Raise your hand if you’ve ever rushed out of your dorm room, granola bar in hand that you eat as fast as possible as you speed off to class. About an hour later your stomach starts growling and you check the time. How am I already hungry? You decide you’re just going to wait until lunch at a dining hall. Three meals a day—that’s normal, right?
We all feel busy, especially as college students. It can be difficult to set aside enough time to eat and, when you do, there are so many thoughts running through your head. Is this food “good” or “bad”? Is it too much food? Will people judge me for what I’m about to eat? How we eat and what we eat can raise a lot of questions—this is where intuitive eating can help!
What is intuitive eating?
Intuitive eating involves paying attention to how we feel before, during and after we eat. The things we should focus on when tuning in to our bodies include:
- Eating when you get hungry and stopping when you feel satisfied.
- Eating foods you enjoy, everything from vegetables to desserts.
- Making choices to nourish your body just as it is.
What are the benefits?
Studies show that eating intuitively can help promote positive body image and reduce disordered eating while also improving overall health. Listening to your body can seem weird at first, so here are a few ways to try out intuitive eating on your own:
- Before you sit down to eat, check in with yourself. How hungry are you on a scale of 1-10?
- Enjoy your food as you eat it. Try to pay attention to how satisfied you feel.
- If you find yourself feeling satisfied, give yourself permission to stop eating. Even though we were told to clean our plates as children, it’s common to accidentally get too much food when loading up your plate.
- If you still feel hungry after finishing a meal or snack, give yourself permission to eat something else.
- Pack a few extra snacks in your backpack and, if you find yourself feeling hungry between meals, know that you can eat a snack and that’s okay.
Our bodies need energy to move, study, think, socialize, and even just exist. Hunger is not bad—it’s just our bodies saying we probably need some more energy. Try out a few of these tips to get reconnected with your body and hunger.
Sources
- Bruce LJ, Ricciardelli LA., A systematic review of the psychosocial correlates of intuitive eating amon
- Steven Hawks EdD, MBA, CHES, Ray M. Merrill PhD, MPH & Hala N. Madanat, 2004, The Intuitive Eating Scale: Development and Preliminary Validation
- Van Dyke N, Drinkwater EJ., 2014 Aug, Relationships between intuitive eating and health indicators: literature review