How to Realistically Start Eating Intuitively - Step 1

I remember when I was first learning, I tried googling how to start but all I saw were the 10 principals of Intuitive Eating *(listed below). I was like ok great, but still, where and how do I start? I can’t just magically change my mindset and ignore all the food rules I had been practicing for over a year. My body was totally out of wack and I didn’t even know how to eat normally. I remember reading “just listen to your hunger cues,” well at that point, I didn’t have any hunger cues! My body was so confused, it didn’t know when I was hungry or full. I felt like I could eat anytime and anything. There was no regulation. Now I am able to feel fullness & hunger and listen to my body and give it what it needs. There’s always days where my appetite is lower or I might not be hungry for lunch, yet I know my body needs energy. 

Let’s get to it.. where should you start??

I HIGHLY reccomend purchasing this Inuitive Eating book by  Evelyn Tribole & Elyse Resch. During my research, this book came up a lot. I decided to order it and try it out and it is so inciteful and truly helpful. It’s only $10 and worth every cent. 

 Then, Make a list of foods you like, including the ones you think you “cant have.” Circle the ones you don’t let yourself eat. Then, make a goal to eat one of those fear foods THIS week. For example, one of mine was donuts. So one day my mom took my to a donut shop and I picked out the donuts that looked most tasty regarding any caloric thoughts and ate them. I know this sounds a lot more simple than it is. It’s hard, trust me I know. You have to force your mind to go along. You have to let your body guide you. You might experience some binging when first starting out, that is totally normal and okay. Don’t beat yourself up over it or you will end right where you started. Soon, you will realize that those foods are always available and you can eat them WHENEVER you want! Your body will realize this and be satisfied with less. You might eat an entire tub of ice cream the first time you add it back into to your diet, but eventually you will be able to eat less or more depending on how your feeling. If you are more comfortable eating this “scary” food at night opposed to started your day off with it, do that. It’s a learning and building process. If you won’t trust yourself, trust me, a teenager who recovered from an eating disorder on her own. 

That’s all I have for now, trying to keep it short and realistic. I will continue to write a series of blog posts with the next steps. I think this is an amazing start. I don’t want to overwhelm you with everything at once or you might feel like you can’t accomplish it all. But you can! I’m going to break it down into practical steps you can follow along with. Stay tuned for more!!

1. Reject the Diet Mentality.
2. Honor your Hunger
3. Make Peace with Food
4. Challenge the Food Police
5. Respect your Fullness
6. Discover the Satisfaction Factor
7. Honor Your Feelings without Using Food
8. Respect your Body
9. Exercise - Feel the Difference
10. Honor your Health

**its important to note I am in no way a dietition and this is not to replace any medical treatment given by a professional