It took me a long time to really get in tune with Intuitive Eating, but now that I’m there, I seriously cannot even imagine life as it was back in my eating disorder.
For those who don’t know, Intuitive Eating is the idea that you follow your natural and instinctual hunger and fullness cues and eat what your body is truly craving.
It’s primal and natural, and honestly, makes a whole lot of sense.
I remember being a freshman in college, straight out of recovering from my eating disorder and trying so hard to find balance in my life. An element of having an eating disorder is the control that comes along with it, and I felt as if my life was spiraling out of control.
I had seen Instagram and blog posts about intuitive eating but never believed that I myself could ever follow something so free. For 3 years I had food rules and the idea that I could have no rules at all was a little overwhelming for me at the time.
Two years later and Intuitive Eating has been a blessing.
To further explain, Intuitive Eating = No food rules. No food is labeled as “good” or “bad” but simply labeled as “food.”
IE is about listening to your body and recognizing when you are truly hungry versus when you are eating because you are bored, upset, etc. IE also means though that you eat when something looks really good even if you're full, to celebrate a special occasion, and to have a piece of cake at your nephews birthday party.
It is a non-plan meal plan with only one rule: there are no rules.
I’m not gonna lie though, it’s not easy. It is not easy going from following a diet-mentality society to doing something that was almost unheard of up until the past few years.
It is almost impossible to allow yourself to get the burger and fries over the salad because that’s what you’re craving.
At the beginning, you’ll feel like you’re gaining weight, but you’re not. Your body will be thanking you for allowing it the nutrition that it needs rather than depriving it of what it wants so badly.
You will eventually reach your set body weight which is the weight that your body is naturally supposed to be at without any type of extreme food or exercise manipulation. As I’ve learned over the past few years of practicing Intuitive Eating, your body will do a lot to stay at this set point. My weight fluctuates a few pounds from this certain weight, but never has intuitive eating caused me to gain massive amounts of weight overnight, over weeks, or even over months.
Intuitive Eating is about allowing yourself to focus on all the other things life has to offer, rather than the number of calories in whatever it was you ate for lunch. It is about loving yourself and seeing food as fuel rather than the enemy. It’s about embracing yourself for who you are, rather than your body size. Finally, it’s about realizing that you are not more valuable if you weigh less. You are valuable because you are you, and I think that’s pretty amazing.