Mindful Eating

10 Principles of Intuitive Eating:

1. Reject the diet mentality.
2. Honor your hunger–get in touch with your hunger cues and re-build your trust with yourself and food.
3. Make peace with food–if you tell yourself that you can’t or shouldn’t have a particular food, it can lead to intense feelings of deprivation that build into uncontrollable cravings and, often, binging.
4. Challenge the food police. The Food Police monitor the unreasonable rules that dieting has created like you are  “good” for eating minimal calories and “bad” for eating dessert.
5. Respect your fullness. Notice the signs that indicate that you are comfortably full.
6. Discover the satisfaction factor. Eat what you want and enjoy it.
7. Honor your feelings without using food. Find other ways to cope with your feelings of anxiety, loneliness, boredom and anger.
8. Respect your body. This means accepting its genetic blueprint.
9. Exercise to feel the difference. Don’t work out for 40 minutes at the gym because you have to. Move your body while doing things that you enjoy: hiking, cycling, running, yoga, dancing. Focus on how exercise improves your energy and mood.
10. Honor your Health–Gentle nutrition makes food choices that honor your health and taste buds while making you feel well. You don’t have to have a perfect diet but what you eat consistently over time matters. Make balanced choices.