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For some, intuitive eating sounds “New Age-y,” but there’s nothing mystical or new about it. In fact, intuitive eating has been part of our evolution as humans. For thousands of years, humans ate what they needed to survive and what was available in their environment. It’s the oldest, most natural way of eating.
For this podcast episode, I interviewed a person who has delved deeply into the subject of intuitive eating — Devyn Sisson, the author of Kitchen Intuition. Devyn is also an artist, culinary enthusiast, and restaurateur. After graduating with a degree in psychology from The New School in New York City, she immersed herself into the study of nutrition at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition. She’s also the daughter of Mark Sisson, a fitness author and blogger who is one of the leaders in the health industry.
Intuitive Eating: Some Valuable Insights
During my interview with her, she shared eye-opening insights and ideas. Here are some of the key points that we discussed:
- There is no one correct diet or lifestyle that everyone should follow in order to be healthy. Eat however you want, but look into your relationship with food and become more aware of your food choices. (This philosophy is expressed in the quote I found in her book: “I am more interested in suggesting how you choose to cook rather than what you choose to eat.”)
- Diet versus lifestyle – Diet implies a beginning and an end. People go on a diet to achieve a specific result. What usually happens in the end is they resume the habits and practices that produced the very thing they wanted to change in the beginning. Also, the diet mentality is very restrictive; it’s non-freedom. Lifestyle, on the other hand, is a flexible term that implies the way you eat. It also includes other aspects such as exercise and sleep. It may change from one day to the next. You don’t feel like you cheated and fell off the wagon. Having a healthy lifestyle releases you from having a connection with any kind of diet.
- What is intuitive eating? It’s quieting the mind, tapping into the body, listening to your wants and needs, satisfying appropriately healthy cravings, and not having judgment or negative thoughts around food choices. It’s not giving so much thought about following a diet or following a health guru. Intuitive eating is about checking in and being aware of your body’s needs. You can’t do it wrong. You can only do whatever is right for yourself in the moment. Trusting that the decisions you make in each moment is beneficial to you in some way. We know inside ourselves exactly what’s good for us.
- You can satisfy your cravings in a healthy way. For instance, if you crave pizza, find a creative way to make pizza healthy. Eating healthy doesn’t mean you have to deprive yourself of the food you love to eat.
How to Bring Intuitive Eating Into Your Life
Devyn also shared some helpful tips on intuitive eating during our interview:
- Start where you are. Anywhere you are is OK.
- When you crave something “unhealthy,” ask yourself, “What do you really want?” and give yourself 5 to 15 minutes to figure out the answer. You may not really want the food, but the emotion associated with it. Oftentimes, when you give yourself time to pause, the craving will just go away.
- Give yourself permission to feel. Feelings can influence your food choices and they sometimes manifest as cravings when you don’t allow yourself to feel.
- Let go of your should’s and have-to’s and start listening to your body.
Last episode, I talked about consistency in my coaching session. If being consistent with your lifestyle and habits has been a challenge for you, I highly recommend that you listen to this episode.
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Links mentioned in this episode:
Devyn’s book: Kitchen Intuition: http://amzn.to/2s0nHP5
Devyn’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/kitchenintuition/
Ultimate Salad Guide : https://www.stephaniedodier.com/ultimate-salad-guide/
The Crave Cure: https://www.stephaniedodier.com/cravecure
Community: https://www.stephaniedodier.com/community
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