10 Principles of Intuitive Eating Series, Principle 4: Challenging the Food Police
As we have grown up, we have been taught that we have a symbolic angel on one side of the shoulder and a little devil on the other. But what if I told you that there was a third entity that we need to worry about? In the form of voices in our head that tear us down whenever food or eating is in question? These voices are called the Food Police. The Food Police also comes with a few other voices that do not help us on our journey through Intuitive Eating, and we will go more in-depth on these voices later in the post. These extras are the Nutrition Informant and the Diet Rebel.
10 Principles of Intuitive Eating Series, Principle 3- Make Peace With Food
Making peace with food can be a tall order for those recovering from an eating disorder. This part of intuitive eating can be challenging for anyone who participates in dieting and diet culture. Each principle in Intuitive Eating is not a small step but the whole staircase. Making peace with food is about ending the ongoing battle and calling for a truce. What may be hard for us to grasp is having unconditional permission to eat. Coming from a dieting background, hearing the phrase that you have UNCONDITIONAL permission to eat can be intimidating, even scary.
10 Principles of Intuitive Eating Series, Principle 2: Honor Your Hunger
In this post, we will learn more about how to honor your hunger. Honoring our hunger can be considered a way to rebuild trust between us, our bodies, and the hunger signals we have lost touch with. It can also be a way to start rebuilding your trust in food.
Repairing Your Relationship with Forced Food from Childhood
Constructing a healthy eating relationship with the food you once scorned as a child is vital in Intuitive Eating. Honoring your fullness can come from the experience of eating a portion of food that fulfills your sensation of fullness, but that does not mean you overeat.
10 Principles of Intuitive Eating Series, Principle 1: Rejecting Diet Mentality
Rejecting the diet mentality means to stop thinking about losing weight and dieting. This is a big step in your journey of intuitive eating, especially if you have been dieting for a long period of time. It is not expected of you to stop your dieting habits cold turkey, it is something that you have to ween off. Especially when it comes to counting calories, points, microproteins. Diet mentality most harshly affects those who do not fit with the stereotype that the media presents for us to look like.
What Is Intuitive Eating and Is It For Me?
Intuitive Eating is an intuitive eating practice focused on helping you find your exit ramp from diet culture and cultivate a better relationship with food and with your body. The approach builds on the wisdom of Elyse Resch and Evelyn Tribole (both experienced dietitians) who wrote the book called Intuitive Eating. This process is an avenue to regain the healthy relationship with food we all had as children. This process of reconnection is a slow one, and that is intentional. It is necessary to go at your own pace, this isn’t a “program” to complete. Unlearning diet culture will take some patience, there is no rush.