Can I be an intuitive eater and want to lose weight?

WHAT IS INTUITIVE EATING?

Intuitive eating is a non-diet approach to health and wellness that helps you tune into your body signals, break free from the diet cycle, and heal your relationship with food. The Intuitive Eating framework was created in 1995 by two registered dietitians, Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch.

Tribole and Resch’s intuitive eating framework is a non-diet, self-care approach to nutrition, health, and well-being that helps you make decisions on what to eat based upon your body’s inner wisdom – instead of external rules or restrictions.

Rather than using outside sources – such as counting calories or points, measuring portions, or following certain eating or food rules – to determine what, when, and how much to eat, you turn inward and listen to, and trust, your body’s cues to guide you.

Over time, this allows you to build back trust with your body so that you can get out of the restrict-binge cycle, eat what you want, in a way that feels good in and for your body, and do so without obsessing or feeling guilt or shame. Learn more about intuitive eating

WHAT IF I WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT WITH INTUITIVE EATING?

If you find yourself asking the question, “how can I practice intuitive eating and still lose weight?” continue reading!

You’ve taken that step to heal your relationship with food. You’re embracing more intuitive eating principles, giving yourself permission to eat and noticing your hunger and fullness.  You truly feel yourself making progress in your relationship to food and your body!  So, what happens when you want to fully embrace intuitive eating and still have a desire to lose weight? 

What happens when the people in your life are talking about the latest diets, and losing those last 5 pounds?  It can feel like you have one foot in intuitive eating but still one foot immersed in diet culture.  First of all, let's take a moment to validate that there is absolutely space for ALL of these feelings. Especially in a society that is so immersed in weight stigma and fat phobia.  It makes perfect sense that with the constant noise and societal pressure, these conflicting feelings would emerge. 

If you want to become an intuitive eater, but also want to lose weight, my question back to you is why?  

• Where is the desire to lose weight coming from?  

• What do you feel will happen if you lose weight?  

• Will you be treated differently?  Finally accepted and worthy?  Beautiful and healthy?  Finally able to fit into that bikini from high school?  

I will never shame a client or make them feel like the desire to lose weight is “bad”. I have so much understanding, compassion, and empathy for why that may feel like a need for someone. My role as your therapist, however, is to explore where it feels like that “need” is coming from. 

I encourage you to check in with those questions, and also check in with how you currently feel. For example:

• Are you honoring and respecting your hunger? 

• Are you moving your body in mindful ways?

•  Are you feeling energized and good in your skin?

  If the answer is yes - I welcome you to consider the possibility of accepting that your set point weight may

  not be the weight you have in your mind when you think of your “ideal weight”. 
  
  

Think of your why.

Can you choose behaviors that positively impact your health instead of the behaviors being about trying to manipulate your body size?  We know from research that weight itself is not what leads to chronic disease or health conditions. It’s more important to focus on behaviors and our relationships with food, movement, stress, sleep, friends/family, etc. These are the behaviors that can create sustainable change in our relationship to ourselves and to food! 

If you try to manipulate intuitive eating so you can lose weight, that’s a diet.  With intuitive eating you may lose weight, gain weight, or stay the same.  And all of those outcomes are OKAY because instead of choosing control, you are choosing freedom and attunement.  It can also take time for your body to find its natural set point.  Honoring your hunger and fullness, giving yourself unconditional permission to eat, discovering satisfaction in eating, taking the morality and judgment away from food, finding movement that you enjoy and that feels good… these are some great ways to embrace intuitive eating.   

The journey to body trust and acceptance can be a long and winding road.  Loving your body may seem impossible and that’s completely valid.  Can you start by tolerating your body?  You may find that step is what finally allows you to move towards peace and acceptance.