This is the 10th and final Principle of Intuitive Eating.  We’ve already covered Principles #1-9.  

1. Reject the diet mentality
2. Honor your hunger
3. Make peace with food
4. Challenge the food police
5. Respect your fullness
6. Discover the satisfaction factor
7. Honor your feelings without using food
8. Respect your body
9. Exercise – feel the difference
10. Today’s topic: Honor your health 

I am confident that this principle was placed at the end of the book Intuitive Eating (where these Principles come from) on purpose.  It is absolutely essential that you’ve rejected the diet mentality and are eating intuitively before you tackle this step.  Otherwise you are at extremely high risk of relapsing into the dieting cycle.  

To be clear – health does not equal thinness.  Stop believing this. 

Health is about taking care of yourself – body, mind and spirit.  You can’t neglect one area and still have balance and overall health.  When it comes to eating, health means being able to eat all types of food, even junk food (I hate that term), fast food and all other foods that have been demonized.  It also means getting a wide variety of nutrients.  By definition, nutrients are essential, and food is hands down the most effective way to get them.  No supplement can give you all of the nutrition you need. 

Evelyn and Elyse said it best: 

“Make food choices that honor your health and taste buds, while making you feel well.  Remember that you do hot have to eat a perfect diet to stay healthy…”

And don’t obsess about it.  Orthorexia (obsession with healthy eating) has become a huge problem.  Health is about balance (homeostasis is the body’s mantra).  Intuitive eating will result naturally in this balance.  Try to eat some carbohydrate, protein and fat at each meal.  Eat these nutrients in amounts that make your body feel satisfied (this will happen intuitively because you’re now becoming an intuitive eater!).  

For more on this topic, read this chapter in Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch’s book Intuitive Eating.