How many times have you felt guilty after eating that yummy cheese cake or that rich chocolate dessert? Intuitive eating is all about innately being able to balance the food you take in and the energy you burn out. Feeling guilty for eating when you’re hungry is like feeling guilty for breathing when your lungs need oxygen. You should never deprive your body of its basic requisites, because that can have a huge impact on your health. We need the food to fuel us and keep us going. Over-indulgence, on the other hand is what one should look out for. The basic principle of Intuitive eating is that you will learn to respond to your body’s internal cues, because only you know what your body needs more than anybody else. ‘Eat when you’re hungry and stop when you’re full’- that’s the sole mantra of Intuitive Eating. The following are the principles that define the concept of Intuitive Eating.

1. Reject the Diet Mentality: Stop screaming NO to every food that comes your way. Listen your body and understand what it needs. When you intuitively realize diets don’t work, you can start to take a gentle approach to nutrition and your body.

2. Build self-trust with your body: Honour your hunger and make peace with it. Allow your body to naturally find its own healthy and happy way to deal with eating. Trust your body and tell yourself that you will not over-stuff your body because it doesn’t need it.

3. Respect your fullness: When your body says it’s full, you need to pause right there and close your meal. Distract yourself by talking to friends or even recollecting the varieties of food that you ate.

4. Never hate yourself: Don’t let your mind declare you’re good if you eat below 1000 calories and bad if you eat above that. This sense of policing is stationed deep into your psyche and often is the main trigger for anxiety. Remember that food is only for your stomach and not for your mind.

5. Exercise & feel the difference: We are not talking about intense workout sessions here. All you need to do is just get active and feel the difference. Be it a brisk morning walk, or a stroll in the evening, all that your body needs is some kind of physical activity.

References:

https://www.intuitiveeating. com/content/what-intuitive- eating

http://www.laurenfowler.co/ blog/intuitive-eating-101