NUTRITION SERIES: Intuitive Eating

Hi everyone! I'm back from my hiatus and, as promised, have returned with a post about intuitive eating. 

The timing of this blog post is perfect, because I just returned from a 5 week trip to Switzerland, the land of intuitive eaters. (I think that might be their motto, but I can't confirm). 

During my whole time there, I didn't talk to a single person who mentioned their weight or talked about being on a diet. No one had anything to say about the types of foods they were eating - they ate their vegetables and donuts without any moral value placed on either. Their relationships with food were the way they are meant to be. 

Being in Switzerland for that long actually changed my own relationship with food, so much so that I'm as far into recovery from my decade long battle with anorexia nervosa as I've been in my entire life. I'd even dare to say I'm recovered.

The hardest thing about an eating disorder is the intrusive thoughts, and I've hardly had any about food and my body weight since I've been home. This is my testimony as evidence that intuitive eating works, and I'll piggyback off of that with some hard facts. 

First things first: What is intuitive eating? 

"Intuitive Eating is a self-care eating framework, which integrates instinct, emotion, and rational thought" (Tribole, 2019). 

It is weight inclusive, and evidence based - with over 125 studies supporting its validity Tribole, 2019; Tribole & Resch, 2020). 

The principles of intuitive eating which I will briefly go over help you get in touch with the sensations in your body that allow you to meet your biological needs (being fed) and psychological needs, as well as taking away obstacles to your attunement with your body that are often in the form of rules, beliefs, and thoughts (Tribole & Resch, 2020). It is designed to honor both physical and mental health. 

Intuitive eating is a practice in line with Health at Every Size, as we know that pursuing intentional weight loss is a set up for failure and creates health problems in itself (Tribole & Resch, 2020). For more information on that, see my previous blog post on Weight Stigma vs. Nutrition. 

Research actually shows that a Health at Every Size approach is associated with improvements in health such as blood pressure, blood lipids, physical activity, body image, lower reductions in metabolic risk factors and eating disorder behaviors, and not a single study has found adverse changes (Tribole & Resch, 2020). 

People think that not focusing on weight will result in worse health outcomes, but it's actually the focus on weight itself that CAUSES the adverse health outcomes (Tribole & Resch, 2020).

That being said, let's talk about the 10 principles of intuitive eating.

To learn more, I absolutely recommend reading the book Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch. In the meantime, here is my brief overview. 

Principle 1: Reject the Diet Mentality

This step is about getting rid of weight loss as a goal, getting angry at the culture that tells you to lose weight and all of the lies that taught everyone (women especially) that we are a failure every time a diet stopped working and the weight was regained. Even a little bit of hope that there's a diet that could "help" you, or that weight loss is a part of this journey, will prevent you from being able to become an intuitive eater again (Tribole & Resch, 2020). 

Principle 2: Honor Your Hunger

Make sure that you are adequately fed with enough energy and carbohydrates, otherwise you send your body into a primal drive to eat more than you're comfortable with. Once you're excessively hungry, moderate and conscious eating are no longer going to happen - to build trust in yourself and in food you need to honor the signs of hunger that you get, when you get them. Don't put off eating when you're hungry!

There is a caveat if you are recovering from a restrictive eating disorder, where you may not be able to rely on your hunger signals quite yet, in which case it would be imperative to work with a dietitian who specializes in eating disorders and intuitive eating. (Tribole & Resch, 2020).

Principle 3: Make Peace with Food

You must give yourself unconditional permission to eat any food. Even thinking that you "can't" or "shouldn't" have certain foods can lead to feelings of deprivation that can turn into uncontrollable cravings and then behaviors that make you eat past comfortably full. You might think you'll never stop eating previously "forbidden" foods if you have the unconditional permission to eat them, but the opposite is true. Even thoughts or feelings of perceived deprivation can cause binging behaviors that are unpleasant to the individual. Of course it would! I wouldn't want to be told I can never eat something I love. It's a natural, biological response. (Tribole & Resch, 2020).

Principle 4: Challenge the Food Police

You must challenge the thoughts that label foods as "good" and "bad" or that you're "good" for eating a low amount of calories and "bad" for eating your favorite candy bar. There is no moral value to food. Guilt is not warranted, and does not help the process. Every food provides some form of nutritional and psychological value, and fits into the diet. Remember that deprivation (and even thoughts that turn into perceived deprivation) can only make things worse, and guilt is a terrible feeling to have over doing a morally neutral thing. Satisfying your craving is actually a morally good thing, as you honor yourself in that process. (Tribole & Resch, 2020).

Principle 5: Discover the Satisfaction Factor

When you eat what you want, and you are in a pleasant environment, you will gain pleasure that will help you feel satisfied and content in your eating. 

