First off, Intuitive Eating (IE) is not a weight loss (or weight gain) program. It’s also not the “f*** it” diet where you eat whatever you want, whenever you want. 

Instead, it’s about understanding and separating from diet culture, improving relationship / trust in the body, and applying gentle nutrition.  Ultimately, it’s about learning to connect with the experience of eating again. It’s learning to eat and move WITH your body instead of eating / moving in ways that change your body. 

For people who are used to rigid health rules and eating patterns to manipulate the body, this can feel like a terrifying task. Because ultimately, it’s about learning to trust your body – that the body knows when it’s hungry and when it’s full and the foods it needs to stay fueled, energized, satisfied, and healthy. 

The dieting industry teaches us that bodies are not to be trusted. They are to be manipulated, changed, and controlled to fit in a certain mold. IE is about un-teaching the dieting principles. Because dieting disconnects us from our body and actually causes our body (and mind) to react in frightening ways. For some, dieting is deeply entrenched in our behavioral patterns (and society). 

Here’s a test. Which of the below are examples of dieting behaviors?  

• “I make 1/2 of my plate fruits/vegetables, 1/4 with starch, and 1/4 with protein”
• “I’ll eat a salad at lunch because I am going out for dinner”
• “I ate an extra slice of pizza so I need to run tonight”
• “I don’t have pasta and bread at the same meal”
• “I don’t eat carbs after 6pm”
• “I ate a lot this afternoon so I’ll skip dinner”
• “I drink a few glasses of water before each meal”
• “I’m going to remove gluten, sugar, dairy, alcohol, or grains for 30 days”
• “I’m going to drink only juice for a weak to detox my body”
• “I only eat whole wheat bread” 
• “I eat when I’m hungry and I stop when I’m full” 
• “I avoid fried food” 

Clearly you guessed it. They are all examples of dieting. Shocked? So was I. 

Truthfully. When I first learned about IE I was frightened, dismayed, and embarrassed. It rejected much of what it meant for my practice as a dietitian and trainer. I was LITERALLY the food police – trained to know the “exact” chemistry that your body “needs” and extremely skilled at teaching people how to “restrict right.”

In my “prime,” I handed out 8-12 low calorie diets a day and yes, my clients lost weight…until they didn’t anymore. And the weight came back (and then some). So I gave them another diet…and another diet….because clearly it was THEM, not the system. 

But here was IE was telling me… 

I’m not supposed to tell someone to “make-up” for “overeating” by exercising more or eating less?   
Forcing people to eat a balanced plate actually makes them overeat? 
“Healthy” foods aren’t everything a human being needs? 
Sugar doesn’t cause diabetes?
Eliminating a food from your diet makes you want it more? 

Fudge.
Crumb.
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