Anti-diet is the new diet!

When it comes to losing weight or staying fit, the first thing that comes to mind is to diet. We've heard about all kinds of diet and food habits that are being suggested, clubbed with a good workout. But can you imagine staying healthy without giving up on food? Say hello to intuitive eating — a nutrition philosophy intended to create a healthy relationship between food, mind and body. It is a thoughtful philosophy created by US-based dietician Evelyn Tribole and nutrition therapist Elyse Resch.

The philosophy suggests that you toss out the diet chart and attune to your body's nutritional needs in a rational, long-term manner. "I have always believed that one must always listen to one's body even if he or she is on a diet. Dieting doesn't mean to eat less, but to eat right. It is basically to understand your food eating habits and learn more about the desire one has for specific foods. It is a concept to feel good and not be stressed about restrictions," says Priya Palan, dietician, Zen Multi-speciality Hospital.

A person should eat due to physical hunger, and not due to emotional feelings. Intuitive eating has been catching up with people, who more or less follow the 10 principles of intuitive eating. "Many clinical conditions such as diabetes mellitus, renal diseases, etc. may need dietary restrictions to be followed. But for psychologically stressful conditions related to eating, such as bulimia nervosa and anorexia, intuitive eating may be helpful," says Palan. Here are the 10 principles of intuitive eating.

10 Principles to follow

1) Reject the diet mentality
The core feature of intuitive eating is to not follow any diet. The idea is to ensure that one understands that short-term diets don't necessarily work, and that it's better to focus on long-term food needs of the body.

2) Honour your hunger
Eat when the body biologically feels hungry and ensure that there's enough carbohydrates on the plate. Knowing the biological signal for hunger is a step to re-build trust with yourself and food.

3) Make peace with food
A constant diet watch and restraining yourself from eating food that you like is a never-ending fight with the self. When you 'give-in' to the food cravings after a long period of abstinence, the possibility of overeating increases and adds to the feeling of guilt.

4) Challenge the food police
Much is being written and spoken about food and diets in a manner that paints certain foods as bad and others as good. This becomes so deep-rooted in our minds that we start avoiding these so-called bad foods. An example is dessert, due to the fear of calorie intake. Ridding yourself from self-policing of food helps return to intuitive eating.

5) Respect your fullness
Look out for body signals that tell you that you are no longer hungry, and know when you are comfortably full. Relish the taste of the meals but stop eating once the biological hunger is satiated.

6) Discover the satisfaction factor
To achieve health goals with a mad rush to stay thin, what is lost is the pleasure and satisfaction of the eating experience. When you eat what you want to, it creates a favourable environment leaving you content. This, in turn, enables to understand that it takes much less food to decide that you've had enough.

7) Honour your feelings without using food
The most common mistake that people make, which pushes your health downhill, is emotional eating. We experience emotions like rage, loneliness, sadness, etc. and to beat the blues, end up overeating, assuming that food will provide comfort. In the long run, this kind of eating is harmful, and draws you away from intuitive eating.

8) Respect your body
Accept, respect and love your body, irrespective of its size. Stop critiquing your body. The genetic mapping can't be changed and so your body will usually stay a certain size. If you become comfortable with your body size, it will be easier to reject the diet mentality.

9) Exercise and feel the difference
Exercise is paramount, but doing a rigorous workout is not a solution. The idea is to channel energy and ensure that even the simplest workout or a form of activity is enjoyable. Be it walking, cycling or going to the gym, if it energises you, it will motivate you to wake everyday.

10) Honour your health
Don't indulge in the idea of practising that 'perfect diet' hoping it will make you healthy. Good health is something that comes after progressively eating right and also enjoying what you eat. Eat food that appeals to your taste buds and which makes you feel good.       

Source:
www.intuitiveeating.org