Keep in mind, you can't be satisfied if you don't allow the foods you want to be in your home and available to you. Many people think that if they just don't keep certain foods around they'll be less tempted to eat them but it actually creates a sense of deprivation that can have the opposite impact and "promotes a creative food foraging experience that never seems to produce a satisfying result" (Tribole & Resch, 2020).

Principle 6: Feel Your Fullness

To be able to honor your fullness you need to have trust with yourself that you'll give yourself the foods you desire. You know what full feels like, try and notice the signals in your body that you aren't hungry anymore and that you are comfortably full. 

You also need to remember, AGAIN, that any sense of deprivation can make this step really difficult, because you need to develop the trust that your unconditional permission to eat won't go away, that it's truly okay to eat. At first, when you start this process, the majority of foods you eat may be previously "forbidden" foods, and that won't last forever. You need to go through this stage as long as it takes - you are making up for a lifetime of deprivation, negative self talk, and guilt. (Tribole & Resch, 2020).  

Principle 7: Cope with Your Emotions with Kindness

Remember that mental and physical restriction of food can trigger loss of control with eating which can feel like "emotional" eating, which is not the case. This step is designed to help find ways to comfort, nurture, distract, and resolve your problems. Every feeling has its own trigger and appeasement. Dealing with the source of the emotion is important (Tribole & Resch, 2020). 

Principle 8: Respect Your Body

You must accept that your weight is genetically determined, and respect yourself for it. It's futile and uncomfortable to try and change your body size or fit into clothes that aren't the correct size. You would never cut off your toes for not fitting into a different shoe size! You deserve to feel better about who you are, that has nothing to do with your weight that was determined at birth (Tribole & Resch, 2020). 

"Any focus on weight loss will sabotage your ability to reconnect with your body's intuitive eating signals" (Tribole & Resch, 2020).

Principle 9: Movement - Feel the Difference

No more exercising for weight loss, punishment, or because you feel like you "have to!" Notice how it feels to move your body in small ways, and ways you enjoy. Do you feel energized? The smallest amount makes a difference. Even just a few minutes. Pleasure is the most important part of being able to continue to stay active. Forget the thought process of "if I can't go for a long time I might as well not do it," because every little bit can make a difference. Finding small ways to be active is an incredible way to prevent health problems (Tribole & Resch, 2020). 

Principle 10: Honor Your Health with Gentle Nutrition

First of all, this does not take away the unconditional permission to eat. This step is to honor your health AND taste buds while making you feel good. This includes eating a variety of foods, with everything still allowed. No one food or day of eating can make you "unhealthy." It's all about being balanced over time, which happens naturally with intuitive eating (Tribole & Resch, 2020). 

Intuitive eating will change your life. 

An analysis of 91 studies showed that intuitive eating was significantly positively associated with mindfulness, positive affect, self-compassion, self-esteem, body acceptance by others, body appreciation, body image flexibility, body function, and social support (Linardon et al., 2021). 

An 8 year long study with 1491 participants found that an increase in intuitive eating over 8 years brought on lower odds of high depressive symptoms, low self-esteem, high body dissatisfaction, unhealthy weight control behaviors like fasting and skipping meals, extreme weight control behaviors like taking diet pills and vomiting, and binge eating at 8-year follow-up. They also found that a one point increase in intuitive score from baseline to follow-up was associated with 71% lower odds of binge eating (Hazzard, V.M et al., 2020).

There are so many studies I can point you towards if you need more proof. 

Intuitive eating is the real deal, and if you're ready for it, it can really improve your quality of life. If you have any questions or need help to be pointed in the right direction, you know how to reach me. 

References 

Tribole, E and Resch, E. (2020). Intuitive Eating. St. Martin's Publishing Group. 

Tribole, E. (2019, July 17). Definition of Intuitive Eating. The Original Intuitive Eating Pros. https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pnesSh40tHkF7jbH3wKX5KRIGAJfkEp0Gec3o5y1vuo/edit

Hazzard, V.M., Telke, S.E., Simone, M., Anderson, L.M., Larson, N.I., Neumark-Sztainer, D. (2020, January 31). Intuitive eating longitudinally predicts better psychological health and lower use of disordered eating behaviors: findings from EAT 2010–2018. Eating and Weight Disorders - Studies on Anorexia, Bulimia and Obesity. 26, 287-294. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40519-020-00852-4

Linardon, J., Tylka, T.L, Fuller-Tyszkiewicz, M. (2021, March 30). Intuitive eating and its psychological correlates: A meta-analysis. International Journal of Eating Disorders. 54(7), 1073-1098.  https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.23509