Intuitive Eating: A Beginner’s Guide

A lot of people start following anything and everything they hear, whether it goes in sync with their bodies or not. They don’t think about what the body is asking and just keep their focus on the perfect ‘size’ they want to be. Giving food labels, restricting food to only certain nutrients does not sound like a healthy practice.

Intuitive eating is respecting food and eating without imposing any restrictions on the body. It says that food is not meant to be labeled as ‘good’ or ‘bad’. Intuitive eating is listening to your body and not following any traditional rules about food. It promotes healthy habits, mindset, and attitude towards food.

Here Are Few Guidelines For A Beginner Who Wants To Start Intuitive Eating:

• Honor Your Health- your health is much more than just a few kgs, don’t avoid it in order to lose weight. Put your health first and feel good about your choices. The food must be nourishing and fulfilling for both the body and the soul. Also, avoid emotional eating.
• Respect Satiety- overeating can cause harm to your body in the ways like acidity, ulcers, or even weight gain and fat accumulation. Stop when you feel full and satisfied with the food you ate. Keep all the distractions away while eating and treat food through all your senses- smell, taste, sight.
• Don’t Diet- being carried away by the dieting trends can confuse your body. Also, putting restrictions in the mind will make it wander and eventually you will end up eating more. Don’t fall for pills or shortcuts, food is the only way to keep the body healthy and happy. Break the barriers of what you should and should not eat.
• Trust Your ‘Instincts’- the body is very well aware of what it needs and what you should be providing it with. Keeping your body under restrictions can make it respond negatively. Eat when you feel hungry and stop when you are satisfied, don’t fall for what trends say.
• Positive Body Image- health is not determined by the way your body looks. Your body is doing so much for you- breathing, walking, working, moving, digesting, eliminating waste and much more. Don’t get low by your body image, respect your body.
• Exercise For The Body- the body needs movement, exercise regularly for healthy functioning of all the organs. Walk, jog, run, dance, train, anything at least for 30 minutes regularly.

Food is not just restricted to ‘good’, ‘bad’, ‘diet’ or ‘non diet’, food is nourishment for the soul and body. Listen to your body, planning is not needed, all you need is to fill your body with love and care through food.

Footnote:
Intuitive eating is all about paying attention to your body. Don’t make your body sync with you, but hear what the body is saying and respect that.