Hey folks, Board-Certified Health Coach Chloe Maleski is here to answer your questions about intuitive eating. Wondering what intuitive eating is and whether it\u2019s Primal? We\u2019re here with guidance and support! Have a question you\u2019d like to ask our health coaches? Leave it below in the comments or over in the Mark\u2019s Daily Apple Facebook group.<\/em><\/p>\n Janice asked: First, you\u2019re not alone, Janice! It\u2019s easy to be confused by the many approaches to diet and eating out there\u2014many of which offer contradictory advice.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n An important thing to keep in mind is that no one way of eating is optimal for everyone.<\/strong> What\u2019s \u201cbetter\u201d or \u201cbest\u201d for you depends on many factors, including individual characteristics and conditions, health and wellness goals, and factors related to resources and accessibility.<\/p>\n That said, there are certainly some foods and eating patterns that are detrimental to pretty much everyone. When it comes to health, longevity, and vitality, a diet full of sugar, highly refined seed oils, fast food, and processed food is never a good idea!<\/p>\n On the flip side, eating in ways that more closely match what our ancestors ate is far more likely to support healthy outcomes. On the most basic level, we\u2019re really just talking real, whole food in its most natural state or with minimal processing. Think:<\/p>\n The above are Primal staples and give our body what it needs to thrive\u2014not just survive.<\/strong> When eating in this way consistently over time, people usually become intuitive eaters in the sense of knowing what their body wants and when they are actually hungry. As a result, they\u2019re less likely to engage in comfort eating or emotional eating out of stress, worry, boredom, or just plain habit.<\/p>\n Generally, this is not the case when we eat a diet full of \u201cmodern\u201d foods that disrupt our endocrine system and metabolism while contributing to systemic inflammation. Grains and sugar are a major culprit in this regard. It\u2019s hard if not impossible to \u201ceat intuitively\u201d if these foods have disrupted our body\u2019s signaling system and desensitized us to the natural sweetness in whole foods as well as to feelings of hunger and satiation. Because of their very physiological impact on our endocrine system and insulin levels, grains and sugar promote cravings for, well, more grains and sugar!<\/p>\n All that\u2019s to say, Primal eating is eating intuitively. This is especially the case if you commit to eating Primal in a consistent way, plus follow the other Primal Blueprint Laws. Those, alongside food choices, influence our body\u2019s hormonal signaling system and determine whether we\u2019re in touch with what we actually want and need.<\/p>\n While all 10 Primal Blueprint Laws are important, key ones here include:<\/p>\n Think about it. If you follow those three, plus eat plants and animals and avoid poisonous things (including the grains, sugar, and highly processed food mentioned above), you\u2019re pretty much bound to feel better and intuitively know what foods your body wants and when.<\/p>\n Simple, right? And yet, we humans tend to complicate things\u2026<\/p>\n There is a whole practice and methodology known as Intuitive Eating (with a capital \u201cI\u201d and \u201cE\u201d). This approach diverges from the Primal Blueprint Laws in a major way. Namely, one of Intuitive Eating\u2019s core tenets is unconditional permission to eat anything in any amount that your body wants.<\/strong> As we learned above, this gets tricky in that what you eat will determine what your body wants.<\/p>\n For some people, this unconditional \u201cgreen light\u201d helps to take the pressure off and assists them in healing disordered eating and unhelpful patterns around food, dieting, and body image. In such instances, an Intuitive Eating approach truly might feed healthy, intuitive eating patterns (and may even lead folks towards Primal eating, which is the optimal diet from a physiological and evolutionary standpoint).<\/p>\n For others, the approach can backfire, for the simple reason that the foods we choose have a very physiological impact. If given permission to eat sugar and cake, you eat sugar and cake\u2026well, your entire physiology will eventually want and demand more of the same.<\/p>\n Because there is no single approach that works for everyone, it\u2019s up to you to experiment and to get really honest about why a particular approach resonates. Is it the \u201cpermission granted\u201d? The carte blanche to eat cake? Or something different?<\/p>\n There\u2019s no judgement here, but truly embracing a healthy diet and healthy lifestyle requires asking yourself these sorts of questions. As a Primal Health Coach, one of my main jobs is to guide clients towards self-reflection and to help them figure out which approaches and strategies will work best for them.<\/p>\n Worth mentioning here is that a Primal lifestyle isn\u2019t bad news! For one, the 10 Primal Blueprint Laws are really just parameters to guide the way. There\u2019s no need or expectation to get it \u201cperfect\u201d at all times. Make a dedicated, consistent effort, and you\u2019re likely to feel better, get healthier and fitter, and want to continue.<\/p>\n When we feed our body what it\u2019s designed to consume and live in ways that help it move towards wellness and vitality, our intuition and internal barometer gets stronger. This makes eating intuitively and living intuitively something \u201cwe just do,\u201d without having to depend on external rules and guidelines.<\/p>\n When we eat Primal the majority of the time in a sustained way, we become metabolically flexible and increasingly resilient. In those instances when we feel a non-Primal food is truly worth it, bouncing back becomes easier and faster. We simply get up the next day, reset with Primal meals, and move on.<\/p>\n For me, this is actual food freedom: Eating and living to thrive. Knowing that one treat won\u2019t derail the trajectory towards looking and feeling my best. Always remembering that our body is on our side and wants us to eat and live in ways that feel better.<\/p>\n Getting there can take time, yes. And the exact roadmap will differ from person to person. For support in that, consider working with a Primal Health Coach one-on-one! It\u2019s more accessible than you might think, and we can help you get clear on what diet approach and lifestyle practices are best for you. Visit myprimalcoach.com to learn more and get started!<\/p>\n Do you eat intuitively? Have your cravings changed since going Primal? Let us know and drop other questions for me in the comments!<\/em><\/p>\n <\/p>\n\n
\u201cI\u2019m thinking about doing an intuitive eating program. What\u2019s better? That or Primal? Can I do both? I\u2019m confused!\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\nPrimal Eating = Eating Intuitively<\/h2>\n
Eating Intuitively = Intuitive Eating<\/h2>\n
Primal Resilience = Good News!<\/h2>\n
Food Freedom<\/h2>\n
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