4 Steps to Take To Become an Intuitive Eater

Intuitive Eating is growing more popular than ever. FINALLY, people are recognizing the backlash of dieting or pursuing health in such a reductionist way. As an Intuitive Eating Counselor, I want to clear up some misconceptions AND help you feel less lost on where to begin.

Misconception: Intuitive Eating is only eating junk food: Intuitive Eating is "giving in". You stop caring about your health because all you do is eat donuts and other "junk food."

Reality: First, there are no good foods or bad foods. By ridding of the word "junk" when we talk about food, we stop holding so much moral judgement towards it. This is SO important because biologically, we are WIRED to want something the more we restrict it. Your reward center in your brain lights up when you are confronted with "off limit foods" and this is where the feeling of obsession or constant fixation on food comes from. Intuitive Eating is teaching you how to normalize these foods. If you can give the same emotion to an apple as you do to a donut, you'll be better able to tap into your hunger + fullness, ask yourself what sounds satisfying + nourishing in the moment and lessen your chances of overeating or binging.

Misconception: Intuitive Eating is anti-health: Intuitive Eaters commonly talk about backing off from exercise and not eating vegetables.

Reality: To date, there has been over sixty studies showing that Intuitive Eaters are more competent eaters. What does that mean? They eat a variety of foods (veggies, fruit, whole grains, pizza, fries, cake included) and have better introspective awareness. These two factors show increased well-being, improved biomarkers such as blood sugar and low-risk of disordered eating and eating disorders. Along with that, most Intuitive Eating based professionals are aligned with Health At Every Size (HAES) - a weight-inclusive behavioral approach towards health. By promoting behavior and viewing health beyond JUST food + exercise and considering someone's emotional state, environment, socioeconomic status, race, gender, sexuality, sleep, availability to safe green spaces, etc, we can BETTER help individuals take care of themselves.

THE 4 STEPS

1) Get Clear on Your Values: You're going to get crystal clear on your values and ask yourself, "Why do I want to become an Intuitive Eater?" My guess is, you want something more out of life beyond just thinking about your next meal, picking apart your body and thinking how you can control your food by exercising it off. Seriously, write them down, make them official.

I state this first because food freedom & body image respect are two sides of the same coin. It is hard to learn food freedom if you rely on your appearance for validation. Women in particular grew up with mixed messages about how appraised thinness is the gateway to a happy/healthy life. So when we learn what our values are, often times we see they don't align with body manipulation (dieting your life away to get to a smaller size than your set-point).

Example: If one of your values is to enjoy time with the people you love and you find that your diet is currently causing you to be fearful of social situations where the food is out of your control or you can't be present in conversation due to being hungry THEN body manipulation via dieting is the not the path for you.

And if you have a hard time letting go of your Body Image Fantasy, I suggest reading this blog here to help guide you.

2) Learn from OFFICIAL Intuitive Eating resources and professionals. Unfortunately, some fitness and wellness social media handles or professionals have misused the words "intuitive eating" and turned it into the "hunger/fullness diet" or "food-freedom-but-we-will-still-fear-monger-you-on-carbs-diet!".

Read, Follow & Work With Reliable Sources:

Start with these very helpful books, Intuitive Eating (thee OG if you will, thee GOAT & your best bet to learn all the IE principles!), Body Respect, The Fu*k It Diet, Just Eat, etc. 

Follow social media profiles with the hashtag #IntuitiveEatingOfficial to get a better understanding of what concepts and values are behind Intuitive Eating. You can find my IG account here along with other accounts such as immaeatthat , realliferd, evelyntribole, bodyposipanada, etc - the list could really go on! 

Work with a Certified Intuitive Eating Professional as this person has spent hours in earning the proper credentials and educating themselves on how to best help others. As an Intuitive Eating Counselor, my first step with clients is to get to REALLY know them. I offer free 30 Minute Discovery Calls where I get to know about your story and see where you currently are in your journey, what you need help with and how we can work together to heal your relationship with food, body and exercise. My virtual nutrition counseling & in-person nutrition counseling services can be found by clicking here.

3) Make a list of all your food rules and beliefs you have about your body. After making this list ask yourself these questions:

1) Is this true? 2) Can I see this from a more neutral perspective? 3) Would eliminating this food rule or body image belief be better for my health than clinging on to them? 4) What gentle steps can I take to rid of this rule or belief?

Example: My Rule: "I can't eat any snacks before 11am, especially if I already had breakfast."

1) This isn't necessarily true. I know from a physiological standpoint, my body is not a time clock.

2) What if I ate and I was able to move on with my day? What if my body craves more food in the beginning of the day and this isn't anything BAD, just my body showing me it needs a snack.

3) This would help me FOCUS so much better instead of sitting at my desk thinking about how I want a snack. If I allowed myself to eat, I could move on with my day and not get so cranky and hangery (hungry + angry) in the afternoon.

4) I will allow myself to pack snacks for the work day with a variety of options. That way, depending on my hunger in the moment, I will have choices for what type of snack I want. I will experiment with this.

4) Set boundaries for yourself. I get it, we live in a diet-fixated culture and as much as I'd like to say "be in your own bubble!", that won't help you at all. So, the better you get at understanding your own values, the better off you can be at setting boundaries vs. people-pleasing or getting stuck in a situation that doesn't support your journey.

Social Boundaries:

If you feel yourself getting overwhelmed by your friends or co-workers diet talk, switch the subject, tune out, leave the situation, and ultimately wish them compassion (maybe do this in your head) in letting themselves find a non-restrictive approach towards food. If it's a close friend, partner or family member, tell them you're on a journey to develop a healthy relationship with food, you're learning to become an intuitive eater and you'd like to talk about something other than food/dieting/exercise/etc. (My clients and I will actually role play these situations so they have a stronger set-up, especially if they grew up with diet-fixated family/friends).

Other places to set boundaries:

At the gym: Don't feel like "going all out" with your workout today but you still want to move? Great, then don't go to extremes within your workout. 

Shopping: Don't feel like being in stores with only thin mannequins? Scout out the stores that show a range of sizes and are inclusive to all body types.

The beach or pool: Surround yourself with people who enforce positives in the situation and don't verbally fixate on how they look in their swimsuits. Go into the situation with a neutral perspective and lessen the pressure that everyone is looking at you (because they are mostly fixated on themselves).

Loves, I am so excited for you to embark on your intuitive eating journey. I truly believe you deserve a life full of liberation, creativity, introspection and confidence.

xxx,

Allison