A Deep Dive into the 10 Principles of Intuitive Eating and How to Apply Them

Intuitive eating is a relatively new approach to eating that focuses on listening to your body's signals and respecting its needs. Rather than following strict diets or counting calories, intuitive eating encourages individuals to trust their body's natural hunger and fullness cues and to eat in a way that feels satisfying and nourishing. If you want to learn more about Intuitive Eating, its history, and how it works - check out my other blog post called “What is Intuitive Eating”.

Here are ten principles of intuitive eating that can help guide you toward a healthier and more intuitive relationship with food. I’m also going to offer some suggestions for applying the principles to your life in a sustainable and realistic way.

1. Reject the diet mentality.

The first principle of intuitive eating is to reject the diet mentality. This means letting go of any strict diet rules or restrictions and instead embracing the idea that all foods can fit into a healthy eating pattern. When you focus on nourishing your body rather than restricting certain foods, you can build a healthier and more sustainable relationship with food. This means practicing rejecting the idea that some foods are “good” and others are “bad”. Begin to reframe the way you think about foods in your day to day life by considering when certain foods have value. For example, cake is often thought of as a “bad” food because of its sugar and fat content. However, at a birthday party, or after a hard day at work. Enjoying some cake is not a bad thing at all! In fact, it’s a wonderful thing, that should be savored, celebrated and appreciated. When you are going through a break up and crying on the couch, broccoli does not feel helpful. In this scenario - broccoli could be considered a “bad” food when the objective is to cheer someone up and make them feel temporary relief from their heartbreak. The point is - all foods have moments or circumstances where they are valuable and appropriate - and therefore, we need to reject the diet mentality that foods are “more” or “less than” each other.

2. Honor your hunger.

One of the core principles of intuitive eating is to honor your hunger. This means listening to your body's natural signals and eating when you feel hungry. When you wait too long to eat or ignore your hunger signals, you may end up overeating or feeling deprived, which can lead to unhealthy eating habits. Often my clients have been ignoring their hunger cues for a while by the time we meet. I encourage them to start eating more frequently, even if just in small amounts at first, to begin to bring back their hunger cues. Some of my clients ignore their hunger cues through restriction while others ignore them and eat past fullness. You have hunger cues that indicate to your body when you are starting to feel hungry and when you are starting to feel full. Start to notice the small cues your body offers (thinking about food, feeling irritable, salivating, tummy rumbles, headaches, etc.).

3. Make peace with food.

Intuitive eating encourages individuals to make peace with food and give themselves permission to eat any food they want without guilt or shame. By removing the judgment and guilt associated with certain foods, you can create a healthier relationship with food and feel more satisfied with your eating choices. For many clients, they are afraid if they let themselves eat donuts or cookies “whenever they want” that they will never stop! This is how we make peace. We let our bodies know that all foods are welcome, any time. Your body will then do the work of finding balance. Once cookies are actually allowed at all times, your body won’t crave them constantly. We only crave the things we aren’t truly allowed to have!

4. Challenge the food police.

The food police are the critical voices in your head that judge and criticize your food choices. Intuitive eating encourages individuals to challenge these negative thoughts and instead focus on positive self-talk and self-compassion. Reframe the ways you used to think of food. Start to challenge the thoughts about “good” and “bad” and instead replace them with thoughts like, “I am worthy of feeding myself at any time of day, no matter what else I’ve had before or how much I’ve moved. I do not need to “earn” my food. I am nourishing myself because I care for myself”.

5. Respect your fullness.

Another key principle of intuitive eating is to respect your fullness. This means listening to your body's signals and stopping eating when you feel satisfied or full. By eating slowly and mindfully, you can better tune into your body's signals and avoid overeating. I often find that my clients who binge eat are eating to the point of discomfort because it provides a feeling numbness that feels like a relief from their other life stressors. Sometimes it’s clear stressors like turbulence in life, relationships or health. Sometimes it’s the stress of negative body image, disliking the body they are in or feeling shame and guilt about their body. These feelings themselves are painful, and it can feel better to numb them with food, than to sit in them and feel. Respecting your fullness means doing your best to honor your physical comfort and choose other ways to “numb”, distract or relieve emotional discomfort. If you want some ideas for how to relieve emotional distress instead of a binge, check out my article on what to do about binge eating!

