We are all born intuitive eaters. When we are young, we trust our body’s cues, which let us know when we are hungry and need food, and when to pull away or push food away when we are full/satisfied. Sadly, as we get older, things like diet messaging, rules of having to finish our food before leaving the table, or "nutrition education" that categorizes foods as “good” or “bad”, result in us losing touch with our intuitive eater.
I am sure that recently you have heard the term “Mindful Eating”. Mindful Eating brings mindfulness to food choice and the experience of eating. Mindful eating helps us become aware of our thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations related to eating. As we “multitask” our days, Mindful Eating teaches us to pause and to pay attention to the sensations in our body and the thoughts/emotions that arise during a meal, snack or eating experience.
Intuitive Eating helps us to break free from the diet mentality. Intuitive Eating is a form of attunement of mind, body and food. It is a personal process of honoring health by listening and responding to the direct messages of your body in order to meet your physical and psychological needs.
Mindful eating and intuitive eating are two strategies that you can use to reconnect to your body and learn to trust, connect with and respect it again, ultimately breaking the dieting cycle and improving your relationship with food. Neither mindful eating nor intuitive eating are diets or rules to follow, and neither should be promoted for the purposes of losing weight or to change body size/shape. If anyone is marketing mindful or intuitive eating for the purposes of weight loss – run in the other direction.
Here is a simple outline of how Mindful Eatting and Intuitive Eating are similar:
They are holistic, innate and internal processes of food enjoyment and appreciation.
They both provide health and well-being benefits.
They are sustainable and realistic approaches to food and food behaviors.
They are built on the foundation of enjoyment of food and life and creating a healthy relationship with food.
They do not promote food judgment or restriction.
They are not diets, as they do not promote dieting or shrinking your body. They have a much greater purpose of integrating mind, body and self care.
I believe that Mindful Eating and Intuitive Eating are the perfect pair. Both mindful and intuitive eating are great practices to improve your relationship with food and build healthier, long-term eating habits. For more information, and to schedule a session with me, feel free to contact me at rachel@livehealthynyc.com