The words "intuitive eating" make no sense to someone who doesn't know what I am talking about. For example if you are listening to your body you may not eat breakfast in the morning because you aren't hungry or maybe not eat after a hard workout. If you are a runner who is wanting to start an intuitive eating journey it is important that you have some background in sports nutrition. When I am working with Food Freedom Athletes I teach them a 4 question framework so that they can actually listen to their body and gauge what their body is telling them.
You have been told to wait to eat as long as you can and then if someone tells you to just eat intuitively...its just not going to work. Your intuition is offline, you are going to be under fueling. Your body is not going to be sending you the right signals and your body has been taught to suppress the signals of hunger because you were taught to eat as little calories as possible. The 4 question framework helps to set you up for success so you can start to hear your body again. These questions can help you to feel more energetic and calmer around food.
So what does this mean for you as a runner?
You have to have sports nutrition with intuitive eating especially for runners because sports nutrition is not intuitive. Think about going for a run at 5am, but your body is not hungry so intuitively you are thinking that you don't need to eat. However, you know that if you even just have a sweetened applesauce packet that you will feel better on your run, have more energy all day, less sugar cravings and you wont be starving by the middle of the day. It's going to be easier to make these decisions to fuel before your run if you know sports nutrition.
Let me be clear, sports nutrition is not a rule, it's a choice. I am the nutrition expert but you are the expert of your body. So if we are working together and you say, "I am having really bad sugar cravings at night" I would tell you to try adding a pre-workout snack to your day, let's see how that effects you later in the day. If you notice you have less sugar cravings at night then you now have the power to know that a pre-workout snack helps you have less sugar cravings. That power is so helpful to understanding your body and what it truly needs!
If you want some more tips then tune into our FREE podcast, Food Peace Please on Itunes or by clicking here.
