Trust Your Gut: Intuitive Eating for Health and Longevity

Trust Your Gut: Intuitive Eating for Health and Longevity

​Venture a guess to say that every single person reading this right now has been down the road of dieting at one time or another in their lives. The reasons people diet are wide, for most it has to do with body image and what society as a whole deems to be appropriate at the time. More often than not, the diet will start with gusto. You will go to the store and buy all the right foods, add exercise to your regimen, do meal prep, buy that latest fitness tracker and post about it all over social media so that your friends and relatives can show you some extra love and support. You feel as if you are truly committed to it and then,life happens. You get extra busy at work or home, you are too tired, the meals become cost prohibitive to your family budget, food prep takes too long, and the list of excuses goes on and on.Either way, you are right back where you started, and you may or may not have lost a pound or two. This is a dieting nightmare that every single person has experienced at one time or another in their dieting lifestyle. But what if you were told, dieting is not the answer? Would you believe that if you simply change the relationship that you have with food you will see positive results? To be more mindful of what you are eating consider the idea of intuitive eating instead of the dreaded term dieting.

​Granted Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig and any other diet marketing plans out there are not going to tell you about this but if you ask any psychotherapist or nutrition counselor, they will sing the praises of intuitive eating from the rooftops. The National Eating Disorders Association posted a blog about Intuitive Eating and they define it as a way of eating that allows your body to trust itself and not be influenced by the culture of dieting and others' judgment. Basically, this means that you eat when you are hungry and you stop when you are full, even if that means leaving food on your plate. This is not the same as when you were a small child and you had broccoli on your plate that you didn’t like and your parents or guardians told you that you had to clean your plate before you could go play. Throw that thought process out the window and begin truly listening to your body. It is your body for a reason and only you know what you are feeling and thinking. There are so many factors about weight management and food that you cannot change, for example,genetics, but the one thing you can change is your thought process. Research has shown that by using intuitive eating instead of dieting to become healthy that your overall mental and physical well-being will improve.

​It is important to understand that intuitive eating is not a weight loss plan specifically, but instead a healthier way to look at food. This does not mean that you might not lose weight by adopting this thought process, but what it does mean is that your overall health will greatly improve. To start, you must be willing to be completely honest with yourself when it comes to feelings of hunger and fullness. In many cases weight gain is associated with emotions and dependence on food as a coping mechanism, for example, stress eating. By adopting the intuitive eating mentality, you will likely free yourself of the negative emotions associated with eating, allowing yourself to be more at peace when it comes to food in general and your body will gain the proper nourishment that it needs.

​If you only eat when you feel hungry you will start to notice that are certain foods that help you to stay full longer or give you more energy or have adverse effects such as leaving you feeling sluggish. When you can start to give food the attention it deserves and you figure out how each food makes you feel, you will find that you begin making better food choices to fill those hunger pains. This is not a restrictive dieting approach but instead the opportunity to truly find joy in food. As you look at food differently and begin to feel better physically you will also be able to feel better mentally. The talk of self-doubt and self-criticism will fall by the wayside as you recognize your body as being the healthy machine that you so desperately need. By drowning out the negative body image thoughts you will increase your value of self-worth simply by looking at food differently.

​So where do you start? There is not a hard and fast rule as to how to transition from dieting to the mindset of intuitive eating but there are plenty of tips and tricks out there to get you started. Research has shown that some of the best ways to begin eating intuitively are by observing food habits, reflecting on the reasoning behind why you are eating, being mindful of what and why you are eating, listening to those hunger cues by eating only when you are hungry and not restricting yourself from food, and by avoiding moralizing food or labeling of good and bad food.The next time you sit down to eat a meal, do just that, sit down.Try sitting at the table and laying your food out so you can see it. Have conversations with a friend or just sit peacefully. The entire time is mindful of what you are eating. If you are less distracted, say by the television or eating while driving, you will feel yourself getting full and will stop eating sooner. It is okay to leave food on your plate, you never have to eat it all. Finally, pay attention to those triggers that have caused you to be disrespectful towards food in the past. If it was emotional eating, then figure out something else you can do to cope with those emotions instead of eating whatever food you have in sight.Respect your body and know that nobody has a perfect body.Intuitive eating has actually been shown to lower blood pressure and BMI, as well as improve not only physical but also mental well-being and health.

​Intuitive eating may not be for everyone. For people with serious health concerns for example diabetes, heart health issues, and eating disorders, please be sure to consult your doctor before attempting any new plans. By respecting food, you are respecting your body. Let the pounds fall where they may, but know that you are beautiful inside and out.

    At Your Personal Best Fitness Studio, our Nutrition and Health Coach can help develop a positive and effective plan to adopt healthy eating habits, increase nutrition, lose weight, better your health, and increase your longevity.  Reach out today to schedule a free consultation via email: trainwithus@yourpersonalfitnessstudio.com or call: 704-702-6898.