Intuitive Eating

Question 1

food relationship factors

Answer 1

early childhood experiences:
- parent control
- parent influence
- environment
diet/health food culture
social media
other healthcare professional's opinion and influence

Question 2

intuitive eating

Answer 2

an approach to create a healthy relationship with food, mind, and body
anti-diet
brings back natural hunger cues we were born with

Question 3

BMI

Answer 3

BMI is height and weight put into a formula to give a number
according to a medical standard, if this number if too high we tell a patient to lose weight
problems with BMI:
- measures physical appearance
- BMI standards were significantly impacted by diet industry
- we need to look at health markers instead!!

Question 4

10 principles of intuitive eating

Answer 4

1. reject the diet mentality
   - diets don’t work! science shows yo-yo dieting causes weight gain
2. honor your hunger cues
   - notice primitive cues for hunger
   - if you ignore it, it can create food obsession and overeating
   - hunger cues: gnawing in the stomach, growling, light headedness, irritability, feeling faint
3. make peace with food
   - give yourself unconditional permission to eat
   - no good or bad food
   - do not deprive self
4. challenge the food police
   - no good vs bad
   - observe don’t judge self
5. respect fullness
   - clean plate doesn’t matter
   - economics, habit, ravenous hunger are aspects
   - listen to fullness cues and eat mindfully
6. discover the satisfaction factor
   - find the pleasure
   - mindful eating: calm environment, free of distractions, use all 5 senses
7. honor your feelings without using food
   - emotional vs physical hunger
8. respect your body
   - everyone is different shapes and sizes
   - no right or wrong way for our bodies to look
   - body acceptance and love
9. move your body - feel the difference
   - physical activity: prevents disease, creates balance in the body, prevents injury, gives longer life, releases good chemicals
10. honor your health
    - gentle nutrition, whole foods
    - consistency > perfection

Question 5

food deprivation study - Ansel Keys

Answer 5

32 health men
phase 1 - eat as you plase
phase 2 - semistarvation
- 6 months 
- calories cut in half
- required to lose 19-28% of body weight
- results mirrored symptoms of chronic dieting
results:
- metabolic rate decreased 40% 
- obsessed with food, mood and personality changes

Question 6

hunger scale

Answer 6

1 - starving, dizzy, irritable
2 - very hungry, unable to concentrate
3 - hungry, ready to eat
4 - beginning signals of hunger 
5 - comfortable, neither hungry or full
6 - comfortably full, satified
7 - very full, as if you've overeaten
8 - uncomfortably full, feel stuffed
9 - very uncomfortably full, loosen belt
10 - stuffed to the point of feeling sick

Question 7

how to make peace with food

Answer 7

1. pay attention to the foods that are appealing to you and make a list
2. put a check by foods you actually do eat, circle remaining foods you restrict
3. give yourself permission to eat one forbidden food from your list, then buy it
4. check in to see if the food tastes as good as you imagined
5. keep enough in the kitchen so it will be there when you want it

Question 8

emotional hunger vs physical hunger

Answer 8

emotional hunger:

• hunger comes on suddenly
• must be satisfied instantly
• crave comfort foods
• eat quickly, usually in private
• not satisfied with a full stomach
• feelings of shame, guilt, powerlessness after

physical hunger:

• hunger comes on gradually
• needs can wait
• lots of foods sound good
• take time eating
• stop eating when full
• after eating, do not feel bad

Question 9

how can health professionals contribute?

Answer 9

start asking and talking about healthy lifestyles, rather than weight or BMI

• are you moving daily?
• are you taking care of mental and emotional health?
• are you eating vegetables? what kind?
• are you being kind to your body?