What is Intuitive Eating?
Intuitive eating is a non-diet approach to honor your health. This means you will learn how to listen to your body. And the real value is feeling confident in sustaining healthy habits.
In fact, one study by the Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics compared traditional diets with non-diet programs. The research revealed that traditional diets are actually unhealthy long-term– leading to weight regain & restrictive eating behaviors. The GOOD news is that the non-diet programs showed fantastic results long-term including better self-esteem, body image, and improved metabolic fitness!
Feeling confident in sustaining long-term healthy habits is what you want, right? Then keep reading because intuitive eating may be for you!
The 10 Principles
The 10 principles of intuitive eating were first published in 1995 by two dietitians, Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch.
Unlike diets, these principles are NOT a set of rules that need to be followed perfectly. Instead, they are like guideposts providing a general direction on your path to food freedom.
The 10 principles of intuitive eating are:
Click on the titles above one for more information.
Intuitive Eating: Where Do I Begin?
Now that you have a general understanding of intuitive eating and the 10 principles, you’re probably thinking: how do I put these into practice?
Start with my free 5-Step Guide to Eating Intuitively where I walk you through 5 crucial steps crucial to becoming an intuitive eater. This will help you let go of diet mentality, define health on your own terms, tune into your body, and make food choices with confidence.
I can’t wait to support you with this free resource!
Bonus – 3 Tips for Success
Apply these 3 tips to avoid making common intuitive eating mistakes.
1 – Begin with an open mind.
If you have a history of dieting or restricting food, intuitive eating might sound like catching a unicorn…SO FAR OUT OF REACH. I’m here to tell you that ditching the diet mentality IS possible, especially when you begin with an open mind.
Begin with an open mind so that you can enjoy food as if you were experiencing it for the FIRST time. Consider the example of a child’s first birthday cake. You know, those cute videos of kids taking fistfuls of cake and ending up with icing all over themselves? It’s a pure and joyful moment.
Now, think about a recent time that you ate cake. Chances are that your experience eating cake has been tainted by diet culture. You’ve probably picked up fear-based messages like cake is bad, it’s too many calories, or maybe it hasn’t been allowed on your diet. This leads to feelings of guilt and shame during and after eating. Does this resonate with you?
If yes, apply the open mind concept. What was cake before you were taught that it was “bad” for you? It was just a cake! An open allows us to drop the labels we’ve picked up from diet culture.
2 – Learn from experts and reputable sources.
It’s easy to come across an “intuitive eating” influencer on Instagram or TikTok, only to find that they are bending the truth in order to profit from it. For credible resources and health professionals you can trust, here are a few links:
- Intuitive eating website: includes blog posts, scientific articles, and a directory for finding intuitive eating professionals
- Intuitive eating books: here’s a post I wrote with 5 books I wish I read sooner
- Podcasts: list of 17 intuitive eating podcasts
You can also listen to my interviews on Fit Friends Happy Hour, Intuitively You, and Daily Dietitian.
3 – Give yourself time.
It takes time to undo years of diet mentality. Too often, we expect ourselves to have linear progress from point A to point B in a short period of time. When in reality, progress contains ups and downs over an extended period of time.
When you allow for ups and downs to be a part of your journey and set a realistic timeframe for your goals, you’re more likely to achieve lasting success. Instead of a roadblock completely stopping you, you recognize it as a powerful pause along your path.
What are you waiting for!? Get started on your intuitive eating journey today!