Next, they try to eat whatever they crave, without considering it “good” or “bad”. The book says: “Making a peach pie is the equivalent of a peach.” “Watch how your body feels when you eat this food and how satisfied your tongue is,” and actively seek pleasure from the meal, paying attention to the taste, texture, aroma ; Take a few deep breaths before sitting down to eat and enjoy your food.
Once you’ve eaten, the guidebook says, feel full. It says: “Listen to your body’s signals telling you that you are no longer hungry. “Watch for signs that you are comfortably full. Pause in the middle of a meal and ask yourself what the food tastes like and how hungry you are right now.”
People often worry that eating intuitively will lead to bulimia. “That’s the biggest fear people have: ‘If I allow myself to have what I want, I’ll never stop eating it,'” Ms Resch said. At first, especially if they are used to restricting their diet, new eaters intuitively tend to be attracted to foods that were previously off-limits and “eat to the fullest.” ,” noted Mrs. Resch. Her instructions: Continue to let yourself “completely free” yourself to eat. She added, “Get as many packs of Oreos as you want. Once people get really immersed in the feeling that they’re going to be able to get that food, and they’re there and they taste it, it doesn’t take long for them to realize, ‘Oh, I don’t want that much. . it'” again.
Intuitive eating is associated with the Health All Sizes movement, a stance that does not emphasize weight as a means of assessing people’s health. “Accept your genetic blueprint,” Ms. Resch and Ms. Tribole write in “Intuitive Eating.” “Just as someone with a shoe size eight wouldn’t realistically expect to fit into a size six, it’s just as futile (and uncomfortable) to have a similar expectation for body size.” Intuitive eaters may gain or lose weight or stay the same, the authors say, but weight loss is never the goal.
One longitudinal study published in 2021 found that intuitive eating leads to better psychological and behavioral health in people with anorexia and bulimia, while also reducing rates of bulimia, fasting, and weight loss pills. and vomiting. Dr Jennifer Gaudiani, an internist in Denver, who specializes in eating disorders and recommends this approach to her patients, says: “I see intuitive eating as the goal of eating disorder recovery. she recommends them to nutritionists and therapists, who use it therapeutically. “People may be shocked to realize that there is a different way of thinking about food than ‘I should feel guilty; I need to deprive myself of myself.’”
Jenae Davis, 25, an epidemiologist in Richmond, Va., experienced binge eating as a student at Virginia Commonwealth University in 2018 when she began intuitive eating as part of her diet. intervention studies there. Ms Davis says she often binge eats to cope with stress but the act of slowing down and enjoying her meal has helped her feel more in tune with her body’s needs. “I want to feel hungry,” she said. “I don’t think I’ve ever allowed myself to do that while binge eating.”
The practice also allowed Ms. Davis to regain control over food. “People who limit their intake of cake can eat cake, but if my family has cake, I can eat one bite and feel full,” she said.
