This post focuses on how to eat intuitively. Learn what intuitive eating is, how it works, and tips to get started.
As a Registered Dietitian, one of the biggest questions I’ve gotten over the years is: “What’s the best way to eat healthy?” There are so many philosophies, diet plans, and eating frameworks out there — from low-carb to plant-based to intermittent fasting — that it can feel overwhelming to know what’s right and right for you.
Those of you who have been following me for as long as I’ve been blogging (18 years!) know that when I first started learning about health and nutrition, I turned to calorie counting. In those early days, tracking calories and macros taught me a lot about portion size, calorie density, satiety, and balance. But I never intended to track my diet for the long term, and of a short phase of time, stopped tracking and focusing on how I feel.
Here is a post I wrote about Intuitive Eating almost 10 years ago!
Like most people navigating seasons of life, my body has changed here and there over the years as I’ve aged and had kids (as bodies naturally do!!). But my dedication to healthy living has remained consistent and intuitive eating has become second nature.
See a list of my posts on mindful eating here.
How to Eat Intuitively
Unlike strict diet rules or one-size-fits-all plans, intuitive eating is about reconnecting with your body’s internal cues; learning to trust your hunger and fullness signals, rather than looking to macro counts or food lists to guide your eating. Since it was first introduced formally in the 1990s, this approach has become increasingly popular, and for good reason: it’s not about short-term rules but about a long term relationship with food.
This post is a guide on how to eat intuitively: what it means, how it works, the benefits you can expect, and simple tips to help you get started.
What Is Intuitive Eating?
So what exactly does it mean to eat intuitively? At its core, intuitive eating is about listening to your body instead of an outside set of rules. Diets often assign labels of good or bad foods, encouraging restrictive eating patterns that can backfire into overeating, emotional eating, or even disordered eating.
Intuitive eating turns that upside down: it’s not about perfection but about looking at food as more than a number, enjoying meals and snacks, and knowing when you’re hungry and stop when satisfied. I would add that there is also a body image component that reminds us that our bodies are as diverse as our personalities: there is not one perfect way to look. Humans come in all shapes and sizes.
Intuitive Eating’s History
Intuitive eating is a philosophy developed by dietitians Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch. Here is the book in its 4th edition. It’s often described as a framework that combines awareness, mindfulness, and compassion in how you approach food. Instead of restricting or avoiding certain ingredients, you let your body’s internal cues—like hunger, fullness, and satisfaction—guide your eating. Many would say that children do this naturally and it’s our diet culture and the media that causes a shift in mindset towards restriction.
Here are a few key aspects of intuitive eating:
- Reject the diet mentality. This means stepping away from the endless cycle of dieting and instead building a healthier, more flexible relationship with food. Food is delicious, nourishing, and pleasurable!
- Recognize both physical and emotional hunger. Sometimes we eat because our bodies need fuel; other times, we eat because of stress, boredom, or other feelings. Learning the difference helps you honor your body’s needs without judgment.
- Stop when you feel satisfied. Instead of eating until uncomfortably full, intuitive eating encourages stopping eating when your body has had enough. I’ve really noticed the longer I’ve been an intuitive eater the better I’ve gotten with not reaching that “I’m uncomfortably full” point.
- Make peace with food. No foods are off-limits. By letting go of the “forbidden food” mindset, cravings lose their power, and eating becomes a more balanced experience. I truly eat everything!
- Respect your body image. Intuitive eating helps you appreciate your body where it is now, rather than constantly striving for weight loss as the only measure of health.
It’s not about a quick way to lose weight. The primary goal is to repair your relationship with food and find peace with food in the long run. I always think that when people first learn about intuitive eating they imagine eating brownies or french fries (or whatever their favorite food is!) for every single meal. While this might be fun for a day, you would probably get tired of that food quicker than you think! So even if you attempted it, I think you would eventually crave something else. Kind of like after a vacation I really do crave lighter, fresh, healthier foods. The body is smart!
How Does Intuitive Eating Work?
Consider these principles rather than rules. Here are some of the steps to get started reframing how you eat.
Reject the Diet Mentality
Diets teach us to ignore hunger signals and obsess over external rules. To eat intuitively, the first step is to reject the diet mentality and stop chasing unsustainable quick fixes. If you’re tracking calories or macros or eating by the clock rather than your hunger, it might take a while to let go of these habits, so just do your best!
Honor Your Hunger
Notice when your body is asking for nourishment. By responding early to hunger cues, you prevent the cycle of deprivation that can lead to overeating later. A good example for honoring hunger for me is on the days I play 90 minutes of soccer, I’m often not too hungry. Exercise can be an appetite suppressant. But by the evening or next day, I’m definitely hungrier than usual and I know why! And we all know hunger is the best sauce.
