10 Principles of Intuitive Eating Series, Principle 9- Movement - Feel the Difference

Evelyn Tribole, MS, RDN, CEDRD-S; and Elyse Resch, MS, RDN, CEDS-S, Fiaedp, FADA, FAND created the 10 Principles of Intuitive Eating. These principles were developed to act as guidelines and steps for anyone and everyone to learn about intuitive eating and incorporate them into their lives. We will go into the ten principles individually, what they mean to me and what they can mean for you, and how they will help to guide you on your journey through intuitive eating. Throughout this series of blog posts, we will go in-depth on the individual principles. Today, we continue with Principle 9: Movement - Feel the Difference.

The vicious cycle of dieting usually includes exercise. Dieting often can come with overexercising and pushing ourselves to break at least an hour either running or doing cardio, hoping we see a considerable number on the treadmill counter. But this is not the original purpose of exercise; this is what diet culture has morphed exercise into being. In this post, we will discuss how to reintegrate movement into our lives without any connection weight loss. We will also discuss how carbohydrates are not the enemy that diet culture makes them out to be and how to break through barriers keeping you from moving your body.

Carbs Are Our Friend:

Carbohydrates are an excellent energy source for us and our bodies to keep us moving. It can be simple carbohydrates and complex carbohydrates. Regarding how we can ingest simple carbohydrates, it can look like milk or a milk substitute and sugar. Complex carbohydrates are common in peas, whole-grain bread, beans, and vegetables. As previously mentioned, carbohydrates are our primary energy source; cutting out carbohydrates can harm your body and health. This can lead to a carbohydrate deficit; for normal biological functions to be successful, the body must have carbs. If no carbs are broken for energy, the body will begin to target muscle mass as the new source. Consider this; elite athletes make the active decision to eat carbs before their big event and have enough energy to get them through the pre-game warm-ups and their game/event itself. If the athletes didn’t eat carbohydrates, they would not have had the energy to make it; remind yourself of this example when your automated thought is that you can survive without consuming carbs. I would do this before a soccer game; I would make sure that a day or two before, I would eat a big bowl of pasta to have enough energy to sprint up and down the field. In the winters, for wrestling tournaments that would last all day, we would ensure that the boys had plenty of carb-heavy foods so they wouldn’t fatigue between matches. If you are still recovering from the dieting mentality, reintroduce carbs at your own pace, since this can be a scary step.

Give Yourself Time and Breaking Movement Barriers:

Rebuilding a relationship with movement should be gentle, especially if you used to be an over-exerciser. There is no preconceived routine or intensity that you have to prescribe regarding movement. We, as people, are allowed to ease into movement if we used to use it to lose weight.

Be aware of how much your body can tolerate and take into consideration. Saying this in the same vein as what your body is capable of and figuring out what forms of movement you can perform. When you feel ready to bring movement back into your life, notice the following: 1). Focus on how the movement feels and how you feel during the event. How do your muscles feel? How is your breathing? Does it make you feel good to be doing this motion, and do you enjoy it? Try the bike machine if you don’t like walking on the treadmill because of how your knees feel! 2). How do you feel regarding stress level? Again, how is your breathing level? Are you conscious of your inhales and exhales and their intensity? Are you in a crowded environment or alone in a peaceful setting? These factors will help you find what makes you more comfortable and confident in bringing pleasant movement back into your life. 3). How is your energy level? 4). What is your general state of well-being? 5). How much sleep are you getting? 

Beware the Exercise Mind Traps:

As noted before, shifting the significance of movement away from burning calories and losing weight to how you feel and improve is essential. Focus on movement as a way to take care of ourselves. But, take care not to get caught in exercise mind traps. Some of these include it’s not worth it, or it doesn’t count (taking power out of numbers), and having no time to spare

It’s Not Worth It/ It Doesn’t Count:

This mind trap is the thinking that if you cannot get in a set amount of time in an exercise, it doesn’t count. Like if you are only able to walk in 15-minute spurts, it doesn’t matter because they don’t happen all at once. If you are working a desk job and have the privilege to get a standing desk and a small desk treadmill, this is a way to incorporate movement into your work day. Or, instead of time being the factor that once held importance to you, it could have been the number of calories or reps. Taking the power away from numbers when moving can help to prevent over-exercising. The Having No Time to Spare mind trap can be combatted similarly. When possible, finding new ways to add movement into your life can help with these two mind traps.

Making Movement Fun and For You:

Deciding what forms of movement to incorporate into your life depends on you, your lifestyle, and your mobility level. We would not advise you to attempt lateral upper body exercises if you could not move your left arm. If you are not able to move your body much, respect your body and move on to a different principle. This principle is not for everyone. Some folks find it too triggering to work on at first, or they may not feel able to move due to other circumstanced.

Choose activities that you enjoy! I have asthma, so if I wanted to add new activities to my list of exercises. I prefer strength training when I exercise because cardio is hard on my asthma. Be sure to add variety to your exercises; you don’t want to overwork one muscle group, which can cause muscle fatigue and tendonitis (when tissue that connects muscles becomes inflamed from repeated actions). Ensure you are comfortable in your environment, what you are wearing, and the intensity at which you perform each action. We already discussed making sure you are in an environment where you feel comfortable, but this can also help you decide if you are ready to be around many people while exercising. It would help if you also were comfortable with what you are wearing to exercise; I prefer a baggy T-shirt and shorts so that my body can stay cool.

You could try including strength training and stretching in your week. Observe how your body feels when you stretch before and after you exercise. Also, check out searches for “fat-positive yoga” or different dancing classes. Swimming offers no impact. And if you are injured or just getting started, join a water aerobics class. You can vary your level in a water aerobics class. If you’ve never enjoyed movement and cannot imagine doing so, reach out to your Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor Robin. If you’ve been a chronic dieter, your relationship with movement can be complicated and you might benefit from a one-on-one session.

Disconnecting exercise from dieting can lead to a healthy relationship and understanding of movement. This includes our understanding of carbohydrates and how we need them to energize our bodies for movement. Reintroduce movement at your own pace and when you feel comfortable doing so. If you have questions about Intuitive Eating, please message Robin Harris through email at robin@bodypositiveacupuncture.com to schedule a workshop. I look forward to more posts like these, which will cover the ten principles of Intuitive Eating.