Podcast: Intuitive vs. Informed Eating
What’s your history with healthy eating? Are you a chronic dieter? Calorie counter? Macro tracker? Either way, you’re likely operating within a set of food rules. “Eat this, don’t eat that. Kale is good, cookies are bad. Eat less, workout more.” The list goes on…
On the opposite end of the spectrum is Intuitive Eating, where you’re free to eat foods you love without food rules or restriction.
However, if you have body composition or long-term health goals, throwing out the rules can seem a bit daunting. Maybe you’re afraid to stop counting calories because you fear you’ll gain the weight back. Perhaps you stick to a strict diet before an upcoming beach trip because you know it will work for you.
Today, I’m proposing a middle ground. An eating philosophy that allows you to eat foods you love while still prioritizing your metabolic health, longevity and physical goals. I call it Informed Eating.
WHAT IS INTUITIVE EATING?
As an intuitive eater, you break up with dieting and instead simply eat when you’re hungry and stop when you’re full. Intuitive eating promotes body positivity, tuning into your body’s natural hunger cues and trusting your body.
But for most of us, that’s easier said than done. With the processed diets most of us grew up on, we are not yet equipped to do that.
Here’s what I mean:
If you eat a bagel for breakfast, I can almost guarantee you’re going to intuitively want a cookie by lunchtime.
If you get a poor night’s sleep, you’re going to intuitively want a latte at 3 p.m.
WHAT’S MISSING FROM THE INTUITIVE EATING APPROACH?
The awareness and the knowledge of how food effects you on a biological and cellular level is a critical element of Informed Eating. What intuitive eaters often fail to realize is the cascade of hormonal reactions that follows after eating something. Put simply, what you eat will always effect how much you’re going to eat and what you’re going to intuitively crave later on. Without an informed approach, it can be a slippery slope to letting processed foods hijack your cravings.
While intuitive eating promotes listening to your body, if you don’t understand the language your body is speaking, how can you learn to trust it?
FROM INTUITIVE TO INFORMED
While I agree with all 10 principles of intuitive eating, I believe they need to be elevated so you can also be an informed eater. As an informed eater, you’re also able to eat foods you love, but you understand how they effect you and your health which further empowers you to consistently choose foods that promote health.
1. Reject the diet mentality > Know what your body needs to thrive and use that as your roadmap to optimal health.
2. Honor your hunger > Know which nutrients turn off hunger
3. Make peace with food > Understand that certain foods support your health while others can hinder it.
4. Challenge the food police > Recognize that certain foods are designed to be addictive.
5. Respect your fullness > Know what foods are best for satiety.
6. Discover the satisfaction factor > Know how to satisfy your cravings in healthy ways.
7. Honor your feelings without using food > Understand how stress impacts your food choices.
8. Respect your body > See healthy food as a form of self-care.
9. Exercise to feel good > Know how to strategically use exercise to improve metabolic health.
10. Honor your health with gentle nutrition > Be aware of how various foods impact your blood sugar.
There is a way to create healthy eating habits without strict food rules or restriction. But trying to navigate your nutrition without the awareness of how your body feels and operates at its best will likely lead you back where you started. If you’d like to learn more about what your body needs to look, feel and live your best, you’re a perfect candidate for my coaching programs. Apply here to learn more.