10 Principles Of Intuitive Eating, Eft Tapping, Emotional Freedom Technique, Intuitive Eating Principles
Using the Emotional Freedom Technique (also called EFT or Tapping) along with Intuitive Eating has finally allowed me to break free from binge eating, and start making peace with my body. These two techniques are perfect partners to work together to help you finally overcome your struggles with food and your body. Read on to learn more about the powerful combination of Tapping and Intuitive Eating and how they can change your life, too.
What is Intuitive Eating
The formal definition of Intuitive Eating is:
“Intuitive Eating is a self-care eating framework, which integrates instinct, emotion, and rational thought and was created by two dietitians, Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch in 1995. Intuitive Eating is a weight-inclusive, evidence-based model with a validated assessment scale and over 100 studies to date.”1
My definition of Intuitive Eating is that it is a structure that provides guidance on how to take fear and restriction away from food and to learn to accept that all shapes and sizes of bodies are OK – even mine and yours.
Becoming an Intuitive Eater is a personal journey that looks different for everyone. This is because your background and relationship with food is different from mine and from everyone else.
We may have things in common, but I would bet we also have a lot of things that are different. For example, I have very wide feet that take special order shoes to fit properly. Because of this, I’ve been self-conscious about my feet since I was a kid. Your feet may not be as wide as mine, and I bet you’ve got parts about your body you aren’t comfortable with either.
Regardless of the path your journey takes to become an Intuitive Eater, you will be guided by the 10 Principles of Intuitive Eating.
What are the 10 Principles of Intuitive Eating
Intuitive Eating is guided by 10 Principles. The Principles are not rules (more about this later). They act as guideposts on your journey. The Principles provide general direction and you get to make them your own.
The 10 Principles of Intuitive Eating are:
- Reject the Diet Mentality
- Honor Your Hunger
- Make Peace with Food
- Challenge the Food Police
- Respect Your Fullness
- Discover the Satisfaction Factor
- Honor Your Feelings without Using Food
- Respect Your Body
- Exercise—Feel the Difference
- Honor Your Health with Gentle Nutrition
Most people struggle with principles and want rules. There is a huge difference between the two.
Principles vs. Rules
These 10 Principles are just that – principles. Oxford Languages defines a principle as “a fundamental truth or proposition that serves as the foundation for a system of belief or behavior or for a chain of reasoning.”
Using this definition, principles lay the foundation – the path – for your journey. I view Principles as an overarching priority of what to do. They don’t tell you the how though.
Principles aren’t rules.
Here’s an example of how I describe the difference:
There is a principle of being safe while you drive. We all want to be safe when we drive, and want everyone else to be safe when they are driving.
The rule is: Don’t text and drive. The rule helps you abide by the principle of being safe while you drive.
For Intuitive Eating, this means that the principles guide the things you do. And, since Intuitive Eating is meant to be personalized, you use them to guide your journey.
For example, Principle 2 is Honor Your Hunger. What does that mean? For me, it means learning what my hunger feels like. And, my hunger may feel different from the way you feel your hunger (I know this sounds weird, and it is true).
We also don’t trust ourselves and our bodies. That’s why we want rules. The rules will tell us what to do because we don’t trust ourselves and our bodies to tell us what they need. And, we often don’t trust that even if they do, we won’t give our bodies what they are asking for.
If you have a rule that says you eat at 7AM, Noon, and 5PM then that’s what you do. The “Honor Your Hunger” principle throws that schedule out the window which is scary! You may feel scared and fearful even just thinking about not eating on a schedule. You may be thinking, “How will I know when to eat?” Maybe I will eat too often, or too much. That is where you get to know your body, its signals, and learn to honor those signals by providing your body food.
I use the 10 Principles to guide my and my clients’ journeys to becoming intuitive eaters. The tool I’ve used, that I couldn’t have worked through Intuitive Eating without, is Tapping.
What is Emotional Freedom Technique/EFT Tapping
The Emotional Freedom Technique, or what I call Tapping, is a technique to relieve stress and anxiety, and process emotions. Tapping uses the ancient principles of acupressure. However, rather than pressing on the points, you use your fingers to tap on them.
Tapping also uses modern psychology by talking through the issue you’re tapping on.
If you haven’t done Tapping before, I know it sounds a little crazy. How can Tapping and talking relieve stress?
When you practice Tapping, the nine basic tapping points target the amygdala, the almond part of your brain where the fight, flight, freeze reaction happens. Tapping tells the amygdala that even though you’re experiencing an issue, at this moment you’re safe.
This allows the amygdala, and you to calm down and relax so that you can process the emotions you’re feeling.
Tapping has been backed by research. One research study showed that Tapping reduced anxiety, depression, PTSD, and cravings while happiness increased.
I’ll have a detailed blog on what Tapping is soon.
How EFT Supercharges Intuitive Eating
When you work through Intuitive Eating, a lot of emotions come. Those emotions cause the amygdala to think that you’re in a situation calling for the fight, flight, or freeze response.
Often, people get stuck in the fight/flight/freeze response. They find it hard to process what is going on because they get distracted by the amygdala freaking out because it doesn’t feel safe.
You may even decide that it is too hard, too scary, and give up.
Tapping has helped me work through the emotions that have come up as I’ve worked through Intuitive Eating.
When working through the Principles fear, anger, disappointment, and sadness come up. These need to be addressed and cleared.
Tapping is so powerful.
It gives you a safe space to address the emotion and clear it. You can be with the emotion and process it. Whatever you need at that moment with that emotion, you can with tapping. Really, Tapping helps you work through and clear the underlying emotions so that you can start healing your relationship with food.
What’s Next?
Start decoding the deeper reasons why you are turning to food when trying to handle emotions like anxiety, stress, and overwhelm. I have created The Emotional Eating Breakthrough Journal to get you started. In it I have combined a Relationship With Food Questionnaire with POWERFUL prompts to help you start understanding the emotional and mental blocks that happen as you work on overcoming your fears and emotions around food. Redefining your relationship with food is the first step to having a healthier relationship with yourself, your body and food. Don’t wait, because you are worth it!
