Intuitive Eating

I realized the other day, that I have never posted about Intuitive Eating.  Tis the season for diet talk and I wanted to spread some non-diet content this January season, as we are inundated with diet and weight loss ads I thought “no better time than the present”. 

For those of you who are unfamiliar, Intuitive Eating is a non- diet  approach  that was developed by Evelyn Tribole M.S., RD and Elyse Resch M.S. RD that allows individual to develop a healthier relationship with food  and self.   I recently just finished up my certification to be an Intuitive Eating Counselor and had the pleasure of training with Evelyn.

Intuitive Eating the book came out in the mid 90’s so this is not new stuff.  It is actually been around for the better part of 2 decades.  Evelyn and Elyse came together as two dieticians who were frustrated that seemed their clients were not having success and their perfectly prepared meal plans and diets weren’t working for long term weight loss.  When I say, they weren’t working I mean their clients would lose weight and be o so happy and their work would end.  Then in 6 months, 8 months, or a year their clients would call them back full of guilt asking for their help because they had gained the weight back or more.  Sound familiar to anyone?

They sat down and looked at the data and research that had been done on diets over many decades in the 20th century and new what they were doing could not possible work because diets don’t work.  You can’t deny science.  Then they decided to do something radical, do something different.  If diets don’t work but their clients are in pain and asking for help what do you do?  You help them with that pain and when you start stripping down the fear of food, food rules, feeling out of control, restricting, and over eating you find a lack of self trust with food and an unhealthy relationship with food.

Intuitive Eating is a non-diet approach that believes that we all have the innate wisdom to feed ourselves.  To know exactly how much to eat.  To know when you are full and when you hungry.  That we all came born into this world with everything we needed to be able to have a healthy relationship with food.  So, what happened?  Well, diet culture happened.  A culture that bombards us with the “ideal body type” and diet after diet.  In fact, current diet culture is even getting trickier as it starts hiding diets as “Lifestyle Changes”. 

Every time you ate pass full or restricted or where told when and what to eat we fell a little bit more out of attune with our innate wisdom and our bodies.  Evelyn and Elyse developed Intuitive Eating out of science and what they saw was working with their clients to heal their relationship with food.  To regain power over food, to let go of food fears, to stop relating to food as good or bad it’s just food, to listen to your bodies hunger and full cues, to trust yourself again, and to rediscover that innate wisdom we all have.

Intuitive Eating does not focus on weight loss.  As Evelyn says “weight loss has to go on the back burner”.  When we are letting go of rules and beliefs about food we must also let go of focusing on losing weight.  I know for me that was the hardest part.  When I say that, with Intuitive Eating that you can heal your relationship with food and self I do mean that.  Research tells you that this approach works, and my own personal story is it works.

When you let go of all the worry, anxiety, fear, and obsession around food you make space and time in your life for so many other beautiful things and experiences.  This is just a brief summary of what Intuitive Eating is and hope for those of you that this in an introduction to the concept please explore it more and determine for yourself what you think.
 
There are many resources available on Intuitive Eating.  I have list a few of them below.
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Intuitive Eating
https://haescommunity.com/
https://lindabacon.org/health-at-every-size-book/
http://www.intuitiveeating.org/10-principles-of-intuitive-eating/
The Great Starvation Experiment
Secrets from the Eating Lab
You’d be so Pretty If…
Food Psyc Podcast
The Body Love Project Podcast
The Way You are Project
Body Kindness Podcast