INTUITIVE EATING: SAY ‘NO’ TO DIETING
“See food as fuel, not filler.”
– By Jacklyn Fernandez, RHN
T he days of dieting are not long gone, but should be. With
studies showing that 95% of diets fail people, no wonder
there continues to be much confusion with what we ‘should’
be eating, how much to eat, how often to eat it, whether we
should be counting calories and grams of fat.
Although some people have successfully found a method
and ‘rhythm’ that works for them (perhaps the 5% balance
of people mentioned above?), they’re content with going
gluten-free, or grain-free, high fat/low carb. But let’s face it,
that’s a very small percentage of us. For the most part, diets
DO NOT WORK long term.
Enter Intuitive Eating: A fairly new and mostly unheard of
approach to eating anything and everything – so long as it’s
healthy – any time your body says it needs it. According to
dozens of studies, this new approach to eating is proving to be
a realistic alternative to dieting that works to lower body mass
index, lower stress and cortisol levels, while increasing body
awareness and acceptance, optimism, and most importantly,
create a better understanding of the body’s natural feelings
of hunger vs. fullness.
Like anything else, it is expected that exercise and proper
nutrition play a big role in achieving a healthy body weight,
as well as a content sense of self body image, therefore Intuitive
Eating doesn’t mean you can wolf-down a piece of chocolate
cake just because you feel like it.
Rachael Hartley, Registered Dietitian and Certified Intuitive
Eating Counselor from the U.S., works with her clients by
teaching them to understand the following “Hunger and
Fullness Scale”:
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
Ravenous Extremely
hungry Hungry “I could eat” Neutral Mild
fullness SATISFIED Full Stuffed Physically
Ill
moody,
headache,
gnawing in
stomach growling in
stomach,
need energy stomach feels
slightly empty
dizzy,
nauseous,
physicall ill
“One point of conclusion on the fullness side of things is
when I see clients eat to the point where they’re no longer
hungry (5), rather than eating until they’re satisfied (7),”
explains Rachael. “It makes sense in the dieting world where
you’re trying to eat as little as possible. But when you look at
it on the scale, it’s easy to see why at a 5, even though you no
longer feel the discomfort of hunger, it won’t be long before
you drop back to a 4 or lower. Instead, eat for satisfaction.
You should feel a sense of fullness. Stop just before you start
to get uncomfortable.”
“Even if you’re getting enough calories
and including all the food groups,
if you’re not satisfied,
you’ll still be driven by food.”
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stomach feels
full, but you
don’t feel
satisfied
if you eat more, you feel slightly “Thanksgiving binge-eating
you’ll feel
uncomfortable Day” full,
full, sick,
uncomfortable
unbutton
nauseous
pants, bloated
Dr. Axe, a renowned Clinical Nutritionist and Certified
Doctor of Natural Medicine, says that Intuitive Eating hopes
to encourage healthy eating in a radically new way: Reconciling
forbidden food issues, unleashing the common shackles of
dieting (deprivation, rebellion and rebound weight-gain)
and helping people to get back to trusting their body’s own
natural signs and preferences.
The key with Intuitive Eating is learning to listen to your
body’s hunger vs. satisfaction cues, rather than eating by
following the clock, or following a certain amount or type
of food. The key is, to focus on adding in the healthiest and
most nutritious foods, rather than limiting certain groups of
foods altogether, like carbohydrates or certain fats because
you’ve heard or read that “they’re bad for you”.•
To learn more about Rachael Hartley’s extensive work with her patients,
please visit her website: rachaelhartleynutrition.com;
and visit Dr. Axe’s website at: www.draxe.com/intuitive-eating