A lot of people go on diets every year. Long-term weight loss is a hard goal for many of them to reach. Most people who lose weight end up gaining it back at some point. While doctors continue to study the pros and cons of dieting, some people are looking to ways of eating that don’t involve dieting to change how they feel about food.
One of these non-diet ways to lose weight is called “intuitive eating.” It is a nutrition philosophy that tells people to eat carefully and pay attention to their body’s hunger signals. Instead of counting calories or classifying foods as “good” or “bad,” intuitive eaters try to “honor their hunger,” “respect their fullness,” and “reject the diet mentality.”
Research shows that intuitive eating might not be a good way to lose weight, but it seems to be good for your physical and mental health in other ways. Researchers have found that intuitive eating is linked to better cholesterol levels, blood pressure, and fewer signs of inflammation. In terms of mental health, intuitive eating is linked to better body image, less sadness, and a higher sense of self-worth.
Getting back in touch with the body
Anyone could get something out of natural eating. But it might be especially helpful for people who have trouble hearing what their bodies are telling them, like people who have a history of dieting a lot. People who have dieted and fought with their weight their whole lives might not know when they’re hungry or full anymore because they’ve pushed those feelings down.
People tell them to pay attention to how different foods and eating habits affect how hungry or full they feel, how much energy they have, how long they can pay attention, and how they feel in general. In intuitive eating, people are encouraged to investigate their food cravings by stopping to think about what’s behind them before giving in to them.
1. Don’t think in terms of diets
Put away the diet books and magazine pieces that give you false hope that you can lose weight quickly, easily, and for good. Get mad at the diet culture that encourages weight loss and the lies that make you feel like a failure every time a new diet doesn’t work and you put all the weight back on. If you keep even a small hope that a new and better diet or food plan is just around the corner, you won’t be able to find your way back to intuitive eating.
2. Honor Your Hunger
Give your body the energy and carbs it needs to function properly. If you don’t, you might get a natural urge to eat too much. Once you are too hungry, any plans you had to eat slowly and mindfully are gone and don’t matter anymore. When you learn to listen to this first biological sign, you can start to trust yourself and food again.
3. Don’t fight with food
Call a truce and stop fighting over food! Allow yourself to eat whatever you want. If you tell yourself you can’t or shouldn’t eat a certain food, you may feel very deprived, which can lead to uncontrolled cravings and binging. When you finally “give in” and eat something you’ve been avoiding, you’ll feel so strongly about it that you’ll probably overeat and feel a lot of guilt.
4. Ask the Food Police a Question
Say a loud “no” to thoughts that say you’re “good” for eating few calories or “bad” for eating a piece of chocolate cake. The food police keep an eye on the rules that diet society has made that aren’t fair. The police station is deep in your mind, and its loudspeaker yells insults, phrases that make you feel hopeless, and accusations that make you feel guilty. Getting rid of the food cops is a key part of getting back to Intuitive Eating.
5. Find out what makes you happy.
The Japanese are smart enough to make happiness one of their health goals. Because we feel like we have to follow diet culture, we often miss out on one of life’s most basic gifts: the pleasure and happiness that come from eating.
When you eat what you really want in a place that makes you feel good, the pleasure you get from it will help you feel full and happy. By putting yourself in this situation, you will learn that it only takes a certain amount of food for you to say “enough.”
6. Feel Your Fullness
To respect your fullness, you need to believe that you will give yourself the foods you want. Pay attention to the signs your body sends you when you’re no longer hungry. Watch for the signs that you’ve had enough to eat. Stop in the middle of your meal and think about how the food tastes and how hungry you are.
7. Be kind to yourself when you’re upset.
First, realize that physically and mentally cutting back on food can cause a loss of control that can feel like upset eating. Find ways to comfort, care for, ignore, and solve your problems that are kind. Anxiety, loneliness, boredom, and anger are all feelings that everyone has at some point in their lives.
Each has its own cause and its own way to calm down. None of these feelings can be fixed by eating. It might give you short-term pleasure, take your mind off the pain, or even numb you. But food won’t make the situation better. If anything, eating to satisfy an emotional hunger may make you feel worse over time. In the end, you’ll have to deal with what’s making you feel that way.
8. Take care of your body
Accept the way you were made. But most of all, treat your body with care so you can feel good about who you are. If you have an unrealistic view of your body size or shape and are too hard on yourself, it is hard to reject the diet mindset. All bodies deserve respect.
9. Move—Feel the Difference
Forget aggressive exercise. Just move around and you’ll notice a change. Focus less on how many calories you’re burning and more on how it feels to move your body. Focusing on how you feel after working out, like energized, can make the difference between getting out of bed for a quick walk in the morning or hitting the sleep button.
10. Take care of your health by eating gently
Choose foods that are good for your body and taste buds and make you feel good. Remember that you can be healthy even if you don’t eat correctly. You won’t get sick or lose your health from eating one snack, one meal, or one day’s worth of food. What counts is what you eat every day for a long time. What matters is progress, not perfection.
Conclusion
Over time, intuitive eating might help some people feel better about their bodies and how they relate to food. In reality, intuitive eating is just a way to help you get closer to eating like everyone else. Someone who doesn’t obsess over food or worry about it, but just likes different kinds and eats at regular times.