Hello, Hello!!
As you well know, I am always studying everything that has to do with nutrition, food. My purpose is that food intake be something conscious and not something restrictive. For me the goal is that each one of us feed our cells with consciousness, that we ingest foods that make us gain health and have quality of life.
Today I want to talk to you about intuitive eating, a concept based on recognizing the nutritional needs of our body so as not to fall into excesses or frustrations. It is that you achieve the ability and awareness to listen to the body and the signals it sends you. It is a nutrition that is based on respect for our body.
We are all born intuitive eaters, that is, when we are children we eat when we are hungry and we stop eating when we feel satisfied, in fact, as children we can go for hours without eating because we are distracted and this does not put us in danger, we simply do not feel hungry at that moment.
Also since we were children we have been forced that there should be NO food left on the plate, in many homes it was, or rather, still is, you should eat a first course that can be a cream or soup, a dry food dish that includes carbohydrates, proteins, and dessert, but to get to dessert you could not leave food in any of the previous dishes. Simply put, with these habits we moved away from intuitive nutrition.
Other things we learn as children is that there are good foods and bad foods. This only leads us in adulthood to be filled with remorse when we eat bad foods and well, or relieved, when we eat good foods. Therefore, the main goal of intuitive eating is to change the way we think about food and make it a learning process to listen to our body.
Intuitive nutrition is the opposite of a diet, we should not be aware of counting calories, nor macronutrients, nor is there a nutritional plan. You are simply alert to your body's signals, eat when you are hungry and stop when you feel full.
The important thing is to eat those foods that bring us benefits, and not get carried away by cravings, anxieties, or to feel free to eat everything, justifying that the body asks for it.
This concept of intuitive nutrition was developed in 1995 by two dietitians in California, Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch. They conclude that eating a salad is the same as eating a chocolate cake, but in order to be able to do this, there must be a lot of awareness. what is the most important point of this intuitive nutrition? is that we can take it as part of our lives:
1)Avoid the mentality of being on a diet: When we feel we are on a diet, our mind often plays the role of wanting to abandon the diet because of the dietary restrictions that occur in it. Most diets end up leading to weight gain, cravings and guilt if the desired weight is not achieved and the way to achieve results with diets is with a lot of willpower and discipline.
That is why I like to talk about awareness, and yes, we must have willpower, discipline and responsibility for our body.
2)Accept hunger: Hunger is not our enemy. It is the body's way of protecting itself from starvation. One should eat when you are really hungry, understand the body's true message of hunger and not cravings. The real hunger doesn't lead you to eat cravings. The important thing when you feel hungry is to eat, to give the body those foods that really nourish it so that it has a feeling of satiety and feels satisfied in all senses.
The most important signs of hunger are: stomach noises that sound like grumbling, fatigue, tremors, inability to concentrate, mood swings, cold, etc.
Many people wake up in the morning and are not hungry at all, but since we have heard that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, they force themselves to eat without really feeling the need. Now with the concept of intermittent fasting, the theory that you have to eat as soon as you wake up falls down, breakfast is a de-fasting, and you can eat that breakfast at any time of the day when you really feel hungry.
3) Reconcile with food: We must stop thinking of food as something good or something bad. When you eat consciously, you eat what your body needs to be healthy and have quality of life. Be very conscious of flavors and how you feel after eating. There are foods that, no matter how healthy they are, do not agree with everyone. If you feel that something is not tolerated by your body, simply take it out of your life.
4) The most important point is to recognize satiety: Learn to detect the signals your body sends you when it is satiated, when it is satisfied. To realize this you must get used to eating slowly, this way you will be able to efficiently detect how much you have eaten, if you feel satisfied and there is still food on your plate, don't force yourself to eat it, I know that food is not thrown away, but keep it in the fridge for later or for next day.
The signs that you should be alert to know that you are satiated are: Sensation of having a full stomach, disappearance of hunger symptoms, reduced appetite, fatigue (this is especially felt when you go over the limits of what you should eat).
Food should be something that gives us life, energy, that you do not feel remorse if at some point you eat something that does not nourish you, simply take back the path and awareness. The most important thing, is that you always decide for your health, have a healthy weight, even if you have a large size.