What is Intuitive Eating?
Intuitive eating is about listening to your body’s cues, trusting yourself, and making food choices that support both your health and happiness.
Food is more than fuel.
Food is also comfort, connection, and joy. these are the words that should describe your experience with food.
Did you know that people who anticipate a delicious meal absorb more nutrients from that food?
Make peace with food.
Eating intuitively helps cultivate a healthy relationship with food by promoting body respect and honoring hunger and fullness cues. All foods can fit in a healthy life. Give yourself unconditional permission to eat a variety of foods. Trust your internal cues – your body knows what it needs.
Intuitive Eating Principles
- Honor your hunger. Learn to trust your body’s hunger cues. Honor the first biological signal of hunger and keep your body fed with adequate energy.
- Respect your fullness. Pause while eating to notice your fullness level. Notice signals telling you that you’re no longer hungry. You don’t have to clear your plate if you’re full, and you can always get more later.
- Pay attention. Give your full attention to the food experience – including engaging your senses, being present, chewing thoughtfully, and listening to body cues as well as thoughts and feelings – without judgment.
- Enjoy your meals. Food should taste good and feel good. Savor flavors and the experience of eating. Make space for foods your enjoy.
- Permission granted. Give yourself the permission to simply eat and enjoy food. There are no “good” or “bad” foods – only foods with different nutrients and purposes
Gentle Nutrition Strategies
- Add, don’t subtract. Instead of removing foods from your diet, focus on what you can add to meals and snacks to boost their nourishment.
- Focus on what feels good. How do different foods or meals affect your energy and/or digestion? Pay attention to this during and after eating.
- Introduce variety. Eat a wide array of foods. Different foods contain different nutrients, helping to protect us against nutrient deficiency.
- Create a healthy environment. What’s around us influences our decisions, so set yourself up well to make healthy choices.
- Listen to your body. Your energy varies from day to day. Eat more if you’ve exerted more energy than usual. Eat less if you aren’t as hungry. Only you know how your body feels, so listen to it.
Intuitive Eating at UNC
Dining Halls
- Build plates based on what sounds delicious and how much energy you need.
- Mix and match from various stations. Grab a veggie from one and a protein from another.
Eating Strategies
- Eat a filling meal earlier in the day so you’re not overly hungry late at night.
- Pair fun foods (like nachos) with something filling (like a burrito bowl with beans).
Between Classes
- Keep snacks in your bag: nuts, fruit, granola bars, cheese sticks, popcorn.
- Aim for a mix of fat, protein, and fiber with each meal or snack.
Local Eating on a Budget
- Use meal swipes.
- Shop the Carrboro or Chapel Hill Farmers’ Markets for local food.
- Split bulk snacks with roommates.
- Explore the Food Pantry Network and campus gardens.
Nutrition Services
A nutritionist can help you:
- Learn to listen to your hunger and fullness
- Navigate the dining hall with dietary needs
- Explore a healthy relationship with food – without dieting
- And more.
Services provided by a registered dietician are available by appointment to eligible patients at Campus Health. Schedule online or by phone.