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What Is Intuitive Eating? A Nutritionist Weighs In On This Popular Anti-Diet
Honor your health with gentle nutrition
Eating “intuitively” should still involve more fruits and veggies than ice cream. But at the same time, a diet doesn’t have to be perfect to be healthy, and you shouldn’t beat yourself up every time you make a less-than-perfect meal or snack choice.
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Key Ideas
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 wha...
The basics
To eat intuitively, you may need to relearn how to trust your body. Distinguish between physical and emotional hunger:
- Physical hunger. This biological urge tells you to replenish nutrients. It builds gradually and has different signals, such as a growling stomach, fatigue, or irritability.
- Emotional hunger. This is driven by emotional need. Sadness, loneliness, and boredom are some of the feelings that can create cravings for food, often comfort foods.
History of intuitive eating
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.
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Key Ideas
Intuitive eating
Intuitive eating involves coming to peace with your body’s needs, letting go of the guilt associated with eating and ending the struggle of rules.
Intuitive eating and mindful eating
With mindful eating, there is no explicit rejection of dieting.
Intuitive eating rejects the diet mentality altogether—that’s the biggest difference.
Principles of intuitive eating
- Honor your hunger. Reject the diet mentality, make peace with food and challenge the food police.
- The act of eating. Respect your fullness, and discover the food delight factor.
- The emotion of eating. Honor your feelings without using food, and respect your body.
- Exercise—feel the difference.
- Honor your health.
5
Key Ideas
Intuitive eating
Rejects the diet mentality, promotes giving yourself permission to eat without labeling some foods "good” and others “bad,” acknowledging when you’re eating your feelings and accepting the body you...
Making peace with food
It doesn’t mean giving in to every craving; it means getting rid of the idea of “giving in” to “bad foods” altogether. Eat that Oreo when you want it, without any negative emotion attached, and you won’t feel like you need to eat the whole bag.
Respect your fullness
Listen for the body signals that tell you that you are no longer hungry. Intuitive eating is about understanding what foods your body feels best eating, and how to make your own food choices based on your own hunger and fullness