When you’re practicing intuitive eating or thinking about starting, it’s normal to have some big questions…
Can this actually work?
Or will I just be floating in space, mouth open, eating pizza and ice cream with my jeans unbuttoned?
How will I know if it’s working?
How can I measure my results if I’m not weighing myself or counting macros?
Does this even work for YOU, LULA?! Is that even your NAME?
LOL. I get it.
Changing the way you eat can bring up A LOT.
It can be really triggering.
Intuitive eating – especially my style and approach – is the opposite of most messaging we receive around food and our bodies.
Thankfully, there are many ways to know whether intuitive eating is working for you.
Feminine and masculine energy dynamics play a crucial role here.
Stick with me.
If you’re new to energy dynamics, I’m not talking about any specific sex or gender, but simply, two different energy types that anyone can embody.
Feminine energy is let’s-lay-in-the-field-and-eat-grapes, the-messy-journey-is-beautiful, it-will-get-done-in-perfect-timing, money-is-always-flowing-to-me-in-expected-and-unexpected-ways, the-Great-Goddess-has-my-back energy.
Masculine energy is the organized, let’s-get-it-done, let’s-make-that-money-while-counting-our macros, there’s-a-hack-for-that, no-time-for-laying-in-the-field-with-your-mango, princess, I-love-Dave-Asprey-and-Tim-Ferriss energy.
Everything in life requires a balance of these two energies – it’s not one or the other.
Neither is better, and we need both.
For example, if you’re sitting down to write a financial spreadsheet, the energy is generally masculine – structured and organized.
But you can bring in feminine energy by breathing deeply, consciously relaxing your body, and playing some music that brings calm focus.
Infusing this typically masculine task with feminine energy can make it more enjoyable, and even make the outcome more successful.
How?
If you’re scrunched up and tense, you’re more likely to make a mistake.
Bringing in feminine energy as you create the spreadsheet is likely to decrease mistakes, since your body is more relaxed and oxygen is flowing to your brain more efficiently.
Now let’s look at a typically feminine experience: A tropical vacation.
You’re in a beautiful place, the sun is shining, you’re wearing a bikini all the time, and you’re going with the flow.
How can the masculine complement this experience?
Bringing in practices like breathwork and meditation can help you feel safe and settled in your body.
When you feel more grounded, you’re less likely to get lost, miss a flight, or have your purse snatched.
When we’re grounded, we can flow.
This applies to intuitive eating, too:
It’s all about the balance of feminine and masculine energy.
If you’re completely in your feminine energy, you may find yourself feeling ungrounded with food, eating too much or too little, and confused about what really works for you.
If you’re in your masculine energy, you may be in the restrict-overeat cycle, where you’re super “good” and follow all the “rules” for a few days or weeks, then finally break down and overeat.
Bringing in more feminine energy will help balance out your food flow, so you always feel balanced and aligned, rather than “on” or “off.”
Today I’m sharing five markers you can use to see if intuitive eating is working for you, and a few ways you can balance masculine and feminine energy in your approach to food.
To know if intuitive eating is working for you, check in with yourself on these five categories:
1. Mood.
Do you feel happy most of the time?
Do you find yourself smiling and laughing quite a bit?
Dancing around to your favorite music?
Filled with joy for no apparent reason?
This is our natural state when we’re in balance.
Just as important, are you able to fully feel darker emotions, like when you experience pain or loss?
Or do you find yourself numbing out?
Being able to feel pain is just as important as feeling happy most of the time.
We can only feel one emotion to the extent that we can feel any emotion.
Suppressing any emotion can lead to health issues.
If you feel low or numb most of the time, there may be something off in your relationship with food.
If you feel great most of the time, you know that intuitive eating is working for you.
2. Sleep.
Do you fall asleep and stay asleep pretty easily?
Do you wake up feeling refreshed?
Or do you find it difficult to fall asleep or stay asleep, and wake up feeling like you need to go back to bed?
When you’re healthy, sleep comes easy and you wake up ready for the day.
Sleep issues are common, but they don’t have to be your norm.
If intuitive eating is working for you, you’ll sleep well.
If you’re struggling with sleep, you may need some tweaks to your approach.
3. Energy.
Do you feel peppy throughout the day?
Do your workouts energize you or leave you feeling exhausted?
Do you hit a wall at a certain time every day?
