After years of dieting you may feel like your life is ruled by food. The dieting mindset has taught you that food is meant to be consumed under strict guidelines without enjoyment. However, you probably realize now that this is just not true!

 

Remember back to when you were a child, there were so many exciting things to experience every day, and meals and snacks were just a part of the routine.  Day-to-day life was not driven by whether or not you ate the “right” or “wrong” foods.

 

When you focus too much on eating and dieting, food begins to control your life rather than being a part of your day.  You find yourself cancelling your lunch date with your friends because you’re afraid there will be nothing on the menu that you “can” eat. Following food rules to hopefully lose weight removes the pleasurable experiences from your life.

 

The good news is that when you finally give up dieting you do not need to follow external food rules anymore. When you start the intuitive eating journey  you learn how to eat based on your body’s hunger and fullness cues. And, when you rely on your body’s signals, you enjoy each and every eating experience.

 

The concept of “Gentle Nutrition” can be confusing for you. In truth, if you are still dismantling diet culture messages that have flooded your mind, you may not be ready to learn how to incorporate nutrition into your journey in a gentle way. And that’s okay. Your time will come. But if you are ready, then here are some gentle ways for you to do so from a lens of self-care!

 

4 Tips to Incorporate Gentle Nutrition

 

1. Start Your Day with Breakfast

When you wake up in the morning, your body calls for fuel. If you ignore this call, you will likely overeat later in the day. Instead of focusing on food as a tool for weight loss, focus on it as a tool for fueling your body to get your day started. As a past dieter, you likely skipped breakfast because you either claimed you weren’t hungry or that it caused you to eat more throughout the day. On the contrary, when you skip breakfast, you set yourself up to be overly hungry which then leads to overeating. Enjoy a hearty nutritious breakfast such as oatmeal with fruit and nuts or a veggie omelet in a whole grain tortilla.  You will see how much energy you have to start your day and will find you are not “starving” by lunchtime.

 

2. Be Prepared – Bring Healthy Snacks with You

If you approach mealtime feeling ravenous, you may eat beyond comfortable fullness to the point that you feel stuffed and sick. When you begin to feel the first signals of hunger, the only way to answer that call is to eat, which you can only do if you have food with you. This is the reason why I always carry some snacks when I leave the house and I recommend you do too. Having snacks on hand will prevent you from making a trip to the vending machine and can even save you some money.

 

3. Be Creative with Produce

If you’ve been a dieter, you have probably had your fill of fruits and veggies. Maybe so much so that you avoid them at this point (“carrot sticks, no thanks!”) Do a quick audit of the food you eat in a day. If you’re falling short on produce, then you are falling short on valuable nutrients and antioxidants for good health. Instead of reluctantly adding steamed broccoli to your menu, get creative. Make a spinach lasagna, stuffed peppers or a roasted eggplant salad.

 

For more recipes and intuitive eating wisdom, check out this resource!

 

4. Approach Your Meal with Positivity

By making food a positive force in your life, you will end that unhappy relationship you’ve had with food and be on the road to optimal health and wellness. Approach each meal as an opportunity to show respect to your body. Keeping the intuitive eating principles (https://dietfreeradiantme.com/intuitive-eating-for-adults/) top of mind will ensure you have full satisfaction in your meals.

 

What is one food rule you might still be holding onto that is preventing you from enjoying gentle nutrition for your health.