Intuitive eating: an introduction
Dieting is big business. Americans will spend $2.6 billion on dieting programs in 2021.
And yet the industry is mostly a failure. UCLA researchers found up to two-thirds of dieters end up heavier than they started within five years, and the real number may be much higher.
Intuitive eating offers another path.
Created in 1995 by two dietitians, Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch, intuitive eating teaches us to:
Pay attention to hunger cues
Explore physical and emotional states after we eat
Eat without distraction
Look closer at the emotions and external pressures that drive eating behaviors
Let’s look at some of the key principles.
Nothing is forbidden
Intuitive eating allows to eat anything you want. Seriously.
That doesn’t mean consequences go out the window, and you should fling yourself headlong into Willy Wonka’s chocolate river on a whim. Says Tribole:
“You stop and ask yourself, ‘Do I really want this now?’ Not just, ‘Will I enjoy it in the moment,’ but also ‘Will I feel good when I’m finished?’
Intuitive eating isn’t about YOLO. It’s about balancing what we think we want with the outcomes our choices create.
Eat with intention and attention
When you eat, focus on a single aspect of your food: like the smell or the texture. This teaches us to eat mindfully, which will lead us to better understanding our body’s eating instincts.
Tribole even suggests starting out in intuitive eating by eating one meal a day, so you are deeply focused on what you’re doing.
Distraction leads to overeating, and eating too often.
Explore what’s behind cravings
Learn the difference between hunger, emotional cues, and external cues
In intuitive eating, we eat when we are hungry. However, other forces—internal and external—work against us to make us think we are hungry when we really aren’t.
Intuitive eating encourages you to look for deeper meaning beyond cravings:
“For example, you get an overwhelming craving for chocolate. Since eating chocolate can produce positive effects on your mood, this craving may be your body’s way of telling you it needs a quick mood boost. You may need a different mood-booster — like a brisk walk.”
Hunger vs. emotion
Negative emotions can trick us into thinking we’re hungry. Food offers an escape from feelings like anxiety and loneliness. And Tribole says to pay attention to small emotional triggers, too:
“It’s not always big, extreme emotions that are causing overeating, either. Sometimes it’s as mundane as being bored because you’re eating while distracted.”
My learnings with intuitive eating
As I explore intuitive eating, I’ve learned some principles that help me:
Understand diminishing returns
Eating something “bad” is a lot like drinking alcohol: The good feelings coming from the first drink or first bite have strong diminishing returns—and even flip negative quickly.
We chase the feeling of satisfaction from that first bite of cake or first drink, and end up feeling much worse for it.
It’s ok to take one bite of something bad, pause for awhile, and see if that’s enough. It usually is.
Hunger vs. culture
You are under constant mental, social, and emotional assault, thanks to marketing and culture, to eat unhealthy foods and drinks high-calorie beverages, particularly alcohol.
Develop an awareness of the messages and societal pressures being inflicted on you. These blunt-force instruments almost never have your best interests in mind.
Money drives the marketing pressure. In social situations, it’s guilt: a person or group tries to alleviate their own remorse by coercing you to imbibe as well.
Live with a little hunger
If you want to be lean, you’ll be a little hungry sometimes. This is not a catastrophe. It’s fine to go to bed less than fully satiated. The hunger monster doesn’t always have to be placated. Being lean requires discipline, discernment, and some sacrifice. It’s worth it.
Intuitive eating is a harmony between emotion, nutrition, awareness, and logic
Intuitive eating requires us to look deeper at what we are feeling and what we do as a consequence of our feelings. With better mindfulness around food, we can balance physical cues with emotion, logic, external awareness, and consequence to eat better, feel better, and be leaner.
Intuitive eating isn’t a destination. It’s an evolving process. Let yourself explore, learn, and improve over time.