Intuitive Eating

Here at Fire and Ice Wellness we try to be well rounded in all thing’s health and longevity. In topics of wellness, food choices and diets are often at the center. This will be a four-part blog series about what key pillars we focus on when it comes to food choices and diets. Mastering your microbiome, eating intuitively, using food as medicine, and monitoring your body with integrative technology to see how you respond to your food choices, diet, and possibly your environment. Last week we discussed mastering your microbiome. This week we will be discussing Intuitive eating.

What is intuitive eating? Intuitive eating, to us at Fire and Ice, is being sensitive and selective to the needs of your own body when you consume food. How do you know what foods will harm or what foods will benefits you? Your body has an intelligence that brings to remembrance things that once served it well in similar circumstances. I don’t know how this works biochemically but let me explain how I have experienced intuitive eating in my own life through experience. One of the most consistent food cravings that occurs for me is when I get sick. These instances are few and far between, but even when I feel down this food craving will pop up, chicken noodle soup with a side of ginger ale. This craving started well before I knew anything about nutrition or physiology. This is something innate within my body that cues me and induces a psychological healing that helps me feel better. Chicken noodle soup is loaded with beneficial amino acids like tryptophane which can help elevate your mood. This could be one of many nutritional benefits of eating chicken noodle soup while sick, but it also has a track record with my mind. In other words, I believe in it. Sometimes belief is all we need to overcome something. I believe our physiology is managed by more than just bio sensors, its managed also by our thoughts. Intuition is often associated with a feeling or a thought which is absent of tangible data in the moment.

Here are three easy challenges for eating intuitivly. The first challenge is knowing your food constitution. A constitution is a list of rules you abide by and follow. Some constitutions are more strict than other, for example carnivore constitution consume all things animal, while a vegan constitution is everything that isn’t animal. So how do I know which rules I want to follow and which to ignore? Well that’s entirely up to you, but periodically challenge these rules through Journaling. Journaling is a great way to venture inwardly and pinpoint environmental changes and figure out what foods serve you best in which circumstances. It’s a hard discipline, but extremely rewarding if developed and reviewed periodically for adjustments, Intuition is rooted in experience. The second challenge is minimized how often you eat to your fullest capacity. I think of thanksgiving when I usually ignore this rule. There is a Japanese phrase that has become quite popular through Dan Buettner’s book  blue zones. The phrase is hara hachi bu. This phrase is something we use regularly in our household and it means 80% full. This rule can also allow you to enjoy what you ate without the bloating and discomfort overeating can trigger. The final Challenge is go on a walk after a meal. This is harder to do than to practice, but I find it very rewarding when I do it. Its also a way to reinforce challenge number 2. If you know your going to go on a walk you wont eat till your stuffed

To conclude, “Know Thy Self” isn’t just a phrase for Neo, it’s also a ticket to mastering your own health matrix. When you know your own body, you become your best doctor. Nobody knows you better than yourself. If you want a good book to read about Intuitive Eating, Intuitive Eating by Elyse Resch and Evelyn Tribole is a great start!