Principle 10: Honor your health with gentle nutrition

Principle 10: Honor your health with gentle nutrition

Welcome to the final day of the IE Principles & Practice series!

This has been such a wonderful series to connect with, learn from, and encourage one another. I’m grateful for your participation.⁣

Honoring your health with gentle nutrition is the last principle for a reason. It’s critical to heal your relationship with your food, mind, and body first. If you are ready to begin exploring gentle nutrition, this post is for you. No worries if you’re not—come back to this post when the timing feels right for YOU.⁣
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PRINCIPLE 10 HONOR YOUR HEALTH WITH GENTLE NUTRITION⁣
Make food choices that honor your health and taste buds while making you feel well. Remember that you don’t have to eat a perfect diet to be healthy. You will not suddenly get a nutrient deficiency based on one snack, one meal, or one day. It’s what you eat consistently over time that matters – progress not perfection is what counts.⁣

THE PRACTICE ⁣

• To practice this principle, I invite you to assess your Food-Body Choice Congruence. What this means is exploring how foods feel in your body – that is, how eating a particular food or meal makes you feel, physically. This internal awareness causes a shift in how you decide what to eat, going beyond what your taste buds may crave. It means that the tongue is not the only part of the body that we honor when making food choices. ⁣
• What specific foods and meals leave you feeling most nourished, sustained & strong? ⁣
• What’s your favorite go-to meal, when you are pushed for time—but is easy to make, and will sustain you?⁣
• What motivates your food choices? Sometimes a special way of eating gives a person an identity, or makes them feel good about themselves. Explore if that might be true for you? If it’s true how might that be effecting your connection to your body?⁣
• For those of you who’ve mastered this principle, for the most part, what was the turning point or an aha moment?⁣
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  Gentle nutrition is an ongoing process of learning and discovery. It’s not one-size-fits-all, and its meaning may shift with the different seasons of your life. Our bodies are dynamic and ever-changing: be patient & approach this practice with curiosity & compassion.