Meal Planning and Intuitive Eating – Which Is Best for You?
What Is Intuitive Eating?
Intuitive eating simply means listening to your body. Eating intuitively, means trusting your body’s signals. Eating when your body says it’s hungry and stopping when it tells you that you are full. If you eat intuitively, you’re choosing to eat foods that you think are right for you, “tuning into your body’s needs, desires, and cravings, and making food choices that honour your physical and emotional well-being”, Says Jessica Jones. R.D. It is essentially how children eat. The question is, what happens if your body is continually asking for sugar and processed foods?
How Difficult Is Intuitive Eating
While this style of eating is very natural and it is healthier emotionally to stop referring to food as “good” or “bad”, if our body is constantly asking for processed foods that are high in sugars, carbohydrates, and adulterated fats, we may find ourselves with increased inflammation and chronic health issues. It involves eating foods that we want to eat without shame or feeling guilty. It could mean making different meals for each member of your family. Eating intuitively can just mean choosing which healthy meal that you feel like having today. It isn’t giving you permission to eat anything that you want, any time you want it, and whenever you want it.
- Finding Balance – While finding a balance may be difficult, there are a few tips you can remember to help you eat intuitively more often.
- Don’t worry about “should” – For instance, you know that your meals “should” include vegetables, but what if you’re in the mood for pasta? There are delicious gluten free pasta alternatives to wheat pasta and you can add include the vegetables and good quality protein in your pasta dish. Finding new recipes that are healthy, but still include the foods you enjoy, can be a great way to keep your blood sugar from spiking and enjoy your meals at the same time.
- Fulfill your body’s needs – It isn’t always possible to eat what you want when you want and it may not be your healthiest choice. It can sometimes be an issue of emotional eating over choosing foods that will make you feel better physically. It is best to choose foods that satisfy you emotionally, while at the same time, keeping your body functioning optimally.
- Snacking – People think that needing to snack is a childhood thing. The truth is, adults also sometimes need to snack to satisfy wants and cravings, even within a meal plan. An occasional snack is not a “bad” thing, unless it becomes a daily occurrence or even an alternative to a meal. If you are going to choose something really sugary, make sure that you eat it slowly, chew it well, and enjoy every mouthful. Oh, and please don’t forget to brush your teeth once you have finished.
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