The 10 principles of intuitive eating are only the beginning. If you’re wondering how to eat intuitively, this intuitive eating guide from dietitians will walk you through how to translate those principles into your life. Read on to discover how intuitive eating can help you tune in to what and how much your body needs — right here, right now.
More than half of Americans — a whopping 52 percent of us — report following a specific diet, according to 2022 data from the International Food Information Council. If you fall into the camp of diet devotees because you think you “should,” but would ideally like to ditch the rules (and the guilt), intuitive eating might be a great Rx.
In their 1995 book, Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Diet Approach, Evelyn Tribole, RDN, and Elyse Resch, RDN, introduced the concept of intuitive eating, which they explained through their 10 principles of intuitive eating. These include honoring hunger and fullness cues, rejecting the diet mentality, and practicing gentle nutrition.
“Intuitive eating is a dynamic process that addresses the physical, biological, and psychological needs in eating,” Kara Lydon, RD, LDN, a Boston-based certified intuitive eating counselor, and the owner of Kara Lydon Nutrition, explains to DailyOM. But how does that translate into real life — and real meals and mindsets? We tapped Lydon and several other experts to coach us through how to start eating intuitively.
7 Ways to Start Practicing Intuitive Eating
Before we go any further, it’s vital to acknowledge that these are all suggestions, not mandates. Unlike regimented diets that recommend tracking macros, calories, or points, “intuitive eating is all the messiness in between the black and white,” Katy Gaston, RD, a non-diet dietitian nutritionist in San Francisco, tells DailyOM. “This is not a ‘hunger/fullness diet’ that declares you’re ‘good’ when you eat when you’re hungry and only until you’re the ‘perfect’ amount of full. There will be times when the food is really good and you leave the table with more of a ‘stuffed’ feeling, or perhaps your meal was not completely satisfying.”
And that’s okay, Gaston confirms. Rather than criticizing yourself, take it as evidence for future choices. “Each time we plate ourselves some food, it is just a rough draft and we can adjust to our body cues as we go,” she says.
Approaching this list with that flexible mindset, you can prepare to feast on your life in a whole new way. Here’s how to eat intuitively IRL.
1. Nosh Regularly
If you’ve been restricting food or skipping meals, step one is to start eating at a regular cadence to communicate to your body that it can trust the fact that it will receive nourishment regularly. While there’s no firm schedule set as part of the intuitive eating protocol, you can ease into this strategy with a rough game plan if you find it helpful.
“I like to recommend the idea of ‘3s,’ in which you nourish yourself every three hours in some way. It doesn’t have to be perfect! The goal is to just get back in the habit of eating regularly and letting your body know that it can count on you,” says Courtney Vickery, RD, LD, a certified intuitive eating counselor at Vickery Wellness in Athens, Georgia, whom DailyOM spoke with for this story.
So that’s the “when.” In terms of the “what,” ask yourself what you’re actually in the mood for, Lydon tells DailyOM. Something sweet, savory, spicy, salty, or buttery? Hot, cold, or room temperature? Crunchy, smooth, creamy, chewy, or crispy? Light and airy, or heavy and hearty? Colorful or bland? Really tune in to the signals your body is sending you to find something that will seriously satisfy.
2. Give Yourself Grace for Emotional Eating
Emotional eating can have such a negative connotation, but all humans have emotions all the time. This is a very healthy and normal concept!
“Food and emotion often go together, and I think we lose out on a lot when we try to separate them completely. It’s all about adding more coping skills [like journaling, therapy, or talking to a loved one] and recognizing the degree to which we are leaning on these foods to ‘make us feel better,’” Gaston says.
3. Try to Eliminate Moral Judgments Around Food
Do you automatically label certain foods as “good” or “bad”? If so, what happens when you eat a food that you think of as “good”? How do you feel emotionally when you eat something you think of as “bad”?
“Notice what these automatic associations do when it comes to your connection with your body and your eating,” Alissa Rumsey, RD, tells DailyOM. Rumsey, the author of Unapologetic Eating and owner of Alissa Rumsey Nutrition and Wellness, a virtual nutrition counseling practice, adds, “Recognize when these pop up, then try to use more neutral, nonjudgmental terms to talk about food such as ‘nourishing,’ ‘delicious,’ ‘comforting,’ ‘fueling,’ ‘fun,’ ‘colorful,’ or ‘satisfying.’”
4. Reintroduce “Off-Limits” Foods
When you’re craving ice cream, instead of trying to trick yourself into eating something more nutrient-dense that you’re not in the mood for, go for that scoop of mint chocolate chip! Many dieters avoid stocking certain foods at home in fear that they will eat every last crumb or spoonful. Once you start giving yourself unconditional permission to eat any food, it will likely lose its “glimmer” so you can eat it when you really want it in a quantity that satisfies, Vickery says. This might take some time to get used to, so if you find it easier to go out for a scoop of ice cream when you’re in the mood for it (before officially stocking it by the pint in your house), that’s a terrific step. Then, once you notice you’re less drawn to the sparkle of the real-deal ice cream and are more comfortable around it, you can start keeping it at home for a scoop or two when the mood strikes.
5. Notice How Your Body Experiences Hunger
Get curious about what your body is telling you. Beyond a growling stomach, hunger might manifest as low energy, a headache, or feelings of irritability or anxiety.
“Are there times when you’re hungry but don’t eat? How come? How do you feel after eating? What does fullness feel like? Do certain foods satisfy you more than others? When you’ve been ignoring your cues for a long time, it can be really hard to feel them. This takes a lot of practice over days and weeks and months,” Rumsey says. “But keep asking yourself these questions, keep being curious, and over time, you’ll begin to reconnect with your body.”
If you notice you’re hungry before your “usual” time to eat, give yourself permission to grab a snack if you find you’re physically hungry after asking these questions and honestly answering them:
- When was the last time I ate?
- Am I feeling anxious, sad, or bored right now? Or what is my prevailing emotion?
- Am I experiencing any of the signs of true hunger?
6. Notice How You Talk About Yourself
Intuitive eating emphasizes respecting the body you’re in, no matter how you might feel about it on any given day. “Respecting your body can mean listening to it, appreciating it for all that it does for you, and caring for it as best you can,” Rumsey says.
Bring awareness to how you speak to yourself, and how often and when negative self-talk appears in your head — or out loud. Would you continuously criticize and mistreat someone you loved and respected in this way? Absolutely not. Try to treat yourself and talk to yourself just as you might your BFF.
7. Set Healthy Boundaries
Difficult and empowering all at once, according to Gaston, this step can be remarkably healthy and healing. Once you start to see how much diet culture is not helping you, it can be overwhelming because it is nearly everywhere. (See more about this in DailyOM Journal's primer about intuitive eating versus dieting.)
Once you spot negative diet messages swirling around, try to set boundaries that support your intuitive, authentic life. This might look like telling friends, “Hey, let’s not talk about dieting,” or telling family, “Please don’t comment on what or how much I’m eating.”
Interested in learning more? Check out From Emotional Eating to a Happy, Healthy Life
The Bottom Line
Intuitive eating starts with food, but in the end, it ends up being life-changing in countless ways. “Trusting your body around food then transfers over to other areas of your life,” Rumsey says. “You learn to trust your intuition when it comes to decision-making and boundary-setting, practice how to be flexible, cease people-pleasing behaviors, and develop more awareness and overall appreciation with life. Intuitive eating is a long-term process, but incredibly worthwhile, because it will give you the tools to manage the many food- and body-related messages that life (our society) inevitably throws at you.”
