Aroostook News

Have you wondered about all the factors that influence the foods we eat beyond physical hunger?

We experience influences every day that may determine our food choices and portions, including our environment, our emotions, advertising, social media, friends and family. When we inadvertently choose foods based on “outside influences” we are more likely to eat items that don’t align with our body’s needs. In contrast, recognizing and listening to our internal hunger and satiety cues can guide us to incorporate healthy habits. Two approaches that emphasize appreciation of internal cues include (1) intuitive eating and (2) mindful eating.

What is intuitive eating? Why should I try it?

Most health professionals acknowledge that health is greatly influenced by our behaviors and are not just determined by the number on a scale. Research shows us that dieting, such as extreme calorie restriction, can actually be harmful for the body and can result in increased weight gain long after the diet has ended.1 To promote a more sustainable approach to health, two registered dietitian nutritionists, Eilieen Resch and Evelyn Tribole, developed intuitive eating. Intuitive eating can be described as an “anti-diet”, with a strong emphasis on internal hunger and satiety cue recognition. Intuitive eating is not a clear cut path, but instead a life-long journey that aims to improve your relationship with both food and your body. Check out the 10 principles that guide intuitive eating below.

10 Principles of Intuitive Eating

1. Reject diet mentality – Rejecting diet mentality refers to allowing yourself to consume foods that meet both your emotional and physical needs, disregarding the idea that you must restrict foods in order to be healthy.
2. Honor your hunger – Once you identify that you’re hungry, the next best step is to eat. This may sound simple, but dieting and busy lives can cause us to ignore internal hunger signals, leading to overcompensating at our next meal. Choosing to eat when you’re hungry honors both your hunger and your physical needs.
3. Make peace with food – We can make peace with what we eat by understanding that food is just that- food. Different foods provide us with different nutrients, but labeling foods as “good” or “bad” can drive us to crave and over consume foods. For example, if you swear off chocolate because you deemed it as a “bad food”, more than likely you’re going to find that chocolate is all you can think about! A better approach to health is to give yourself unconditional permission to eat (and allow yourself that piece of chocolate).
4. Challenge the food police – Who are the food police? This can be any voice (from yourself or others) that makes you feel guilty for eating. It’s up to you to challenge this voice and recognize that you are in control of food choices.
5. Discover the satisfaction factor – The old phrase, “food is fuel” just isn’t accurate. We now know food is so much more than just fuel; it’s flavors, a sense of community, and culture. Fall back in love with the food you’re eating and recognize the important role it plays in different aspects of your life
6. Feel your fullness – This principle emphasizes internal cue recognition. Health is all about balance, both recognizing when you’re hungry and when you’ve fueled your body adequately.
7. Cope with your emotions with kindness – It’s easy to avoid confronting emotions like boredom, loneliness, stress or depression, but this distress can influence other aspects of our life and eventually can contribute to emotional eating (eating despite not being hungry or needing food). Finding healthy individualized coping mechanisms can help you address your feelings, without reliance on food. Examples of healthy coping mechanisms could include talking to a friend or loved one, therapy, journaling, stretching, or taking deep breaths.
8. Respect your body – Respecting your body involves accepting and appreciating who you are. One of my favorite quotes that emphasizes this is, “Even if we all ate the same and did the same exercises, all of our bodies would still look completely different.” All bodies deserve respect, dignity and appreciation. As a reminder, negative self-talk disregards that our bodies and mind can do wonderful things.
9. Movement, feel the difference – Having fun while exercising can look different to different people. It could be training for a 5k, but it can also be playing tennis, practicing yoga, kickboxing, or taking a peaceful walk with your favorite people. Incorporating activities and movement that you enjoy will not only benefit your health, but also promote a more sustainable lifestyle.
10. Honor your health with gentle nutrition – In contrast to a fad diet, a healthy diet is nourishing and easy to follow for a lifetime. Gentle nutrition lacks diet rigidity, but still promotes health through incorporation of easy lifestyle changes. An example is if you choose to eat peanut butter on whole wheat toast for breakfast, instead of an apple because you know that it better promotes satiety.

What is mindful eating? How is it different from intuitive eating?

In contrast to intuitive eating, mindful eating is an activity that you can practice day-to-day rather than a lifestyle. Mindful eating stems from the concept of mindfulness, which describes a state of nonjudgmental awareness. Mindful eating can look like:

• Choosing foods and portion sizes with intention based on our hunger cues, emotional needs and physical needs. In doing this, you’ll find yourself reaching for more healthful foods (i.e. whole grains, fruits, vegetables, lean protein sources) to meet your needs.
• Trying to savor each bite and using our senses to appreciate the nuances in flavors, smells and textures.
• If we find that our mind gets side-tracked with thoughts while eating, gently reminding ourselves to refocus on the meal at-hand.

Mindful eating can improve binge-eating (eating large quantities of food in a short amount of time), emotional eating, and increase feelings of well-being.2 Do you want to try mindful eating, but you’re not sure where to start? Try our tips for mindful eating below!

1. When eating, chew each bite at least 30 times to help you slow down and recognize the various flavors, tastes and textures of your meal.
2. Remove distractions like phones and tablets from the table when eating.
3. Practice listening to your body’s hunger and satiety cues by continually checking in with yourself by rating your hunger on a scale of 1-10.
4. Try using all five senses when eating.
5. Make eating an enjoyable experience by sprucing up where you are dining. This could look like adding a nice table cloth, flowers, or sitting in a room with a peaceful view.
6. Try meditation with free online resources, like Youtube. Studies show that practicing mindfulness in other areas of your life can help you apply those same skills to eating, helping you become a more confident mindful eater.

Mindful Eating Exercise

For this exercise, grab an apple (or any food item will work). Imagine that I’ve never seen, tasted or experienced an apple. How would you describe it to me? As a mindful eater, you could start by thinking about your senses. Using your sight, describe the colors, shape, any bruising, the stem, or the size. Now, describe what an apple smells like. Is it fresh? Citrus-y? Is it a smell that you associate memories with? What about the texture of the apple before you bite into it, and how does that texture change after you take a bite? Is the consistency of the apple the same on the inside as it is on the outside? How would you describe the sound of the crunch when you take a bite? You could even describe beyond your senses and detail where the apple has come from and how it ended up in your hand. Thinking about food in this in-depth way allows us to be present and aware of the moment of eating, prompting the act of mindful eating. Try this exercise with some of your favorite dishes and see what you experience!

Original source can be found here