Are you new to intuitive eating? Here are the basics.
What is an intuitive eater?
Have you watched a toddler eat? They eat when they are hungry. They stop when they are full. Even if there are just a couple bites left or someone else is still eating or if they are stressed or bored or lonely. At some point, often pretty early, you forgot how to do that. Your families, friends, and society started to put rules and expectations in place that cause you to doubt your inner knowing. That causes you to trust outside authorities over your body.
Intuitive eating is a framework to help you remember what it feels like to listen to your body, to trust what it tells you, and to respond to it with gentleness and self-compassion. It is about relearning how to hear yourself.
What does the science say about intuitive eating?
Intuitive eating pioneers, Evelyn Trimbole and Elyse Resch, and many dieticians and researchers, have done a lot of research on this approach.
In short, science proves that intuitive eaters eat:
have less emotional eating
are less inclined to “lose control” with food
have less body dissatisfaction
get more pleasure from eating
have higher self-esteem
It isn’t easy. It goes against a lot of what you may have been taught. And it is immensely freeing.
Please note: that like any lifestyle change, intuitive eating should be done in consultation with your healthcare team. Nothing I say here is a substitute for your doctor, dietician, or therapist.
How do I become an intuitive eater?
Intuitive eating is a process. If you are here, I suspect you have tried everything else and it hasn’t worked. Research indicates the #1 predictor of weight gain is dieting. You restrict your food which makes your body think it’s starving, and your body will only let you do that for so long before it demands food. Then the cravings get so strong and you return to old patterns, gaining back what you lost and perhaps more. It’s called weight cycling.
Intuitive eating isn’t like that. When you embark on an intuitive eating journey, you start slowly with some ideas that probably feel radical.
First, you notice diet culture and all the rules and expectations it has put on you. Learning to listen to yourself and your body means that you have to tune out all the “shoulds” and “musts.”
Intuitive eating isn’t about being a certain size or eating according to someone else’s rules. You might lose weight. You might not. That’s not the point.
Intuitive eating is about hearing yourself and trusting yourself. Your body will tell you what it needs if you listen.
Okay. This goes against everything I have ever heard…
Rejecting diet culture is a lot to swallow. I usually don’t encourage people to start there. I like to start by inviting you to become more mindful and curious about your relationship with food. By tuning in to your hunger and fullness cues. By slowing down to think about what you actually want. What if you let yourself eat anything so long as you actually wanted it? What would happen? (Hint: The science says that you might eat more of the foods you have been restricting for a while, but in the long term, you will likely have a healthier relationship with them.)
I know. That sounds scary. We take it slow. Intuitive eating isn’t a quick fix. You have had a lifetime of conditioning that has caused you to doubt yourself. It takes time to unlearn.
I am intrigued. What are the next steps?
You have a few options.
You can sign up for my Peaceful Plate blog. I send regular emails (not more than twice a month) with thoughts about intuitive eating and updates on upcoming opportunities.
We can schedule a 30-minute, no-obligation call to talk about how intuitive eating might work for you. You can reach me at LisasHolisticHealth@gmail.com to set up an appointment.
I teach a community education class at Parkland Community College in the spring and fall. I will share dates and details on Peaceful Plate and my offerings page.
I am starting an intuitive eating group at Pure Being Urbana. Again, I will share details on Peaceful Plate and my offerings page when I have details worked out.
