If you're starting to read this blog post (and if you make it all the way to the end), I can bet that you've heard about Intuitive Eating, are somewhat interested in it, but just don't know exactly what it is or if it's the right fit for you.

Don't worry, I've got you covered. In this blog post, I'm discussing all things Intuitive Eating (I.E. for short) and telling you what it is, what it is not, who it's for, and giving you a quick run-down of the the 10 principles of I.E.

I'm so excited to share this information with you, let's dive in!

What is Intuitive Eating

Intuitive Eating is by no means new as it was created back in 1995 by two dietitians, Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch and is backed up by 140 studies to date!

I'll first describe I.E. in the words of Evelyn Tribole herself: "It is an evidenced based, mind-body, health approach, compromised of 10 principles"

In other words, Intuitive Eating takes the approach of connecting both your mind and your body when it comes to taking care of your health. As I said earlier, it has well over one-hundred studies to back up the benefits of I.E. to one's health, and below I'll go further into those 10 principle mentioned above.

Intuitive Eating also takes a non-diet, weight-neutral focus to health. So instead of being told foods you should or shouldn't eat, you're encouraged to allow ALL foods into your life. I know what you're thinking..."If I allow all foods into my life, I'll never stop eating!" This is definitely not true! You're more likely to enjoy the foods you love in moderate amounts once you and your body finally trust that those foods can be in your life without restriction OR overeating/bingeing on those foods in ways that make you feel out of control.

And my favorite part of Intuitive Eating is the focus is not on trying to change your body. Does this mean that you can't want to change your body or that your body won't change with I.E.? Of course not, it's so normal to want to change your body because it's so normal in our society. And I've found that people learn how to stop binge eating, emotional eating, and return to a more normal eating routine with I.E., which has ultimately helped them find their "happy weight" (aka the weight not defined by a number that one feels best at in their own body and that doesn't fluctuate frequently).

But in time with I.E., you'll learn you can't control your weight as much as you think you can. Internal factors of health like genetics that are out of our control are in more control of your weight than external factors like exercise and diet. Which is why taking the focus off controlling your weight for health and onto creating healthy habits and mindsets with things like sleep, nutrition, exercise, stress, etc. can benefit your health so much more in the long run!

So while I.E. takes the weight-neutral approach, this doesn't mean you're giving up on yourself. This just means you're taking the focus off of that number on the scale and turning inward to how you feel in your body and how things like nutrition and exercise can impact that!

What Intuitive Eating is Not

Intuitive Eating is definitely growing in popularity with social media. This is both helpful and harmful. Helpful because the word is getting out there that diets no longer work. Harmful because the diet industry is smart and powerful as heck and doesn't want to give up all that money it makes each year, so will find ways to trick you into thinking you're doing I.E. when you could be really doing a diet.

Here's how to tell the difference:

There are NO rules with food when it comes to Intuitive Eating. Yes, there are 10 principles, but they are not rules to live by. Think of the principles as the 10 step guide to help you heal your relationship with food after years of dieting so you can truly live a life happy and healthy with no food rules.

And even if something is marketing itself as intuitive eating, if the program has any type of rules when it comes to food like calorie restriction, a "do" an "don't" eat list of foods, strict meal plans, macro counting, etc., then it IS a diet.

Who is Intuitive Eating For

Intuitive Eating is truly for anyone. But most importantly, it's for those people who have struggled with their eating habits for years and are looking to live a life of food freedom!

Linked here is a recent interview done by Intuitive Eating Dietitian Sam Previte on CBS Mornings to get a quick recap of what intuitive eating is and who it's for in video form. This interview was such a win for the Intuitive Eating community as it was done on such a well-known TV platform, I had to share!

10 Principles of Intuitive Eating

The 10 principles of Intuitive Eating were created as a guide to help anyone become an intuitive eater. Below, I'll give you a quick-run down of each principle.

Principle #1: Reject Diet Mentality

This principle is all about letting go of diet tools, rules, and the mindset that comes along with dieting so you can get back to focusing on your internal cues. By getting rid of the outside factors that diet culture presents in our life, it allows us to move forward with intuitive eating and focus on our health from within.

