Introduction
In this article, I will go over the common questions people ask about intuitive eating like “what does intuitive eating mean?”, “is intuitive eating a diet?”, “will intuitive eating help me lose weight?”, and so forth. I will also introduce each of the 10 intuitive eating principles in the way that I understand them as a health education student and teacher and as an aspiring intuitive eating counselor.
What does intuitive eating mean?
According to intuitiveeating.org, “Intuitive Eating is a self-care eating framework, which integrates instinct, emotion, and rational thought and was created by two dietitians, Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch in 1995. Intuitive Eating is a weight-inclusive, evidence-based model with a validated assessment scale and over 100 studies to date.” Whoa, that’s a whole lot of info. So let’s break it down.
It’s a self-care eating framework. (It’s a way to take care of yourself)
It integrates instinct, emotion, and rational thought. (It encourages listening to your body, your emotions, and your mind)
It was created by two dietitians. (It was created by people who know what they’re talking about)
It is weight-inclusive. (It is not a strategy for weight control or manipulation)
It is evidence based with a validated assessment scale and over 100 studies to date. (It is proven to work and backed up by scientific research)
To me, intuitive eating is a way to reconnect with my body’s biological hunger and fullness cues. I spent most of my life up to this point ignoring my body’s signs of hunger and satisfaction and hating my body for having those feelings because they just got in the way of my “goals”. All I wanted was to be thin. I thought about it all the time. I prayed for thinness. I equated thinness with beauty and acceptance. It was all that mattered to me. Who cared if my body asked for more food? I was going to starve it into compliance. Force it to be the body I thought I needed for “success” in this life.
Intuitive eating is the opposite of restrictive dieting. Which brings me to my next point.
Is intuitive eating a diet?
There are 2 definitions of the word “diet”. The first is “the kinds of food that a person, animal, or community habitually eats.” We all know that whatever food you put into your body counts as your diet according to this definition. So then yes, intuitive eating is a diet if you accept only this definition of the word.
However, the word “diet” is more often understood by its second definition, “a special course of food to which one restricts oneself, either to lose weight or for medical reasons”. This second definition is what I will refer to from here on as I discuss the relationship between dieting and intuitive eating.
So, no. Intuitive eating is not a diet. And it is not intended for weight loss.
Will intuitive eating help me lose weight?
If you encounter a professional who promises weight loss as a result of intuitive eating, run away. They are not promoting the correct values and principles of intuitive eating and they are confused about the objectives of the intuitive eating model.
I once heard Evelyn Tribole discuss this in a podcast interview and she said that one of three things can happen when someone begins to eat intuitively.
- You may lose weight
- You may gain weight
- Your weight may stay the same
But it’s probably going to be a combination of all three, because your weight will naturally fluctuate throughout your life. It is just not realistic to expect your body (made mostly of water) to remain at a static weight as you go through all of the stages of human development and all of life’s hormonal shifts. Since intuitive eating is a “process of honoring health by listening and responding to the direct messages of the body in order to meet physical and psychological needs” it CANNOT be promoted as a means to manipulate weight or body size.
Is intuitive eating healthy?
I know it must be hard to imagine that discontinuing the pursuit of weight loss could be healthy! How can I be healthy if I am not losing weight? What if I gain weight? Am I still healthy? Here’s the answer:
Weight is NOT an accurate indicator of health.
BMI is NOT an accurate indicator of health.
Even in a university setting, we are taught about the limitations of measuring health based on weight and/or BMI. I was told in my public health education courses that BMI is not a good indicator of health, yet it is still accepted widely by researchers, physicians, and insurance companies because of one thing. It is easy. Sure, to know BMI all you need are two data points. Weight and height. And there you have it. Tall and skinny? Healthy. Short and round? Unhealthy. The BMI scale is the perpetuator of weight stigma and body dissatisfaction.
There isn’t even one study showing that weight-loss dieting is sustainable. Dieting and restriction may “work” in the short-term, but research shows time and time again that it inevitably leads to more weight gain (Rothblum 2018). It’s not the weight gain that is the problem though. It’s the rapid fluctuation of weight in a yo-yo dieting manner that is so hard on your body and mind. And even worse–this preoccupation with weight increases body dissatisfaction, which negatively impacts health (O-Hara & Taylor 2018) (Tribole 2018).
Therefore, yes. Intuitive eating is good for your health, because it puts a stop to the restriction and rebound of dieting and helps you listen to your body’s physiological and psychological needs. What could be better for your health than that?
The 10 principles of intuitive eating
These are the 10 principles of intuitive eating. I just want to mention that they are not steps. They are not intended to be done in order or checked off one-by-one until you are done with all 10 and suddenly you are a pro. They all work together and can be naturally implemented together. They can each be improved upon forever, and as you go struggle through the process of recovery you may circle back to these 10 principles often.
