Here’s the top reasons you should be intuitive eating

*trigger warning – calories, binge eating, diet culture, eating disorders* *I am not a dietician I just feel very passionate and close to the topic of intuitive eating – if you feel you need help please contact a professional*

So what is intuitive eating? Intuitive eating, according to the National Eating Disorders Association, is trusting your body enough to make food choices that feel good for you, without the influence or judgement of diet culture.

Okay, so it’s a bit of a serious post this week.

Firstly lets talk about diet culture

I know many people, especially young women, will be victims of diet culture. It has been something I have struggled with for years, and am finally starting to get over, thanks to intuitive eating.

Diet culture has made people obsess about food and exercise, promoting restriction and negative thoughts about food, and often leads to eating disorders for many women and men.

Diet culture has took over a portion of my life, causing me to have so much anxiety about food when at friends houses, parties, restaurants, in my own home, plus many more places I’m sure.

It made me obsessively count my calories, and restrict certain foods so much so that I would often binge on them later, or only eat them when I have ate a little amount of calories in the day.

It has not only lead to bad relationships with food for the majority of my life, but it has lead to bad body image and overall relationship with myself.

Intuitive eating helped me break all of these bad habits.

P.s. following these two women on TikTok helped me so much, they are amazing!

• https://www.tiktok.com/@findfoodfreedom?_t=8bOxTpFzwub&_r=1
• https://www.tiktok.com/@abbeyskitchen?_t=8bOxWRUcL3d&_r=1

So why should you be intuitive eating?

1. It gets rid of the toxic diet culture mindset

Intuitive eating highlights that no food is bad. There are no labels of ‘good food’ and ‘bad food’ so you don’t need to feel guilty about anything.

It enforces the idea of listening to your body. You can eat whatever your body is craving, whether that’s a cheeseburger or a salad, your body is telling you what it wants.

And I know you’re thinking, well I will always want a cheeseburger and pizza and all things labelled ‘bad’. But I promise you, after a while of intuitive eating, you won’t want cheeseburgers and pizzas everyday.

Intuitive eating is giving yourself unconditional permission to eat whatever you want.

So if you are just starting intuitive eating after following a strict diet, you will most likely want all of the foods that you have restricted yourself from. And the best part is, you can have them.

Give yourself permission to eat whatever your body is craving, and after eating cheeseburgers and pizzas, your body will naturally crave something ‘healthier’.

Think about it this way. In the summer you naturally crave more fresh foods like fruit, and in the winter you naturally crave warmer and comforting foods, like soup.

Intuitive eating will eventually make you’re cravings even out, so that you are actually living a balanced life of food freedom and no restriction.

Another way it’s helped get rid of the toxic diet culture mindset:

Intuitive eating is when you eat when you’re hungry and stop when you are full (not an uncomfortable amount of fullness, but a satisfied amount).

This means that you don’t have to finish absolutely everything on your plate if it’s too much. You can Tupperware it for the next day.

If I was eating something ‘bad’ I used to force myself to finish it all, because I wouldn’t allow myself to eat that ‘bad’ food again (or at least until the craving was too much). But with intuitive eating, I know that I can have that food whenever I want. So I don’t have to finish it all in one sitting if it’s too much. I will allow myself to have that food whenever I want, so, I can just save it for later or if theres none left, I can get it or make it again.

Also just a reminder: you eating past the point of fullness, is just as much of a waste of food as throwing it in the bin.

This is because your body doesn’t need the energy anymore, it is full, so you are just wasting the food when you could have it later.

2. You can view food as fuel

Previously, I have always viewed food as something I need to burn off.

I didn’t even realise that it was energy.

But your body tells you when you are hungry and in need of energy, and I listen to it (oh the beauty of intuitive eating).

I would have rather went without food than eat something that was labelled ‘bad’. Just say I was shopping or out all day and really tired. I would try and find something ‘healthy’. But if the most accessible thing to you right now is McDonalds, then so be it. If your body is telling you that it needs food, and you know you might not get to eat for another 3 hours. Then eat the damn McDonalds.

Overall, you will have a better relationship with food and you will have MORE ENERGY as you are allowing yourself to eat more.

Obviously there are foods that will make you feel better inside and some more sluggish, but even so, calories = energy, and you need that energy.

3. Intuitive eating is sustainable

Because there is no diet, or meal plan, that means that intuitive eating is going to be easy to follow, very sustainable, something you can do for the rest of your life, and actually enjoy your life.

We have all followed diets in the past, but are you still following them now? How did they turn out? Did you get the outcome you wanted? If so, do you still have that outcome you wanted months or years later?

All of these questions I had to ask myself, and the reality is, is that all of the answers to these questions are negative.

I had to ask myself have I enjoyed any of these diets? (No). If someone told me I had to follow it for the rest of my life would I be happy? (Definitely no).

But if someone said to me you can intuitively eat for the rest of your life. Then I would be happy.

Choose your happiness over current, unattainable body trends or diets, and think about your long term happiness too.

There have been many days that I wish I could redo, so that I could enjoy them more and be present, rather than worrying about food in the back of my mind.

4. It helps balance your hormones

Intuitive eating can help to balance your hormones and here’s how.

When you get rid of the toxic diet culture mindset, the restriction, viewing food as something negative, always finding ways to feel and talk negative about your body…

Your cortisol levels lessen. (They are your stress hormones)

They lessen because you aren’t constantly putting your body under stress through all of the bad habits you’ve created.

