Intuitive Eating

As a dietitian with a passion for nutrition counselling, I help clients locally in Edmonton and across Alberta with the practice of intuitive eating.  The term intuitive eating and all that it truly entails is not easily understood at first glance.  So, here I break it down for you: the what, why, and how.  If you’re still not sure if intuitive eating is right for you, don’t hesitate to reach out.

What is diet culture?

The belief that health, happiness, and self-worth is achieved through being thin fuels the cultural norm we call “diet culture”.  While diet culture can be obvious (just think of the latest fad diet), it can also take shape in subtle thinness-seeking and food-restrictive beliefs, thoughts, and behaviours.

Consider the following:

  • Do you feel guilt or shame for eating foods that aren’t “good” or “healthy” enough?
  • Do you feel pressure to maintain a certain weight or clothing size?
  • Does your weight determine how much you allow yourself to eat or how much you exercise?
  • Do you eat by a set of rules and then feel guilt or shame when you break the rules?
  • Do you eat according to your emotions?
  • Do you lack the trust in yourself to know what, when, and how much to eat?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, you would likely benefit from working on your relationship with food through the practice of intuitive eating.

What is intuitive eating?

Intuitive eating is a comprehensive framework used to teach you to listen to your body and reframe your beliefs and thoughts so that you can satisfy your physical and psychological needs in relation to food.  Simply put, intuitive eating is eating in a way that’s true to you.

Image showing a lightbulb inside the brain, symbolizing how an intuitive eating dietitian helps to reframe beliefs related to food.

Key concepts of intuitive eating include:

  • Self-compassion – a safe space for your learning experience
  • Autonomy over your body and your food decisions – only you are your own expert
  • Attunement to and trusting your body’s signals
  • Process-based learning about yourself – an evolution and a practice unique to you
  • Emphasis on well-being and satisfaction – meeting your emotional and physical needs
  • A comprehensive approach and lifelong practice – not an oversimplified quick fix

The intuitive eating framework

The framework used to learn intuitive eating was created by two dietitians, Evelyn Tribole, MS, RDN, CECRD-S, and Elyse Resch, MS, RDN, CECRD-S, FAND and consists of 10 core principles:

  • Reject the Diet Mentality: Letting go of the diet beliefs, thoughts, and behaviours, whether overt or subtle, that interfere with your ability to tune into your individual needs.
  • Honour Your Hunger and Feel Your Fullness: Reconnecting with your body’s internal hunger and fullness cues.
  • Make Peace with Food: Making all foods equal and giving yourself unconditional permission to eat the foods you want to.
  • Challenge the Food Police: Retraining your beliefs and thoughts around food. Teaching your inner voice to be factual, objective, and compassionate about food rather than critical and fearful.
  • Discover the Satisfaction Factor: Rediscovering the pleasure that eating brings to you by mindfully savouring your food.
  • Cope with Your Emotions with Kindness: Developing a toolbox of strategies to cope with your emotions, so that coping with food isn’t your only way to cope.
  • Respect your Body: Retraining your beliefs and thoughts regarding your body image. Learning to respect your body, take care of your body, and be compassionate and appreciative rather than critical, regardless of size.
  • Honour your Health with Movement: Retraining your beliefs and thoughts around exercise, focusing on well-being rather than achieving an “ideal” appearance.
  • Honour your Health with Nutrition:  Marrying your body attunement with external evidenced-based nutrition recommendations to achieve your own authentic health.

The benefits of intuitive eating

Intuitive eating has grown in popularity in recent years, for a good reason.  A growing body of research shows that intuitive eating is linked to positive health outcomes, including reduced weight cycling1, reduced emotional eating2, higher self-esteem2, greater body appreciation2, and general well-being2.

What others have said

“For the first time, I’m in charge of my food and my body. Making my own choices rather than following diet rules is so empowering.” – client (shared with permission)

“I thought I couldn’t do intuitive eating because I didn’t think I would pick the “right” foods to eat. Now, I’ve learned to trust myself again and I listen to what my body needs.” – client (shared with permission)

What about weight and body mass index?

Are you wondering if you’re able to lose weight while learning to eat intuitively?  Or, do you worry that you may gain weight in the process?  You’re not alone – these questions are common.  It’s ingrained in us to equate a certain weight and body mass index (BMI) with health, self-worth, and even moral virtue, making these numbers mean more than they should.  As a registered dietitian, I rely on the research to direct my practice, not opinion or assumptions.  When it comes to weight and BMI, research shows that these measures of health have many limitations when applied to individuals3,4.  Furthermore, a weight-centered approach to health is likely to do more harm than good3,4.

It’s time for a shift in our thinking.  With a weight-neutral approach, weight and BMI are not numbers we actively try to change.  Rather, through the practice of intuitive eating, we will focus on meaningful changes that support your well-being and, through the process, you will naturally settle at the weight your body is meant to be.

The process:

Step 1:
Getting to Know You

If you’re ready to begin your intuitive eating journey, I’m here for you.  Working with me, we will complete a thorough nutrition assessment with a focus on components of the intuitive eating framework.

Step 2:
Customized Nutrition Plan

Based on your individual needs and goals, we will come up with a plan to address all facets of intuitive eating.

Step 3:
Individualized Nutrition Support

Through a collaborative process, we will begin your intuitive eating journey.  With learning and counselling, we will develop your body attunement, reframe your thoughts and beliefs to support your overall well-being, and develop your skills to nourish your body.  An intuitive eating journey can bring challenges but ultimately personal growth and a lifelong practice of taking care of yourself.  Working at a pace right for you, I’ll be there to support you through the process.

Let’s Work Together
Sources
  1. Linardon J, Tylka TL, Fuller-Tyszkiewicz M. Intuitive eating and its psychological correlates: A meta-analysis. Int J Eat Disord. 2021;54(7):1073-1098. doi:10.1002/eat.23509
  2. Van Dyke N, Drinkwater EJ. Relationships between intuitive eating and health indicators: literature review. Public Health Nutr. 2014;17(8):1757-1766. doi:10.1017/S1368980013002139
  3. Bacon L, Aphramor L. Weight science: evaluating the evidence for a paradigm shift [published correction appears in Nutr J. 2011;10:69]. Nutr J. 2011;10:9. Published 2011 Jan 24. doi:10.1186/1475-2891-10-9
  4. O’Hara L, Taylor J. What’s Wrong With the ‘War on Obesity?’ A Narrative Review of the Weight-Centered Health Paradigm and Development of the 3C Framework to Build Critical Competency for a Paradigm Shift.  Sage Open. 2018; 8(2). doi.org/10.1177/2158244018772888
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