I have spent ten weeks looking at different aspects of intuitive eating. There are many different pieces of the puzzle. As I approached the 10 weeks mark, I started to feel all these pieces beginning to work together as one, and seeing an intuitive eater gradually emerge from within me. He is not composed of pieces, he’s one and whole. I am beginning to see intuitive eating as a whole too. Let me attempt to define intuitive eating with this new insight in mind. Intuitive eating is an approach to changing an unhealthy relationship with food and ourselves developed as a consequence of dieting by learning to tune into our body’s expert guidance and developing a self-care attitude.

The ten intuitive eating principles lay out a roadmap on how to achieve this. All these principles work together as a whole in an intuitive eater. I tried to summarize how the different principles in my opinion enforce each other in the tables below.

 
2. Honor your hunger
3. Make peace with food
4. Challenge the food police
5. Feel your fullness
6. Feel the satisfaction
1. Reject the diet mentality
Use internal triggers (i.e. hunger) rather than external (e.g. time, # calories) to determine when to eat
No food has the power to make you fat
Use internal signals rather than external measurements to determine how much you eat
Replace guilt with satisfaction when eating your favorite foods. Try to take time and practice mindfulness while eating
2. Honor your hunger
 
When starting to feel the first pangs of hunger, ask yourself: what do I really want to eat? Then eat that
Learn to hear your self-talk "I shouldn't be eating now because it's still early/I ate a big meal earlier/I ate that chocolate for desert/…". Human body needs food to function and survive
Don't wait to be too hungry to eat. It will be much more difficult to feel your fullness
When while moderately hungry you eat what you really feel like, pay attention to how the food makes you feel.
3. Make peace with food
 
 
Challenge distorted beliefs you hold about some foods
Examine how fast different foods provoke fullness signals in your brain
Pay attention to how different foods really taste and feel in your mouth
4. Challenge the food police
 
 
 
You don't have to stop when you feel full, the commitment is to paying attention to the cues
Allow yourself to enjoy food - we are designed to feel satisfaction when we take care of ourselves, and give our body what it needs. The more satisfied you feel, more likely you are to stop earlier
5. Feel your fullness
 
 
 
 
Learn to stop when you are feeling satisfied. Don't rush this - let it come to you
 
 
7. Honor your feelings
8. Respect your body
9. Embrace movement
10. Gentle nutrition
1. Reject the diet mentality
You and your body deserve to be treated with respect and care now - don't wait to buy yourself nice clothes, become active and feed yourself with care
Move to feel good and to take care of yourself, not to lose weight
Eat real wholesome foods because of how they make you feel, not because you think they'll make you lose weight. Think long term trends – no food can make you unhealthy after a single meal
2. Honor your hunger
Try to learn to differentiate emotional from physical hunger
Your body deserves to be fed. Feed your body when it's hungry like you would feed a hungry child
You need energy to move, don't go hungry for a physical activity
Note how different foods produce a different level of stability in our satiety and hunger
3. Make peace with food
It's okay to treat yourself with some special foods when you really feel like it, even if you are not hungry
Respect your body by feeding it foods that make you feel good throughout the day
Pay attention to how eating different foods makes you feel when moving afterwards
Make peace with all foods, also the “healthy” kind
4. Challenge the food police
If you still want to eat beyond physical fullness, ask yourself what you really need
Challenge the negative self-talk about your body. Challenge "weight-ism" you may be exercising toward others
Watch out not to beat yourself up for not moving enough. Just keep paying attention to how physical activity makes you feel (and don't overdo it); plan activities in your schedule and try to integrate activity into your daily life
Watch out not to beat yourself up for not eating enough of healthy foods. Just keep paying attention to how different foods make you feel and gently introduce and experiment with a variety of real foods
5. Feel your fullness
Take care of your needs. It will be easier to feel your fullness when you're taken care of
Think about how your body will feel after eating too much
Think about how your body will feel moving after the meal if you eat beyond the comfort level
Pay attention to how fast the satiety comes from different foods. You are more likely to feel full faster when eating wholesome foods
6. Feel the satisfaction
Be creative when thinking of self-care activities that bring you satisfaction
When you feed and treat your body with respect and care, it will reward you with satisfaction
Rediscover the joy of movement. Look for fun activities
Look and savor the colors and genuine taste and texture of fruits and vegetables
7. Honor your feelings
 
Take care of your body’s needs
Embrace movement as the ultimate form of self-care
Pay attention to how different foods impact your mood throughout the day
8. Respect your body
 
 
Physical activity is a great way to take care of your body with numerous health benefits. Don't push your body, stop if you feel pain; think about moderate enjoyable activities
Feed your body with foods that make it feel good and that keep it healthy. Learn from trustworthy sources about what your body needs and be reasonable about it
9. Embrace movement
 
 
 
Pay attention to the levels of energy you get from different foods while moving