Intuitive Eating Diet

Intuitive eating is a dietary approach that encourages you to develop healthy, positive relationships with food, your mind and your body. Developed by therapists, Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch, authors of "Intuitive Eating: A Program That Works," intuitive eating addresses physical and emotional aspects of dieting and nutritional wellness. When approached appropriately, intuitive eating can help improve emotional eating behaviors, enhance your physical and emotional wellness and put an end to repetitive, unsuccessful diets.

Function

Intuitive eating teaches people who have poor relationships with their bodies, food and weight to improve these relationships and develop positive dietary attitudes and behaviors. By examining your thoughts and feelings about your food, dietary habits and body, intuitive eating can help you manage your weight and improve your physical and emotional wellness. According to Tribole and Resch's website, intuitive eating also aims to reduce negative thoughts and constant worries regarding food and your weight by disbanding the belief that your self-worth is based on whether you eat "bad" or "fattening" foods.

Principles

Intuitive eating encourages 10 guidelines. In their book, Tribole and Resch describe rejecting diet mentalities, such as those found in popular magazines and fad diet books; honoring your physical hunger by eating when you're hungry; making peace with food, or giving yourself "permission" to eat, challenging the "food police" or your own negative thoughts about food and eating; respecting fullness by stopping eating when you're satisfied and discovering satisfaction and pleasure regarding food. Intuitive eating also involves honoring your feelings and tendencies toward emotional eating; honoring and accepting your body; exercising regularly for positive reasons and honoring your health by making nutritious choices most of the time.

Benefits

Intuitive eating can provide numerous benefits. According to the National Eating Disorders Association, fad and restrictive diets are associated with poor body image and self-esteem, reduced energy, slowed metabolism, weight gain, depression and serious conditions, such as electrolyte imbalances and heart disease. By improving your food attitudes and learning to eating intuitively, rather than attempting gimmick-based or restrictive diets, you may be able to avoid these risks. Improving your attitudes and behaviors regarding food and your body can also lead to healthy weight management, greater emotional joy and enhanced relaxation, as you learn to practice gratitude and mindfulness, or awareness, while eating.

Challenges

Intuitive eating can pose numerous challenges. If you struggle with severe emotional eating habits or compulsive dieting, you may find letting go of the dieting state of mind difficult. If you feel incapable of improving your dietary habits or attitudes, or find that obsessing over weight loss or dieting detracts significantly from your ability to function normally, the National Eating Disorder Association suggests seeking professional help.

Getting Started

To determine whether an intuitive eating dietary program is appropriate for you, Tribole and Resch suggest assessing your dietary beliefs and habits. If you feel frustrated by countless diets that have failed to lead to your desired results, notice that your metabolism has reduced after off-and-on dieting or struggle with poor body image and food attitudes, you may find an intuitive eating program useful. Though intuitive eating programs are not intended as treatment for eating disorders, according to Tribole and Resch, the philosophy can support other forms of treatment. Once ready to begin, seek resources, such as Tribole and Resch's book or website, or discuss your desire to participate in an intuitive eating program with a qualified dietary professional or therapist.