6. Discover the satisfaction factor.

Intuitive eating emphasizes the importance of finding satisfaction in your food choices. By focusing on the tastes, smells, and textures of your food, you can create a more pleasurable and satisfying eating experience. Try asking yourself a series of questions before you sit down to eat: Do I want hot or cold? Salty or sweet? Chewy or soft? Filling or light? Do I want to eat with a pretty view or a favorite book? Do I want company or solitude? Do I want to listen to music or silence? Set yourself up to make the experience of eating as enjoyable as possible!

7. Honor your feelings without using food.

Many individuals use food as a way to cope with emotions or stress. Intuitive eating encourages individuals to find other ways to cope with their emotions and to honor their feelings without turning to food. As I mentioned, often our use of food for manipulating our bodies or controlling our lives is a way to distract from other stressors going on. There are so many ways to cope with distress without harming our bodies. Read my article about this here.

8. Respect your body.

Intuitive eating encourages individuals to respect and honor their bodies, regardless of their shape or size. By focusing on health and self-care rather than weight loss or appearance, you can build a healthier and more positive relationship with your body. The Health at Every Size movement is an important part of Intuitive Eating, because it reminds us to practice respecting all bodies, regardless of their health status or size. remember that despite how “healthy” you may or may not be, how much exercise you do or do not do, how often you cook versus how often you get take-out, no matter what - you are worthy of respect. Every single day. This means that you deserve to eat healthy, delicious, varied, and nutritious meals every single day, three times per day, plus snacks! Your body is worth it. Think about other bodies you love and respect and practice speaking to yourself the same way.

9. Exercise for the sake of feeling good.

Intuitive eating emphasizes the importance of exercise for overall health and well-being. Rather than focusing on exercise as a way to burn calories or lose weight, intuitive eating encourages individuals to find physical activities they enjoy and that make them feel good. Finding joyful movement is lower on the list because it is something we often can’t do until after we’ve rejected the diet mentality and practiced respecting our bodies. If you want to find a relationship with exercise where you are kind, patient, and nurturing rather than forceful, disciplined, or harmful, a great place to start is without a watch! Try going on a walk, jog, or to a dance class, without tracking the amount of time spent, the calories burned or the steps taken. Instead, pay attention only to how you physically and emotionally feel before and after the activity! This is a great indicator for whether or not the movement was sustainable and helpful.

10. Honor your health.

The final principle of intuitive eating is to honor your health. This means making food choices that are nourishing and satisfying while also being mindful of your health and well-being. By focusing on overall health rather than weight loss or restriction, you can create a more balanced and sustainable approach to eating. This is the final principle for good reason. No one in intuitive eating is claiming that all foods have equal nutritional value! No one would thrive on only donuts or only kale for long. Intuitive eating encourages a wide variety of foods that meet all your nutritional needs, with balance and diversity. Sometimes, we will skip the cookie, choose the salad, or make a choice that “looks” like diet culture, but the true reason is because of how it makes you feel. But before you can make choices for your health that are not based on aesthetics or changing one’s body, you’ll have to work through the previous steps to heal your relationship with your body. This is the last step, and I encourage you to work through all the steps with a therapist or dietitian, as it can be confusing and overwhelming to do solo!

In conclusion, intuitive eating is a powerful approach to eating that can help individuals build a healthier and more positive relationship with food. By focusing on listening to your body's signals, respecting your needs, and honoring your health, you can create a more sustainable and enjoyable approach to eating that feels intuitive and satisfying. With this shift, comes so much freedom, time, and joy that diet culture has stolen from so many. I hope you’ll give it a try!