How to Know What to Eat and When

Planning for meals, buying ingredients and simply making time to eat a meal: it’s hard enough to feed ourselves as adults without having to figure out what to eat and when.

Besides, as humans we tend to be creatures of habit. We stick with what we know.

What if you could count on your intuition to guide when and how you eat?

It sounds a little abstract, maybe even crazy, but this is what I do almost everyday and it’s something I also teach my clients to do regularly.

Getting to this point takes a lot of practice and trial and error but here are a few quick tips for learning how to eat more intuitively and knowing what to eat and when.

Throw away the notion that breakfast is at 8 am., lunch is at Noon and dinner is at 6 p.m. and let your body tell you when it’s time to eat. I like to use this hunger-fullness scale as a guide to eat only when I’m hungry and stop when I feel satisfied and not too full.
Learn how your body signals hunger: does your stomach rumble? Is it hard to focus? Or do you get “HANGRY”? (those uncontrollable mood swings that creep up on us when we’re past the point of hunger). When you know the signals you can plan when to eat and control them before they control you.
Avoid falling into the routine of repeatedly eating the same foods by asking your body what it needs and wants to eat. You don’t have to eat oatmeal for breakfast because it’s a healthy breakfast food. Just get out of your head and into your body. How are you feeling? What do you need? What’s your body asking for? For example, if you need focus and sustenance, grab something protein-rich to ground you.
Honor your cravings by understanding them. If you’re craving something, it helps to know why rather than blindly giving in to the double chocolate fudge sundae. Cravings can be physical or emotional but they’re messages your body is sending. Understanding cravings can be really helpful with finding healthier substitutes.