Intuitive eating is truly a self-care framework. It’s not about eating perfectly, it’s just about eating in a natural way.
The first thing I want to say about the principles of intuitive eating is they are not a set of rules. The principles just help to provide a framework for a very open way of eating.
After years of chronic dieting and “watching what you eat” it is extremely difficult to just listen to your body’s hunger and fullness cues.
I also want to mention in this post I’m going to give you my interpretation of the principles plus how I use and teach them in food freedom coaching.
The intuitive eating principles were originally laid out by the authors Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch in the book Intuitive Eating A Revolutionary Program That Works. So check out their book for the full details and examples they provide.
The 10 principles of intuitive eating
Here are the principles of intuitive eating.
Reject the diet mentality
The first principle talks about rejecting and letting go of dieting. It’s not easy to let go of all of the dieting habits and patterns that you pick up after years of trying every diet imaginable. Especially all of the dieter voices (otherwise known as our thoughts about food, ourselves, and our body).
So I want to tell you something I wish I knew when I first started learning intuitive eating.
Thoughts and mindset are just habits.
It’s just a pattern we learned after years of practice. And the way you think isn’t just who you are.
In the beginning, I really didn’t think I could change the way I thought of food, exercise, and my body. It felt like it was just the way it was.
Changing the mentality around dieting, eating, and healthy living is so essential to creating freedom around food.
Honor your hunger
Now I know you’ve been taught to put off your hunger, but we are moving past that with this principle.
No more drinking water, chewing gum, or going for a walk to avoid eating food.
Instead, we’re learning to honor our bodies’ hunger cues.
If you’re unsure where to start to get more in touch with your hunger cues check out these two posts on using the intuitive eating hunger fullness scale and different types of hunger.
Make peace with food
To make peace with food, you really need to deep dive into your relationship with food.
Food isn’t an enemy trying to tempt you. It’s just food.
It’s there to nourish you by supporting your physical hunger and taste cravings.
A great way to make peace with food is by adopting a more neutral approach to food. Read more about food neutrality here.
Challenge the food police
That little voice that tells you, you can’t have dessert before dinner.
Or not to eat after 7 pm.
And not to eat a second helping.
That voice that gives you the food rules and makes you feel bad around food is what the authors of the intuitive eating book call the food police.
You have to challenge that automatically critical voice to truly make peace with food.
Feel your fullness
Over the years, I’ve found this principle to be especially difficult for people.
They either have a hard time letting themselves get truly full and satisfied with their food. Or they’re so used to eating based on visual cues over their body, like needing to finish their plate.
Or people experience a combination of it all.
This can be a pressure not to waste food or can be pressure to stop eating at 80% full.
And I’ve heard multiple times that people don’t feel they deserve to feel full or fullness is bad because it means they overate.
This principle is about learning to feel comfortable with fullness and all its different versions.
Discover the satisfaction factor
It’s ok to want to be satisfied with food.
I remember hearing the phrase “if it tastes good don’t eat it” all the time in the gym. People put bland healthy foods on a pedestal and can think avoiding food that tastes good helps prevent overeating.
But here’s the truth.
If you allow yourself to enjoy and feel satisfied with the food you want for both your taste and physical hunger, you’ll actually want to overeat less.
I remember days when I was dieting where I would try healthier alternatives when craving something.
I’d have an apple, but not feel satisfied.
Then have a rice cake with peanut butter, and still not feel satisfied.
And this would go on until I eventually had the thing that I was truly craving and satisfied.
Because satisfaction is an indicator for our body that we are full.
Cope with your emotions without using food
This principle was the hardest for me personally.
As a chronic dieter and not eating enough for my body’s needs, the time I had the least self-control was when I was stressed, tired, upset, or used food to celebrate successes.
And ended up picking up an emotional eating habit.
With freedom around food, I found myself eating emotionally more often, especially when I was trying to avoid emotional eating.
Before I could use other methods of coping with my emotions, I first had to understand and heal my relationship with emotional eating.
Respect your body
Respecting your body is really choosing to take care of and be kind to yourself and your body.
It takes time and practice to unlearn the habit of judging your body to automatically be respectful to yourself.
If you’d like some affirmation to help check out these body positive and body neutrality affirmations.
Exercise – feel the difference
I like to call this principle gentle exercise because that’s the intention that I like to bring to movement and workouts.
It doesn’t always mean low intensity but it means I’m always kind and respectful towards my body during exercise.
Physical activity is amazing for our bodies and mental health.
For many chronic dieters, you may feel resentful towards exercise because it can feel like something you have to do and punishment for earning calories.
So this principle is all about changing your relationship with exercise to a positive and supportive one.
Honor your health with gentle nutrition
Gentle nutrition is an approach that uses what we know about food to guide food choices. For example, we know fiber can help with digestion so adding more fiber can be useful.
Using this last principle too early can be difficult because it can feel more like a diet if you don’t know how to honor your hunger, fullness, and satisfaction cues.
How to use the 10 principles of intuitive eating
If you’re getting started, focus on small steps and focusing on one principle at a time.
It’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the freedom that comes with intuitive eating. In my opinion, I suggest starting with simply learning your hunger and fullness cues because it takes time to relearn those after years of diet culture.
Then move on to the principles that feel like your intuitive next step.
Looking for support? Read this post to learn more about what an intuitive eating coach can help with.