338: Intuitive Eating

Robyn Youkilis & Ashley James

Many of you have heard the power of intuition. That power of intuition we all have can also apply in eating intuitively to heal our gut and improve our digestive health. To explain how we can develop our intuition towards making the right food choices, my guest, Author of Thin From Within and The Go with Your Gut Way to Lose Weight, Robyn Youkilis will dive into that and more in this episode.

Ideal Figure

Robyn Youkilis’ journey began when she was just 13 years old. It was a time when her body started to have a defined shape. Hence, she started getting conscious especially because magazines featured women who supposedly had the ideal form.

It ended up that Robyn Youkilis thought there was something wrong with her body and that she needed to fix her body. Because of this, she started looking into the diet culture.

“At the same time, my mother was always an incredible cook, whipping up wonderful dishes. So, I always had a deep love and appreciation for food. However, it also led to the torment,” recalls Robyn Youkilis.

It eventually confused Robyn Youkilis through her teenage years until her 20s. But when she started dating her then boyfriend who is now her husband, Robyn Youkilis learned how to buy her food at the Farmer’s Market.

Turning Points

Another turning point was when Robyn Youkilis went to the Institute of Integrative Nutrition. She enrolled in the school as she started getting into cooking more for herself and her boyfriend. It was here when Robyn Youkilis made the connection between how she ate and how it was making her feel.

But the real turning point was when Robyn Youkilis and her husband talked about starting a family. Little by little, she shed more of that obsession and more of that unhealthy view of self. Robyn Youkilis eventually brought in more nourishing food, cooking for herself and connecting to who she already was.

Create Your Space

Robyn Youkilis’ job as a health practitioner and an individual is to create a little space. She advises people to create some support and some lightness around showing up for yourself in that change.

“Create a space so you can have this consistent conversation with yourself. When you have these little turning points along the way, they can serve you instead of taking you down,” Robyn Youkilis said.

She adds, “Everyone deserves to feel amazing in their body. And your body wants that for you. No matter what you feed it, your body will digest it for you. We can’t have our focus on so many different things. You have to think about it and feel it as well.”

Listening To Your Intuition

First, Robyn Youkilis says we must understand that it’s going to be a winding path and it may take some time. She usually likes to teach this practice to clients where you put one hand on your lower abdominal wall and let that go.

“A lot of us spend a lot of our day sucking it in, especially women. And it’s really about giving yourself a moment to breathe into that space. At that point, ask yourself what would make you feel most supported,” said Robyn Youkilis. 

She adds, “You have the answer already. Often, we’ll hear a little helpful voice from our intuition.” 

Robyn Youkilis says journaling is also good because it means your thoughts have space and they feel valid. You may not do anything with those thoughts. But just having a place for that helps, rather than turning to food to experience comfort, space or a place.

“In learning to listen to your intuition, you would learn to figure out what feels more supportive in a given situation,” Robyn Youkilis said. “For example, having a grounding practice like taking a bath when you go home for the day can help you feel supported instead of turning to food.”

Understanding Your Cravings

According to Robyn Youkilis, a healthy craving feels like it’s something nice to have. And a craving that you might want to gather a little more information on is one that feels like you have to have it.

There might be a nutritional deficiency going on there, or it might be something around your day. Ultimately, Robyn Youkilis says it takes little moments from our day where we can start to have that conversation more deeply with ourselves.

Eating Using Intuition

Robyn Youkilis loves all kinds of food. But it doesn’t have a grip on her because she says her diet now is much more supportive of her gut and her body.

“Focus on the gut because that is the center of your body. Our digestive system is responsible for so many things on even more than just digesting food,” explains Robyn Youkilis.

Having A Healthy Gut

A healthy gut better absorbs the nutrients from the food you’re eating. Robyn Youkilis believes you get more out of what you’re consuming. You’re going to feel better from that food. A healthy gut also means a happier you because 90% of our serotonin is produced in your gut. And 80% of our immune tissue is in our gut.

“Aside from the mental conversation going on, there’s a lot at play. Something that may serve you this month may be different next month,” said Robyn Youkilis. “So, know that there’s never going to be the one thing that’s going to fix all the things. It’s always going to be a lot of parts of this conversation.”

To have a healthy digestive system, Robyn Youkilis also reveals that it is ideal for releasing waste at least once a day.  She recommends a huge glass of water first thing in the morning and gives your system a chance to flush itself out. For others, it may be a dehydration issue for our colon.

Importance Of Hydration

Juicing organic celery first thing in the morning is quite trendy. Robyn Youkilis says there are some medicinal benefits, but she believes that part of the reason why it’s working so well for so many people is that it’s hydrating their body on a cellular level.

Robyn Youkilis says adding chia seeds to water is also helpful. Chia seeds act as a lubricant and essentially allow your organs and the cells of your body to integrate the hydration into your body. A pinch of Himalayan sea salt or lemon water can also help with hydration.

“The ultimate goal is to connect to our intuition more so that we can digest not just our food, but we can digest our lives,” said Robyn Youkilis.

Importance Of Chewing

Robyn Youkilis stresses that another important thing is how you chew your food. Take time to eat your food well. It’s a miracle worker.

