Musing on intuitive eating from a Naturopath
Many years ago I personally went down the path of consuming a fair bit of information and media about intuitive eating.
It was off the back of having adopted some less constructive ways of eating and views of some foods and I began to realise it wasn't sustainable. I was kind of tired of it, it was hard work.
So much of what I heard about intuitive eating was around flowing with what your body wanted and being ok with that because it meant not eating if you weren't hungry and the next day if you wanted a treat that would be ok too, that it would all balance out.
How great does that sound! So good and so alluring and so freeing.
To some extent this has been how I have been around food since then, but it has only been very recently that a few more dots have connected for me.
In the space of stress and anxiety and heightened nervous systems there is a concepts (an action I guess) of certain behaviours that can 'artificially' soothe ourselves, called numbing. It has been on my radar for a long while that things like alcohol, TV, shopping and food can all be used to numb those uncomfortable feelings. In workshops I talk about paying attention to especially alcohol as a numbing strategy and get curious about what the body actually needs in that moment, what is underneath.... That isn't alcohol.
But for some reason I had never added this layer to food.
This was a HUGE blind spot for me, and when the penny dropped I couldn't believe I had missed it.
Back when I was first introduced to intuitive eating (before studying Naturopathy) I wasn't particularly connected to or aware of my stress levels, anxiousness or state of my nervous system (or how to actually soothe it) and honestly I feel this is why I missed it, I wouldn't have know how to do 'this'.
So what is the 'this'
The piece missing from intuitive eating, from all the sources I consumed was this:
When you are craving a second serve of dinner, or consume a whole block of chocolate (because you wanted to),
Ask yourself what is it you are feeling, what is it your body is needing in that moment?
It takes practice to not only ask the question (ideally before the block of chocolate has evaporated) but to also know/ hear/ decode what the body says to you.
For example, some of the possibilities are:
I am bored (pretty comfortable saying we have all been there)
Feeling sad, upset
Wanting a distraction
Hunger!
Are you tried and needing/ wanting a quick hit of fast energy
Is it how you connect with loved ones
Or to fit on with your environment/ people around you
One of the things I find fascinating and complicated about the relationship we have with foods is that it is a known way of getting a dopamine hit - dopamine is one of our 'feel good' brain chemicals (neurotransmitter)
AND
The undeniable truth that food is intertwined in our DNA (literally) and the physiological need for us humans to consume our nutrients and fuel, through food.
This is a potent combination and means that food is a perfect, scape goat or veil for our emotions, we will always need to eat.
There is something to be said for being mindful around food, its pretty difficult to notice what going on if/ when we are on auto pilot. Has anyone ever had that moment when they find themselves with the fridge door open and a bowl of something in their hand before they have even noticed they stool up?? I have.
Where we meet intuitive eating back on the path again is that, when you can know why you are choosing the food and what you will or will not get from it, you can choose. This is also not about strictly seeing this e.g. using food for comfort or help manage your emotions and always choosing the opposite but rather, choosing your next action consciously.
For example My husband and I will often on a Friday night have a bag of salt and vinegar chips and a beer or two as we debrief on the week and unwind for the weekend with ou two dogs.
Is the objectively/ strictly healthy - NO, and I know that AND I know what I get from it, I get yummy salty crunchy snacks (I am a crunch kinda gal), delicious beer and slow time to connect with my loves. And I consciously and actively chose that without guilt or regret.
I also had a realisation that a quick dinner that has more processed carbs than I personally feel good eating - and always feel like in kind of cheating when I make it, was actually driven by being tired, tired to the point of wanting quick energy and something fast to prep and serve.
This insight alone has helped my understand why I reach for it, but I can also see a pattern of the days I want to 'go -to' this meal. That is gold AND allows me to do something about it.
For me the key is DO NOT leave it to that day/night to figure out dinner - after 9 hours on my feet I am ALWAYS tired and don't want to cook more than maybe 2 things. So maybe its a slow cooker or leftovers or something I have done the prep work for already.
Let it be known that I am no meal prep queen, that is not a super power of mine, maybe if it was this wouldn't be an issues but I do find myself in this snare - and can now get myself out of it, to a place where I feel my choices around food are more aligned with how I and my body enjoy eating.
This can help move us from that place of constantly feeling lost around food, or powerless to the times when you mindlessly inhale a whole bag of popcorn, only to snap to after, feeling a little sick, perhaps both literally and figuratively, about what just happened and judge how silly that was or how yukky you now feel.
Like sooo many things, this is a practice and will get easier - or perhaps more accurately it will, over time, become a habit or a default.
Don't expect to nail it every time.
Just keep listening for the clues, the feedback from your body, that subtle unease, the tensing and holding in your stomach, the racing mind, the worry - this is all the white noise, the loudest voice, but not always the truest one to what the body needs or wants.
Try it our and see what you notice, what insights will you get?
Much Love
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