Ditching diet culture
It’s so difficult to maintain a healthy relationship with food in our culture where dieting is the norm and avoiding certain foods is seen as a good or wise thing to do. We’re taught to feel shame if we indulge in certain foods and learn to resent the bodies we have because of our indulgences. We listen to how culture tells us to eat rather than listening to our bodies because we don’t trust that we know what we need. We restrict ourselves from certain foods, set goals for our food intake, and then berate ourselves when we eat the food we promised ourselves we’d stay away from. This is diet culture and it’s super toxic.
We need food and eating food makes us feel good but somehow we’ve demonized food in our culture. There are certain foods that are bad and you should feel guilty if you eat them. To that I’d say if you stole the food you feel guilty about eating, I’ll allow you to feel guilty. Otherwise, the guilt is a little unnecessary don’t you think?
There’s no reason to feel guilty about something you ate. If you ate it and it made you feel bad physically, you’re already suffering enough. If you ate it and it made you feel good physically, your body is happy with the sacrifice you’ve given it and there’s no reason to feel bad. When we can practice mindfulness around how the food we eat affects our body, we are better able to fuel our body so it can help us meet our needs.
What is mindful eating?
I think people complicate the term mindfulness; think of mindfulness simply as being aware and intentional. You’re eating an orange? Mindful eating would require you to be aware of the orange: it’s flavor, texture, and smell. It would require you to think about the orange’s journey to you and all the hands required to get the food into your body: the farmer, the shipper, the grocery store worker. You would practice gratitude for those hands and for the food itself. You would think about how the food will nourish you and enable you to do the things you love. You would not label the orange as good or bad and you would not judge yourself as good or bad for eating the orange. You would chew slowly and savor the flavor. You would stop eating when your body tells you to, not when the portion you served yourself is gone. Those are the basics: practicing awareness and gratitude around food, thinking about the source and purpose of food, not judging the experience of eating, and listening to your body in regards to it’s needs for food.
What is intuitive eating?
Intuitive eating incorporates mindfulness into it’s principles but also focuses heavily on ditching diet culture and cultivating respect for your body. The focus of intuitive eating is in transforming your relationship with food and your body as our culture often causes our relationship to these things to be pretty poor.
10 Steps to Mindful & Intuitive Eating
Eat when you’re hungry
Hunger is the body’s way of telling us that we’re lacking sustenance. If you try to fight off hunger, you will end up at the refrigerator at midnight gorging on whatever you can get your hands on because your body will be in famine mode. Your body is just trying to survive and hunger is it’s way of letting you know it needs something more than you’re giving it!
Honor your feelings without using food
A lot of times we eat for reasons other than hunger, so we have to learn how to stop chewing our worries and pain. Ask yourself why you’re turning to food and what purpose it’s serving for you. Are you eating because you’re bored? Sad? Angry? Stressed? Food might not be the best way to deal with these emotions; take action to really address your body’s messages of discomfort/pain rather than distracting your body with temporary pleasure.
Respect and practice gratitude for your food
Think about where it came from and how it got to your plate. Acknowledge all the hands it took to bring this nourishment to your body. Remind yourself that it’s a privilege to have access to an abundance of food and respect food for the miracle that it is.
Set the table before eating
Okay, so you don’t actually need to set the table, but you do need to metaphorically set the table. Make time for the meal. Sit down to eat. Relax. Breathe. Get yourself in the right headspace to properly experience the meal.
Enjoy your food!
Don’t be thinking about the ten thousand other things going on in your life and don’t allow any outside distractions (phone, TV, work) while eating. Think about the food you’re putting into your mouth. You have to eat, so you might as well enjoy it!
Eat slowly
Chew your food and put your utensils down between bites. Notice how your body changes with each bite. Pay attention to how your body responds to different foods. Recognize when your body has had enough.
Respect your body!
Give it what it needs! And stop giving it what it doesn’t need! Listen to what it’s telling you and respond appropriately. If your body tells you it needs more of something (food, exercise, rest, etc.), give it that! If it tells you it’s had enough, honor that! Your body is not a machine and it’s needs are always changing. Honor your body and it’s needs.
Eat (mostly) for nourishment
Food is nourishment for your body. Think about what foods give your mind and body the energy and strength they need to thrive and choose food based on these factors.
But stop labeling and judging your food
If a food makes you feel good physically and mentally, stop labeling it as bad! When we set certain foods or food groups as off-limits and restrict our access to them, this makes us want them more! When we allow ourselves to freely eat the foods that make us feel good, we’ll stop gorging on ‘restricted’ food.
And please stop labeling and judging your eating habits as good or bad
We must get out of the diet mentality and stop judging our ‘performance’ around food. If you want to indulge in dessert, do it! This doesn’t make you bad and it isn’t a moral failure. If you continue to judge your eating habits as good or bad, you will continue the cycle of guilt and shame you feel after indulging or eating a ‘forbidden food’.