Repost: Navigating Food Without a Diet Plan
“How do I know what to eat if I’m not on a diet or following a meal plan?”
This question comes up a lot. In today’s world, dieting seems like a rite of passage—a necessary step towards achieving health and happiness. Even worse, giving up a diet can feel counterintuitive to achieving that happiness. But what if dieting wasn’t necessary? What if we could navigate our relationship with food (and our bodies), find happiness, self-worth, health, and belonging, all without the constraints of a diet?
How, you might ask? Practicing intuitive eating.
Let’s explore what intuitive eating is and how it can help us make choices that are honoring to our mental, physical, and social self.
Understanding Intuitive Eating:
“Intuitive eating”, as coined by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch, is a return to the very basics of eating, similar to infancy when you trusted your hunger and fullness cues without external influence. When you wanted to eat, you ate. When you were full, you were okay leaving scraps of food behind…unless your parents came after you for not finishing your plate. Your only goal was to satisfy the body that needed to be fed.
To better understand what intuitive eating means as an adult, Evelyn and Elyse developed 10 principles to guide us. Let’s take a look at them:
The 10 Principles:
Reject the diet mentality: Ditch rules and calorie counting. Throw out the diet books and articles that offer a way to “fix” yourself. Take a step back from diet culture—it’s not true.
Honor your hunger: If you’re hungry, eat! According to Evelyn and Elyse, “Your body needs to know consistently that it will have access to food, that dieting, and deprivation have halted, once and for all.”
Make peace with food: Call a truce and give yourself unconditional permission to eat.
Challenge the food police: The Food Police will try to force you (and guilt you) into following made up rules. They’re aren’t real—tell them to go away.
Feel your fullness: Your body will tell you when it’s full—learn to trust it.
Discover the satisfaction factor: Don’t overlook one of the most basic gifts of existence – the pleasure and satisfaction of eating. Food is tasty and that’s okay!
Cope with your emotions with kindness: Find ways to comfort, nurture, distract, and resolve your emotional issues without using food. Food won’t solve the problem.
Respect your body: Accept your genetic blueprint! Like how a size 8 foot wouldn’t expect to squeeze into a size 6 shoe, it is equally futile to have similar expectations about your body.
Movement – Feel the difference: Shift your focus from calorie efficiency to movement that just feels good.
Honor your health with gentle nutrition: You can make choices that honor your body and your tongue. You don’t have to eat perfectly to eat healthily.
The Journey of Intuitive Eating:
Embarking on the path of intuitive eating isn’t a linear process, but you’ll likely hit 4 different stages in your journey towards making more grounded, intuitive choices.
You’ll start with readiness: hitting the diet rock-bottom and realizing restrictive eating is futile. Once you dust yourself off, you’ll start exploring: experimenting with foods and reacquainting yourself with your body’s communication style. You’ll start to pick up on your hunger and fullness cues. Once you get in the groove, you’ll hit crystallization: your newfound behaviors solidify and the intuitive eater within you begins to awaken. Finally, you’ll reach the treasure stage: you trust your body’s wisdom and find freedom from external food rules like dieting.
While the stages look linear, hopping between them and making u-turns is expected—any habit adjustment is going to take some practice, but you can make it easier when you find support.
Challenges and Triumphs
The journey towards intuitive eating isn’t without its challenges either. Cognitive dissonance may arise as you challenge long-held beliefs about food and weight, especially in a culture that normalizes restriction and deprivation. Yet, there is reassurance that, with compassion and patience, you can navigate these hurdles. By embracing imperfection and focusing on your unique journey towards understanding your body, you can overcome the comparison trap and stay true to your path.
Conclusion
In a world saturated with diet culture, the concept of intuitive eating may seem radical. Yet, it offers a path to liberation—a way to reclaim your autonomy and rediscover the joy of eating. The diet question serves as a beacon for those seeking an alternative to restrictive eating. With each step towards intuitive eating, you move closer to a harmonious relationship with food and your body. It’s a journey worth taking—because you’re worth being known.
Let’s embark on this adventure together, trusting in our body’s innate wisdom and embracing the abundance of flavors life has to offer. Let us support you by connecting with one of our eating disorder therapists in Cedar Rapids, Des Moines, or virtually anywhere in Iowa!
