Intuitive eating can be an alluring option if you want to tune into your body, release your food rules, and reduce the stress around your food choices. While being able to eat what you want without being tied to food guilt, feeling the “perfect” level of fullness after eating, or having a good relationship with exercise all sound very attractive are all hallmarks of the practice, all the intuitive eating advice you’ve received doesn’t describe this way of eating completely.
In fact, it’s not based on perfection at all—instead, it’s based on curiosity and learning about your body and what it needs on a larger scale. It’s about seeing each meal as an opportunity to tune into your body to experiment with how you can best feed yourself in the moment. Sometimes we honor these needs and desires better than others, and that’s all part of the learning process.
While intuitive eating may have gained recognition recently, it’s nothing new. In fact, two dietitians, Evelyn Tribole, RDN, and Elyse