Prior definitions of Intuitive Eating

Prior to commencing this blog, I googled Intuitive Eating and discovered that the concept had in fact been around for a long time. This is what Wikipedia has to say about the subject:

"Intuitive eating is a nutrition philosophy based on the premise that becoming more attuned to the body's natural hunger signals is a more effective way to attain a healthy weight; rather than keeping track of the amounts of energy and fats in foods. It's a process that is intended to create a healthy relationship with food, mind, and body. Intuitive Eating, just like the many books available today, goes by many names, including non-dieting or the non-diet approach, normal eating, wisdom eating, conscious eating and more.

Intuitive eating is the opposite of dieting, the latter of which is externally driven. Supporters argue that eating in response to internal cues of hunger and fullness, while allowing all foods to be part of the diet, weight will be maintained to one's "natural" weight. Natural weight is the weight range predetermined by genetics.

When someone is disconnected from his or her internal cues of satiety, it is easier to be trigged by external triggers to eat (which can be emotions, "because it's time", opportunity, and/or perceived rules of eating.)

If someone has rigid rules for so-called healthy eating, he or she is more likely to succumb to overeating, as a consequence of breaking their well-meaning rules. Scientifically, this all-or-none type of eating, built around eating rules rather than internal hunger/satiety cues, is referred to as restraint eating or Restraint Theory.^[6]

^{In 2005} Steven Hawks, a professor of Community Health at Brigham Young University, made headlines when he claimed to have lost 50 pounds following his version of an intuitive eating program. Hawks claims the underlying philosophies of intuitive eating are thousands of years old and exist in most eastern and some western religions. Intuitive eating is designed to be a "common sense, hunger-based approach to eating," where participants are encouraged to eat when and only when their body tells them it is hungry."