Intuitive Eating is a concept not many people are familiar with.
Many think it's about listening to your body with the hopes you'll end up eating less or "better", and eventually losing weight.
Well it isn't that.
Intuitive Eating is an anti-diet movement. It challenges most things we know and believe about food, health and our bodies. Needles to say, Intuitive Eating receives a lot of scrutiny. Critics believe it's irresponsible to advise people to "eat what they want" given the health epidemics in our continent, among others.
How about making lifestyle changes?
According to these critics (which can very well be anyone, including doctors or other health practitioners including nutritionists), the answer is dieting, or better yet, making "lifestyle" changes. Because no one really "diets" anymore. It's kinda passé.
Lifestyle changes? That sounds easy enough.
Well it's not.
A lifestyle change isn't the answer to your night time binging and guilt that follows, to restricting foods unnecessarily, to excessive use of your scale and over exercising. In fact, "lifestyle changes" can exacerbate these because you're trying so hard to keep up with being "healthy".
Intuitive Eating challenges the definition of health commonly accepted in society, such as "eat well, exercise, manage your stress, and you're good!". The truth is these are only a small portion of what makes up your overall health. Health is a lot more complex and broader than merely diet and exercise.
So what is Intuitive Eating and why should you care?
Intuitive Eating is an evidence-based, weight-inclusive, self-care eating framework that integrates instinct, emotion and rational thought. It was created by two dietitians (Tribole & Resch) in the mid 90s.
One important outcome of Intuitive Eating is making peace with food and your body. When you feel at peace with food and your body, for example, you stop feeling so bad or guilty about your food choices. You stop doubting yourself so much, and importantly, you get off the weight loss hamster wheel.
You stop believing that you're always doing something wrong.
And this may all sound a little scary to you. That's totally normal. But when you get to that place where you no longer feel the need to pursue weight loss, it's very liberating.
And no, it doesn't mean that you've given up on yourself or "let yourself go". Not at all. Quite the contrary. Intuitive Eating is actually a form of self-care.
What else happens when you begin eating intuitively?
For one, you learn to feel more connected to your internal cues, and learn to distance yourself from external messaging in the form of diets, fads, trends and food rules.
Over time this creates more self-trust....something we are SO disconnected from in modern day ruled by diet culture.
Secondly, you'll also have greater emotional awareness and learn to use food less to soothe uncomfortable emotions, while also having self-compassion when you do.
Thirdly, you'll be able to eat a wide variety of foods, including "fun" foods, without feeling like you're doing something bad when you do so.
And honestly, so much more!
Because life is so much more than kale, blueberries, yoga, and the gym!
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