Intuitive Eating: Honour Your Health
Learning intuitive eating is a journey, and one that takes practice. To help you out, we’re going to go through the principles of Intuitive Eating one by one. If this is the first blog you’re reading, pause here and go back to our earlier blogs in the series.
We’ve made it to the final instalment of our intuitive eating series, and we are so pleased you’ve followed along so far. The final step of intuitive eating is ‘Honouring Your Health With Gentle Nutrition’. This is the final principle, and will only work for you if you understand and are able to implement the principles that came before it. Without a healthy relationship with food and your body, this principle can turn into just another diet, or trigger a return to disordered eating.
Ultimately, honouring your body with gentle nutrition requires ditching diets for good, so if you’re in a place where you’ve done that and are ready to start practising this principle, good for you!
If you’re not quite comfortable with the other principles yet, that’s okay too. Come back to this blog when the timing feels right for you. Deciding to become an intuitive eater doesn’t happen overnight, but it is so possible! It make take longer for some, but know that is so normal. If you’re struggling with it, send us an email and we can help get you back on track.
There’s a common misconception that intuitive eating is just ‘eat whatever you want, whenever you want’, and that’s simply not the case. Intuitive Eating is about fueling your body and soul with food that you enjoy eating, and that makes you feel good. While it’s about treating carrots and cake as morally equivalent, and knowing that all foods have nutritional value, it’s also about recognising that some foods may make you feel better than others. A varied and flexible diet is the ultimate goal; one which allows you to engage in health-promoting habits that are rooted in self-care, and not self-control. It’s yours to define; You are, and always will be, the expert on your body.
When talking about honouring health, we like to talk about ‘Removing the Three R’s’ which, in many people, can stand in the way of being able to practice this principle. Restriction, rigidity, and repetition in the context of nutrition will make it difficult for you to truly honour your body. Eating a varied and flexible diet that allows space for ALL food to fit will allow you to pursue health in a way that doesn’t negatively impact your relationship with food and your body. Ironically, the less pressure we put on ourselves, the more progress we are able to make.
If you’re having a hard time figuring out whether you’re practicing nutrition from a place of self-care vs. self-control, try asking yourself these questions:
Do my food choices feel balanced, or do they feel rigid, restrictive, and controlling?
Do I feel guilt or shame about the choice I am making?
If there was no chance these behaviors would help me lose weight, would I still engage in them?
We’re not suggesting that you shouldn’t care about nutrition. In fact, nutrition is important to consider when choosing food. An apple has a different nutritional value than a chocolate bar — we would never deny that. But rigid, black-and-white thinking about apples, chocolate, or anything else can damage our mental health and relationship with our bodies. It’s important to remember that just as no two bodies are alike, what feels good in your body and what feels good in the bodies of others will never be the same. If you able to tune in to which foods make your own body feel good and those which don’t, you’ll be better able to make choices that keep you nourished in more ways than one.
This is our last blog of 2019, so keep practicing your intuitive eating skills, and be sure to keep your eye out for all that we have planned for 2020. Have a restful and restorative holiday season, and be kind to yourself!
Arohanui,
Katie & Michaela xx
This blog is not a substitute for medical, psychological, or dietetic advice, and is for informational and educational purposes only. If you or somebody you love is struggling, contact your GP, or call/text 1737 to speak to a licensed therapist.