Oh, to be a kid again!  Remember the freedoms of childhood: the freedom to play, to eat, to not have a care in the world?  The only thing on your mind is to seize the day and enjoy life!  Every day presents another adventure, unbothered by body image, self-esteem, and others’ opinions.  Yet at some point, we start to care very much about these things; the freedom we know as children becomes eclipsed by the shackles and pressure of culture.  For some of you, you feel the shackles of diet culture very deeply.  How can we escape this?  Can we get back to this child-like freedom?  One tool that has proven to restore such freedom is…drumroll…intuitive eating.

What is Intuitive Eating?

Intuitive eating offers a solution to release men and women from the tyranny of dieting!  It is a type of eating style with ten important principles, which have the general purpose of helping people heal bad relationships with food and their own bodies. Maybe something happened years ago to cause them to fear certain foods; perhaps they meditated on the mantra that “all fat is bad” or “all sugar is bad.”  Maybe someone (a mother, coach, etc.) caused them to feel inferior by reprimanding their weight. The culture we live in can be ruthless! 

Ten Principles of Intuitive Eating

The website intuitiveeating.org details the ten principles, but I will just list them quickly for you here!

These principles embody the essence of intuitive eating – trusting, listening to, and respecting yourself.  Intuitive eating is quite the opposite of most diets – restriction is not given to you from an external source; instead, it is up to an individual to listen to what their body is telling them and honor it.

Why Intuitive Eating?

We all know that diets can be joy-stealers.  Sadly, the observed weakness when caving to something you’re not “allowed” to have or the phrase “no thanks, I’m on a diet” is something many of you are all too familiar with.  While I don’t believe that intuitive eating is for every person or phase of life, this style of eating proves to be beneficial and freeing for many people.  The intuitive eating mindset promotes a grace-filled lifestyle and increases positive body image.  It is a beautiful theory that works well for many women, but not all.  After all, we are not a one-size-fits-all society; this is why my program takes a customized approach and tailors my coaching to the specific needs of each of my clients, but you will see most of the principles intertwined in my coaching! 

P.S. If you struggle with weight loss or dieting, I would LOVE to talk to you!!  Go check out my coaching application and let’s get started!