1. Reject the diet mentality
It’s not enough to just stop dieting. You need to become anti-diet. I do this by unfollowing, unsubscribing, and staying away from the many voices who promote dieting. I’m quick to unfollow someone on social media if they talk about their diet, show “what I eat in a day”, post before-and-after pictures of weight loss, or just generally make me feel like crap because of my body. Anything that triggers feelings of inadequacy and the urge to diet. Bye-bye.
2. Honor your hunger
Eat when you feel hungry. It’s ok if you just ate 20 minutes ago. When you honor your body’s sensation of hunger, it will learn to trust you and you will be less likely to get to the point of “hangry”. Letting yourself get too hungry leads to more overeating because the body’s primal instinct is to keep you alive. Don’t force your body into starvation mode.
3. Make peace with food
Give yourself permission to eat. When you feel like eating a certain food, just let yourself eat it and move on. If you’re like me, you need to heal your relationship with food. Food is not the enemy. It keeps you alive, replenishes your energy, and it’s time to call a truce.
4. Challenge the food police
You know, the little voice in your head that tells you what you should and shouldn’t be eating. It gives each food a moral value, labeling them as “good” or “bad” which makes you “good” or “bad” for eating them. Challenge that voice and find out where it is coming from. I’ll give you a hint: it’s coming from pretty much everywhere. The food police are everywhere reinforcing you when you eat the “good” foods and punishing you when you eat the “bad” ones.
5. Discover the satisfaction factor
Food can bring so much joy. Think of the wonderful experiences in life that are tied to food. I think of birthdays, family BBQs, travel, and dates. Food is a part of so many of the happy parts of life, and it is good to find pleasure in eating. Seeking pleasure is a part of living a healthy life, but it is often overshadowed by our obsession with other aspects of health. When you let yourself enjoy your food, you will discover the satisfaction factor which helps you sense when you’ve had enough. There’s a saying in Spanish, “A barriga llena, corazón contento” meaning “Full belly, happy heart”.
6. Feel your fullness
Feeling my fullness is one that I’ve had to work on because I have participated in disordered eating behaviors in the past. It can be hard to gauge when you are feeling full after having ignored the signs of hunger and fullness for so long. What helps me most is taking a pause while I’m eating and checking in with how I’m feeling. Am I still hungry? Am I approaching fullness? And I remind myself that it is not a rule to finish everything on my plate, and it’s also not a rule to leave food uneaten and refrain from having second servings. I have to practice grace with myself as I reconnect to my body’s cues because sometimes I still eat past fullness. But I’m working to rid myself of any guilt attached to what or how much I eat.
7. Cope with your emotions with kindness
When feeling strong negative emotions like loneliness, anxiety, stress, and anger you will probably find comfort in eating even if you are not hungry. However, that comfort is short-lived and you will have to face the emotion and cope with it in order to truly feel better. It is okay that food brings comfort. Food is inviting, generally easy to access, and can be enjoyed. But if you notice that you turn to food as a way to ignore or suppress negative emotions, you will find greater joy in working through your emotions than avoiding them.
8. Respect your body
Please stop being mean to your body. Every body has limitations, but our bodies do not deserve to be hated and criticized because of their size or shape. Do not set unrealistic expectations for your body and then hate it for not living up to them. Your body will never be exactly the same as someone else’s. Every single body is good and deserves dignity. Offering your body respect is the first step towards growing to love your body. Give your body space and acceptance, and recall all the good things it does for you.
9. Movement–feel the difference
Move your body because it feels good and not because you have to “earn” your food. Step away from counting the calories you burn with each workout. I wrote a whole post dedicated to movement–What Joyful Movement Means to Me. Refer there for my deeper thoughts on shifting from exercise to movement, and what it means to move your body in a way that brings you joy.
10. Honor your health–gentle nutrition
At the beginning, it was important for me to just have unconditional permission to eat whatever I wanted–and that is still true. Now, I have shifted slightly to make sure to include foods that I know will make me feel good. I knew I was ready for this step when I started getting cravings for vegetables. My body tells me when it needs nutrient dense foods. I trust what my body tells me and I think about how I want to feel at the end of a meal before eating it. This principle is tricky, and it should be kept on the back burner for someone who is just starting out.
Further Reading
This is just my short introduction to a topic that is so vast and detailed. For the complete and most accurate source of information on intuitive eating I suggest reading the book Intuitive Eating 4th Edition: A Revolutionary Anti-Diet Approach. It is a phenomenal book that, quite literally, has changed my life.
Other Resources
I share a lot about intuitive eating on social media, so if this post resonated with you or made you curious to know more, follow me at @cami.inallplaces on Instagram.
My favorite podcasts about intuitive eating (and other great health information) are:
People I follow in Instagram who inspire and support me while practicing intuitive eating:
Please reach out to me if you have any questions or would like me to dive deeper into one of the principles of intuitive eating. It is one of my greatest passions, so I would love to support you in finding food freedom!
In All Places 