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Hey there, I'm Jennifer! Author, Podcaster, Coffee-Obsessed Mama helping women heal their relationship with their bodies. 

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Intuitive Eating: A Beginner’s Guide

Truth be told I was drowning in a dieting mentality for decades. I was gaining and losing the same weight over and over again, was stressed out about food all the time, would lose my mind over the number on the scale… It just wan’t a good place for me.

When I started learning about Intuitive Eating, everything began to change. I became attuned with my body and slowly the food rules, restrictions, and fear began to disappear.

But there’s a lot of confusion about what Intuitive Eating actually is.

Sometimes people think that Intuitive Eating is breaking up with dieting and not caring about your body any more. But it’s definitely not that. While rejecting dieting is a part of Intuitive Eating, it’s not the entire story.

Intuitive eating is actually an approach to food. It prioritizes listening to your body’s hunger and fullness cues (rather than following strict rules or diets) so you can become the expert of your own body. It involves tuning in to your body’s needs and responding in a way that feels nurturing and sustainable. Let’s dig in a little deeper.

What is Intuitive Eating?

Intuitive eating is a way of eating that focuses on honoring your body’s needs and cravings, rather than following strict diets or counting calories. It involves paying attention to your body’s hunger and fullness signals, as well as your emotions and mental state. By practicing intuitive eating, you can learn to trust your body and its natural signals, and create a healthy and sustainable relationship with food. Feel like you have no idea how to hear your body’s cues and signals? No worries, you can reawaken your intuitive eater by tapping into the ten principles, which we’ll talk about shortly!

But first…

Why is Intuitive Eating Useful and Helpful?

I’m so glad you asked. Intuitive eating is useful and helpful for a number of reasons. First, it can help you break free from the cycle of dieting and restrictive eating patterns that can be harmful to both your physical and mental health. By listening to your body’s cues and then eating in a way that feels nurturing and satisfying, you can create a healthier and more sustainable relationship with food. And that, my friend, is where the magic happens.

By paying attention to your hunger and fullness cues, you can better understand when and how much to eat. So say goodbye to meal plans, and those pesky measuring devices that have come to rule the roost of your eating routine. Learning your own body can help you avoid overeating or under eating, and create a more balanced and sustainable approach to eating. 

The Benefits Of Intuitive Eating

Intuitive eating is for you if you want to create a healthier and more sustainable relationship with food. It’s especially helpful for people who struggle with dieting, disordered eating patterns, or body image issues. Intuitive eating can help you break free from harmful patterns of restriction, shame, and guilt, and create a more positive and nurturing relationship with food.

If you you’ve struggled in your relationship with food for a really long time, Intuitive Eating can serve as a roadmap for finally getting to the place where eating becomes an easy and effortless (and enjoyable!) experience. Even if you have absolutely no idea how that could be possible for you… with some tools and guidance, it absolutely is.

The Ten Principles of Intuitive Eating

What what exactly are the tools? Well, there are ten principles of intuitive eating that can help guide you on your journey to a healthier and more sustainable relationship with food. These are not rules. (read that line again). They are tools. When you start to become more familiar with each of them, you’ll find yourself readily pulling from your tool belt all through the day, every day, without even thinking about it. 

It may take some time to get to that point, but it is so worth it! Let’s take a look.

Here’s a brief overview of each principle: 

  1. Reject the Diet Mentality: This principle involves letting go of the idea that there is a “perfect” diet or eating plan, and instead focusing on honoring your body’s needs and cravings.
  2. Honor Your Hunger: Here’s where you’ll begin listening to your body’s hunger signals, and responding in a way that feels nurturing and satisfying.
  3. Make Peace with Food: This one involves giving yourself permission to eat any food you want, without guilt or shame.
  4. Challenge the Food Police: This principle involves challenging the inner voice that tells you what you “should” and “shouldn’t” eat, and instead trusting your own body and its needs.
  5. Respect Your Fullness: This involves tuning in to your body’s fullness signals, and stopping eating when you feel satisfied. 
  6. Discover the Satisfaction Factor: This involves finding pleasure and satisfaction in the foods you eat, and allowing yourself to enjoy them without guilt or shame.
  7. Honor Your Feelings Without Using Food: This principle involves recognizing and honoring your emotions, and finding other ways to cope with them besides using food.
  8. Respect Your Body: This one involves accepting and respecting your body as it is, rather than trying to change it through restrictive eating or exercise.
  9. Exercise: Feel the Difference: Here’s where you start finding enjoyable and sustainable forms of movement that feel good to your body, rather than exercising to punish or control your body.
  10. Honor Your Health: Here’s where we begin taking care of your body in a way that feels nurturing and sustainable, rather than following strict rules or guidelines.

Getting Started with Intuitive Eating

Intuitive Eating can literally change your whole life. It can give you the freedom to eat out with your family or friends without feeling miserable afterwards and without feeling deprived. It can help you overcome feeling out of control around foods you enjoy, and can completely erase the stress around making food choices everyday. Head here to get started.

Intuitive eating is such a powerful tool for creating a healthier and more sustainable relationship with food. By listening to your body’s needs and responding in a way that feels nurturing and satisfying, you can break free from harmful patterns of restriction, shame, and guilt, and create a more positive and nurturing relationship with food. Whether you’re struggling with disordered eating patterns or simply want to create a more balanced and sustainable approach to eating, intuitive eating can help you find freedom and joy in your relationship with food.

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Most people see my massive weight-loss story and think I'm here to tell you to go on a diet. Actually the opposite is true. I lost 150+ pounds and was more critical of my body than ever.

Now I spend my days challenging you to make peace with your body so you can go live your life. 

WAGNER
JenniferTaylor

Author, podcaster, educator, challenging you to see your body as good