Most of the wellness industry talks about WHAT you should eat:

Fruits, vegetables, meat, fish, healthy fats, slow carbs.

Very few people talk about HOW to eat:

The mechanics and emotions behind how you nourish yourself.

Which is more important: What you eat, or how you eat?

Hands down, how you eat.

If you white knuckle your way through buying and eating what you THINK you should eat, you never teach your body how to feel safe with all foods…

… and you’ll always be exposed to all foods, regardless of what you choose to put in your body.

Viewing any food as bad can set off your stress response and create a less-than-ideal environment in your body.

If you respond to your body in real time by eating what your body is truly asking for, and focusing on HOW you eat over WHAT you eat, your relationship with food changes:

  • You strengthen your self-trust and food intuition.
  • You begin to view all foods as safe and neutral, whether they’re right for your body in the present moment or not. 
  • You heal unhealthy patterns and reconnect with your body – with your instincts.

There’s no benefit to fearing or demonizing any food.

We can be aware of the facts about processed food and foods that don’t work for us, but remain morally neutral on all foods.

Listening to your body and focusing on how you eat will also strengthen your digestion.

When you’re truly excited to eat you release more digestive enzymes, which allow you to digest and absorb your food better…

… versus forcing yourself to eat something that doesn’t even sound good.

When your mouth starts watering before a meal, that’s your body getting ready to digest.

When something doesn’t sound good, your stomach turns.

Which sounds like a better environment for digestion?

What exactly do I mean by HOW you eat?

1. How you feel before, during, and after meals.

Are you stressed, anxious, worried, relaxed, happy?

Emotions can release hormones that either help or hinder digestion.

Neutral and positive emotions create a better environment for digestion.

2. Your environment.

Eating in a stressful environment can mean your body is producing stress hormones that get in the way of digestion and intuition.

Ideally, you want to be sitting down in a clean, beautiful environment and taking time to nourish your body.

This isn’t always possible, but doing something small to make your environment more calm and pleasing goes a long way.

Even if your kitchen or dining room is messy, light a candle or put on soft music you enjoy.

3. How you chew.

You want to be chewing your food until it’s almost liquid.

Digestion starts in your mouth, and chewing has a huge impact on how your body breaks down and absorbs your food.

4. The pace at which you eat.

Chewing a lot will naturally slow you down, and it can also be helpful to put your fork down between bites.

Slowing down helps you enjoy your food more and notice when you’re feeling full or still hungry, rather than speeding through your meal on autopilot.

5. How you breathe.

Healthy oxygen flow supports digestion.

If you’re eating fast and almost holding your breath, you’re more likely to get an upset stomach.

Conscious breathing can also help connect you with your intuition, and your hunger and fullness signals.

All of these factors affect your digestion, physical health, emotional health, and mental health.

Eating intuitively and focusing on HOW I eat more than WHAT I eat is what helped me heal from nearly a decade of disordered eating.

I used to constantly analyze and question what I should be eating, and look for the next diet that would “fix” my body and make me “set” for life.

Now I eat what my body is asking for – whether that’s a salad or fried chicken.

While my body has her preferences, no food is off the table.

I prioritize my intuition over my intellect, and I focus on nourishing myself with deep love and care.

This approach brought me out of restrict-overeat cycles – including years of full-on tunnel vision binging – and into a place where I never overeat, and I never undereat.

I just eat.

I listen closely to my body, and I honor my genuine needs.

I never feel a need or desire to overeat, and I never feel the urge to restrict my food.

It literally feels like I’ve lost my overeating and undereating “genes” – those behaviors used to feel THAT ingrained in me.

How is that possible?

Since there’s no longer scarcity or restriction involved in my relationship with food, I know that I can eat whatever I want, in whatever quantity, at any time.

Food isn’t enjoyable unless my body actually wants it, because it’s no longer a forbidden fruit.

Because I’ve developed a true sense of freedom with food, I never feel a desire to overeat or undereat.

It’s no longer the novelty it used to be.

It no longer feels like a source of power, control, or release.

You can only break patterns of restricting and overeating when you truly allow yourself to eat whatever you want, without restriction.

When you stay present while eating, when you focus on nourishing your body rather than controlling it, and when you use food to tune IN rather than tune OUT…

… the desire to overeat or undereat disappears.

The fallacy is that we need to do hours of research and analysis to figure out what we should be eating.

The truth is that your body already knows.

Yes, it’s important to eat whole, real foods, and if your body is asking for processed foods all the time, you may have an imbalance going on.

Beyond that, you do not need to rely on your intellect when choosing what to eat.

When you slow down, listen, and actively reprogram the messages you’ve been fed about food, your body guides you back to what’s best for you.

We are just animals with overdeveloped prefrontal cortices:

Our capacity to analyze is too strong, and too pervasive – it can take over our instincts at times.

Focusing on how I eat rather than what I eat was key to healing my chaotic eating patterns and becoming a full intuitive eater.

Today I eat everything, and I’m very in tune with, in love with, and in reverence to my body.

If you’re struggling, I want you to know that this is possible for you too.

Play with what I’ve presented here and let me know how it goes for you!

Which of the 5 focuses will you try first?

Leave a comment below and share with me – I would love to hear from you.

Much love,
Lula