Hello! After a nine-hour, stop-and-go drive, I finally made it back to Milwaukee safe and sound. It’s just for the weekend—I’ll be returning to Minneapolis on Monday. Have I mentioned how beautiful Minneapolis is in the summer?
Although I drove most of the way, I managed to carve out some solid reading time. I’m currently reading Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch, and it’s making me rethink my relationship with food. Honestly, I’m not naturally an intuitive eater. My friend Jenny, who writes a food blog, has been sharing her experience with intuitive eating, and her posts encouraged me to explore this approach myself.
Current Eating Habits = structured
At school, I fall into a rigid eating routine. I eat breakfast, lunch, dinner, and snacks at more or less the same times every day because my schedule forces it. For example, I eat breakfast as soon as I wake up—not because I’m starving, but because I need about 45 minutes to digest before I can comfortably exercise. I eat lunch at exactly 11:45 AM because I only have a short break between classes. Even if I’m not very hungry, I know I’ll regret skipping it when my stomach starts grumbling soon after. Since lunch is so early, I get hungry for dinner earlier as well. If I have dinner at 4:00 PM, that often means I’ll need a second dinner around 7:00 PM, so I end up ignoring my hunger cues until at least 5:30. It’s uncomfortable—there’s nothing worse than fighting a hungry stomach.
I’ll admit the foods I choose are mostly whole, nutrient-dense choices. That’s a good thing. But do I always eat what I actually crave? Probably not. Often I rely on “safe foods” that I consider healthy rather than following true cravings. While whole foods make me feel better than processed options, every now and then I would genuinely enjoy a slice of pie or a spoonful of something indulgent. Intuitive eating encourages listening to what your body wants rather than simply following routines.
In short, I’ve trained my body to eat certain amounts at certain times because I know how long they’ll keep me satisfied. That’s not intuitive eating, and it doesn’t feel like a healthy relationship with food. It’s embarrassing to admit, but I also experience guilt when I deviate from my routine—eating too much or too little, or skipping a scheduled meal can make me feel ashamed. That guilt is another sign I’m not listening to my body.
Intuitive Eating
The authors describe an intuitive eater as someone who listens to hunger signals and eats what they want without guilt or moral judgment. Intuitive eating is about becoming attuned to your body’s natural cues and forming a healthy, balanced relationship with food. The book even calls this “normal eating.”
Normal is a tricky word because everyone’s normal looks different. Eating patterns and preferences are unique to each person, which means intuitive eating will also look different from one person to another. The authors use the example of toddlers: young children typically eat when they’re hungry and stop when they’re full without being influenced by diet culture or guilt. That spontaneous attunement is something many adults have lost.
The book lays out ten principles designed to help you rebuild a natural, peaceful relationship with food. These principles are practical guides for moving away from dieting and toward mindful, responsive eating.
10 Principles of Intuitive Eating:
1. Reject the diet mentality
2. Honor your hunger
3. Make peace with food
4. Challenge the food police
5. Feel your fullness
6. Discover the satisfaction factor
7. Don’t use food to cope with emotions
8. Respect your body signals
9. Exercise—feel the difference
10. Honor your health with gentle nutrition
Intuitive Eating — Goal Setting
Right now I’m setting a clear goal for the summer: practice intuitive eating. My aim is to shift away from rigid structure and “safe” lists toward truly listening to hunger and fullness signals. I want to diversify what I eat without guilt and to stop measuring my meals against a schedule. My goal is to eat until satisfaction, not until I’ve checked off another routine box. I can’t promise I’ll be perfect, but I’m committed to learning and growing.
I’m only about a quarter of the way through the book, so expect more posts as I continue to experiment with intuitive eating. Maybe some of you feel the same way and want to try this approach too—let’s support each other.
Are you an intuitive eater? Do you have any tips to share?
What is one food you could never live without?
For me, it’s peanut butter—hands down. A true comfort food and a regular favorite.