Intuitive eating will help with your diet

Editor’s note: This article is part of a monthly series of articles submitted by the Leamington and Area Family Health Team.

By Olivia Kuhlmann, Dietetic Intern with the Leamington & Area Family Health Team

Diet Culture is everywhere! A quick Google search for “diet” comes up with 1.14 billion results in 0.56 seconds. All this information telling us what to eat, when, and how much, can be overwhelming.

This is where ‘Intuitive Eating’ comes in. We are all born with the innate ability to eat intuitively. Think, a baby crying when they’re hungry. Along the way, Diet Culture teaches us to silence our bodies’ cues and put our trust in strict plans/ the newest fad diet.

Intuitive Eating is about getting back in touch with these cues and learning to trust our body. It has 10 guiding principles:

1. Reject the Diet Mentality: Diet culture says weight gain is synonymous with failure, and teaches us to base our worth on the food we eat and looking a certain way.

This mentality stands in the way of food freedom.

2. Honour Your Hunger: Your body knows when it needs energy, and it has various methods of asking you for fuel. Ignoring these cues triggers primal food seeking instincts and can lead to overeating. Rebuild the trust with your body, that you will provide it the nourishment it needs.

3. Make Peace with Food: Food is not the enemy! Marking foods as “off-limits” can lead to a sense of deprivation and in turn intensify cravings. Give yourself the unconditional permission to eat.

4. Challenge the Food Police: There is no such thing as “good” or “bad” food. Food is nourishment and has no moral value.

5. Discover the Satisfaction Factor: Eating is about so much more than the nutrients food gives our bodies. It can be a social, cultural, and emotional experience. Allowing yourself to find pleasure and satisfaction in food is part of living a balanced life.

6. Feel Your Fullness: Listen to your body’s signals when you’re eating. Over time, you can feel more confident knowing when you’re comfortably full. With Intuitive Eating, your mind and body will learn to trust that food will be available again when it’s needed.

7. Cope with Your Emotions with Kindness: Throughout the course of our lives, food is used to comfort, nurture, and distract us when we’re feeling upset. Food serves a variety of purposes, but it cannot resolve these underlying feelings. Learn to cope with uncomfortable emotions in ways that don’t involve food.

8. Respect Your Body: If we all ate the exact same, our bodies would still be different! Health looks different on everyone. Give your body permission to change and adapt throughout the course of your life.

9. Movement – Feel the Difference: Movement is supposed to be enjoyable. Find an activity that you enjoy and focus on how it makes you feel, rather than how many calories it burns. Exercise is self-care!

10. Honour Your Health – Gentle Nutrition: You don’t have to eat “perfectly” to be healthy. You will not develop a nutritional deficiency in one day or gain 10lbs from one meal.

Balance is key.