Nourishing yourself through food intuitively
One of the key tenets of my practice with individuals when it comes to nutrition education and lifestyle modifications around cooking and eating, is to encourage people to nourish themselves through eating intuitively. The notion here is really very simple. You learn to turn down the outside noise that exists in relation to food and diet and focus more on listening to your own body. It’s a foundational framework for supporting our mental, emotional and physical health through attuning to the cues from within, in an effort to inform decision making about when to eat, what to eat and how much to eat.
While this approach rejects the idea of rigidly adhering to particular diet prescriptions, it doesn’t mean that you can’t still broadly subscribe to various dietary theories or ethical and environmental considerations that appeal to you when choosing your food. Rather, it encourages exercising flexibility and autonomy as you work within your chosen scaffolding, by making decisions in accordance with what you intuitively feel your body needs. No matter what dietary approaches my clients are inclined to try or maintain, there is some universal advice that I believe applies to everyone. My guiding principles are: a wide variety of colorful, seasonal fruit and vegetables, sustainable, ethical, wild and organic (where possible) sources of protein and good quality fats. This is the nutritional chassis. The rest can be individualised and constantly revised.
Eating in this way honours our bio-individuality, respects the relationship between mind and body and trusts the wisdom within. Further, it dispenses with unhelpful feelings of deprivation, shame, guilt or failure often associated with strict diet plans. For example, you may choose for ethical reasons to adopt a largely vegetarian diet, however you may also feel called to occasionally eat sustainably-caught wild fish for the many and varied health benefits that can be obtained through consumption of this species. Taking an intuitive approach to eating, gives you license to exercise this flexibility without feeling you have compromised your integrity. Or perhaps you choose to mostly follow a very low carbohydrate diet for health reasons, but occasionally wish to indulge in a slow Sunday spent at home baking a loaf of Sourdough bread or making a Lasagne from scratch to enjoy with family and connect with fond childhood memories. This approach to eating encourages you to soften your position and consider that nourishment through food is multi layered. Food is information for our cells, but it can also be a party for our taste buds or soothing to our souls. The point here is that you resist dietary dogma that dictates you ignore your instincts and restricts self-expression in favour of celebrating your ability to be fluid.
By learning to pay greater attention to both the intrinsic and extrinsic cues linked to our food selections, we can ultimately make more informed, healthful choices for ourselves. Our bodies are clever and will deliver innate messages in relation to hunger, satiety and physiological disturbance, but then it’s over to us, to respond consciously. For EG. If you notice that you are experiencing issues with digestion post eating particular foods, try cutting that food out of your diet for a few weeks and notice any shifts you may experience. We can also examine our extrinsic cues that may influence decision making around food, such as mood, environment, company etc. Many of us can relate, I'm sure, to the experience of eating to manage boredom or overwhelming feelings. Sometimes we may need to ask ourselves ‘what am I feeding right now?’ For example, if you are sitting on the couch at 9pm watching a movie, considering a bowl of ice cream after having already enjoyed a full dinner, it might not be hunger driving the thoughts of indulging. Take the time to ponder what else you might need at that time. Conversely, most of us know what it is like to ‘lose our appetite’ when we feel highly anxious or are grieving a loss perhaps. During these times, you may choose not to eat a meal, but instead to nourish yourself gently through other means such as a cup of tea, a long walk or an early night instead. Learning to acknowledge the message by giving ourselves permission to adapt our response is so very important, but it does require us to tune in.
Whilst it’s not a great idea to use foods in an attempt to suppress negative feelings or manage dysregulated emotional states, it is possible to utilise cooking and eating to positively manage our emotions. For example, spending time in the kitchen preparing a meal that connects you to a particularly happy time in your life can be a healthy way of seeking comfort in food. Sharing a meal with loved ones that promotes important feelings of connection, or baking a cake to take morning tea into your workplace in service of community, can all be incredibly useful ways of allowing your instincts to guide your efforts in self nourishment.
There is a strong link between eating intuitively and eating mindfully. Breaking free of the shackles of popular diet culture and tapping into your own inner guide when making food choices, coupled with taking a more mindful approach to eating meals, can really promote harmonious rituals for nourishing our bodies and our minds. Allowing for an informed, intuitive approach and then taking the time to sit comfortably in a pleasing environment, and slowly chew and appreciate our food is so often lost in modern life, yet was a daily occurrence traditionally and historically.
This is a sustainable way of approaching eating which implores you to respect your body type, physiology and psychology and make good health, rather than a particular weight or look, your priority. The exceptions to this style of eating however are of course when certain elimination, detoxification or healing diets are indicated for you. The goal of these health practitioner supervised diets though will usually be to address particular imbalances and re-establish healthy processes. Often, once health concerns are addressed, one can return to incorporating more flexibility and diversity in their diet. It’s also important to remember that our needs are constantly changing and what once seemed to serve us well, may no longer. The key is to be responsive to the messaging.
When we marry an intuitive approach to eating with ongoing education about nutrition and any specific health challenges we might be facing, so that we can continuously modify our diet to best meet our unique needs, we are fostering an approach to eating that really works in alignment with greater goals of reclaiming personal sovereignty when it comes to our minds, our bodies and our health. Do your research, seek out health providers for guidance and support but also...follow your instincts. Be your own guide.
*I’m a passionate life long student and my blog posts intend to share information only. If something peaks your interest, I encourage you to do your own research, and seek further advice and support through your health and wellness providers. If you’d like to consult with me, please get in touch.*