What is intuitive eating? It’s nothing more than just listening to what your body is telling you and learning how to interpret it. I’ve seen people shovel food in their mouth, quickly devouring their entire serving and when I asked whether it was good, they really didn’t know. They simply ate it because it was there, never once savoring the pleasure of good food. Intuitive eating means getting in touch with your body and its signals. One thing that clients at Revolution Training in Stamford, CT, find is that the more they workout, the more in touch with their body they become.
Throw away the old misconceptions and guilt about eating.
If you’re constantly beating yourself up every time you take a bite of food, it’s time to stop. People get hungry. You’re a person. Therefore, you have a right to get hungry. Once you learn to accept that, you can also learn to recognize times you’re not hungry, yet you still eat. Ignoring hunger also leads to eating even more when you do eat. It’s in our DNA to overeat after being hungry for a long time. It’s part of survival to eat when food is plentiful. Eat with intention and feed your body when it needs it.
Change your focus.
Don’t focus on bad foods or good foods. Don’t focus on calories or carbs. Instead of looking at how much you have to lose or worrying about how much you may gain, focus on whether you’re hungry or not. Give yourself permission to eat when you’re hungry and even eat some of those “forbidden” foods. The good news is that when you act in conjunction with your body’s desires, you might have an Oreo or two, but won’t eat the whole package.
Identify when you’re full.
If you’re always worried about how much you eat or shame yourself continuously while eating, that voice in your head will drown out the information that your body is telling you. Focus on the food. Savor it and eat slowly. Enjoy every minute. You’ll be providing an atmosphere where you can get true satisfaction. You’ll also be slowing your eating, so you’ll have more time to recognize when you feel full and the food is no longer that satisfying.
- Eliminate guilt and enjoy your food. Food not only should sustain the body, it should be a pleasure to eat. When you feel guilty eating, you take away that pleasure.
- When you learn to savor the food and appreciate each bite, you’ll also be able to identify when it doesn’t provide that satisfaction. At that point, ask yourself how hungry you are and whether you need to eat more.
- When you focus on the food and how eating it feels, you’ll also be able to eat some foods you thought were forbidden. That doesn’t mean you eat a whole pint of ice cream, but it does mean you can eat a small bowl or even a few bites to satisfy your cravings.
- Eating intuitively isn’t necessarily for everyone. For instance, diabetics and people with hypertension that need to limit certain foods for their health shouldn’t do it. Always check with your doctor first.
For more information, contact us today at Revolution Training