Due to a certain ‘celebrity’ discussing their take on Intuitive Eating recently, it has gained a little more attention. I am not going to go into that person’s take on Intuitive Eating because I do not believe that anyone should take advice from someone who 1) is not a medical professional/dietitian, 2) someone who has an entire career and financial investment into the dieting industry and 3) someone who quite literally just held up their computer with a google search on the topic.
So, what exactly IS Intuitive Eating? First, I want to point out that I am referencing Intuitive Eating with a capital I and E and not ‘intuitive eating’. Most people get mindful or ‘intuitive eating’ confused with Intuitive Eating, the evidence-based self-care model.
Taking the definition straight from the creator’s website:
“Intuitive Eating is a self-care eating framework, which integrates instinct, emotion, and rational thought and was created by two dietitians, Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch in 1995.
Intuitive Eating is a weight-inclusive, evidence-based model with a validated assessment scale and over 100 studies to date.”
As you can see, this is not something that is only based on someone’s thoughts and feelings. This is an evidenced based approach that is so much more involved than eating mindfully or just skimming over the 10 principles.
But, reviewing the 10 principles is a great place to *start.*
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Reject the Diet Mentality
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Honor Your Hunger
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Make Peace with Food
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Challenge the Food Police
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Respect Your Fullness
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Discover the Satisfaction Factor
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Honor Your Feelings without Using Food
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Respect Your Body
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Exercise—Feel the Difference
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Honor Your Health with Gentle Nutrition
Only looking over these 10 principles and even understanding them, isn’t enough. It’s the EXPERIENCE and the JOURNEY of applying them to your every day life that leads to something that is life-changing.
It’s more than just focusing on your hunger and fullness (although that is part of the process). It’s more about getting in touch with your body and what it needs and TRUSTING yourself again. Diet culture constantly tells us that we just need to restrict more, have more willpower and then we will get ‘the body we want.’ But, part of this process is to determine what exactly is ‘the body you want?’ Is it only about aesthetics? Maybe it’s about being able to play with your kids or grandkids without getting winded? That’s a perfectly acceptable goal. But, this process pushes you to focus on the self-talk and methods we use to get to that goal.
That’s where nutrition counseling with a dietitian who is well versed in Intuitive Eating can help you! We will work together to set mini-goals each week that help you to work toward your bigger/overall goals. All while also placing a big focus on your self-care, the way you speak to yourself and about your body.
Wouldn’t you love to save all that mental space for fun things like planning family movie night or your next trip than worrying about whether your last meal had too many calories?
Tell me your thoughts and what is holding you back from starting this process in the comments below!
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