What Is Intuitive Eating?

It makes sense that the first few posts would be related to what Intuitive Eating (capital I and capital E) is all about before providing various tips and insights for applying its principles.

First off, Intuitive Eating is NOT another diet. In fact, the first of its 10 principles is actually to “reject the diet mentality.” It’s at the core of Intuitive Eating and it’s the foundation for all the other principles.

In the words of its creators, registered dietitians Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch, Intuitive Eating is “an [evidence-based] eating framework which integrates instinct, emotion, AND rational thought” (emphasis added by me).

It’s NOT simply “eat what you want, whenever you want.” That is a gross oversimplification.

Do I, as someone who uses Intuitive Eating in my own life, eat what I want whenever I want while also remaining in great health? Actually, I do for the most part. However, that is because I’m also implementing the other principles which help to shape and guide how I eat, not through rules or restriction, but through connecting with what my body truly needs (physically and emotionally) and then honoring that by providing for it. Sometimes it’s pizza and donuts and other times it’s a salad.

So, what are these 10 life-changing principles?

• Reject the diet mentality.
• Honor your hunger.
• Make peace with food.
• Challenge the food police.
• Discover the satisfaction factor.
• Feel your fullness.
• Cope with your emotions with kindness.
• Respect your body.
• Movement – feel the difference.
• Honor your health with gentle nutrition.

Click each of the principles above to learn a bit more about them or pick up the book by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch, “Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Anti-Diet Approach.”