"The Hunger Scale" from 1-10. 1-ravenous, 2-uncomfortably hungry, 3-very hungry, 4-a little hungry, I could eat!, 5-neutral, 6-satisfied and light, 7-full, 8-very full, 9-very uncomfortable, 10-painfully full, I feel sick!

Intuitive Eating

by Kayleigh A Rohrbach
November 28, 2023

By Nutrition Peer Counselor Amare Sabillo

As babies, we intuitively ate what we wanted until we were satisfied. We didn’t eat again until we were hungry. As we got older, social media and fad diets have caused us to change our mindset on food and focus on weight and appearances. This focus on your perception of your body, often causes you to ignore hunger cues and change your food choices based on those thoughts. This “dieting” mentality not only affects your physical health but also your mental health. What if we could learn to care for our health and also enjoy the food we eat? That is where Intuitive Eating comes in.

What is Intuitive Eating?

Intuitive eating is a non-diet approach that requires complete acceptance of all food and respect for your body as it is. It’s a way of listening to your body cues and allowing yourself to enjoy all foods without any judgment. This self-care framework consists of 10 principles, which are meant to help you step by step to honor your body cues and also rediscover the pleasure of eating.

How do you do it?

In a brief explanation, Intuitive Eating begins with unconditional permission to eat any food. While this may seem counterintuitive, or something that will cause you to lose control, it's actually the opposite. The more you allow yourself to enjoy a certain food, the novelty begins to wear off; it isn’t special anymore, you can have it anytime. With the cravings out of the picture, you are more attuned to your body's wants and needs. Hunger cues can be complicated and fall on a spectrum, so using a hunger scale can be beneficial to recognizing your hunger and fullness level.

Ultimately, you are the expert of your body. Only you know what hunger, fullness, and satisfaction feels like to you. It takes practice to let go of the diet rules that we have been following all these years. But, Intuitive Eating can be a tool for you to use to not only help you break away from those rules but to also honor your physical and mental health as a whole.