Intuitive eating is an approach to food that strongly emphasizes listening to your body. At its core, intuitive eating involves letting your innate hunger and satiety cues guide your food choices rather than strictly sticking to a restrictive diet regimen. By tuning in to what your body craves and paying attention to how you feel after consuming different foods, you can clearly understand what nutrients your body needs to stay healthy, energetic, and well-nourished.

For many people, intuitive eating is a powerful tool for getting back in touch with their inner wisdom about food, fostering healthier physical and emotional habits. Whether you are looking for sustained weight loss or wish to achieve overall better health, intuitive eating may be just the right approach for you.

If you’re interested in learning how to eat intuitively, here are five steps to get you started:

1. Get rid of the “good” and “bad” food labels.

One of the first steps to eating intuitively is getting rid of the good/bad dichotomy when it comes to food. This black-and-white thinking sets you up for a restrictive, all-or-nothing mindset that can be difficult to break free from. Instead of labeling certain foods as “good” or “bad,” try to think of them in terms of how they make you feel. For example, if you know that eating sugary foods makes you feel sluggish and lethargic, you might want to limit them in favor of foods that make you feel more energized and alert.

2. Honor your hunger cues.

Another important step in intuitive eating is learning to listen to your hunger cues. This means letting go of the idea that there is a “right” time to eat or that you should only eat when you’re hungry. If you’re hungry, feed yourself. Whether it’s a small balanced snack to hold you to your next meal or a second breakfast after your first one didn’t cut it, listen to what your body is asking for and provide it with nutrients.

3. Make peace with food.

To learn how to eat intuitively, making peace with food is essential. This means permitting yourself to eat whatever you want without guilt or shame. It might sound counterintuitive, but often when we try to restrict ourselves, we end up overeating or bingeing on the same foods we were trying to avoid in the first place. When we make peace with food, we take away its power and allow ourselves to eat without stress or anxiety.

4. Respect your fullness cues.

In addition to honoring your hunger cues, it’s also important to respect your fullness cues. This means listening to your body when it’s telling you it’s had enough to eat. It can be helpful to think of fullness on a scale of 1-10, with 1 being starved and 10 being stuffed. Aiming for a 5 or 6 will help ensure you’re neither too full nor too hungry.

5. “All foods fit.”

Last but not least, remember that “all foods fit” into an intuitive eating approach. There are no forbidden foods when it comes to intuitive eating—it’s all about listening to your body and giving it what it wants/needs at the moment. If you’re craving something specific, go ahead and have it.

These tips will allow you to foster a healthy relationship with food in a way that puts you in the driver’s seat, feeling empowered and confident in how to fuel your body well.

We’ve all been there— reaching for a snack when we’re bored, eating sweets when we’re feeling down, or opening the fridge over and over again even though we’re not hungry. Emotional hunger is completely normal, and we all experience it, but it’s good to know the difference between when you’re truly hungry and when it’s psychological.

The next time you find yourself having cravings or feeling hungry, here are some tips to help you understand whether you feel physical or emotional hunger.

Physical hunger happens when your body needs more energy and fuel.

Your body sends hunger cues to your brain, and you might get some rumbling in your stomach. Physical hunger usually comes gradually compared to the sudden urge to eat that comes with emotional hunger. When you are physically hungry, any food will be satisfying. That doesn’t mean that you’ll enjoy all foods, but you will feel better after eating.

Your hunger cues should disappear afterward, and you should feel satisfied. When you are physically hungry, prioritize fueling your body with healthy foods that nourish you.

Emotional hunger, on the other hand, does not have physical cues such as a rumbling stomach.

The hunger usually comes suddenly and out of nowhere. When we are emotionally hungry, we often crave specific foods. These foods typically are not nutritious and are full of sugar or unhealthy fats. Think of the typical cliché of eating a tub of ice cream when you’re sad.

When your hunger is emotional, you won’t just eat any food, which is a good sign that you’re not physically hungry. If you’re craving sweets, a greasy pizza, or a milkshake, ask yourself if you feel hungry in your stomach or if it’s in your head. Physically pointing to where you feel hungry can help you distinguish where the feeling is coming from.

For example, doing a body check-in every time you think you’re hungry could help you realize what type of hunger you are experiencing. Having this awareness and training yourself to do check-ins with yourself can help you eat more mindfully.

This type of mindful eating can help you identify which type of hunger you have. Notice whether your stomach is giving you hunger cues or if it’s certain emotions that are making you crave food. Try coping with these emotions differently if you notice that you’re bored, sad, or stressed. If you’re bored, try taking up a fun activity, reading a book, going for a walk, or calling a friend. If you’re sad or stressed, try to understand what caused these emotions and whether you can fix or change anything.

Everything is fine in moderation, and there is nothing wrong with eating foods for pleasure. Having these tools to be aware of your habits and triggers is essential in understanding yourself and having a balanced and healthy relationship with food.

Cravings are something we all experience. While a desire for your favorite Thai restaurant doesn’t always have a deeper meaning, our cravings can sometimes also communicate more to us.

Sometimes cravings can be our body’s way of telling us what we’re lacking. Deciphering these clues will give much insight into what’s going on inside of your body and how you can fix it.

What do your biggest cravings mean? Let’s dive in…

Craving Something Salty

Whether it’s fries, chips, or pretzels you’re dreaming of, you may be surprised to learn that your body could be a little dehydrated. The best way to tackle this is to have some water. Salty cravings also can indicate a need for calcium, but if you indulge in this, you’ll only temporarily raise calcium levels in your blood.

After ensuring you’ve had some more water, your best bet is to feed your body healthy foods with calcium. Grab a yogurt from the fridge, have a handful of raw almonds, or enjoy tofu topped with sesame seeds and green onions to tackle this craving and give your body what it’s asking for.

Chocolate, Chocolate, and More Chocolate

Do you feel the need for something sweet? When you’re craving chocolate, you likely need more magnesium. While it is common around your period, your body can also exhibit these signs of magnesium deficiency any time in the form of headaches, irritability, and fluid retention.

While enjoying some dark chocolate is enjoyable, you may also want to see how your body responds when you give it more natural magnesium forms. A spinach salad topped with nuts and seeds can help you get back to balance, as can enjoying a hearty soup full of legumes.

Craving meat?

If your body is craving meat, it could be signaling that it needs more iron. You can also get iron from fresh fish and poultry for those of you that don’t eat red meat. For the completely meatless options, you have tofu, lentils, kidney beans, cashews, almonds, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, oatmeal, dried apricots, raisins, mushrooms, and potatoes can all give your body the iron it needs. Plant-based iron sources are harder to absorb, but you can help your body by pairing it with foods with plenty of vitamin C.

When it comes to cravings, it’s often your body’s way of telling you that you’re missing an essential nutrient.

It always helps to take in plenty of water, but when that craving is still sticking around, you may want to try these ways of getting your body what it needs and seeing if that kicks your cravings to the curb.