Cosmetic surgery procedures like Liposuction and Brazilian Butt Lift are a popular tool to enhance your figure and in the process improve your body image. But, it’s not necessarily a weight loss solution and in fact, your surgery results long-term greatly rely on your ability to maintain healthy eating habits and a regular workout program.
It’s well-known fad diets including calorie counting, cutting carbs and restrictive eating is a quick fix and isn’t sustainable in the long run. Research shows most people with a diet mentality will end putting all the weight back on and even end up putting on more weight than they were before they embraced the diet culture.
A healthy eating approach that is on the comeback is intuitive eating. Unlike many of the diet and supplement quick fixes, this is one that many registered dietitians and nutritionists are supporting and it could be a great way to help you maintain your weight and results post cosmetic surgery.
What intuitive eating means
The intuitive eating approach was first discussed when dietitian Evelyn Tribole and nutritional therapist Elyse Resch published the book ‘Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Program That Works’ in 2012.
Authors Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch claimed intuitive eating was a gentle nutrition approach that would teach you how to reject the diet mentality forever, develop a healthy relationship with food and learn to listen to your own body’s hunger and fullness cues.
Unlike most diets, intuitive eating doesn’t rely on restrictive meal plans. It doesn’t outline your food choices, specify how much veggies you should be eating or what foods to avoid. To become an intuitive eater, you’ll become more aware of how your own body responds to foods and make more mindful food choices.
What are the benefits of intuitive eating?
Intuitive eaters enjoy many benefits of this healthy eating approach. Some of the main advantages of intuitive eating that nutritionist and dietitians claim include:
- Ditching the diet mentality in place for a more enjoyable healthy eating approach;
- There’s no need for calorie counting or food restriction;
- It can help break binge or emotional eating patterns;
- It can be helpful if you’ve experienced an eating disorder;
- It assists you in practising mindful eating and reduces the occurrence of overeating;
- It may help improve your overall well-being and body image;
- It may increase your satisfaction factor when it comes to healthy eating;
- It may assist with weight loss and weight management long term.
How to adopt intuitive eating
There are no food police or hard and fast rules for you to follow if you want to become an intuitive eater.
However, unlike fad diets, this is not a quick fix and you may not see the weight or BMI drop as drastically as if you were calorie counting.
To become an intuitive eater you’ll have to adjust some of the unhealthy eating behaviours you’ve developed over the years, especially if you’ve been a yo-yo dieter. And it may take a little bit of time for you to learn to listen to your body.
But once you adopt this healthy eating style you’re likely to reap the benefits and enjoy food again!
Here are some of the key principles of intuitive eating to ease you into this anti-diet approach.
- Reject the diet culture.
- Learn to listen and trust your hunger cues.
- Give your self unconditional permission to eat without the guilt.
- Eat mindfully and respect when your body is full.
- Avoid using food as an emotional or stress healing tool.
- Respect your body and honour your overall health and well-being.
- Get active and be mindful of how it feels to move your own body.
For more information and guidance about intuitive eating, click here.
