The Foundation of Intuitive Eating Starts with Nourishment
Intuitive eating is often seen as the ultimate goal for building a healthier, more compassionate relationship with food. It's about listening to your body's cues, honoring hunger and fullness, and making food choices that feel satisfying and nourishing. But what happens when those body signals—hunger, fullness, satisfaction—seem to disappear or feel unreliable?
The truth is, before we can fully embrace intuitive eating, we need to restore our body's ability to send these important signals. One of the most common barriers to achieving this is undernourishment.
How Undernourishment Disrupts Body Signals
When your body is undernourished—whether from restrictive eating patterns, dieting, or simply not eating enough throughout the day—it can’t function at its best. Our bodies are incredibly adaptive, and in a state of undernourishment, they will do everything they can to conserve energy. One of the first things to go? Clear hunger and fullness cues.
When we habitually ignore hunger signals or “train” our bodies to go long stretches without eating, those signals begin to fade. The body learns to suppress hunger to protect itself, slowing down your metabolism and making it difficult to recognize when you actually need fuel. This can lead to a cycle of confusion around food, (amongst many, many other things that will be discussed in future posts!):
Am I really hungry? Am I full? Is this too much? I don’t know what i’m even hungry for!
Did you know that stomach growling is a late stage hunger signal?
Consistent Nourishment is the Key
The first step to rebuilding trust with your body is through consistent, adequate nourishment. Think of this as setting the foundation for intuitive eating. Your body needs regular energy coming in throughout the day so it can recalibrate and send clear, reliable signals again. Without this, it's nearly impossible to engage in intuitive eating practices because you’re missing the cues that guide those decisions in the first place.
Eating consistently throughout the day—meals and snacks (yes, plural!)—is essential. It sends the message to your body that food is available and reliable, which in turn helps it feel safe enough to signal hunger when it's truly needed and fullness when it's time to stop.
Restoring Hunger Cues
Once your body begins to receive nourishment at regular intervals, it will slowly start to restore its natural hunger and fullness cues. This process can take time, especially if you've been undernourished or ignoring hunger signals for a long period.
Some tips for this process:
Eat regularly: Aim to eat every 3-4 hours, whether you're feeling hungry or not at first. This helps your body get used to receiving consistent fuel.
Include balanced meals and snacks: Incorporate a variety of foods that provide energy and nutrients, and include a mix of protein, carbohydrates, and fat to support satiety.
Notice patterns: Over time, you may start to notice hunger returning at more regular intervals, or that you feel more energized throughout the day. These are signs that your body is beginning to trust that it will be nourished.
Why Intuitive Eating Requires Nourishment First
True intuitive eating asks us to pay close attention to our body's signals. But if those signals are absent or unreliable due to undernourishment, we can't practice it effectively and will face quite the challenge leaning into other principles of IE. In fact, trying to intuitively eat without first restoring regular eating patterns can lead to frustration, guilt, and confusion.
When your body has what it needs nutritionally, it will begin to send the signals that help guide your food choices in a more natural way. This is why adequate and consistent nourishment is the foundation of intuitive eating. Once the body is nourished, you can focus on listening and responding to its cues with more clarity and confidence.
If you’ve been struggling with recognizing hunger or feeling confident in your body’s ability to guide your eating, know that this is common, especially after periods of dieting, restriction, or disordered eating. The first and most important step you can take is to nourish your body consistently (shameless plug here to encourage working with a dietitian of course!) As you begin to do this, those body signals will return, and intuitive eating will become a much more natural, attainable practice.
Remember, building a healthy relationship with food starts with trust, and trust begins with nourishment.