"Intuitive Eating" is Kind of Dumb - But Here's How it Can Be Realistic

“Intuitive” eating has become a buzzword. I do like the premise. The main message is to eat to fuel your body, until satisfaction, and not worry about tracking your food intake. That all sounds great, no doubt.

It can get a little fuzzy though. Most modern-day humans aren’t operating from the physiology of someone who can successfully intuitively eat – that is someone who can eat as they please and maintain healthy bodyfat levels, blood pressure, vitality, etc.?

Why are many of us unable to successfully do this? In short: we’re not getting enough quality sleep and sunlight, regularly exercising, eating 80 percent or more whole foods, or drinking adequate water. We’re not putting our body in an adequate environment to eat successfully intuitively.

Why are the above criteria necessary to deem someone “fit” for intuitive eating? Because all of them combine to create an “insurance policy” to mitigate the chance that you’ll overeat, something that is way too easy to do today. These four must-do’s put your body into natural cycles of hungry and satisfied states.?

If you don’t have your sleep/sun, activity, diet, and hydration in check, these natural states of hunger and satisfaction can be hijacked by our body’s powerful chemical messengers (hormones). A small and relatable example is a lazy Sunday, perhaps after a night out. I don’t know about you, but this is the day when I most crave trash foods and veer away from exercise... why is this?

One reason: when we get one or two nights of poor sleep, our brain’s levels of dopamine are below baseline. Dopamine, being the “drive” hormone associated with getting work done and pursuing goals, is further diminished when we choose not to go and get our 30-minute walk in that we usually would in the morning.?

Instead of riding out that “low” of dopamine and artificially bumping your levels of it with cheap, calorie-dense, nutrient-lacking foods (as we tend to do on these Sundays and any other days we get poor sleep)... can you consciously realize that your brain is acting this way because of the circumstances and environment you’ve placed it in??

Can you mitigate the effects of low dopamine by performing “dopamine-boosting” behaviors like exercise, getting sunlight, eating real food, hydrating, and setting yourself up for a great night of sleep? This is the wisdom behind exercising “even when you don’t feel like it” – the act itself can spur on a release of dopamine and take you out of a negative cycle you'd otherwise get caught in.

While I think that everyone should track their food for a period of time (see my last article), intuitive eating CAN work for people who take care of the following “big rocks” consistently (again, you should still track for a period of time – it’s beyond valuable and the best education on food you can get – better than any nutrition course I’ve ever taken – you should track your food)

1.?????Sleep

We all know the feeling of cheap, undeserved food/drink cravings when under-slept, over-stressed, hung-over, etc... Adequate quantity and quality of sleep is the single most important factor when it comes to making the right choices. When not getting enough, our willpower is metaphorically flushed down the toilet. We give into cravings easier, we don’t do the activities we know we should, and we get into negative spirals.?

Are you laying in bed for 8+ hours every night? Not all of that needs to be sleep, but the act of laying in bed, when made a routine, is just another queue for our habit-oriented brain to stimulate the miraculous, cascading process of your body falling asleep.?

Action steps: Hot shower the hour before bed, screens off, lights dimmed, no big meals/helpings of water, and read a book.

2. Regular exercise:?

Exercise?has appetite?suppressing?effects, especially cardio. Think about the feeling after a difficult bike workout, or long run: for most people, the last thing they want immediately after is 4 eggs and some sourdough. If you regularly exercise, there will naturally be a period of time in which you don’t eat simply because of your body telling you not to for a while...?

We have tens and, in some cases, hundreds of thousands of calories stored in bodyfat. One pound of fat is roughly equivalent to 3500 calories. That’s a significant amount of energy. And yes, this means that if you were to stop eating for 2 weeks (probably 2 months), you’d survive. With ease. Don’t do that though.?

When someone exercises regularly, they’re better able to eat “intuitively” because their body is accustomed to using fat (from dietary fat or our body fat) as energy. The reason for this, in part, is that low-level aerobic activity (AKA being a generally active person) uses largely free fatty acids in our bloodstream as a fuel source instead of stored glucose from carbohydrates.

Being able to use fat as an energy source is a superpower of our metabolism, but it must be trained. People who are more aerobically fit in most cases have more natural appetite cycles, as they’re not chained to reliance on cheap, processed carbohydrates. Instead, they’re able to “ride out” periods of hunger, being able to function on fat metabolism for energy.?