All the pressure you feel surrounding food, suddenly is like a weight being lifted off your shoulders once you start intuitive eating.

Too high cortisol levels can effect many things, such as:

• Acne
• Weight gain
• Swelling and inflammation
• Difficulty losing weight
• Unbalanced hormones

Intuitive eating, depending on your body, could help all of these things. I also have a post on cycle syncing that helped lower my cortisol levels, cycle syncing and intuitive eating was the winning combo for me! http://bigsisterera.com/how-to-use-cycle-syncing-to-get-rid-of-your-acne-in-4-months/

5. Better body image

Following on from lower cortisol levels, intuitive eating will help to better your body image.

Your body won’t be under constant stress, you will begin digesting food better, you will be less inflamed, and your mood will be better, leading you to have a better attitude towards your body.

(You will have better digestion, because when you are very stressed, your body goes into emergency mode – no matter what you’re stressed about, your body will think you’re in danger – so your body shuts or lessens some functions that aren’t necessary for survival, like digesting food)

If you decide to start intuitive eating, sometimes people lose weight, and sometimes people gain weight.

You can lose weight due to to your lower cortisol levels and less inflammation and regulating your hormones – sometimes people at a lower weight is healthier.

But sometimes, people gain weight when intuitive eating. This may be because they have extremely restricted for a long period of time and are now finally fuelling their body right.

A healthy weight looks different on everybody. But how do you know what weight is healthy for you?

A healthy weight looks different on everybody. So how do you know what weight is healthy for you?

Ask yourself these questions:

• Do I have more energy throughout the day?
• Do I feel like I can walk places without getting severely fatigued?
• Do I feel like I can join in on activities with my family and friends?
• Am I constantly thinking about food? (If so then you may need to eat more)
• Are you taking care of your mental health?
• Can I eat without worrying?

If your answer to all of these are yes (apart from the 4th one), then you know you’re at a healthy weight, and that you should accept that this is how your body looks when it’s the healthiest.

Even if it takes you a while to adjust to your new body, you just have to think, am I happier in life than I was when I had bad habits? Would I rather go back to feeling how I felt, or would I rather have this healthy body?

P.s. you look beautiful no matter what your body looks like, and I am so happy that you are feeling your body properly, or on that journey. You are doing amazing <3

6. You can enjoy your life

When you’re not living in constant stress and worry about food, you begin to actually enjoy every part of your life, and make amazing memories. To name a few:

• Going out for food with your friends / family / partner
• Enjoying home cooked meals
• Enjoying little treats throughout the day
• Spontaneous food stops
• If someone brings caked into work, you can enjoy that without worrying
• You don’t have to waste your precious hours tracking or thinking about food
• You can have food freedom

7. You can honour all of your food cravings

If you wake up and you are craving a chocolate muffin – have the chocolate muffin. When intuitive eating, you begin to learn what keeps you full and how to eat balanced meals (meals with carbs, protein and fats), to make sure you’re satiated for longer.

So you can have the chocolate muffin, and then you can add protein to keep you full and more satisfied (e.g eggs on the side), and you could add fruit on the side for some vitamins.

It’s all about what you can ADD not what you can TAKE AWAY.

But if you don’t add protein to every meal, and you just want a chocolate muffin and nothing else. That’s also fine! Honestly, just be kind to yourself. We are on this planet for such a short amount of time, so learn to love, enjoy and be kind to yourself and others.

At the end of the day. We’re all human. Telling yourself that you aren’t allowed a certain food will only make you want it more, and leave you unsatisfied when you eat something else ‘trying to be healthy’.

So honour your cravings, so that you feel satisfied and happy.

My results of intuitive eating and why I started

I know for myself, my brain wouldn’t like to read something, without seeing some results visually. (But also remember that my results may not be the same as yours – but I can almost guarantee, we will feel just as happy as each other).

I started intuitive eating in May 2022, so I’ve been intuitive eating for nearly a year now.

Since then my weight has fluctuated, but I did end up losing weight in the long run. I have fluctuated since August 2022, but that’s okay.

My body may look healthier to some people on the left, or healthier on the right, but the most important thing is that I am much kinder to myself, worry free about food, intuitively eating and just enjoying life more.

I had been restricting and calorie counting for quite some time, putting my body under so much stress and negativity surrounding food, which also lead to binging.

I knew I had to change something, because I didn’t want to live my life like that anymore.

Firstly, I started by listening to my body – learning when I felt hungry, when I felt satisfied, what I was craving, etc.

I gave myself unconditional permission to eat what I wanted and enjoy it. After years of telling myself that I shouldn’t eat certain foods, or when I did eat certain foods I would feel extremely guilty, I let myself be present in the moment and enjoy the food for all of its glory.

My stress began melting away when it came to food. And I looked forward to eating, because I knew I didn’t have to feel guilty.

After feeling like I have allowed myself to eat what I wanted, I started learning what kept me full and what made me feel tired, or energised etc, and I learned what feels best for my body.

Honestly, it’s really fun making sure I have carbs, proteins and fats in my meals, it’s like creating something you know is going to be delicious, make you feel good, and keep you full and satisfied.

So…

Overall, intuitive eating has made me happier, be more kind to myself, have more energy, lower stress, look forward to eating, and just enjoy my life more!

I hope that this was helpful and interesting to read, and it convinces you to start eating intuitively if you were thinking about starting!

Let me know any of your journeys with intuitive eating, or if you have any questions, feel free to ask below I would love to chat!