Fulfilling the demands of school is often overwhelming, especially if you are a working student. Being crunched for time and consequently skipping meals to complete assignments or catch up on sleep are common. Such stress can lead to unbalanced meals, overeating later in the day and snacking on foods that have little to no nutritional value.

To alleviate tension, relax and eventually live a healthier life, it’s important to practice mindfulness while eating. Intuitive eating, which involves listening to your body and thinking before you eat, can help you build a healthy relationship between food, body and mind.

Experts on intuitive eating say that it emphasizes self-acceptance instead of self-shaming. In their book “Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Program that Works,” registered dietitians Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch say it’s important to know that your health and self-worth are not degraded because you ate something unhealthy.

There is no such thing as “good” and “bad” food because everything can fit into a healthy diet with balance and moderation. However, tuning in to your body and mind can be a challenge due to conflicting information and habits from years of dieting, food rules and food myths that are ingrained in popular culture.

Tanya Horacek, a professor in the Syracuse University Department of Public Health, Food Studies and Nutrition said that having a healthy relationship with food is important.

“Life is too short to have an unhealthy, rule-driven, relationship with food,” Horacek said. “When was the last time a rule was really effective for keeping behaviors in check? Eating is not only to sustain life, it is also a wonderful way we nurture and express ourselves.”

Eating conveniently and not mindfully has become such a habit for many people that the pleasure principle of eating no longer exists. Listening to your inner body cues is a major part of intuitive eating. Paying attention to hunger, fullness and the flavors you experience when eating a meal eating gives you more satisfaction and enjoyment from your food.

You can successfully implement the principles of intuitive eating into your everyday life with daily practice.

“It does not happen overnight, and one has to challenge their diet mentality and rules,” Horacek said.

A lot goes into intuitive eating, Horacek added. One needs to make peace with food, attend to hunger and fullness, respect themselves and meal time, find satisfaction in eating, find alternative ways to deal with emotions and enjoy exercise to have a healthy lifestyle.

Intuitive eating also takes a more holistic approach to food. This means eating consistently and choosing more organic, fresh and whole foods while eliminating anything that is processed.

“Mindfulness can be more effective than a diet to help people manage their weight,” Horacek said. “If one is mindful, they are more in tune to what they want and need and can then better meet that need by eating something they desire and enjoy, rather than eating something unsatisfying and continuing the hunt to fill the void.”

It may seem impossible to manage your weight and live a healthy lifestyle if you’re satisfying your food cravings. But skeptics beware, because in a world where diet mentality reigns supreme, mindful eating is gaining traction.

Khija Rockett is a senior nutrition major. Her column appears weekly in Pulp. She can be reached at kmrocket@syr.edu.

Published on March 1, 2016 at 10:45 pm