to eat perfectly to be healthy.
How to put it into practice?
First thing first, you have to understand that dieting doesn't work!
I've read that quote saying that going on a diet is like cutting your hair, it will grow back. I really like it because it's full of sense and veracity. So take a few sec' to take stock of your whole diet journey. Do you see that? Those figures that kept fluctuating for finally going back to their initial situation?! So yes, dieting does not work in the long term. Stop the sore.
Secondly, you have to distinguish your physical hunger from your emotional hunger. As already mentioned it doesn't make any sense to eat because you're sad, bored, or lonely. Maybe this is cheerful at the moment, but in the long term, it won't solve your problem. So take the lead and face the issue.
Thirdly, learn to eat when you're hungry and stop when you're full. As easy as it might sounds, this is not that simple. You can start by eating slowly and maybe make a pause in the middle of your lunch to realize if you're still hungry or not. You can also rank your hunger on a scale and thus adapt your meal. Do not wait to be starving to start eating it will lead to overeating.
Personal experience & feedback
I don't want to be too long so I'll be short.
I've started to put this approach into practice 3 months ago when I was in Vancouver. I'm still on the process because of course, it's not easy everyday. Especially when some bad eating habits are ingrained in you for years.
I had to abolish those stubborn habits, and I've to admit that this is the hardest part of the job. But it is worth it. I feel so much better, freer, and released. A year ago it would have been almost impossible for me to think that way, without any food regulations and control. Today, I eat whatever I want, and whenever I feel hungry without any guilt. I please my body's way of communication. I trust it. In the end, I even sometimes eat less than before. But the best of it is the way I feel. I think that everyone you eat that way.
I hope you enjoy the reading, and if you have tried intuitive eating I'd love to hear what you think about it. :)
Bise,
Math.