What are your top practical tips for making the most of intuitive eating?
The most practical tip I can give is to make the seeking of satisfaction be the primary goal in eating. When that is the focus, people will find that they will have greater satisfaction if they eat when they’re moderately hungry, rather than being in primal hunger, and if they stop when moderately full, as food loses its satisfaction factor after fullness has been achieved. If they’re eating in a favorable environment, which includes a lack of emotional tension and which provides foods that please the palate, while eating slowly and savoring the food, they will have more satisfaction in eating. They will also achieve greater satisfaction if they have made peace with all foods, have challenged the negative internal and external voices about eating, have learned to nurture themselves, and have found ways to cope with their feelings, rather than going to food as a coping mechanism.
Any other comments?
Yes, Intuitive Eating has been known to change people’s lives. The more they begin to trust their inner wisdom about eating, the clearer they are to evaluate other areas of their lives, through trusting their inner voice. They find peace in the realm of eating and body image, and they are freed to pursue areas that have been left behind while they’re been focused on dieting and losing weight.
And, lastly, it’s most important to take weight loss out of the picture. It must be put on the back burner. If someone’s current weight is a result of a dieting history, without honoring hunger and fullness signals and perhaps of using food emotionally as a coping mechanism to get through life, and or the person has not allowed her/himself the freedom and joy of natural movement, then his/her weight is likely to normalize throughout this process. But any focus on weight loss can only sabotage one’s ability to tune into intuitive signals.