“The science behind that is because our stomach does not have teeth. It wasn’t designed to break down whole chunks of food the way we usually do it,” Robyn Youkilis explained. 

Robyn Youkilis also says some foods are harder to digest like nuts, dried fruit or some leafy greens. That’s why raw, dense, leafy greens are going to cause a little bit of bloating or stomach upset. Red meat is also hard to break down.

Meal Prep

Meal prep for Robyn Youkilis means making some basics ahead of time. A lot of people take this further and meal prep specific meals. But in Robyn Youkilis’ book, she teaches readers first to boil an egg and roast two trays of vegetables.

“Prep your greens and keep in the fridge, ready to go. Once you have done these basic items, I also talk about a power parfait in the book. It’s like an amped up yogurt bowl so that you feel full longer,” said Robyn Youkilis.

Robyn Youkilis does meal preps for the week, and when it’s time to put it together, she will use a basic template. The Rule of Five Plates is part of what she teaches in her book.

“I would have the power parfait in the morning, mix and match based on this little light template for lunch. Dinner will be some prepped things. Keep it simple and get real with your meal prep. It’s about having these staples ready in the fridge,” advises Robyn Youkilis.

For me, the Panasonic infrared oven significantly made meal prep easier. The oven heats things fast like two to three minutes. I use glass containers without the lid. It heats up way more than a microwave would, so you have to use a mitt.

Rule Of Five Plates

Robyn Youkilis has a meal prep class showing how she meal preps and walks you through it. She does the templates from the Rule of Five Plates mostly for lunches.

One template is greens. Raw or steamed is fine. Mix up the greens. The next template is healthy fats like avocados, olive oil, butter, coconut oil or some good healthy fat. Sliced almonds or goat cheese is also good.

The third template is protein. Wild salmon, grass-fed beef, organic chicken, lentils, trout, sardines, smoked mussels are sustainable options. Know what you have and know what your resources are.

Number four is fermented foods. That is where the gut health comes in, and it’s going to be the food that helps you digest the other foods better. Fermented foods can be raw fermented sauerkraut, fermented carrots, radishes or kimchi.

“I have some recipes in the book that’s easy to do. Fermented food is rich in live probiotic bacteria which will feed on the good bacteria in your gut and create a happy, healthy microbiome,” Robyn Youkilis said.

The last template is a cooked vegetable. This is where the meal prep comes back into play. It could be anything from cubed sweet potatoes, roasted zucchini or roasted carrots. Ultimately, you can do so many different things using the templates.

“For dinner, you can have a bean pasta with some tuna and kale. And then I would eat some of my fermented radishes on the side,” said Robyn Youkilis. “I’m always thinking more greens, healthy fats and fermented food. Also, know when you need new inspiration to shift things up.”

She adds, “I don’t want you to feel bad about what you’re doing or not doing. You got this. Life is always changing, but you can do it. You are designed to thrive, heal and to feel good.”

Bio

Robyn Youkilis is changing the way thousands of women and men around the world relate with food, and she’s redefining what it means to eat and be healthy. 

Robyn Youkilis is a Certified Wellness Expert, TV personality, and author. She’s frequently featured as the go-to expert on The Today Show, in People Magazine, + Redbook. And she is the founder of her health coaching company Your Healthiest You. 

Robyn Youkilis has been featured by The Cooking Channel, The Wall Street Journal, Men's Fitness, The Huffington Post, CBS News, and more. Known for her straightforward yet supportive coaching style, Robyn Youkilis helps clients break free of the craziness of dieting and connect to their truest and best selves-through practical action steps. 

Robyn Youkilis’ first book, Go with Your Gut: The Insider's Guide to Banishing the Bloat with 75 Digestion-Friendly Recipes is now available in bookstores. 

Robyn Youkilis is changing the way thousands of women and men around the world relate with food and she’s redefining what it means to eat and be healthy. 

Robyn Youkilis is a Certified Wellness Expert, TV personality, and author. She’s frequently featured as the go-to expert on The Today Show, in People Magazine, + Redbook. And she is the founder of her health coaching company Your Healthiest You. 

Robyn Youkilis has been featured by The Cooking Channel, The Wall Street Journal, Men's Fitness, The Huffington Post, CBS News, and more. Known for her straightforward yet supportive coaching style, Robyn Youkilis helps clients break free of the craziness of dieting and connect to their truest and best selves-through no-nonsense action steps. 

Robyn Youkilis’ first book, Go with Your Gut: The Insider's Guide to Banishing the Bloat with 75 Digestion-Friendly Recipes is now available everywhere books are sold. 

Get Connected With Robyn Youkilis!

Official Website

The Chewing Challenge

Meal Prep Workshop

Books by Robyn Youkilis

Thin From Within Book

Go With Your Gut Book

Recommended Link:

Panasonic Infrared Oven

---

Subscribe To Our YouTube Channel

Intuitive Eating – Robyn Youkilis & Ashley James – #338

**Dj Quads – It just makes me happy” is under a Creative Commons license (CC BY-NC-SA 3.0)
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/
Music promoted by BreakingCopyright: https://youtu.be/I-kuqYg3O7s“

---

Join the Learn True Health Community & Support Us on Patreon

Order High-Quality Supplements

Join Our Facebook Community Group

Visit Our YouTube Channel