What is Intuitive Eating?

If you have been looking for a therapist, counselor, or psychologist in Los Angeles who specializes in eating disorders, disordered eating, or body image issues, you may have come across something called Intuitive Eating. You might be wondering, “What exactly is Intuitive Eating?” and “How can this help me?”  

Intuitive Eating is an evidenced-based model for developing healthy relationship with food, movement, and body. Intuitive Eating was created by two dietitians – Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch - as an alternative to focusing on diets and weight loss, and instead emphasizes developing and intuitive sense of what one needs and increasing self-trust instead of relying on external cues such as diets or food rules. Intuitive Eating is an essential component of all types of eating disorder treatment and has been shown in numerous studies to be correlated with increased levels of body appreciation, self-esteem, and satisfaction with life, and lower levels of eating disorder symptoms, body shame, internalization of media appearance ideals, and depression[1].

There are 10 principles involved in Intuitive Eating[2]:

Principle #1: Reject The Diet Mentality

Diets don't work. Diets offer false hope of losing weight permanently, but there is not a single study that shows that diets actually work long term. Getting rid of the diet mentality is essential to being able to practice Intuitive Eating.

Principle #2: Honor Your Hunger

Instead of relying on diets or external ideas about when and how much to eat, practice paying attention to and honoring what you actually are craving and how much you need to eat to feel full. You can trust your body, and your body knows exactly what you need. Eating less than you need will trigger a primal drive to eat quickly and past fullness.

 Principle #3: Make Peace with Food

Give yourself unconditional permission to eat. If you tell yourself you can't have a certain food, this will lead to deprivation, uncontrollable cravings, binging, and guilt. You will have a "last supper" mentality (i.e. the diet starts tomorrow so I better eat all the ice cream I can tonight). This creates a binge/restrict cycle. With unconditional permission, no food is off limits, and the binging will stop.

Principle #4: Challenge the Food Police

The food police is the opposite of unconditional permission to eat. Reject the thoughts that you are "good" for eating salad or "bad" for eating cake. Get rid of the idea of food rules and "cheat days." The idea of eating a small portion, not eating in the evening, only eating dessert 1x/week are old rules from diets. These are not true and will get in the way of you being able to listen to your body.

Principle #5: Respect Your Fullness

Pay attention to your internal signals to tell you when you are full, instead of portion sizes or counting calories. Learn to listen to your body instead of needing to finish your plate if you are no longer hungry.

Principle #6: Discover the Satisfaction Factor

Pay attention to how food tastes and what you actually enjoy. If you eat an apple when you actually feel like eating a cookie, you will not be satisfied. Use pleasure and taste to make decisions about food instead of diets or rules. You can trust your body.

 Principle #7: Honor Your Feelings

If you use food to manage emotions, find other ways to take care of yourself and feel your feelings without turning to food. Most people naturally manage their feelings better when practicing intuitive eating because they are no longer restricting food.

Principle #8: Respect Your Body

Accept your genetic blueprint. Body size diversity is normal and wonderful. Just like people have different shoe sizes and heights, people are not meant to be the same size. Body image work happens internally, not externally. Changing your body will not make you feel better about yourself in the long term but working on your beliefs and your relationship with your body will.

Principle #9: Joyful Movement

Move your body in a way that feels good for you. Forget the idea that you need to be miserable in the gym for exercise to "count." When you listen to your body about what feels good, you will move your body more consistently and actually enjoy it. Playing with your kids, cleaning the house, walking the dog, yoga - these are all forms of joyful movement.

Principle #10: Honor Your Health through Gentle Nutrition

The last principle is last for a reason - we cannot think about nutrition until we get rid of the diet mentality, food rules, shame, guilt, and self-criticism. If you practice Intuitive Eating, you will naturally eat a balanced diet with a variety of foods. Gently and flexibly paying attention to making sure you get enough carbohydrates, protein, fat, and fruits and veggies is part of Intuitive Eating. No single food is bad for you (unless you are allergic to it or it has gone rotten). One meal, one day, one month of eating will not hurt you.

Intuitive Eating is an important framework for all people, because let’s face it, we all live in this world that has so many complicated messages about diet culture, appearance, and bodies. But Intuitive Eating is especially important if you are working to change your relationship with food, exercise, and your body. As a Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor, I am specifically trained to help you work through the concept of Intuitive Eating and address the underlying emotional and psychological reasons you might be struggling in the first place.

I hope this helps you have an idea of what Intuitive Eating is and how it might be helpful for you. If you want extra support or to learn more about if Intuitive Eating is right for you, I would love to help. Feel free to call me at (424) 231-5877 or message me here for a free 15-minute phone consultation. If you are looking for more information about how I work, you can read more about my approach to eating disorders, anxiety, or relationship issues.

References:

[1] https://www.intuitiveeating.org/resources/studies/

[2] Tribole, M. E. S., & Resch, M. E. S. (2020). Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Anti-Diet Approach (4th ed.). St. Martin’s Essentials.