Chapter 3, "Principles of Intuitive Eating: Overview", introduces the 10 core principles of Intuitive Eating that are described in more detail later in the book.
The 10 principles of Intuitive Eating are:
1) Reject the Diet Mentality
Thoughts: I realize there is no short cut to long term, lasting weight loss, but I always tend to think I need to be on a diet to really lose weight. It's a weird guilt feeling that I "should be" dieting because my body isn't thin enough. I'm working to change my mind set on this!
2) Honor Your Hunger
Thoughts: I am eager to change my ways and truly listen to biological hunger cues! I am already working on this.
3) Make Peace with Food
Thoughts: This is a tough one because during the time I was bingeing frequently I developed feelings of guilt around food and I continued to experience guilt with food when I started dieting last year. I still get feelings of guilt when I eat certain things, and I want to break free of those thoughts! I think removing the guilt will help end some of unhealthy eating patterns (yo-yo dieting, bingeing, restricting, etc).
4) Challenge the Food Police
Thoughts: The voices in our head that tell us "good" and "bad" regarding food are so hard to shake when through the media and through family we hear these messages all the time. It can be so hard to silence these thoughts which often lead to guilt, doubt, uncertainty around food. This principle is a big challenge for me.
5) Feel Your Fullness
Thoughts: I recently started a food journal where I track my fullness level/satisfaction after meals, snacks, etc and I'm finding it helpful. I find myself slowing down and really trying to recognize satisfaction. Sometimes this means stopping before my plate is clear and sometimes it means needing more food than I thought.
6) Discover the Satisfaction Factor
Thoughts: This principle is so important. For most of last year I tried to cut down oils/fats from my meals and this left quite a few of my meals very bland. I developed some fears over oil, but thankfully I am cooking with oil and incorporating fats (within moderation) into my meals now and upping the satisfaction factor.
7) Cope with Your Emotions Without Using Food
Thoughts: This is a work in progress for me. I've been working on finding other coping mechanisms besides food and trying to learn to really feel my feelings. It is hard and I struggle with this a lot. Some days I feel in control, other days I don't. I hope with time I will continue to get better.
8) Respect Your Body
Thoughts: I do not have the best body image, but I'm working on this. I am trying to learn to accept my body type and appreciate my imperfections. This is a big challenge for me because I catch myself saying negative things about my body all the time. If I continue to hate my body this will only lead me to more unhealthy eating patterns. I really really need to work on changing my thoughts.
9) Exercise-Feel the Difference
Thoughts: Learning to love exercise for the way it makes me feel, vs constantly feeling like I have to exercise "x" amount of hours each day to earn my food, snacks, etc is something I'm working on. I put a lot of pressure on myself with exercise. I started to hate running because each time I ran, if I didn't meet my pace or distance from a previous run or do better, than I bashed myself with negative self talk. The past few times I've ran I've let the thoughts of "must do better" go and I'm starting to enjoy it again. I'm trying to really appreciate exercise for all its benefits, not just "calorie burn" and "leaning out." Once again, a challenge, and a work in progress. It's easy for me to switch a calorie cutting focus to an exercise more focus.
10) Honor Your Health-Gentle Nutrition
Thoughts: This is definitely an important principle. When we eat healthier foods and honor our taste buds we feel better. I'm learning that there is no "perfect" that is necessary to be healthy.
So there are the 10 principles! I'm going to continue to work on practicing these principles and will share more thoughts on each one.
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