2024-03-03 11:02:36
Created in 1995 by Californian dietitians, intuitive eating consists of “improving your relationship with food and with your body”. Instead of being in an attitude of deprivation, we learn to listen to the feelings of the body, of which “everyone is their own expert”. Karine Gravel, nutritionist and doctor of nutrition practicing in Quebec, also author of the book From diet culture to intuitive eating, explained to 20 Minutes the principle of this dietary approach.
The Basics of Intuitive Eating
1. Trust your natural hunger. This is obviously the fundamental principle of this diet. The idea is to remove the constraints of fixed times at which you usually have to eat, in order to focus on the sensations of your body.
“We’re not in control,” explains Karine Gravel, “we don’t force ourselves to eat three meals a day if we don’t feel like it.” By this, the professional means being “attentive” to one’s preferences in order to reappropriate the information, natural and internal signals that one receives. “Am I hungry or am I just stressed?” »
2. Break away from diet culture. Unlike restrictive diets, intuitive eating is “flexible,” says the nutritionist. There are no “bad” foods to ban, nor specific rules to follow. So, no pressure or fear of failing with this approach. We identify ourselves by the weight at which we are in good health, explains Dr. Gravel. How to know him? It is the weight that we manage to maintain naturally, with good eating habits, and not the body resulting from “unrealistic expectations”.
This approach, which the nutritionist describes as more “healthy” and “benevolent”, allows you to “make peace” with food, but also your body, by appreciating foods without labeling them good or bad. As there are no prohibitions, we “rediscover the pleasure of eating”, and above all, we avoid breakdowns and all forms of guilt. Because she reminds us: “A single food cannot be responsible for a nutritional deficiency or weight gain”.
Intuitive eating is not “eating anything”
Obviously, (we saw you coming) intuitive eating is not an excuse to “eat anything,” warns the nutritionist. On the contrary, it requires regularly questioning oneself regarding one’s different feelings of hunger: “Do I really want to finish my meal or am I eating because the others haven’t finished theirs?” »
The nutritionist also invites you to “perceive your feeling of satiety”, in order to eat when you need to, without falling into excess. To achieve this, she suggests taking a break in the middle of your meal to assess your level of satiation, for example. “No pressure,” reassures Dr. Gravel, these new habits are acquired at your own pace.
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