Written by: Maria R. Malec, Executive Contributor
Executive Contributors at Brainz Magazine are handpicked and invited to contribute because of their knowledge and valuable insight within their area of expertise.
One of the first challenges anyone has after deciding to make healthy living a priority is figuring out what to eat. Eating can be a significant source of stress.
Consider how stressful each of the following can be:
Forcing yourself to eat healthy food you don’t really enjoy
Eating when you don’t feel like eating
Abstaining from food when you feel like eating
Abstaining from foods you love to eat
The guilt you experience after eating foods you know you shouldn’t eat
Not being certain if you ate healthy food or an unhealthy food
Additionally, consider how often the medical community has changed it’s recommendations about “healthy eating”. Honestly, I believe, those recommendations are based on who is funding their research.
What I’m suggesting here is to take matters into your own hands and start trusting your own intuitive abilities. We all have them. Hearing and trusting them is another thing. It is my observation that many of us have given our power away to doctors, practitioners or even healers when it comes to intuiting things that are going on in our own minds and bodies. A vast majority of people have just shutdown that innate internal communication. The misfortune is that it is an essential part of taking care of oneself and subsequently, taking care of others. Wouldn’t you agree? The image of the parable about the vine and branches impeccably rings true.
What is intuitive eating?
Intuitive eating is a new approach to eating that eliminates the stress and indecision associated with food. It can greatly enhance your relationship with food and help you to have a greater degree of mastery over your mind and body. Intuitive eating is a different perspective on health and food. It is free from willpower, diets, discipline, and counting calories. Your body will tell you when you need to eat. Your mind knows what you need to eat. Your mind and body both possess an intuition that you can use to eat intuitively with ease. Remember that your intuition is probably flawed at the moment. All those diets, food rules, conflicting advice, well-meaning parents, and a slew of bad habits have had an impact.
6 steps to start eating intuitively
Here are some basic guidelines I have used to develop a better relationship with food, to quit emotional eating, have a sense of freedom and peace of mind. I believe that our level of wellness is directly related to our peace of mind.
1. Reject the diet mentality
What I have found is that when you follow a particular diet it may require you to eliminate some important food groups. My personal eating habits are only restricted by some simple basic rules; no high fructose corn syrup, no GMOs, only organic (as best as possible), no binge eating, don’t eat foods with ingredients I can’t pronounce, fresh vs processed and eat meat mindfully.
2. Drop the labels
Drop the labels like paleo, keto, Mediterranean, gluten-free even saying vegan or vegetarian. The label may create a prejudgment that’s not necessarily aligned with feel-good motivation. I’m not saying that you must go around only doing things that feel good to us, yet, eating begins in the mind. When you're doing the things that are aligned with the way your body works, you are going to undoubtedly feel vibrant most of the time.
Then when we try something new or revisit something from your past eating habits inevitably your body is going to communicate a good or bad message by how you feel. An obvious ingredient like sugar is the quickest communicator of adverse messages and an offender that you will want to stay away from. If I call myself anything, it’s a Flexitarian. The word is self-explanatory.
3. Build awareness
Become aware of how your approach to food affects your overall health. You can ask my children what one of my favorite words is and they would say in unison “awareness”. Ad nauseum, I would remind them to be aware of their surroundings; be aware of the people, be aware of where the exits are, be aware of where the bathroom is, be aware of what you're putting in and, on your body… just be aware.
When you're aware, you can't say, “Well I didn't know”. Clearly, you don't know what you don't know but life gives us clues and your body gives you clues. Perhaps it would be helpful to keep a journal about your food experiences. If food is an issue for you, what better way to uncover the root?
4. Honor your hunger
When you feel hungry either get a glass of water and determine if you are really hungry or just dehydrated. This is a great way to see if you are experiencing true hunger. Literally, ask your body what it needs. If it’s true hunger, you will receive an answer. Assess the situation that you're in at the moment. Planning ahead with healthy to-go snacks can alleviate the pressure and narrow your choices. If you haven't eaten for eight hours or if you delay your eating all the time, you can ruin your best efforts by binge eating. This inevitably leads to self-condemnation affecting your mood and most likely those around you.
5. Make peace with your food
Stop referring to food as good or bad. Your body is listening and responds to your thoughts and words. If you keep telling yourself that the food you have chosen to eat is bad and you eat it anyway, your body will respond in kind. It will feel bad after you eat it. If you continually shame yourself for eating certain foods, your body will continually respond adversely. You may even believe that you are allergic to those foods as a result. Honestly, what’s the point of eating a particular food if you can’t enjoy it without guilt?
6. Change the way you look at food
Declare that you will consume food that is nourishing and enjoyable. Think about the impact of food on your life. Really become attuned to the variety of food’s texture, color, and flavor. Look at food through new lenses. Make meal prep a relationship-building activity with friends and family.
Conclusion
Eating intuitively is an extension of living intuitively. The bottom line, honor your body. It is sovereign. Accept yourself. Accept who you were created to be. Accept who you are in this moment. That which gives us breath and life lives in us and knows us better than anybody else. Intuitive living rests in asking the question and knowing you'll get an answer. When you are in tune, you can trust the first thing that comes to your mind as the right answer. A rule of thumb is if it's something that's destructive, does not bring you peace, leads you to do things that you would not otherwise do, then it’s not the right voice to pay heed to. However, the voice that elevates, uplifts, edifies, and brings you peace is the voice of truth.
Instead of adhering to some strict diet, meal plan or a mindset that keeps you trapped and enslaved; venture out, give intuitive eating a test drive, give yourself permission to break free of faulting programming and trade your fear for the faith that your inner knowing is greater than anything outside yourself. Nothing tastes as good as healthy feels and healthy starts in the mind that is free.
If you would like to read a more in-depth account about intuitive eating, I have an ebook that addresses emotional motivation vs real hunger, eating triggers, why diets don’t work and more intuitive how-tos. Contact me at Aromalivingbydesign@gmail.com.
Want to learn more from Maria? Visit her website.
Executive Contributor Brainz Magazine & 2021 CREA Award Winner
As a Human Experience Coach, Maria reminds folks that living is an art. Using various tools found in nature, she creates experiential retreats that ignite one's inner healer. She brings people to the awareness that their level of wellness is directly related to their peace of mind. Through heart/brain coherence, it is her mission to inspire others to paint a beautiful living by daring to declare their innermost desires, bringing peace to chaotic hearts, and helping them to restore themselves to their original blueprint of design. Her methods teach others how to find their flow and live fully with all their senses.
In addition to coaching and speaking, Maria published her first book in 2020 titled, Dare to Declare, Greeting the Day With Intention. You can get it here: https://amzn.to/3BXAvGQ
