Eat What You Love, Love What You Eat

Posted on Friday, February 7th, 2025

This month’s blog we are going to talk a little bit about a big topic! I am sure you have heard the term intuitive eating before, but perhaps we didn’t really know quite what it meant. Stay tuned for the remainder of the blog to get some insight. We are going to discuss what it is, the principles behind it, and some ways you can apply it to your life!

  1. Reject Diet Mentality

There is so much information going around now-a-days related to diet culture. These ideals often equate health with thinness, which is not the case! They also make promises that don’t come true which gives a sense of false hope. The first principle of intuitive eating involves rejecting and ignoring these messages in the media. Freeing yourself from these ideas lets you discover eating intuitively without them lingering over you.

  1. Honour Your Hunger

The next principle pushes you to acknowledge and honour your hunger. While skipping meals may seem like a good idea, when we ignore our biological hunger signals it can lead to excessive hunger and makes it hard to build trust with food. It’s important to keep ourselves fed adequately with a variety of whole foods that our bodies need to function.

  1. Make Peace with Food

No food should create a sense of guilt. Give yourself permission to eat all foods without deprivation. Once you tell yourself you can’t have a specific item it’s only going to make you want it more! Taking away this mentality will help you find a sense of peace.

  1. Discover the Satisfaction Factor

Food not only nourishes our bodies, but it also nourishes our souls. It is an essential part of life and tied to so many celebrations and cultures that bring us enjoyment. You should feel satisfied both physically and emotionally while eating, both are equally as important.

  1. Feel Your Fullness

Much like principle number two, make sure you are listening to your body when it tells you that you are no longer hungry. Throughout your meal reflect on how you are feeling and listen to those cues.

  1. Challenge the Food Police

The Food Police can set up shop in our mind by creating unreasonable food rules which impose a sense of guilt and negative emotions. Try to challenge this voice when it comes up to create a positive mindset.

  1. Cope with Your Emotions with Kindness

Food is often used as a comfort measure, but in reality, it only helps for a very short period of time. Long-term strategies are the key to success. Find what works for you – meditation, reading, therapy, self-care etc.

  1. Respect Your Body

All bodies deserve acceptance. Respect and honour who you are and how much your body does for you! If you ate and exercised exactly like someone else, you would still look different. Think about how exciting it is to be so unique!

  1. Movement – Feel the Difference

Find what feels good. Shift away from exercising to burn calories. Focus on how it makes you feel to move your body, and what a privilege that is!

10. Honour Your Health with Gentle Nutrition

Think about the bigger picture and make decisions that taste and feel good to you! Everyone is different and there is no “right” way.

Learning and applying these principles is the first step to food freedom. Before making big diet changes work towards developing your relationship with food. You can do this by eating regularly to honor your bodies signals and eating a variety of foods (including fun foods)! To learn more about intuitive eating check out intuitiveeating.org.

**Disclaimer: blog posts are not meant to replace medical advice. If you have a personal medical condition please consult with the appropriate provider**

 


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