A Guide on Intuitive Eating

It is a philosophy of eating that makes you the expert of your body and its hunger signals.

Essentially, it’s the opposite of a traditional diet. It doesn’t impose guidelines about what to avoid and what or when to eat.

Some of the concepts of intuitive eating have been around at least since the early 1970s, though the term wasn’t coined until 1995.

The program was built on the principle that diets don’t work and that lifestyle changes and personal care are more important for long-term health.

• Reject the diet mentality. The diet mentality is the idea that there’s a diet out there that will work for you.
• Respond to your early signs of hunger by feeding your body.
• Food is not good or bad and you are not good or bad for what you eat or don’t eat.
• Respect your fullness. Just as your body tells you when it’s hungry, it also tells you when it’s full.
• Discover the satisfaction factor. When you make eating a pleasurable experience, you may find it takes less food to satisfy you.
• Honor your feelings without using food. Find ways that are unrelated to food to deal with your feelings.
• Respect your body, rather than criticizing your body.
• Exercise — feel the difference
• Honor your health — gentle nutrition. One meal or snack isn’t going to make or break your health.