Intuitive eating is an approach to nutrition that encourages you to develop a healthy, balanced relationship with food by learning to recognize and respond to your body’s natural hunger, fullness, and satisfaction cues.
Rather than following restrictive diets, counting calories, or labeling foods as good or bad, intuitive eating focuses on listening to your body, honoring your hunger, recognizing when you are comfortably full, and allowing yourself to enjoy a variety of foods without guilt. It also recognizes that eating is influenced by more than physical hunger, including emotions, culture, social experiences, and personal preferences.
Intuitive eating does not mean eating without nutritional awareness or disregarding your health goals. Instead, it encourages you to combine your body’s internal cues with nutrition knowledge to make choices that support your overall health and well-being.
At Cordova Health Collective, we believe that developing a healthy relationship with food is an important part of lifelong health, and learning to trust your body can be an important step toward creating sustainable, enjoyable eating habits that work for you.
A Simple Mindful-Eating Practice
At your next meal, pause halfway through eating. Take a moment to notice how your food tastes, how satisfied you feel, and whether you are still hungry. There is no right or wrong answer. Simply practice paying attention to what your body is telling you without judgment.