Do you ever wonder what to do when you have back to back meetings from 12:00-3:00 PM and aren’t ready (hungry) for lunch at 11:30 when you have a break?

To eat or not to eat? That is the question.

If you ever find yourself stressing over eating when you’re not hungry, out of an effort to support your body, is “intuitive” or not I hope this post helps you.

My question right back to you would be: Is it likely that you’re going to get hungry between 12:00-3:00? When was the last time you ate?

For example, today I ate breakfast at 9:45 AM.

My lunch will be at 11:45 AM. Will I be hungry? Likely not.

Will I eat? Yes.

Why? Because I have back to back client sessions from 12:00-6:00 PM and the chances of me getting hungry and needing nourishment/energy between those hours are 100%.

Sometimes intuitive eating is more like planned eating because part of intuitive eating is honoring your body’s needs.

You know that you are going to be busy for a few hours, you know you’re going to need nourishment to keep you going, so you plan to eat before you’re hungry to carry you through. This is a completely reasonable and normal thing to do.

This is a prime example of setting yourself up for success, which in my opinion, is a great practice to get in the habit of.

Intuitive eating doesn’t always have to feel “intuitive.”

It doesn’t always have to come from a gut-feeling place of “I think I’m hungry and THIS is exactly what I want.”

Intuitive eating is not a magical spell that your coach casts upon you and suddenly, you know exactly what you want when you want it 100% of the time.

In fact, a TON of intuitive eating is setting yourself up for success and consciously checking-in with yourself.

For example, in order to eat intuitively when you’re at home you have to plan to bring in groceries that you like.

You can’t simply go into the week blind-sighted and hope that food that sounds good will appear.

Rather, I encourage my clients to, at the beginning of the week, think of several meals and snacks that sound good and shop for those.

This way, you’ve combined planning with choice.

You have foods that sound good in your home and available to you, and you can choose what you want when you want it.

I hope this post encourages you to allow flexibility within intuitive eating and that it shows you that intentional, mindful planning is a form of self-care.

Planning does not always = restriction.

Be honest with yourself and honor YOUR needs. Not anyone else’s.

Think of this as Authentic Eating™ (letting YOU be in charge of deciding what you need).