How do you decide what foods to choose every day? Many of us turn to the rules of the latest diet for direction on what we should eat. However, looking outside of ourselves to find the “perfect diet” is both overwhelming and exhausting. (Not to mention that the guidelines of different diets are always conflicting!) How can we really know what foods our bodies need to be healthy? Set aside the diet manuals and nutrition text books because your body is the only thing you need. Research actually supports that when we take the time to eat without distraction and chose foods that appeal to our senses, our bodies will know just the right amount to consume and digest.
Trust Your Body.
Through the frantic dieting process, we fail to remember that our bodies are our best teachers. When we trust that our bodies know exactly what nutrients they need, we can then begin to choose the healthiest options for our unique makeup. The practice of intuitive eating requires us to quiet our critical minds and listen to the cues of our bodies.
After years of being clouded by diet information and overanalyzing the micronutrients in every bite of food, the journey back to intuitive eating takes time. It feels terrifying to let go of our set of “food rules” when they have governed our meal choices for so long. Be patient with yourself! In the wonderful book, Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Program that Works, Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch present principles to follow to re-discover the body’s hunger & fullness cues. I recommend picking up a copy if you need guidance along your journey to becoming an intuitive eater. In one of my favorite quotes the authors state, “You will not suddenly get a nutrient deficiency or gain weight from one snack, one meal, or one day of eating. It’s what you eat consistently over time that matters.” Try not to get hung up the details of every meal, but rather trust that over time our bodies will get the foods they need.
Lose the Distractions.
We have all mastered the art of distracted eating. However, when our minds are engaged in other activities during meals, we do not experience our body’s response to the food being ingested. A 2011 study by Oldham-Cooper et al. analyzed the difference between a group of distracted vs. non-distracted eaters. The two groups ate the same lunch, but the distracted group played a game of solitaire on the computer while eating. Here is a brief summary of their results.
Distracted eaters:
- Ate more food
- Ate at a faster pace
- Reported feeling significantly less full
- Couldn’t recall everything they ate
These results show that when your mind shows up to the table with your body, you are better able to respond to your fullness cues. Remember that there will always be stress in our lives, but we don’t need to be controlled by it! Setting our to-do list aside during meal times and tuning into our bodies will help us not only choose what foods, but also how much food we need at that sitting.
Find Pleasure in Food.
Marc David, author of The Slow Down Diet, advocates that “vitamin P” – pleasure – is necessary to make our meals nutritionally complete. His belief is supported by a famous 1970s study showing that food preference influences the amount of nutrients absorbed by the body. Researchers fed a group of women from Sweden and Thailand a traditional, spicy Thai meal of rice, fish, vegetables, coconut and hot chili paste. Not surprisingly, the Thai women enjoyed the taste of the meal and the Swedish women did not. The surprising finding is that although the meals were identical for both groups, the Swedish women only absorbed half as much iron as the Thai women. Next, the Thai meal was put through a blender and fed to the same group of Thai women. When the same level of nutrients were presented in a unappetizing way, the Thai women absorbed far less iron. This means that when food looks and tastes good to you, it is more nutritious for your body!
If you watch a child eat, he or she will be adamant about what foods to choose and reject anything that is not satisfying. This is both hilarious and frustrating for a caregiver, but it goes to show that children are still in touch with the desires of their bodies. Children don’t think about what they should or shouldn’t eat – they simply eat what their bodies enjoy.
Practice Intuitive Eating!
Here are some ideas for how you can apply the principles of intuitive eating and begin to listen to what your body wants:
- Create space in your day to be present at meal times. Put down your work, close your laptop and just focus on the meal – even if it’s only for 5 minutes.
- Chose 1 meal or snack today to eat what your body wants. Try to get out of your critical mind and listen to what your body desires in that moment.
- The next time you’re at a restaurant, go with the first thing on the menu that pops out at you. Then, put the menu down and stop second-guessing yourself.
- Purchase something during your next trip to the grocery store that you loved as a child. Tastes change over time, but it can be fun to experiment with old favorites!
This is a post I wrote for my roommate Amber from Bastyr University who is studying to be a Naturopathic Doctor. She is a rock star in all things health and fitness so check out her health-focused blog: Thrive + Well!!