Intuitive Eating: How to Listen to Your Hunger Cues

Hello friends,

I'm often asked as a health coach:

“What kind of diet do you follow?”

I usually say, “I just try to eat a balanced diet.”

But if I’m being precise, I practice Intuitive Eating.

I’ve created an environment and a system where I can eat well and trust what my body is telling me.

Let’s get into it a bit.

This week in building health 👇

What is Intuitive Eating?

Intuitive eating focuses on listening to your body’s hunger and fullness cues.

It does not involve strict eating plans, calorie counting, or forbidden foods, unlike traditional diets.

Instead, you trust your body to know its needs.

The concept was popularized by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch in their 1995 book "Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Anti-Diet Approach." It gained popularity through the body acceptance and anti-diet movements.

The core idea is to pay attention to how you feel when eating and make food choices that satisfy your physical and emotional needs.

This means you choose what, when, and how much to eat based on your internal cues.

Intuitive eating aims to create a healthier relationship with food that rejects traditional diet rules by focusing on how you eat rather than what you eat.

How Intuitive Eating Works

To many, this sounds like magic. Especially if you’ve tried fad diets repeatedly.

Here are the principles that ground Intuitive Eating:

1. Eat at regular intervals

Always have enough meals (2 or 3 depending on your schedule.) And always eat at the same times. This consistency teaches your body that food will be available, reducing overeating and stress from hunger between meals.

2. Check in With Your Hunger

Check your hunger levels before, during, and after meals. Rate your hunger on a scale from 1 to 10 (1 being “not hungry at all” and 10 being “very hungry”). Aim to end your meal feeling satisfied but not uncomfortably full.

3. Trust Yourself and Learn as You Go

Tuning into these cues can be challenging, especially after years of restrictive diets. Once in a while, you’ll make mistakes, overeat, or binge on unnecessary food. And that’s okay.

You will learn as you go.

Trust yourself and learn from experiences. Over time, you’ll find your limits without needing external rules.

Isn’t This Just an Excuse to Eat Anything?

Not really. Because you are learning to eat what your body needs.

If you listen to your body, it won't crave junk food. That comes from stress or strong emotions. It’s about making choices based on what your body needs, which often prioritizes nutritious foods over junk

Why I Love Intuitive Eating

I do this because it’s the most sustainable long term.

Diet are restrictive, rigid, and hard to sustain when situations change. But I can practice the ability to listen to my body anywhere. Focusing on how I feel when I eat has improved my emotional relationship with food.

Less guilt, more joy in the end.

→ Read more on this here

My favorite health things for the week

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Until next time

Have a Healthy Weekend