6 simple ways to become a more intuitive eater
|Published
Wouldn’t it be nice to let go of all the rules about healthy eating and simply follow your body’s signals when you eat? That’s the promise of intuitive eating.
But intuitive eating is not a free-for-all where you indulge and eat whatever you want. It’s about learning to listen to what your body needs, and how you feel when you eat and using that to guide you.
Intuitive eating is the ultimate non-diet way of eating. It helps you connect to your body’s internal signals and truly honour your own health and wellbeing.
While not dieting may seem like a radical concept, intuitive eating takes us back to our roots. This philosophy of eating will teach you how to nourish your body and your life the way you need, not the way a diet or rule is telling you that you should.
Intuitive eating was created by two dietitians, Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch, in 1995. Since then, there have been hundreds of studies supporting intuitive eating as beneficial to physical and mental health.
How do you get started with intuitive eating? Below, lifestyle blogger and partner at soSerene, Cara-Lisa Sham, shares her tips.
Sham notes that intuitive eating is vital for us to become attuned to our bodies’ needs. She says eating intuitively can help you gauge the type of nutrition you need at a specific point in time.
“If, say, you’re lifting heavy weights and eating very little and you feel weak and fatigued all the time, your body might be trying to tell you that it needs more protein and healthy carbohydrates for recovery.
“Importantly, intuitive eating does not mean giving in to cravings. Not at all. When you are properly in tune with your body, you will begin to understand the difference between a craving and a genuine nutritional need.
“These differences can be difficult to discern at first, but with practise and patience, you will become more familiar with your body and begin to more easily determine the difference between the two,” says Sham.
Start a food journal
Start by keeping a food journal to understand your eating behaviours, the times you eat, your food choices, etc. This will assist you in becoming more familiar with your eating patterns, behaviours, cravings and the reaction your body has to different foods.
You might be surprised by the realisations pertaining to your eating behaviours that come to light.
Eat slowly
Chew food properly and mindfully. Make sure you sit down when eating and enjoy each meal.
Just eat
Be careful of the activities you engage in while eating as you can develop learnt associations between certain activities and eating. Think about going to the movies – I bet the first thing you think about is popcorn.
Similarly, if you watch TV and eat at the same time, you may start to get hungry every time you watch TV. Ideally, make mealtimes an occasion and when you sit down to eat, just eat.
Eat wholefoods
As far as possible, avoid food that’s ultra-processed. Such food is often high in sodium and unhealthy fats, which can lead to health problems down the line. Also, be sure to drink plenty of water.
Notice how you feel
See how your body responds to different foods – you may realise that dairy or grains, for example, don’t work well for your body or maybe your body functions better on higher levels of protein.
It really is so specific to what your body needs at a particular point in time. Some signs that something you ate doesn’t agree with you: feeling bloated, stomach cramps, nausea, constipation or diarrhoea, sinus congestion, itchiness, brain fog or having energy spikes and crashes.
Enjoy your food
Lastly, stay away from fad diets or any diet that tells you to avoid entire food groups or leaves you feeling deprived and miserable.
If you find a diet to be too restrictive or prescriptive, chances are you won’t be able to stick to it. Instead, eat a balanced diet and listen to your body.