Eat according to your body's needs

Intuitive eating and anti-diet culture is gaining popularity, but what exactly is it?

Intuitive eating is rising up as a contender to diet culture. For the uninitiated, it’s an antithesis of a diet. You don’t restrict yourself to certain foods or even portions. Instead, you rely on your body’s cues of hunger and fullness.

Love your body

The concept has been around since the ‘70s and is centred around loving and respecting your body and its needs, as opposed to weight loss, says Dr Priyanka Rohatgi, clinical dietitian.

Ahraz Asad says he has been practising intuitive eating without knowing it. “My parents weren’t the kind to force me to eat more so I got used to eating small amounts at frequent intervals. I feel I understand what’s the right amount of food for me,” he explains.

No rules?

So, there are no rules? Well, yes and no. “It’s about giving your body permission to eat anything, not everything,” says deep health coach Simrun Chopra.

Intuitive eating is all about listening to your body’s signals. “You eat only when you’re hungry and till you’re satisfied. You can consume anything; there is no concept of good or bad foods,” she says.

Independent filmmaker, Mirika Rayaprolu, who recently switched to this concept, had an unhealthy relationship with food earlier. Prior to the pandemic, she used to skip meals or eat very little to lose weight. “If I needed one samosa to be full I would take two bites. I would eat only fruits for dinner knowing that it won’t fill me. If I ate a plate of parathas, which would actually fill me, it was considered a cheat meal,” she says. During the pandemic, however, she began stress eating and gained the weight back.

“I was looking into fixing the troubling relationship I had with food when I came across the concept,” she says. She started working with a fitness trainer. “She helped me navigate through the nutritional aspects of food and now I eat until I’m satisfied without any guilt,” she says.

What about binging?

The lack of restrictions means that one makes space for dessert after a full meal, without binging and guilt, says Mirika.

Binge eating tends to happen when you restrict yourself. “If you tell someone not to eat something they’ll keep craving it and when they break, they binge. If you allow yourself to eat everything you will eat only as much as you need,” says Simrun.

Ahraz says that he doesn’t need a diet to control his eating. “I have reduced my food intake as I moved to a more corporate and less athletic lifestyle. The change has been easy because I understand that my body doesn’t need as many calories as before,” he explains.

Guilt-free food

Removing the guilt associated with food and eating is a key aspect of intuitive eating. “It allows you to experience food as a celebration. Over time your body regulates the amount and kind of food you’re eating,” explains Simrun.

For this reason, while intuitive eating is a healthy way of eating, it may not suit everyone. “Since we’ve not been conditioned to listen to our hunger and fullness indicators, this diet wouldn’t work for everyone. It can cause overeating or undereating,” says Dr Priyanka.

If the person knows their body, this way of eating is healthy regardless of medical conditions or if they are overweight, she adds.

Worth the time

Manya (name changed) says intuitive eating may take some time but it is worth it. “I was introduced to intuitive eating through fitness bloggers. I realised I was chronically undereating and not getting enough fats and proteins,” she says.

She realised that planning a perfect meal was taking too much of her time, so decided to take the plunge. “It was hard at first because I couldn’t tell if I was hungry or full. Sometimes I’d go till 2 pm without eating because I had told myself that I cannot eat till I’m hungry but it has improved with time,” she says. One of the steps she took was to stop watching TV while eating as she felt it messed with her cues.

But how does eating anything work if you have a disease like diabetes?

Simrun says that your body knows these are things you should stay away from. She doesn’t believe that complete restriction is the answer.

“Keep cravings in check by allowing yourself a treat once a week or a month depending on your health. At the end of the day, the key is to trust your body and mind,” she says.

She adds that intuitive eating definitely requires an understanding of how nutrition works. “Making sure you’re getting enough nutrients is key. Once you understand this it leads to self-regulation,” she says.

Disordered eating

Disordered eating is not the same as an eating disorder. It is characterised by frequent dieting and feelings of anxiety, guilt or shame associated with eating certain foods.

“Diet culture traps us in this cycle of restricting foods and labelling them as good and bad. It affects one’s relationship with food and oneself,” says health coach Simrun Chopra.

Manya says that before adopting intuitive eating she used to force herself to eat more than she needed. “I used to think I ate too little and had a fear of being anorexic. Now, I’ve accepted that I only need that much and I’m enjoying the taste of food more than ever,” she says.

A perfect diet doesn’t exist. “Think of it this way, even if all of us ate the same foods and had the same exercise routines, we wouldn’t look the same or even have the same level of health because everyone requires different things,” explains Simrun.