Most of us have been on a diet at some point and if we are not on a formal ‘diet’ we are still likely restricting certain foods we consider to be ‘bad’ or limiting when and how much we eat throughout the day. Research shows dieting creates cycles of restricting and bingeing, can lead to higher rebound weight gain and an obsession with food.
Intuitive Eating is an evidence-based approach that helps you move away from rigid diet rules and willpower and helps you learn to trust your body, tune in and respond to your body’s natural appetite. This approach helps you recognise and react to your internal cues such as hunger and fullness. Embarking on an intuitive eating journey can help improve body acceptance, self-esteem, and increased wellbeing. It can also achieve health gains such as improved blood glucose control, cholesterol, and blood pressure.
Recognise that diets don’t work long term! Realise that you never failed at a diet, dieting is often the trigger for overeating! And with each new diet the feelings of deprivation rise, the number of food rules rise, the periods of under eating rise, the anxiety over maintaining that willpower rise…. until our biological primal drive to eat takes over and it all comes crashing down!
After a period of self-criticism you start this cycle all over again.. AND yet research tells us that dieting causes harm. So throw away your diet books, get angry with what the media tells you and find peace and enjoyment in food.
If you ignore your hunger your body interprets this as ‘famine’ and will trigger powerful biological mechanisms to drive eating and often this eating episode is frantic and all ‘good intentions’ are quashed.. IT IS NOT because you didn’t have willpower BUT because your evolutionary primal drive to eat is overpowering. Nourish your body and mind with adequate energy and carbohydrate. Learning to respect this biological drive is the first step in rebuilding your trust in your body.
Make peace with food and realise ALL foods can be enjoyed. Telling yourself you can’t eat or shouldn’t eat a food can only lead to cravings and intense desire to eat it that can often lead to bingeing. Giving yourself unconditional permission to eat allows you to rediscover the joy of eating what you want, when you want, without any feelings of guilt and when you achieve this, food loses its power.
Remove the rules and all moral values attached to foods. What you eat does not define who you are! Banishing ‘good’ and ‘bad’ thoughts around food and removing the guilt can help remove the weight cycling we regularly experience when dieting.
Have you ever eaten an apple when you really fancied a chocolate biscuit? Did it hit the spot? Or perhaps you have found yourself searching for a little something else despite being full after a plate of salad and chicken? Often when we are not satisfied after a snack/meal we go on the hunt for something else and often eat more of the food regardless of how full we are. Learn how to rediscover the pleasure of the palate and appreciate the satisfaction of eating what you really enjoy.
Remind yourself what fullness feels like and learn to tune into and listen to this. After years of dieting you might not even be able to describe what comfortable fullness feels like, yo-yoing instead between hunger and then overeating. To get the most out of eating it needs to be a conscious activity without distraction and with true belief you can eat whatever you want.
Understand how you can show yourself self-care and remove the reliance on food to numb or distract yourself from unwelcome feelings. Fill your emotional toolbox with other self-care strategies that can support your health goal.
Your genetic blueprint determines your weight! Stop determining your worth based on a number on the scales. Respecting your body allows you to respect who you are and whilst you might never love your body, can you find a truce and realise just how wonderful you are?
Move to make yourself feel good rather than counting the calories you just burned. If exercise is purely what you must do to lose weight you won’t be motivated to exercise for too long especially when the weight loss stops - which it will do! Instead detach exercise from weight, ditch the fitness trackers and listen to your body to find out what movement makes you feel good.
Choosing foods that help care and nourish your body and health is obviously still important. Intuitive Eating does not encourage people to eat unhealthy and research shows that Intuitive Eating is associated with improved nutrient intake and eating a wider variety of foods which will help support your overall health risk.
1-Reject the diet mentality
Recognise that diets don’t work long term! Realise that you never failed at a diet, dieting is often the trigger for overeating! And with each new diet the feelings of deprivation rise, the number of food rules rise, the periods of under eating rise, the anxiety over maintaining that willpower rise…. until our biological primal drive to eat takes over and it all comes crashing down!
After a period of self-criticism you start this cycle all over again.. AND yet research tells us that dieting causes harm. So throw away your diet books, get angry with what the media tells you and find peace and enjoyment in food.
2-Honour your hunger
If you ignore your hunger your body interprets this as ‘famine’ and will trigger powerful biological mechanisms to drive eating and often this eating episode is frantic and all ‘good intentions’ are quashed.. IT IS NOT because you didn’t have willpower BUT because your evolutionary primal drive to eat is overpowering. Nourish your body and mind with adequate energy and carbohydrate. Learning to respect this biological drive is the first step in rebuilding your trust in your body.
3-Unconditional permission to eat
Make peace with food and realise ALL foods can be enjoyed. Telling yourself you can’t eat or shouldn’t eat a food can only lead to cravings and intense desire to eat it that can often lead to bingeing. Giving yourself unconditional permission to eat allows you to rediscover the joy of eating what you want, when you want, without any feelings of guilt and when you achieve this, food loses its power.
4-Challenge your inner food police
5-Satisfaction factor
Have you ever eaten an apple when you really fancied a chocolate biscuit? Did it hit the spot? Or perhaps you have found yourself searching for a little something else despite being full after a plate of salad and chicken? Often when we are not satisfied after a snack/meal we go on the hunt for something else and often eat more of the food regardless of how full we are. Learn how to rediscover the pleasure of the palate and appreciate the satisfaction of eating what you really enjoy.
6-Feel your fullness
Remind yourself what fullness feels like and learn to tune into and listen to this. After years of dieting you might not even be able to describe what comfortable fullness feels like, yo-yoing instead between hunger and then overeating. To get the most out of eating it needs to be a conscious activity without distraction and with true belief you can eat whatever you want.
7-Understand emotional eating
8-Respect your body
9-Intuitive movement
Move to make yourself feel good rather than counting the calories you just burned. If exercise is purely what you must do to lose weight you won’t be motivated to exercise for too long especially when the weight loss stops - which it will do! Instead detach exercise from weight, ditch the fitness trackers and listen to your body to find out what movement makes you feel good.
10-Gentle nutrition
Choosing foods that help care and nourish your body and health is obviously still important. Intuitive Eating does not encourage people to eat unhealthy and research shows that Intuitive Eating is associated with improved nutrient intake and eating a wider variety of foods which will help support your overall health risk.
Sick and tired of counting calories, feeling hungry and tired all the time? Have diets consumed your every thought for too long? Are you done listening to the negative internal dialogue you hear day after day around foods and your body?
Intuitive Eating isn’t a diet but it can help you find a much healthier relationship with food and free yourself from the dieting trap. Book a 15 minute discovery call to find out more.
It was refreshing to meet with Victoria who has worked with me and helped me change my attitude with regards to food. Highly recommend Victoria!