Are you doing the things you want to be doing, or do you just feel too tired?
Solid, steady energy is your birthright, and it can often be corrected through food and lifestyle changes.
If your energy is solid, it’s likely that your approach to food is working for you.
4. Digestion.
How’s your digestion?
Are you having a solid bathroom experience at least once a day?
People often brush off digestive issues, saying things like, “Oh I haven’t had a solid poop in a month.”
That’s a problem, and it’s something that can be addressed.
Your digestion is a direct reflection of your health.
If it’s off, your food may be off.
5. Motivation.
Do you feel motivated to do the things you want to do?
Do you feel a healthy sense of motivation to feed yourself well, keep your living space clean, exercise, do fulfilling work, and connect with your loved ones?
Are you actively pursuing your dreams, or is your motivation just not there?
It’s absolutely normal for motivation to ebb and flow, but if you’ve been feeling low or no motivation for a while, that’s something to look at.
If your motivation is solid, it’s likely that your body is properly fueled.
If you’re feeling great in most of these areas, you know your current approach to food is working – whether you’re practicing intuitive eating or not.
Awesome.
If you’re feeling off in one or more of these areas, something needs to shift.
It’s possible you’re leaning too masculine or too feminine in your approach to food.
Here are three ways you can balance masculine and feminine energy as an intuitive eater:
1. Get clear on your power foods.
Tap into grounded, masculine energy to get clear on your power foods – the foods that generally work best for you.
If you’re feeling off in your body in any of the categories above, make sure you’re emphasizing your power foods.
If you’re unsure of your power foods, you can do a gentle reset where you remove common allergens for two weeks and then reintroduce them one by one, three days apart.
When you’re eating foods that aren’t optimal, that can impact digestion, which impacts every other area of health, as well as your intuition.
Digestive issues are like static, blocking you from hearing your intuition.
By removing them briefly you can gain perspective and reconnect with your intuition, so you can sense which foods are truly working for you.
Another great practice is expanding your food repertoire – eating a wider variety of foods and noticing how each one makes you feel.
When we eat the same things all the time, on autopilot, it’s hard to know what’s actually working.
Write down 5-10 power foods that deeply support your body, and eat them regularly.
2. Find your feminine flow.
Listen to your intuition on a daily basis and allow yourself to eat different foods and different amounts.
It’s completely normal to be hungrier some days, and less hungry other days.
Allow yourself full freedom with food.
We are not static creatures – especially as women, our needs change throughout the month.
Knowing that you can return to your power foods if you’re feeling confused, allow yourself to flow with food.
Find your unique balance between feminine and masculine energy.
Stay connected to how you feel.
Chew, pause, and breathe throughout meals so you can hear your intuition.
3. Clear space to hear your intuition.
Clear energetic and physical space before eating.
A few days ago I woke up and was immediately craving banana bread and coffee.
That was my first impulse.
Hmmmm I said, that could be lovely and it’s absolutely an option, but I’m sensing there’s a deeper, even truer desire here.
So I had hot water with lemon, did my usual 30 minutes of kundalini breathwork and vedic meditation, and went to the bathroom.
By the time I was done, I was craving something entirely different – eggs, black beans and zucchini, plantains, and avocado toast.
And it was SO good, so varied, so satisfying, and exactly what I needed to feed my desires and fuel my day of writing with soft focus.
We’re always picking up different energies and we do a TON of emotional and physical processing when we sleep.
Many people wake up with morning anxiety, feeling like there’s a bunch of static inside and they can’t hear their intuition.
By taking a pause and clearing your physical, energetic, and emotional space before eating, you can hear your intuition more clearly and give your body what it really wants, rather than going off your first impulse.
There’s a difference between impulse and intuition, and we can differentiate between the two by clearing space in our bodies.
I was very much in my feminine energy as a little girl, then I began to take on more masculine energy when I entered the public school system at age 10.
Today I feel a sweet balance between the two.
Balancing my masculine and feminine energy was key to mastering intuitive eating and healing my relationship with food and my body.
Do you struggle to feel grounded in your relationship with food, overly flowy and unsure whether your approach is really working for you?
Or do you feel too masculine and structured, then wind up overeating and questioning everything?
I’d love to hear from you in the comments below.
If you’re sensing an imbalance within yourself, I hope today’s transmission helped you.
With love,
Lula
Photo: Jessica Torres