Often when clients are seeking my guidance for their nutritional health, they want a specific plan of what to eat, how much to eat and when to eat. I always explain that I don’t want them to become number obsessed, but I will use calories and portions as an educational tool to help get them started and point them in the right direction.
Ideally, though, they won’t be living their daily lives based on numbers. Rather, the plan is for my clients to begin to understand, feel and see the need for food as fuel for performance and health, balanced with enjoyment and recognize the cues from their body when they are hungry, why they are eating and how to make the best choices to satisfy their nutrient needs, health and performance goals.
So many factors contribute to what people eat and why they eat. Is it fuel for performance, is it stress, emotional eating, a reward, a sacrifice, a coping mechanism? In a time laden with fad diets, the basic tool of INTUITIVE EATING is often overlooked and a challenge to incorporate. Intuitive Eating means that food choices are made without feeling guilt or an ethical dilemma – instead hunger is honored, fullness is respected and the pleasure of eating is enjoyed. Understanding of this is important, in addition to understanding the value of nutrients and balancing this with goals of performance nutrition and clean eating.
Here is an overview of the 10 principles of Intuitive Eating from the book of:
INTUITIVE EATING:
by Evelyn Tribole, M.S, R.D and Elyse Resch, M.S., R.D., F.A.D.A
- REJECT THE DIET MENTALITY Throw out the diet books and magazine articles that offer you the false hope of losing weight quickly, easily, and permanently. Get angry at the lies that have led you to feel as if you were a failure every time a new diet stopped working and you gained back all of the weight. If you allow even one small hope to linger that a new and better diet be lurking around the corner, it will prevent you from being free to rediscover Intuitive Eating. (Stop DIEting and shift your focus to sustainable fueling)
- HONOR YOUR HUNGER Keep your body fed biologically with adequate energy and carbohydrates. Once you reach the moment of excessive hunger, all intentions of moderate, conscious eating are fleeting and irrelevant. (Journal your cues of hunger and fullness as you begin to recognize them, as well as tools that help you to continue to fuel with a healthy plan)
- MAKE PEACE WITH FOOD Call it a truce; stop the food fight! Give yourself unconditional permission to eat. (Food is not friend or foe)
- CHALLENGE THE FOOD POLICE The Food Police monitor the unreasonable rules that dieting has created. The police station is housed deep in your psyche and its loudspeaker shouts negative barbs, hopeless phrases and guilt-provoking indictments. Chasing the Food Police Away is a critical stop in returning to Intuitive Eating. (Free yourself from self-judgment)
- FEEL YOUR FULLNESS Listen for the body signals that tell you you are not longer hungry. Pause in the middle of eating and ask yourself how the food tastes, and what your current fullness level is. (Take a half-time during meal)
- DISCOVER THE SATISFACTION FACTOR In our fury to be thin and healthy, we often overlook one of the more basic gifts of existence – the pleasure and satisfaction that can be found in the eating experience. By providing this experience for yourself, you will find that it takes much less food to decide that you’ve had “enough.” (Try new recipes, flavors, create variety)
- COPE WITH YOUR EMOTIONS WITHOUT USING FOOD Find ways to comfort, nurture, distract, and resolve your issues without using food. Eating for emotional hunger will only make you feel worse in the long run, having to deal with the source of the emotion, as well as the discomfort of eating. (Try to walk, read a chapter in a book, call a friend, draw/paint, play music, try a new hobby)
- RESPECT YOUR BODY Accept your genetic blueprint. Respect your body so you can feel better about who you are. Are your goals realistic to your body shape? (You are perfect as you are. A healthy plan and intuitive eating can help you discover what your natural genetic blueprint had planned for you)
- EXERCISE – FEEL THE DIFFERENCE Get active and feel the difference. Shift your focus to how it feels to move your body, rather than only considering the calorie-burning effect of exercise. (Find an exercise buddy, classes you enjoy, a time of day you can commit to exercise and allowing yourself to feel good doing so)
- HONOR YOUR HEALTH – GENTLE NUTRITION Make food choices that honor your health and taste buds while making you feel good. Remember that you don’t have to eat a perfect diet to be healthy. It’s what you eat consistently over time that matters. Progress, not perfection, is what counts. (Create a sustainable, healthy and enjoyable lifestyle)
After reading this overview, what are some principles you can work on? What stands out to you? My time with clients is focused on counseling, education, and tools to help them succeed. Often journaling a few times a week of what is eaten/drank, how much and when, along with emotions and digestive issues is very eye opening. Yes, I still believe it’s important to eat early and eat often focusing on a balance of nutrients, with clean choices and small frequent meals. For many clients this is the first step in coming back to themselves, feeling the cues of hunger and fullness to lead them to more intuitive eating.
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