6 Tips to Help You Get Started with Intuitive Eating

Have you ever felt CRAZY around food? Not knowing what to eat or when to eat? Eating just because it’s noon and you think you should be eating lunch? Eating then feeling guilty or ashamed about what you ate? Telling yourself you shouldn’t be eating that donut, that piece of cake, or piece of bread?

If you’ve ever had UNCONTROLLABLE food cravings or found yourself overeating until you felt physically ill, you’re not alone. I’ve been there, too. In fact, I’ve found myself in all the above situations at some point. 

Many of us have been inundated with diet culture. This attitude makes us feel like we need to lose weight or be a certain size. And if we don’t lose weight or achieve the perfect size, we’re not good enough.

None of this is true and this harmful way of thinking often leaves us feeling very detached from our body. We forget how to listen to our body and its needs. We forget how to listen to our body’s signs of physical hunger and fullness.

I‘ve been on an intuitive eating journey for a while now and I’m beyond grateful that my craziness around food led me to it.

Intuitive eating teaches you how to LISTEN to your body around food. Through this thoughtful approach, you learn how to HEAL your relationship with food; how to CONNECT and LISTEN to your body. By eating this way, you learn how to eat when you’re hungry and stop when you’re full.

My top 6 tips for succeeding with Intuitive Eating

Making big changes in your life is never easy, and this is true when it comes to intuitive eating. Your body is used to your current eating habits and changing up your routine is going to be a shock to your system. But don’t let that deter you. Nothing worth doing is ever easy, right?

Here are my top six tips to help make your journey into intuitive eating a little easier and boost your chance of success.

1.     Understand food is simply food.  Food is neither “good” nor “bad”. It’s simply nourishment and it’s important to understand that. When we start labeling food, we begin to define our self-worth by what we eat. Woah. Let me say that again. When we start labeling food as good and bad we start defining our self-worth by what we eat. If you feel the need to label food, change your mindset and label foods as those you prefer and those you don’t. How you talk about food matters.

2.     Eat with enjoyment. Once you ditch the diet mentality, you’ll start eating what you really want and will savor every morsel. When you sit down to eat, give yourself permission to indulge in all your senses. By turning eating from something you do out of necessity to a luxury to revel in, your quality of life will massively improve and you’ll have many wonderful experiences to look forward to every day.

3.     Trust your body. Quite often when we label food as good or bad, we restrict our intake of bad foods. This easily develops into an obsession over forbidden foods. In some cases, this way of thinking will even lead to binging on the bad foods. If you haven’t been in tune with your body and its physical signs of hunger for a while, it can take some time to get back to understanding what your body really needs. Be patient and give yourself time.

4.     Ask, “Is this what I want to eat?” Take a pause and ask yourself, “Is this what I truly want to eat at this moment?” before eating. Inviting mindfulness into your relationship with food will completely change the way you feel about eating, trust me. Pause. Breathe. And listen to what your body is telling you. Is it asking for more greens, more water, a piece of chocolate cake? Remember each and every one of us is unique. What I eat in a day might work for me, but not work for you. Listen to your body and eat what you crave.

5.     Workout to feel good. Take a moment to think about how exercise makes you feel. Does it give you energy? Does it boost your mood? Moving your booty is all about feeling good. Take the pressure off by not thinking of exercise as punishment or thinking about the calories you’re burning. Instead, think about how it makes you feel. Focus on the pleasure and joy of exercise.

6.     Say, “Today I listened to my body”. Have that moment of gratitude for your hard work. Actually say, “Today I listened to my body.” You are unique, you are beautiful and there is no one else in the world like you. Take that moment and appreciate you. Remember: this is not about doing things perfectly. So if you find yourself thinking you didn’t listen to your body one day, give yourself permission to celebrate your imperfections. Understand that tomorrow is a new day and you should take your food journey one day, one meal, one snack, and one bite at a time.

Keep these 6 tips in mind and you’ll find your transition into intuitive eating goes much more smoothly than you expected. Although many people who practice intuitive eating are striving for similar goals, no two journeys look exactly alike. What one person finds easy to do can be incredibly difficult for another person to get right.

Be gentle on yourself, be kind, and understand that you aren’t going to nail it overnight. Give yourself time to learn, make mistakes and learn more about yourself and your body along the way. Building a solid intuitive eating habit takes time and practice. The effort you put in now will pay off in the long run, so stick to it.

Are you thinking about trying intuitive eating? If you are, I’d love to support you along your journey. Let me know what aspect you think you’ll struggle with most in the comments. I’ll share some extra tips to help you succeed. There’s a good chance I had the exact same problem you’re currently having. Don’t be shy — I’m here to help!

If you’d like personalized support while embracing intuitive eating, get in touch with me about health coaching. We can work together transforming the way you think about food. Having someone who’s already made the intuitive eating journey provide you with support and a sense of accountability significantly increases your chance of success.