Does Intuitive Eating Work? 6 Ways That Intuitive Eating Works That May Surprise You!
If you’ve stumbled across Intuitive Eating before, you may have wondered what it actually means to eat intuitively. Is it worth learning about it, putting in the work, and will I see results?
I totally get it if you’re skeptical. After all, if you’ve tried countless diets in the past and have frustration around food, can the next thing you try really be the “thing?” Maybe you’ve experimented with the trendy weight loss diets as they’ve come and gone. You’ve cut out food groups to be “healthier” and try to shed a few pounds. You’ve been on a quest to feel better in your own skin, but it’s just left you feeling confused about what to eat and unable to meet your weight loss goals.
And now you’re wondering: will intuitive eating work for me?
First, let’s get something straight. Intuitive eating is not a weight loss program.
Intuitive eating is a way of eating that centers your needs and preferences independent of outside messages, ie. diet culture. Created by dietitians Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch back in 1995, it is a philosophy with 10 principles.
These principles involve overcoming restrictive food thoughts and behaviors, giving yourself permission to eat enough and foods you enjoy, and building a mind-body connection when it comes to food. It also encompasses respecting and building trust with your body. It goes beyond just eating to help people with body image and overall self-care too.
Intuitive Eating has an intentional anti-diet and weight-inclusive approach and weight loss is not a goal of the process. Intuitive eating does not oppose weight loss as an outcome, but it is very explicit in saying it does not endorse the pursuit of intentional weight loss due to the cost to your mental and physical well-being. As you become an intuitive eater, you may lose weight, you may gain weight, or your body may stay the same size.
That being said, intuitive eating is also not about tricking your body to eat less or trying to conform to a particular standard of health. Instead it’s about approaching food from a lens of self-care so you eat enough food and a variety of foods to sustain you. Intuitive eating is about experimenting and having curiosity as you learn to nourish your body so you feel your best.
On the one hand that’s pretty liberating.
No counting or tracking involved, no weighing yourself, and no off-limits foods. You can eat what you want and on your own terms.
But, on the other hand, that is scary. Plus, many people don’t know how to do that. Maybe you feel secure and on top of it when you follow a diet plan or avoid foods you think you “shouldn't” eat. Weighing yourself gives you proof your body is where it “should” or “shouldn’t” be in your mind.
All of this makes total sense because for your whole life you’ve been told that you need to control what you eat and manage your body so it doesn't get too big or you don’t get too “out of control.” Diet messaging underscores the idea that you cannot trust yourself around food. All conversations around food relate back to what’s “healthy,” “low cal,” “guilt-free,” not what’s pleasurable or what will give you energy to sustain all the things your mind and body do for you throughout the day. The truth is that while it’s scary and will take time, you can trust yourself around food and becoming an intuitive eater can help with this.
And at the same time, you can still pursue intuitive eating even if you don’t trust your body and if you still want to lose weight.
Let’s be real, who doesn’t want to lose weight considering the culture we live in? And for many people who live in larger bodies and endure weight stigma, pursuing weight loss may be a way to survive or feel more safe in diet culture. You can hold space for weight loss while working on connecting to your body’s cues and eating satisfying meals. It’s just important to remain curious about your motivations. You may consider exploring your desires for weight loss and a healthier relationship with food by seeking support from a nutrition therapist or mental health counselor as you learn more about intuitive eating.
In what ways does intuitive eating work?
While intuitive eating cannot guarantee weight loss (it’s not a weight loss program or a diet), there are many other functions of intuitive eating that can help you create a healthier relationship with food, which may have benefits in other areas of your life.
Intuitive eating helps to drown out the noise of diet culture.
Diet culture standards around eating are endless and yet impossible to attain. In your daily life you’re exposed to endless messages about what you “should'' and “shouldn’t” eat. Often this information contradicts itself, making you feel like deciding what to eat at each meal is a mystery. With intuitive eating, you can tune out all of that advice and focus on what’s right for you.
Intuitive eating increases your interoceptive awareness.
Interoceptive awareness is a fancy term for being in-tune with your body, being able to notice the sensations it presents and responding to them accordingly. Have you ever noticed your empty stomach when you skipped breakfast? Or felt your heart rate increase when your boss sent you a cryptic email? That’s interoceptive awareness. Diet culture makes it normal to be disconnected from your body. However, interoceptive awareness supports your relationship with food because it helps you be more connected to your body, know its signals, and build trust.
Intuitive eating supports you in noticing hunger and fullness cues to better meet your needs.
When you’ve been dieting or have had disordered eating or an eating disorder, hunger is confusing. A major part of intuitive eating is understanding when you’re hungry and full. As you practice intuitive eating, this comes more easily so you’re less likely to second guess your hunger or feel uncomfortably full.
Intuitive eating makes you an expert in your own body when it comes to food.
When you are able to challenge a diet mindset in intuitive eating, you’re able to make food choices from a place of authenticity. You can make choices based on foods you enjoy, and based on your cravings, your mood, and other factors knowing that one food choice doesn’t make or break your health. With time you might discover that you no longer enjoy some “healthy” foods and that they were just “safe” when you were watching your diet. Conversely, you might find certain “healthy foods” delicious with certain recipes or preparation methods and that you’ve able to incorporate them without the intention of dieting or “clean eating”. When there aren’t any diet rules, you can define what nourishing eating looks like for your body.
Intuitive eating challenges you to confront beliefs you have about food, body size, and health.
Since intuitive eating is a weight-inclusive approach to food, it invites you to reconsider your previous notion that thin equals healthy. This encourages you to examine your individual values about what being healthy and happy means to you, which has social impacts as well. Diet culture, fatphobia, and weight stigma hurt everyone, but they disproportionately hurt people in larger bodies. The more that we collectively adopt an anti-diet approach to the way we relate to food and challenge these weight-centric notions, the better shot we have at creating a more inclusive world.
Intuitive eating may reduce episodes of binge eating.
Struggling with binge eating is a very common experience, and yet it can feel lonely and shameful. With an intuitive eating framework that encourages consistently feeding yourself and permission to eat all foods, often the drive to binge is much lower. This is because your body isn’t in a place of primal hunger or facing an unreliable eating pattern that makes it feel deprived. Intuitive eating can help normalize a chaotic pattern of eating, which may reduce symptoms of disordered eating like binging.
There are many misconceptions about intuitive eating. Hearing about it for the first time can feel overwhelming, especially if you’ve never thought about food that way before. That’s why it can be great to work with an anti-diet dietitian who is well-versed in the intuitive eating approach. If you try it you might just find that it will work for you!
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Dear Diet Culture Letter: Why Honoring Hunger Feels Confusing
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Do you want to become an intuitive eater and finally stop dieting?
After years of being at war with your body and food it can feel like there's no hope. Intuitive eating offers support and help to heal your relationship with food without dieting. The dietitian nutritionists at Bravespace Nutrition in Seattle WA work virtually helping people who are struggling with food and body image. Learn more about Bravespace Nutrition, our philosophy, and the services we offer.