How to Prep Meals and Snacks for Intuitive Eating Success

I'm really excited to start the conversation on Intuitive Eating by sharing this guest post from the talented Taylor Wolfram, MS, RDN, LDN! Taylor is a fellow vegan dietitian who also coaches clients in Intuitive Eating, as well as working a day job in nutrition communications. 

If you've ever wondered how meal planning fits in with Intuitive Eating, Taylor's post is a great introduction!

Interested in intuitive eating?

This non-diet approach to eating was developed by two registered dietitians in the 1990s and continues to gain in popularity. Research shows intuitive eating can improve mental and physical health without stressing about food or focusing on body weight.

The great thing about intuitive eating is there are no rules! The 10 principles of intuitive eating help you reject diet mentality and instill trust back in your body to tell you when, what and how much to eat.

While intuitive eating is a journey and there’s really no such thing as “failing” at it, there are a few things you can do to set yourself up for success. In order to honor your hunger, you need to have access to tasty, nourishing food that you enjoy. This is where a little planning and prepping go a long way!

Intimidated by the thought of meal planning and prepping? I get it. Contrary to what you might see on social media, it doesn’t require you to spend all day in the kitchen or plan out every morsel of food you’re going to eat for the week ahead. In fact, just a little extra effort can make a huge difference and help you stress less about food.

3 Food Strategies for Intuitive Eating Success

Buy Your Favorites

This is the planning piece. Keeping a variety of food in the house is key to moving past restrictive eating and fulfilling your hunger and cravings. Think through the building blocks for satisfying meals and snacks, including grains, veggies, fruits, protein foods, calcium-rich foods and fun foods. When you’re writing your grocery list, jot down items in each category or food group that you know you enjoy and that can be mixed and matched in different meals and snacks.

Batch Cook

This is where the prepping comes in. If you know you enjoy rice and quinoa as the base to meals, cook batches of these grains and refrigerate or freeze so you can quickly create meals without having to wait for them to cook. The same goes for your favorite beans, veggies, etc. If it seems like you’re always short on time, this can really help prevent time from being an excuse as to why you aren’t able to feed your body what it wants.

Keep a Snack Stash

Whether it’s at the office, in your car or wherever else you spend your time, it’s important to ensure you’re able to eat when hunger strikes. Non-perishable snacks such as nuts, dried fruit and snack bars are great to toss in your bag and carry around with you. If you have access to a fridge or can keep perishable food cold with a cold pack in an insulated bag, dips and veggies and cut fruit are tasty choices. Whatever your favorite snacks, make sure you’ve got a reliable stock at all times!

Taylor Wolfram, MS, RDN, LDN

Taylor uses a non-diet approach to health and wellness and provides virtual lifestyle coaching to help clients prioritize self-care, ditch dieting and make peace with food and their bodies.

Learn more about Taylor and follow her here:
www.wholegreenwellness.
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