How Mental Restriction Interferes with Practicing Intuitive Eating

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How Mental Restriction Interferes with Practicing Intuitive Eating

Whether you are new to intuitive eating or have been practicing it for some time, the notion of giving yourself permission to eat foods that are generally thought of as “unhealthy” is likely something you’ve heard before. This concept is part of the third principle of intuitive eating, Make Peace with Food, and allows for freedom to explore and choose foods based on whether you actually like them, versus whether or not diet culture has deemed them to be “good.” 

But what if you’ve stopped dieting and your brain hasn’t?

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New Year, New Intentions

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New Year, New Intentions

A couple of weeks ago I was wrapping up with another support group cohort and we were discussing what entering into a new year has looked like for us in seasons past and what we want it to look like this time around. Participants shared stories of adopting new diet plans and work-out routines and setting resolutions for self-improvement and change. They also described how even the best laid plans were often short-lived and the frustration and defeat that inevitably followed as resolutions faded.

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Can Healthy Eating and Intuitive Eating Co-Exist?

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Can Healthy Eating and Intuitive Eating Co-Exist?

One of the fears many clients report when we talk about letting go of food rules is, “If I let go of the rules, I’ll only eat the unhealthy foods.” There’s a lot to unpack in this sentence, including the black and white belief that foods are either healthy or unhealthy, but also why this fear exists in the first place and what they fear would happen if this were true. This post, however, will focus what I think the main question is, which is: “can I eat intuitively and also desire to eat nutrient dense foods?”

The ways in which intuitive eating is depicted in the popular media and by many social media influencers often doesn’t help matters much when it comes to contemplating this question. So often leading people to view the intuitive eating concept of unconditional permission to eat as synonymous with eating with abandon (which it’s not) and making doughnuts the unofficial symbol for intuitive eating.

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6 Reasons to Embrace Intuitive Eating This Summer

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6 Reasons to Embrace Intuitive Eating This Summer

Intuitive eating is a non-restrictive, internally directed approach to eating that honors your body’s innate wisdom (e.g., your appetite cues), your individual food preferences, and your whole health and wellbeing. It recognizes that food nourishes us far beyond fueling our physical bodies and supports us in cultivating a peaceful and positive relationship with both food.

If you are done with the on-again-off-again diet cycle, now is the perfect time to start exploring intuitive eating.

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30 Anti-Diet Practices to Try this Month

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30 Anti-Diet Practices to Try this Month

If you’ve had thoughts about wanting to make changes to your eating or exercise behaviors this month– you’re not alone! The beginning of the year is prime time for businesses to market products, tools, memberships, and experiences geared towards helping people meet their new years goals or resolutions. As such, you may be seeing an increase in emails or ads on social media encouraging you to take steps to improve your health or to focus on prioritizing your wellbeing, by way of purchasing their products or participating in their programs. This is all fine and good, except when “health” and “wellbeing” gets boiled down to weight, and the goal is always weight loss.

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