What is Gentle Nutrition?

When I first began Intuitive Eating, I kept waiting for the ball to drop. Ok, I can eat whatever I want blah blah blah, listen to my hunger blah blah, and now where are the real rules?!? Where are they going to tell me how broccoli florets are infinitely better than cotton candy? And to eat less carbs? Where are the meal plans? Spoiler alert: they don't exist.

Gentle Nutrition is the last of the 10 principles that provide a framework for healing your relationship with food. So, what exactly is gentle nutrition?

The word gentle means, “free from harshness, sternness or violence.” It also means “soft, delicate, kind and moderate.”

The word nutrition comes from the word nourish or nourishment. To nourish is to “maintain, support, promote the growth of, or sustain.”

And so,

Gentle Nutrition is Delicate Support

Gentle Nutrition is Kind and Moderate Nourishment

Gentle Nutrition is Promoting Growth without Harshness

You cannot start your Intuitive Eating journey with Gentle Nutrition because most of us are guilt ridden around many foods. Twix. Dairy Queen. Mom’s shortbread cookies. Nighttime Sun Chips. But after you make peace with food, learn to honor your hunger, find satisfaction with food, and feel your fullness, gentle nutrition is an important part of the journey

When seeking to honor your body through gentle nutrition, you would ask yourself these 5 questions.

1. Am I eating meals that include carbohydrates, proteins, fats, vitamins and minerals and fiber? This is not every single meal, but "for the most part."

2. Am I eating a wide variety of different foods week to week or month to month?

3. Am I eating a moderate amount of foods in general? ( “everything in moderation, including moderation”- so yes, it is ok if you go over the top, that’s normal)

4. In a typical week or month, do I get the right balance of food that I need? If not, what do I want to add to make it more balanced?

5. Do I have a general understanding of nutrition, but also recognize food is about more than nutrition?

Considering how food makes you feel (body-food congruence)...

Intuitive Eaters practicing Gentle Nutrition pay special attention to how food feels in their body. So even if they love eating it, they recognize when it makes them feel lousy. They do not go to extremes to remedy this, but rather note their observations without judgment.

The hope with intuitive eating is that you have built up enough love and compassion for yourself that you have less of a desire to eat until you feel bad. You might actually desire to feel good after a meal. That might change what you choose. You might opt out of fried foods realizing it’s bad for your digestion or you might decline super sugary foods because a sandwich makes you feel more full and energized.

In order to practice gentle nutrition properly, your body and mind need to know without a doubt they will never be put on a restrictive diet again. That there will always be access to fun food, candy, chips, ice cream, and fries.

And finally after a long time (it took me about 2 years), you will be ready to consider nutrition in a less disordered, controlling way. Just keep in mind, most people are often so entrenched in the war of good food vs. bad food, processed food vs. organic fruits and veggies that a lot of our internal food rules need to be unlearned before venturing into the world of nutrition.

What about you? Do you want to get to a place where you desire to eat a wide variety of foods without guilt?

Thanks for thinking about this with me.