Make Peace With Food
Instead of labeling foods as good or bad, intuitive eating encourages you to allow all foods. This helps reduce cravings and feelings of guilt and brings back the pleasure side of eating. For me, the setting really impacts how much I crave and want a food. I don’t really want cake for breakfast, but if I’m at a wedding, please gimme the cake!!
Challenge Your “Food Police” Thoughts
The “food police” are those internal voices that say things like, “You shouldn’t eat that cookie” or “You should get a salad with that burger.” Intuitive eating helps you quiet those voices and focus on satisfaction and balance. If I want a burger but haven’t had a salad all day, I’ll get the burger with a side salad. A win-win!
Feel Your Fullness
Pay attention to when you’re comfortably satisfied. This means noticing the signals that tell you you’re done and practicing stopping eating when you feel satisfied. It also means getting seconds if you’re not.
Cope With Your Emotions
Instead of turning to food automatically, intuitive eating teaches you to handle feelings without using food. This is especially important for those who struggle with emotional eating. Keeping a food and emotion journal is one of the best ways to track emotional eating.
Respect Your Body
Celebrate your body for what it can do rather than criticizing it for what it looks like. Shifting toward a more positive body image is a central part of the practice. Opt in to activities (like yoga), friendships, and communities (online or in real life) that share a body positivity mindset so you’re around others who celebrate the diversity and beauty of the human body.
My favorite post about body image: Body Image Like A Cavewoman
What Are The Benefits Of Intuitive Eating?
A Better Relationship With Food
Perhaps the most important benefit is the freedom of making peace with food. You start appreciating the full spectrum of flavors and textures and the eating experience becomes joyful again. You spend way less time thinking, planning, and tracking food. Who doesn’t want more time!?
Healthier Eating Patterns
By tuning into hunger and fullness, your eating patterns naturally balance out. You eat when hungry, stop when full, and enjoy meals and snacks without guilt. For me, I know I feel best when I have three larger meals and maybe one smaller snack. Here is a post about my eating patterns: Health Eating Habits + Patterns.
Reduced Emotional Eating
When you learn to address feelings without using food, you’ll notice less reliance on eating for comfort. This leads to healthier ways of coping with stress and emotions.
Improved Body Image
Shifting the focus away from constant weight loss toward respect and care for your body helps improve self-esteem and overall body image.
Long-Term Sustainability
Unlike fad diets, intuitive eating is a long term approach. It’s not about a 30-day challenge; it’s about building lasting eating behaviors that support overall wellness.
How To Start Intuitive Eating
Here are some tips to help you ease into intuitive eating:
Pay Attention to Hunger
Start noticing when you feel physically hungry. Keep a mental note of the times of day you tend to get hungry and the kinds of foods that feel satisfying. You can start to plan ahead and almost predict these times, which keeps you from getting overly hungry.
Pause During Meals and Eat Mindfully
Midway through a meal, check in with your body: are you still hungry, or are you satisfied? This pause helps you recognize when to be hungry and stop.
Ditch the “Good or Bad” Labels
Work on removing moral judgment from food. No food is inherently good or bad—it’s all about context, portions, and your personal preferences. The diversity of diets that work for people is as vast as the diversity of our bodies. What works for one person won’t necessarily work for another, so try to throw all diet talk out the window and focus on what YOUR body likes.
Explore Feelings Without Using Food
When you feel the urge to eat for emotional reasons, ask yourself if it’s physical or emotional hunger. Try journaling, walking, or calling a friend before automatically reaching for food. I’ll also add that I think a lot of cravings are a result of deprivation earlier in the day. If you crave sugar all afternoon, ask yourself if you had protein, carbs, and fat in your lunch. My bet might be you were low on fat and/or carbs!
Learn to Trust Your Body
The more you practice, the more you’ll be learning to trust your body’s wisdom. Over time, you’ll find confidence in letting your internal cues guide your eating. You’ll also hone in on the foods that make YOU feel best. You might decide to have one lunch over another based on how you want to feel for the rest of the afternoon (and/or what activities you have planned).
Be Patient
Intuitive eating isn’t about overnight weight loss or quick results. It’s about slowly building new habits, healing your relationship with food, and experiencing long-lasting freedom. The more you can focus on the things in life that provide meaning, the easier it will be to release the control you might feel around food. Life is too short to track everything you eat!
Check out this workbook to help you get started!
Final Thoughts
I love this Virginia Woolf quote: “One cannot think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well.” Life is meant to be enjoyed, and food is a part of that.
Cultivating mindfulness, compassion, and balance in your relationship with food leads to better connection with others and yourself. By listening to your internal cues, tuning into your body’s needs, and making peace with food, you can transform your eating experience and discover a healthier way to live.
More posts on relationship with food:
