Intuitive Eating for Healthy Aging: Part 4

This week, in the 4th and final installment of my Did You Know takeover, I give you a taste of the final principles of Intuitive Eating. Email me if you want to discuss or join our Vivo Intuitive Eating Group class that is starting enrollment in October. Save your spot now HERE

Final Four Intuitive Eating Principles

• Healthy Alternatives to Coping with Food
• Respect Your Body
• Movement/Exercise
• Gentle Nutrition

Healthy Alternatives to Coping with Food
From day one of our lives, each human learns that food is comforting. As our brains and personalities develop, we learn other ways to cope with stressors, but eating will always remain one of the tools in our coping toolbox. The key is to create reliable coping skills other than eating. 

Respect Your Body
There is a lot of trending talk about body positivity, but it is ok to not force yourself to love the way your body looks or functions. You can simply work towards a mutual respect, thanking your body for all it has carried you through, and be as kind to it as you can be.

Movement/Exercise
Joyful or Fullfilling Movements are the name of the exercise game. We hope you feel enjoy and feel fullfilled by your Vivo workouts and other ways that you move your body. The main point here is that exercise is supposed to produce a better quality of life and is not a punishment for eating too many french fries.

Gentle Nutrition
This is the last principle to conquer because intentional work around the earlier principles puts you in a place to really consider nutrients, portion size, and other needs your body has around nutrition. If you skip to this part you just might be missing out on the sweet relief of letting go of diet culture mentality.

Take Home Message:
Intuitive Eating encourages you to release preconceived notions about weight, enjoy food and exercise, and engage with good nutrition. All of these things can be true outside of diet rules and BMI guidelines.

Curious about your level of Intuitive eating? Do this Intuitive Eating Quiz. It is a scientifically validated tool and highlights area where you may need to do some work on the way that you are eating.You can email questions about Intuitive Eating or anything else nutrition-related to: jamie@teamvivo.com      

You can also look at some of the research behind Intuitive Eating here                       

-Written by Jamie Rincker, MS RD Vivo Head Nutritionist