Listening to your Intuition
Intuition Meaning:
the ability to understand something instinctively, without the need for conscious reasoning: Oxford Dictionary
In the era of advanced technology and many health and well-being messages we receive multiple times a day, relying on yourself and backing your intuition (gut instinct), for what is good for you takes a back seat to logic and may be internally interpreted as “I’m just being lazy, copping out or not good enough.” Dependent on what that little voice in your head is telling you. Nonetheless, don’t disregard your Gut as this may not always be the case.
In reality, especially when it comes to health and well-being, we need both instinct and logic to make healthy decisions for ourselves, our physical body and our emotional state. However, many people fall in the trap of feeling uncomfortable with the idea of using their intuition and may mistrust the sometimes-cryptic messages they receive within, pushing their feelings aside as lacking willpower or being weak. Thus, diminishing the capacity to leverage the power of their instincts.
But I am here to tell you to turn off your inner critic.
At times we may rationalise away those voices, hush them down and go forth with meeting our conquests. And I know this scenario well. For example, striving to reach a fitness goal and feeling overtired but followed through anyway with consequences of getting sick.
From experiences like this, I have learnt that there is a time to listen to myself, without judgment, and allow the inner dialogues to occur without the fear of failure or put-downs from myself. For instance, now when I am feeling a little run down or over tired and am scheduled to go to the gym, instead of following routine, I reset my day and make a new plan for exercise such as a walk. Allowing my body to rest, catch up on my Zzzzz’s but not missing out on my exercise. Thus, prioritising what my body needs right now in that very moment. This does not make me lazy or weak, just listening to the messages that my body needs to slowdown.
Intuitive Eating
Now this is also true when it comes to eating. All the noise and hype on social media and on the tele or radio. And we see it firsthand. For example, “Eat like a caveman, hang on scratch that; Eat plants not animals, ok maybe eggs are allowed and fish, but only sometimes. Fruit is bad and full of sugar, Watermelon is evil; I can eat as much fat as I want, but no carbs, Now drink juice 3 times a day for 12 days to detox; Never mind eat bananas but only bananas. Hang on, how about we just skip meals, especially breakfast and don’t eat anything for 16 hours or was that 12 hours and then make sure you only eat 500 calories that day.”
I’m confused and overwhelmed, and my Gut Instinct tells me there is something fishy going on here. If any of these diets work and you do lose weight, it’s because you are suffering from the stress of it all. And, this is only a handful of diets that celebrity chefs and nutrition bloggers have told us we need to do to achieve a healthy weight.
Intuitive eating, aka mindful eating, allows your body to instinctively know what it needs. Your job is to shut out the noise and listen. This might sound easy on the flip-side but does take a bit of practice. As it’s not a permission note to eat ice-cream and chocolates all the time either. Listen to your instinct.
The point is that to really practice intuitive eating is to eat what your body truly wants by figuring out what kind of food makes you feel best. It’s a subtle shift in your thinking: It’s not that you can’t have ice-cream ever again, but it is learning to practice moderation and portion control and really pay attention to how the food physically makes you feel.
So how do you turn on your intuitive eating?
Rely on your internal hunger and fullness cues. You can do this by asking yourself “Am I really hungry?” and ranking that hunger on a scale from 0 to 10, whilst also taking note of your physical hunger symptoms before and after you eat, for example growley tummy, head-achy, light headed compared to satisfied, full and content.
Taking a deep breath before starting your meal, then eat slowly, mindfully checking in with yourself to gauge whether you are still feeling hungry after a few mouthfuls.
Eat for your physical hunger rather than your emotional state. Simply put, stop eating your feelings. Research has shown that we often eat not because we are hungry, but because we are bored, happy, sad, excited or stressed. In addition, don’t eat because it’s a certain time of the day, for example 12 o’clock so it must be lunch time, right! Reiterating again, eat because you are hungry.
And give yourself permission to eat anything, there is no such thing as “good”, “bad” foods. And don’t feel guilty when you have decided to eat something delicious, then eat it quickly. If you truly want it, saviour every mouth full. Remember to practice your mindfulness and moderation techniques. You can click on the words to find more about that here.
Once you allow yourself to eat absolutely anything you are naturally drawn to eat more nutritious foods next time you eat, balancing out for that extra fat and sugar you may have consumed. Pair this with some extra physical activity throughout your day and you are winning.
If you would like to learn about this topic or how to apply these techniques further, you can check out my 12 Week Nutrition Program, its more than just learning about food and nutrition.
Or If you are looking for further information on workshops, cooking classes, recipes or an individualised consult you can email me on my web page or in messenger or just give me a call.