#IntuitiveEating teaches us to respect our bodies, by accepting our genetic blueprint, our body as it is, so that we can feel better about who we are. But as I practice the other principles, my body responds with gratitude, and I realize, they are all - in one way or another - about respecting our body (and our soul):

  • To honor your hunger is also to respect your body. We are used to misuse our bodies that serve us with such dedication our whole lives. Think about the times when you deprived your body of something it needs. Think of your body as a child, your inner child. Imagine that child deprived. What do you want to tell him? Do comfort her. 
  • To respect your fullness is also to respect your body. When we stop eating when our body tells us it had enough, it will be thankful. You will start winning its trust back. It will make you feel good. Next time, it will speak up slightly louder and clearer. It will make you feel satisfied. Our body will start relaxing, and converging to its natural state. As it starts trusting you, over time it will even shed some of the unnecessary weight. It's also about stopping the misuse - misusing our bodies by overfeeding it to distract our selves from emotions. Which brings me to my next point
  • To honor our feelings without using food is to respect both our body and our soul. Bothersome emotions are symptoms. They are the signal that our soul uses to tell us something is wrong and that we need to take care of ourselves. We may be hurting. Maybe someone is hurting us, or we are hurting our selves (maybe our inner food police is beating us up). 

Of course, to exercise and feel the difference and to honor our health is also to take care of our bodies and our souls. See all 10 principles of #IntuitiveEating - they are all in fact about accepting, respecting and loving our selves.