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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Intuitive Eating: Clarifying Misconceptions & Inspiring Hope

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Intuitive Eating: Clarifying Misconceptions & Inspiring Hope

When I first learned about intuitive eating nearly 10 years ago it blew my mind. It helped me understand why I was feeling so ineffective and unfulfilled professionally and laid the groundwork for me to find my way to where I am today.

What I’ve learned since that time is that intuitive eating is nuanced. Much more so than I appreciated early on in my learning. And, much more so than social media would ever suggest. Yes, it consists of 10 seemingly straightforward principles. But, those principles can be so easily misconstrued and overly simplified, to the point of being totally inconsistent with the true spirit of intuitive eating.

Here I’ll explain some of the common misconceptions about intuitive eating, explore some of that nuance, and share some of the ways in which I see intuitive eating transforming the lives of the clients with whom I work.

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Food Rules: What They Are and What To Do About Them

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Food Rules: What They Are and What To Do About Them

These and other rules that we impose on ourselves when it comes to eating often lead us further from a health-supportive relationship with food. What may start off as a well-intentioned effort to be mindful of food-related behaviors can evolve into a rigid set of rules that leads to disconnection from your body and its needs. This can make knowing what, when, and how much to eat in order to adequately nourish our bodies and feel good, confusing at best. This confusion erodes trust in your body and its signals and may perpetuate further reliance on external rules to guide your eating, continuing the cycle.

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Reconnecting with Your Innate Inner Wisdom: 3 Tips to Get Started

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Reconnecting with Your Innate Inner Wisdom: 3 Tips to Get Started

Diet and wellness culture teach us that we cannot trust ourselves to make decisions about food. If left to our own devices we will subsist on only the most sinful and indulgent foods, and we’ll never stop eating, which will spell disaster for our bodies. If we’re hungry – diet culture tries to teach us how to ignore that cue or to prevent ourselves from feeling it to begin with. If we want chips – diet culture tries to convince us that some low-calorie alternative will be just as satisfying (hello air-popped popcorn with no added butter and kale leaves dried out in the oven).

What you need to know is, if these don’t work for you, it’s not because there is something wrong with you. It’s not your body betraying you. It’s actually your body, in its infinite wisdom, trying to protect you.

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