Antidote to Diet: Intuitive eating

Express News Service

Want to try out a new diet? No, thank you. Trust your intuition. There is a new way for losing weight and gaining health. It is based on your instincts. Maybe that’s why Google searches for intuitive eating have doubled since January last year. You use your body’s intrinsic wisdom to make choices for yourself. People love it for the freedom it gives them over their bodies. Diets have a way of being abandoned because the results are mostly temporary. Eating right is now about what experts call, ‘respecting your hunger.’ It’s time to take a bite of this enduring way of eating.

Intuitive eating makes you the decision-maker on what food to consume and how. It enables you to connect with your body’s natural rhythms. This is achieved through observation and mindfulness. You consciously watch out for hunger signs. “Intuitive eating is not about rules or regulations, neither is it about eliminating certain food items or groups from the diet. Instead, you focus your attention on your sensual awareness of the food,” says Pune-based nutritionist Simrita Chopra, who focuses on eating disorders. 

The building block of this philosophy is comprehending the nature of hunger. “There is biological hunger, which is the body’s need to consume food to carry out its functions. The other is emotional hunger. This is driven by feelings rather than true hunger. More often than not, we give in to the latter. This kind of eating is triggered by ennui, frustration, fear, melancholy, loneliness etc,” says Chopra.

Negative emotions make us empty so to speak. Food fills that void easily, creating a sense of gratification. “Pay attention to how hunger starts. If it builds over time and you don’t crave any particular food, it is physical hunger,” says Mumbai-based psychotherapist Pavani Arora, adding, “If it is the opposite, pause and ask yourself how you are feeling. Overwhelmed with household chores, saddled with work responsibilities, disturbed because of sickness or disease, discouraged with the way things are panning out, powerless due to a personal challenge, angry, or lonely? Once you know what you’re feeling, try to delve deep into the underlying emotion behind it.

For instance, the latent emotion behind boredom could be helplessness. Tackle this head-on. Look at what may be making you helpless. Can you fix it?” By building intuition, the mind will not get clouded by emotions. Over time, intuitive eating will hone your internal hunger cues and signal when you are full. Intuitive eating is bigger than you think. It is a part of the larger body positivity movement. “The main tenet is to let go of the desperation to lose weight and be a certain size. Intuitive eating teaches you self-love and body acceptance. Even fat acceptance,” says Arora. 

Youngsters seem to love this too. #intuitiveeating has taken off rather well on TikTok, garnering close to 840 million views. “Tuning into the moment-to-moment experience of eating has helped me lose weight and better my mood,” says Pallavi Puri, adding, “My hormonal levels are much better too. I am in control of my food and I chose the pace of change. That is liberating.” 

The anti-diet approach

✥ No foods are off-limits
✥ No restrictions of when to eat and how much
✥ The parameters of success are not based on the plummeting weighing scale numbers, rather on recognising the feeling of fullness while eating
✥ It puts you in charge of your food habits by honing your hunger signals
✥ Addresses your physical and emotional needs
✥ It is a holistic way of losing and maintaining weight 

Key difference between a diet and intuitive eating

Diet: Promises dramatic results
Intuitive eating: Offers sustained results

Diet: Weight loss is the ultimate goal
Intuitive eating: Weight loss is a by-product of mindful eating

Diet: Results are short-lived
Intuitive eating: It’s a lifestyle change and hence, results last a life-time

Diet: Restricts/limits certain food items or food groups
Intuitive eating: Teaches you to form a healthy relationship with food. Never prohibits anything.

Diet: Follows a strict schedule.
Intuitive eating: You eat according to your body’s natural rhythms

Diet: Entirely focused on achieving an end
Intuitive eating: Encourages one to be intuitive and inwardly looking so one can enjoy the journey to becoming healthy