Hello love!
Today I wanted to clear up a few things about true intuitive eating. There are a lot of systems out there but I feel they miss a few keys points.
I want to preface this by saying that a lot of us are not fully intuitive with the foods we are eating. Part of the reason is that we weren’t necessarily raised on whole foods, near nature or know when we are emotional. We live in a society that consumes a lot of processed foods are not coming from nature. As humans we are part of nature and we interact with real foods much better than processed foods. Even though we can manipulate and create “foods” in the lab it doesn’t mean it’s the best foods for us.
Nature is so complicated, there are so many interaction in a foods, interactions with our body that we just can’t mimic that in a lab.
Check out the video below or keep scrolling for the points 🙂
On to the points…
1. Self awareness is missing…
So, when someone is eating intuitively what I find is that we don’t have self awareness that we are craving something and what our bodhttps://lallnutrition.com/free-training/y is asking for. In order to really tune in we need to be aware of the mind. One way to tell is to look at the food. The body will want whole foods; an apple, a banana, spinach. The mind will want more processed foods that will be stimulating creating a high or sense or excitement.
I have a resource here called “What Are You Truly Hungry For?” that can help you distinguish between true hunger and emotional hunger which is usually the driver for processed foods.
2. Is there “emotional” food?
I don’t believe there are foods that feed our emotions and then another that feeds our body. This suggests we are disconnected and that a food will feed our emotions and nourish it. The reality is that the “emotional’ food will help to distract us, make us feel good for a bit and tastes good. It usually doesn’t have the best nutrient value. There is nothing wrong with this. Making a conscious choice about what you are choosing does put the power back in your hands and not in the hands of the emotion.
3. Processing and Feeling our Emotions leads to choosing Nourishing Foods…
When we become clear on our emotions we can distinguish between emotional hunger and true hunger. When we start to distinguish between the two we can see the emotional hunger more clearly. Then we can start feeling, journalling, and processing the emotions to come to a place of clarity. From this place we feel what foods we need. Because emotions and stress use up certain nutrients in the body we will want to replenish these nutrients once we are calm. Maybe it’s an avocado for healthy fat that is satiating or a seaweed salad to replenish minerals.
Nourishing foods nourish the body, taste good and let us feel good without the rollercoaster of stimulating foods.
I hope these points have helped to clear up intuitive eating more. Please let me know if you have any questions or comments below 🙂
To nourishment,
~Michelle
Certified Holistic Nutritionist.
