Intuitive Eating, the ten Principles set forth in 1995 (!) by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch, is the guiding Bible/Torah/Qoran for eating.
We seek to infuse nutrition science into Intuitive Eating, but it remains the overarching theme for everything we espouse. Adapting / mastering IE is a MAJOR process, in fact, it can feel like a rug has been yanked out from under you and that everything you’ve ever known or felt about food, hunger, and the way you relate to food and your body has been grievously misguided. That is alllll part of the process, and completely normal. We heard Laura Thomas (her podcast / book is mandatory curriculum for clients) interview someone who said that integrating IE can take six months to a span of several years, so don’t read the book and expect to prance off into the IE sunset.
Oh — and another ‘stage of Grief’ you’ll likely encounter early on in your IE orientation — grieving the thin ideal. You will come to terms and eventually nestle into ACCEPTANCE of your own body and of EVERYONE ELSE’S BODY. You’ll realize that the YEARS of your life you spent desperately and painfully trying to change your body was an exercise in futility, and that will sting. It will offend you that you and or others can live happily and healthily in larger bodies (because society has told you that larger bodies are repugnant, unhealthy, are a consequence of weakness, and need to be DEALT WITH / changed because they are a cancer on our kind.. And then they will lie to you and say that being fat causes cancer. K.). Imagine if you stopped squeezing yourself like a boa constrictor and allowed your body to get to a place, weight, and feeling where you stopped trying to imprison it to be at a certain weight, a certain shape, a certain fat free mass, a certain body fat percentag, etc. What if you just let – it – be (Beatles!) and acknowledged how it responded to IE? Yep. THAT is body acceptance, and part of IE. You can read more about grieving the thin ideal here: https://www.generousplan.com/body-acceptance-grieving-thin-ideal/
So to begin this journey of a thousand miles as the Confucius of IE – take a few babysteps. 1) read the book (obv) 2) enlist an RD who understands IE work (https://www.intuitiveeating.org/), HAES work (https://haescommunity.com/), and Body Kindness work (https://www.bodykindnessbook.com/) (hey, sup, that would be us) AS WELL AS a 3) therapist who understands the scope of this work as well (we have a couple on our docket we’d be happy to send you to!) because BRAIN connects to BODY and they cannot be unlinked! Addressing only the ‘food’ piece may be an eventual incomplete on your assignment (the WORST grade, worse than an ‘F’!) So abandon all the stigma you’ve assigned to therapy and engage in that prime work! Then — it’s all systems go, and you’re ready to assume your new religion. Seriously, it’s like a gospel. The most joyous, liberating, cathartic dogma you’ve ever known.
Above all else – remember, there are NO. RULES. With IE. (But you just said there were ten rules, you goose.) Okay, BESIDES the ten principles of IE (which are rules in the sense that they shall guide you, but truth be told – you are ENCOURAGED to test their limits, boundaries, and “break” the rules as an integral part of the IE mastery process! ‘Messing up’ during IE is a vital learning opportunity – embrace that!) Anyways – no rules, just right – like Outback, and in fact – since ALL FOODS FIT in IE – you can certainly eat there. You can have WHATEVER YOU LIKE (to quote the rapper, T.I.) there, or anywhere. You hereby get FULL PERMISSION to eat WHATEVER and WHENEVER you like. This is not a trick! This is the RADICAL acceptance, self-love, and permission to EAT WHEN YOU ARE HUNGRY (and stop when you are satisfied). It’s even okay to prepare or order a meal, and then CHANGE YOUR MIND because you realize that wasn’t what you REALLY wanted. It’s okay to eat oatmeal for dinner. Or cake. Or pancakes on a plane (I do this often). Or a cheese plate for dinner (Again, I’m projecting here). Because eating ANYTHING at ANY TIME during IE is right as rain. (And yes, sometimes I’ll prepare a meal, usually one that was a result of diet chatter intrusions, and then be like – wait. I really am not in the mood for a salad. And i’ll box it up and eat the damn sandwich I wanted, anyways, and be SO satisfied/happy I did. Because when you allow diet culture chatter to intrude, and you suppress – you suppress YOUR LIFE).
We know, it sounds preposterous. But trust us – we’ve all drank this (organic) Kool-Aid; and this is how we personally live and how we wish everyone else did, too.
Remember that your worth is much more than what you eat; and that one food/meal does not constitute your diet/lifestyle as “unhealthy” – it’s about VERY long-term patterns of intake, movement, and mental health. Elect yourself as the CEO of your own body – would you fire an employee because they slipped up a teeny bit (and enjoyed it, as you should when you mindfully indulge)? Would you yell at a puppy? No! Be a kind and benevolent CEO who employs mindfulness (presence in the moment) with all decisions related to food. If having total food freedom and engaging in Intuitive Eating seems overwhelming and you don’t trust yourself YET, you can practice dipping your toes in to this incredibly liberating philosophy by planning indulgences (like, okay, I’m going to a birthday party and I LOVE the bakery she ordered her cake from, so I’m going to have a slice!) which may quell the anxiety surrounding treats.
We’ve all learned to disassociate from TRUE hunger/fullness vs. satiety vs. “just enough” because of extraneous conditioning over time. You can realign yourself and refamiliarize yourself with your true hunger via journaling. Every time you sit down to eat, or if you find yourself thinking about food, jot down a number from 0 to 10 (0 being famished and 10 being sickeningly full) and rate your hunger. Write down any PHYSICAL hunger cues – rumbling, salivating, feeling dizzy, etc. Harness and write down any EMOTIONAL cues – are you feeling anxious/bored/upset about something not food-related? Over time, you’ll learn to reconnect with when you are ACTUALLY hungry (and full) versus allowing an emotional or psychological intrusion.
“Unhealthy” foods (this is all really BS; healthy vs. unhealthy – ALL foods have merit!) Mindful indulgences, as my practice calls them, are an expected part of a sustainable healthy lifestyle — otherwise it would be an UNsustainable healthy lifestyle. Food is a source of pleasure / happiness / social gathering / religion for us humans — we should honor that with intent, trust, and balance. Indulgent meals should be truly savored and enjoyed, and then become nothing but a joyous memory — not something to ruminate or harp on. When food becomes traumatizing or stressful, that’s how we know psychological intervention is needed to tease out these powerful mental forces and cope with them — that’s why my practice has enlisted licensed mental health professionals as part of our disciplinary team – it became quite clear that so many people were suffering from disturbing and upsetting mental intrusions surrounding food, when food (all foods, healthy and unhealthy) should be a source of nourishment AS WELL as pleasure.
See you on the other IE side, butterflies!
Essentially Yours,
The Essence RD Team