Principle #2: Honor Your Hunger

Principle number two is all about honoring your internal hunger cues (that your body does have) and getting back to the place where you trust your body to tell you when and how much to eat! Your body knows exactly how much it's supposed to eat and a calorie counting app could never tell you what you need as accurately as your own body can.

Principle #3: Make Peace With Food

I would argue that this is one of the most important principles of Intuitive Eating (although they are all important together). This principle is all about taking your guilt around food away by making peace with foods that you once viewed as "bad" or off-limits. You'll take the power of "good" and "bad" away from food and eventually view all food as neutral, which can help diminish those out of control or binge-like cravings.

Principle #4: Challenge the Food Police

This principle is all about noticing, challenging, and quieting those food policing thoughts that make you question things like "Should I really be eating that ice cream for dessert?" And instead teaches you to change those thoughts into more positive food freedom thoughts like "I can eat as much ice cream as I want, but I choose to eat the amount that makes me feel both satisfied and comfortable"

Principle #5: Feel Your Fullness

Just as you body can tell you it's hungry, it can also tell you it's full! This principle helps you get more in tune with your fullness signals, become more mindful of how your body feels when eating past a comfortable fullness, and ultimately help you learn how to eat to a comfortable fullness for yourself most of the time!

Principle #6: Discover the Satisfaction Factor

Eating isn't against the rules and it should be enjoyable and satisfying! This principle is truly the core of intuitive eating, because without satisfaction, it is hard to continue doing something consistently in our life! This principle will help you become even more in tune with your likes and dislikes with food and create more satisfaction with the meals you eat, which can ultimately lead to less bingeing on foods later on.

Principle #7: Cope with Your Emotions with Kindness

Emotional eating is normal and will happen from time to time, which is okay! However, when it happens frequently, it often brings more stress to your life than good. This principle will help you get in touch with your emotions, learn and develop new coping skills outside of food, and help you decrease the amount of times you emotionally eat in your life.

Principle #8: Respect Your Body

All bodies deserve to be respected and nourished with enough food, a variety of food, and movement that brings joy to your life! Your body takes care of you and it deserves that same care in return. But the care you give it doesn't have to be difficult or perfect! Instead of focusing on how you can change your body, this principle focuses on the small steps you can take to develop health promoting habits that take care of your overall health.

Principle #9: Joyful Movement: Feel the Difference

Moving your body doesn't have to feel like a chore! Once you take the focus of changing your body with exercise, this principle will teach you to focus on how you feel from exercise! Once you notice the health promoting benefits of exercise based off of how you feel from it, it becomes something you don't want to live without.

Principle #10: Gentle Nutrition

Nutrition is NOT of the table with Intuitive Eating! This principle is all about showing you how to incorporate nutrition into your life instead of take away! How can you add delicious fruits and veggies to the foods you already eat? What ways do you enjoy them the most? How can you create a balanced meal that fills you up and keeps you satisfied longer? You can still enjoy ALL the foods you want, but you'll find a good balance of foods feels better and you'll find the balance that works for you!

Some Final Words

Here are a few last notes I will make about intuitive eating since it does tend to get misconstrued and can easily be turned into another diet if not careful.

1. I.E. is not the hunger/fullness diet. It's not start eating when you're hungry and stop eating when you're full. Because food is so much more to us than that and comes along with emotions too!

2. There are truly no rules and no end goal with intuitive eating. Yes the goal is to heal your relationship with food but that is something you will work on the rest of your life as we all know things are always changing in our lives! But with intuitive eating, you'll have the tools you need to keep peace in your eating habits no matter what changes come along.

3. Just because you can eat all food doesn't mean you will! You will realize if you overdo it with certain foods all the time, it doesn't feel great and it won't last. If you trust the process, you will find that beautiful balance of enjoying both soul satisfying and nutritiously nourishing foods as well!

What are your thoughts about Intuitive Eating? I'd love to hear from you! Comment below and tell us your experience with intuitive eating or let me know what else you want to know about it!

Also, get your hands on my FREE Intuitive Eating Guide by connecting below and entering in your info to get the guide sent straight to your inbox!