Intuitive Eating (IE) is currently “all the rage” (a phrase my late grandmother often used to describe popular things) but there is lots of misunderstanding around what it actually is. What is intuitive eating anyway? Let me start by telling you what it is NOT:
- a diet
- a restrictive plan that rules food groups out
- exercising to burn off calories
- a cleanse
- a 6 week program that ends with you having the body of your dreams
- a weight goal on the scale
- a before and after picture
I could go on an on, and to be honest, it is totally understandable that one would confuse IE with yet another diet but it is quite the opposite. IE is a lifelong process that will take most of us lots of hard work to unravel society’s diet rules and regulations. Patience is key and even I still struggle from time to time. If I am being totally transparent here, when I first saw someone refer to IE I clicked on the link thinking it sounded like a great new diet I could try. Once I discovered it was quite the opposite I was intrigued and ordered the IE book and became hooked on learning how to get out of diet culture jail.
Over the next 11 weeks I am going to dive deep into what IE is and the 10 principles that guide the IE process. This week we will go over the basics of IE and each week we will dive into each principle and how you can start to integrate each one into your lives. My passion is fueled by how free I have become by discovering this anti-diet philosophy and I want to share it with the world. Eat The Banana was born out of this philosophy and it is my goal to share it with the world so here it goes!
As explained in my blog on food freedom, IE is a process where you move away from the societal strict views of food rules and dieting to a more non-restrictive and balanced approach to food and weight. You learn to listen to your hunger and satiety cues and quit obsessing over food. Created by Evelyn Tribole, MS, RDN and Elyse Resch, MS, RDN, CEDRD, Fiaedp, FADA, FAND, the 10 principles are:
- Reject the dieting mentality
- Honor your hunger
- Make peace with food
- Challenge the food police
- Feel your fullness
- Discover the satisfaction factor
- Honor your feelings without using food
- Respect your body
- Exercise – feel the difference
- Honor your health
Why should you explore IE and dropout of diet culture? First off, diets do not work in the long term and wreak havoc on your hormones, metabolism, and mental health. Second, these are just a few of the benefits of becoming an intuitive eater:
- improved relationship with your body and higher body acceptance
- improved mental health
- lower stress and cortisol levels
- higher self-esteem
- more awareness of hunger and satiety cues so less overeating
- less yo-yo dieting and weight fluctuation
Each week we will go into great detail on each principle and I hope that it will help you understand why I have shifted my focus from macro coaching to anti-diet coaching. It is important to remember that IE is a process. We have been conditioned at a very early age to believe the diet myths and believe that it is necessary to look a certain way to fit in. In other words, you will not be able to unravel years and years of learning around food and exercise overnight. It is imperative that you are patient with yourself and that you realize this will be a lifelong process. If you are interested in diving in, get yourself a journal and be ready to dig in. As always you can contact me on Instagram or Facebook and don’t forget that you can now be notified when I write new blogs by signing up for my email list here. Looking forward to the next 10 weeks y’all!
