Have you ever looked at a piece of cake, and a salad and asked yourself which one would your body need? This is partly what intuitive eating means. It’s more complex than that, but you get the idea.

Intuitive eating is trusting yourself to feed your body what it needs, without guilting yourself out of a piece of cake, without dieting, and to eat when you’re content.

Here are some things to consider when you’re intuitively eating:

1. You’re feeding your body without adding it to an app

You won’t be adding your calories, macros, or points to an app to meet your daily intake. You’re simply listening to your body and feeding it what it needs. Whether that be a salad dressed up with all of the yummy toppings or a piece of cake. The biggest thing is not feeling guilty for having either of the two.

2. You have a healthy relationship with food

As I stated in the #1, you aren’t feeling guilty when you have foods like a piece of cake. Labeling foods as good or bad can cause problems. Eating a piece of cake doesn’t make you bad, and eating a salad doesn’t make you good. It’s all about what your viewpoint is on food. Foods are nutritionally different, but that doesn’t make them “good” or “bad.” It just makes them different.

3. It’s more than eating until you’re content

When you’re intuitively eating, you’re learning your hunger cues, pausing in the middle of your meal to see how you’re feeling, etc. As kids, we’re taught to clean our plates so when we grow up we feel that we have to eat all of our food in one sitting. Even if we’re overstuffing ourselves. You’re unlearning unnecessary habits that don’t serve us.

4. Honoring your hunger

Being hungry doesn’t mean you’re going to lose weight. If you’re hungry, you honor it and feed your body without guilt. If you don’t fuel your body, this can trigger overeating. Have you ever been so hungry that you ate the entire pantry? Intuitive eating is the opposite of that.

Intuitive eating can be challenging, but it’s not impossible. It’s similar to learning a new concept because this is the opposite of what we’ve been taught. There’s no “right way.” Making peace with food is one of the most rewarding things you’ll ever have.

If this is something you’ve been wanting to learn, reach out to a professional. It can help tremendously.

Until next time….

Christina <3