Excellent post. My favorite parts were this: "80% of the time - Find foods that make you happy AND healthy." And this: "20% of the time - allow yourself to indulge, enjoy what others are eating at gatherings, and have your special rewards." I don't like doing anything to an extreme. That 20% takes a lot of pressure off. Thanks for that.
Knowing that us humans will want to “cheat,” you might as well plan in some rewards and flexibility instead! All or nothing won’t work in general. Intentional eating has to be something a person eases into for most.
I have said this for years- if you go to intuitive eat and you’ve only eaten pop tarts and chicken nuggets your whole life, your body will crave “pop tarts” when it needs glucose and “chicken nuggets” when it needs protein. And that’s it.
I think intentional eating can be a gateway for intuitive eating. I’m a 100% intuitive eater and I don’t struggle at all with my weight. But I did struggle with it for about 25 years. When it became intentional that led to intuitive. Adding versus subtract. To crave new foods you have to introduce them. And eat them a lot. For years. YEARS.
An aside-
There’s so much cultural programming that people don’t even hear this stuff.
I forgot to mention that you have a point about the intuitive eating being the evolution of intentional eating. It's not that intuition will never work, it just means that isn't the starting point. If my soul wants blueberries, all I have to do is listen enough times and put the candy down to pick up blueberries. Eventually that tiny spark of intuition will grow,
And then whatever particular nutrient is in the blueberries will start firing the "I want blueberries" function of the brain. Which probably isn't in the candy. I mean it *may* be, but probably isn't. And blueberries aren't the same as bananas... Or kiwis. Things the distance runner body knows. It gets honed from just "sweet thing" to "what specific mineral is in the sweet thing that it is telling me it wants."
Perfect post for the beginning of the month. If I were to do another 30-day challenge (as I tried doing last month by drinking lemon water daily), then I'd implement these small changes. I really appreciate identifying what intentional eating was and how to adapt so that even a noobie like me could understand. Thank you so much for sharing :)
Thank you for reading and commenting! I’m pretty stoked about intentional eating, because I think it has a chance to help people who can’t deal with the all-or-nothing approach, but don’t get the fact yet that whatever they try needs to be sustainable, not just give massive immediate results.
Loved this article, I never heard about intentional eating and the difference with intuitive eating. so interesting to learn about it. Intuitive eating didn't work for me either, but intentional makes so much more sense!
Intentional eating is a great concept, leaving enough room for what you crave.
Great article, Tim.
Despite my best interests, the goal was to not overindulge while camping this weekend.
But guess what, that is exactly what I did.
I was dancing through the 20% out should I say eating?
Knowing I eat clean at least 80% of the time, it might be more enjoyable and make me happy if I stopped plannin to keep my diet under control in these situations.
Tim are you an NSNG guy or know of Vinnie Tortorich? He got me hooked on all this stuff. I appreciate the reminders and motivation your newsletters bring me!
Brilliant. I particularly appreciated the frank discussion about how intuitive eating can sometimes lead to less healthy habits, like going "goblin mode." The practical tips for embracing intentional eating were helpful and delivered with a relatable and humorous tone too. Fantastic piece.
Excellent post. My favorite parts were this: "80% of the time - Find foods that make you happy AND healthy." And this: "20% of the time - allow yourself to indulge, enjoy what others are eating at gatherings, and have your special rewards." I don't like doing anything to an extreme. That 20% takes a lot of pressure off. Thanks for that.
Knowing that us humans will want to “cheat,” you might as well plan in some rewards and flexibility instead! All or nothing won’t work in general. Intentional eating has to be something a person eases into for most.
I agree!
This is great.
I have said this for years- if you go to intuitive eat and you’ve only eaten pop tarts and chicken nuggets your whole life, your body will crave “pop tarts” when it needs glucose and “chicken nuggets” when it needs protein. And that’s it.
I think intentional eating can be a gateway for intuitive eating. I’m a 100% intuitive eater and I don’t struggle at all with my weight. But I did struggle with it for about 25 years. When it became intentional that led to intuitive. Adding versus subtract. To crave new foods you have to introduce them. And eat them a lot. For years. YEARS.
An aside-
There’s so much cultural programming that people don’t even hear this stuff.
I forgot to mention that you have a point about the intuitive eating being the evolution of intentional eating. It's not that intuition will never work, it just means that isn't the starting point. If my soul wants blueberries, all I have to do is listen enough times and put the candy down to pick up blueberries. Eventually that tiny spark of intuition will grow,
And then whatever particular nutrient is in the blueberries will start firing the "I want blueberries" function of the brain. Which probably isn't in the candy. I mean it *may* be, but probably isn't. And blueberries aren't the same as bananas... Or kiwis. Things the distance runner body knows. It gets honed from just "sweet thing" to "what specific mineral is in the sweet thing that it is telling me it wants."
It's wild.
Perfect post for the beginning of the month. If I were to do another 30-day challenge (as I tried doing last month by drinking lemon water daily), then I'd implement these small changes. I really appreciate identifying what intentional eating was and how to adapt so that even a noobie like me could understand. Thank you so much for sharing :)
Thank you for reading and commenting! I’m pretty stoked about intentional eating, because I think it has a chance to help people who can’t deal with the all-or-nothing approach, but don’t get the fact yet that whatever they try needs to be sustainable, not just give massive immediate results.
Loved this article, I never heard about intentional eating and the difference with intuitive eating. so interesting to learn about it. Intuitive eating didn't work for me either, but intentional makes so much more sense!
I haven’t really heard of intentional eating either, that’s why I decided to write about it
That’s cool, we write what we want/need to learn about ourselves 😊
Intentional eating is a great concept, leaving enough room for what you crave.
Great article, Tim.
Despite my best interests, the goal was to not overindulge while camping this weekend.
But guess what, that is exactly what I did.
I was dancing through the 20% out should I say eating?
Knowing I eat clean at least 80% of the time, it might be more enjoyable and make me happy if I stopped plannin to keep my diet under control in these situations.
Exactly. If your plan calls for 100% and you don’t make it, where does that leave you? Humans are notoriously bad at strict eating regimens.
Tim are you an NSNG guy or know of Vinnie Tortorich? He got me hooked on all this stuff. I appreciate the reminders and motivation your newsletters bring me!
I forgot about that guy! I'm going to go revisit Vinnie's stuff. Thanks for reminding me.
I'm glad you see value in this newsletter. Really happy to know it has some meaning to you.
Brilliant. I particularly appreciated the frank discussion about how intuitive eating can sometimes lead to less healthy habits, like going "goblin mode." The practical tips for embracing intentional eating were helpful and delivered with a relatable and humorous tone too. Fantastic piece.
Thanks, Jon! I love your feedback on this one. I had a few moments of stage fright before I hit the publish button!
Think we all get a bit of that but am glad you hit the publish button.