This is in direct opposition to a person who does not physically exert themselves and instead relies on cheap carbohydrates throughout the day for a boost in energy.

In short, regular exercise (cardio?and?weight training ideally):

• Reduces cravings for easy, “cheap dopamine” processed foods?
• Puts our body in a state where it will use the calories we feed it more efficiently and for better purposes (recovery, repair, building)
• Builds psychological momentum. This is a factor that is not scientifically measurable but is extremely tangible when you feel it for yourself. If you train for 30-45 minutes, the last thing you’ll want to do is demolish the work you just put in with some BS food. You’re far more likely to pursue quality food afterward... That brings us to the next step for successful intuitive eating

Action Steps: Sweat in some way each day - minimum of 20 minutes of sweat time, ideally from a combination of cardio and weights throughout the week - this does miracles for your health when consistency is added to the equation.

3. Eat 80 percent or more whole foods?

After getting a great night of sleep and exercising for however long you do, it will be viscerally??more difficult to make a poor decision with your next meal... all these habits build off each other. Quality sleep leads to discipline and better choices (i.e. exercising), moving your body until you sweat leads to better food choices, and better food choices leads to better general life decisions for the rest of the day...?

What are some good ideas for your 80 percent or more whole foods? Put simply:?

-???Start with protein, always

• Hit your height in centimeters in grams every day, minimum. I am 6’3”, that is 191 centimeters. That is 191 grams of protein a day, minimum. That is priority for literally any goal I have.?
• 20-30 grams of protein is 4 eggs, a cup of yogurt/cottage cheese, a fist sized portion of meat, a protein shake (whey, vegan, soy, whatever), or 2 cups of beans?

-???Carbs

• Eat fruit, berries mainly. No cap on this – eat as many berries as you want
• If you’re training hard, feel free to throw some rice, oats, grits, honey, bananas etc. into your diet (quicker absorbing carbs)
• If you’re not training very hard, probably better to steer clear of quicker absorbing carbs like these and stick to fruit, beans, and potatoes.?
• Ideally pair your carbs with a protein source to slow their entry into your bloodstream (glycemic load is the nerd term here, google it if you’d like) – this gives your body a better chance to properly process and store the carbs you’re feeding it.?

-???Fats

• I don’t love recommending fats to eat because generally good fats will come as a byproduct of good protein (eggs, meat).?
• There are some good choices for more purely fatty foods, however. Avocado, nuts, and olive oil are great places to start, but be careful with quantity, especially with nuts. Those suckers are so easy to overeat. A 200 calorie serving of almonds is like 15 nuts - keep that in mind. Again, good fats generally come as a byproduct of good protein.?

Action steps: Go to the grocery store. Don’t buy childish foods – buy whole foods. Eat them for the majority of your meals. Repeat the next week.

4.?????Drink adequate water (pee should look like pale lemonade)

One of the most common causes of unnecessary cravings (after poor sleep), is dehydration. In most cases you’re not that hungry, you are thirsty.?Ask yourself when experiencing “hunger”: Would I eat a plain baked potato and ground beef right now? If you were seriously hungry, that would sound delicious.?

Otherwise, drink a glass or two of water and reassess how you feel. Before every meal, drink a glass of water before you begin. This will naturally regulate appetite by filling up your stomach slightly. Psychologically, it also slows you down. Imagine if you made it a habit to slug a glass or two of water before every meal. The ritual in itself would probably prevent numerous cases of reaching for something that you know doesn’t serve you long-term. While you’re making the healthy decision to drink water, you can reassess what choice you’re going to make, or not make.

Action Steps: Drink enough water to have pale lemonade-colored pee, and drink 1-2 glasses of water before meals.

Summary:?

I know you’ve heard this stuff before. Have you ever made a conscious, 2-week effort to improve each step in this chain though??

Have you gone to bed at the same time each night, turned your screens off an hour before, taken a hot shower, and read a book to fall asleep naturally??

Have you broken a sweat every day from some means of activity??

Have you eaten majority whole foods for two weeks, prioritizing protein first, then quality carbs and fats? Seriously assess this. One ingredient max for 80% of your foods makes a HUGE difference.?

Have you consumed adequate water throughout the day, keeping your pee a pale lemonade color? This habit has gotten more love in recent years, but if you haven’t, get on it!

Trite wisdom is the best in most cases. Act on the basics and amazing things happen.?