Five approaches to intuitive eating this holiday season

As a young adult, I spent a year and a half working and travelling abroad on my own. I started my adventure on the north island of New Zealand where it is warm and food grows in abundance. 

During my travels, I settled in a little town called Te Kuiti. While working at a local fruit stand, I met an elderly couple. They invited me to stay with them and asked me if I could help around the yard in lieu of paying rent. It was an exciting time, and I enjoyed grubbing thistles (removing thistles by the root) in the pasture and helping to vaccinate cattle. They were an amazing couple and treated me like family. 

Despite their kindness, I became very homesick. One of my favourite places to sit was under the lemon tree in the front yard. Feeling very overwhelmed one day, I called home. I asked my mom for her lemon loaf recipe. I promptly went out, bought all of the ingredients and made the best lemon loaf ever. In fact, I may have even eaten the whole loaf myself! Years later, I can look back and see that the lemon loaf was likely filling the void created by my feelings of homesickness.

As we approach the holiday season, you may have your own lemon tree or lemon loaf experience. We invite you to be curious about the emotions or memories that may surface, whether provoked by the spicy scent of pumpkin pie, or the cabbage-y smell of boiled Brussels sprouts. 

This curiosity can be explored through the lens of intuitive eating. Intuitive eating is a concept that was developed by two registered dietitians, Elyse Rech and Evelyn Tribole. It’s backed by science, evidence, and research, and inclusive of people of all weights and sizes. There are 10 guiding principals to intuitive eating. Over the holidays you could start with five new ways to approach your relationship with food.

1. Let go of the dieting mentality
2. Honour your hunger
3. Find pleasure in your food choices! Food is meant to be enjoyed.
4. Respect your fullness.
5. Honour your feelings outside of food choices.

We are born intuitive eaters. Babies and young children know when they are hungry, and when they are full. 

As adults, we often lose the sensation of hunger and fullness cues, having learned to eat by the clock. Other external cues influence our eating—such as the scent of a lemon. Our emotions and our food choices are also often connected.  

Intuitive eating guides you on a journey of trust and it can lead to a transformative relationship with food. If this is a journey you are interested in taking, there are many resources and intuitive eating professionals available to help you create awareness around food choices.

Read the Intuitive Eating book  Check-out the Intuitive Eating 101 - Canadian Food Focus article