Intuitive Eating

I was just checking out Lime's Health section and came across a post on a new book about "intuitive eating" It's a new un-diet diet from a university professor who lost weight by simply eating when he was hungry and stopping when he was full. Ironically, this is pretty revolutionary stuff. He also advocates stocking your fridge with ice cream and your cupboards with chips because making these "unhealthy" foods into a taboo just makes you crave them more.

I certainly agree that eating when you are hungry and stopping when you're full is the right way to go. We are living lives that are very far removed from what's natural. Stop and think for a minute. How often do you reach for food when you aren't hungry? Our eating patterns are rarely a response to a bodily need for sustenance. Can you imagine if you felt compelled to go to the bathroom when you didn't actually need to relieve yourself? Deciding to take a nap although you felt wide awake? Or feeling drawn to putting on warm clothes when you weren't feeling cold? It would be ridiculous.

But these days, we have sweet, fatty food within reach at all times, in our fridges, cupboards, at corner stores. Back in the hunter-gatherer days, if we came across a chunk of fatty, calorie-rich food, we'd eat it up instantly. Our instincts would guide us to do so because for it might be weeks before we'd see such instant energy again. Nowadays, with these food so close at hand, and with huge marketing budgets reminding us to buy and eat them, it's no wonder we're eating when we see food, as opposed to when we're hungry.

The key message of intuitive eating is a critical one: eat to satisfy your hunger, don't overeat to feed your emotional issues. Okay Doc, but how do we change? How can we be intuitive about eating when we're distracting daily from our natural intuition? It will take some reprogramming to break old patterns, to start responding to what our body really needs.

I think Prof. Hawks' suggestion to stock your cupboards with "unhealthy" processed foods just fuels these unnatural patterns. We need tools to break the cycle and get us back to a place where we can hear what our body is telling us.

Here are a few ideas:

- Keep "healthy" natural food in your cupboards and eat when you're hungry. Consume lots fruits and vegetables, nuts and seeds, lean meats and whole grains and you'll feel lighter and more nourished.
- Be aware of your cravings for food when you feel no actual hunger. Observe which types of foods you feel compelled to eat. Try to become aware of why you're craving them. Ask yourself "why am I reaching for Ben and Jerry's? Is it because I'm sad, bored, stressed, lonely?" Choose to do something that satisfies that underlying feeling instead of putting food in your mouth.
- Take one day each week and give in to your cravings. On that day, decide to eat your favourite treats while recognising that they aren't food, simply something pleasurable that you want to do for yourself. Truly enjoy them, without guilt.

This kind of change requires work. But since we only have one body, it seems wise to keep it in the best working order. This work is well worth it.