The 5 Most Important Aspects of Intuitive Eating according To a Binge Eating Coach
Over the past decade, intuitive eating has become sort of a buzzword in health and wellness spaces.
This is for good reason!
Hundreds of studies show that intuitive eating leads to:
Improved cholesterol levels
Better body image
Higher self-esteem
Improved metabolism
Decreased rates of disordered and emotional eating
Diminished stress levels
Increased satisfaction with life
As a body image counselor and eating disorder therapist in Pennsylvania, I love that Intuitive Eating is getting the airtime that it deserves.
I became a certified intuitive eating counselor back in 2017 and through my time as a therapist, a binge eating coach, and an intuitive eating coach I have come to find a handful of things that are important to keep in mind when starting an intuitive eating journey.
1. Keep rejecting the dieting mentality.
Intuitive eating includes 10 principles for folks to start practicing. The first principle is rejecting the dieting mentality. The dieting mentality can be described as the thinking patterns that are associated with diet culture. Things like rigidity around what you should, shouldn’t, can, can’t eat, food decisions based on the desire for thinness or control of the body, or thoughts or behaviors around food and body that have intentions steeped in the body change and worthiness that is dependent on size/shape.
It’s important to know that diet culture is everywhere. And, that diet culture will undoubtedly cause thoughts that are connected to the dieting mentality.
Instead of working to rid yourself of the thoughts completely, work to notice them and get curious about the emotions or life circumstances that could be triggering the thoughts. Often we see the desire to control food or the body as a symptom of a bigger, emotionally rooted issue.
2. Don’t stop at understanding hunger and fullness
Principles 2 and 6: honor your hunger and feel your fullness. These are important principles because they invite you to begin to feel what is going on in your body. This is something that’s called interoceptive awareness.
Most people who have struggled with disordered eating also struggle to connect to the body’s signals. Starting to feel hunger and fullness are entry points into a bigger picture- feeling the body’s energy, feeling your feelings, and healing from past life events.
When I first learned about Intuitive Eating, it was the spark I needed to work toward recovery from my own eating disorder. And, over the years, as I’ve deepened into my recovery, I’ve also deepened into my ability to feel, honor, and understand the workings of my nervous system.
This is something that our therapists work on with clients as they’re ready. A deeper way of healing is through and alongside the body.
It can all be jumpstarted with Intuitive Eating.
3. Allow emotional eating to let you know when something needs tending
Principle 7 encourages you to “cope with your emotions with kindness.” Here at Reclaim Therapy, we believe that emotional eating is an adaptive way to care for yourself.
Yes, you might be uncomfortable with it if it’s the only way you cope.
But, instead of eliminating the only way of coping you have, our therapists encourage clients to add to the toolbox. Allow emotional eating episodes to guide you back to yourself, to understand that there is a need that is going unmet.
4. Having a flexible eating structure is ok!
When people are done with dieting, it’s common to shift into a high gear of YOLO!
I get it!
After years of dieting and rules, there is bound to be some backlash (ie the diet binge cycle). If you’re experiencing that, take a breath, and come on back to yourself.
If you’ve been caught in dieting traps, as I shared earlier, it can be hard to feel your bodily cues. And, if you don’t know your hunger and fullness cues, how in the world will you know if you’re honoring your body or overriding it?
This is where a flexible eating structure can help. As an intuitive eating coach, I often encourage clients to eat every few hours so that they can begin to tune into their bodies and what their bodies are telling them. This isn’t a hard and fast rule, but it does provide the opportunity to slow down and feel what your body is needing and asking for.
Something that I hear all the time is, “I tried intuitive eating and it didn’t work. I just kept eating!”
Here’s what I know to be true: going from all the rules to freefall is uncomfortable. And, it can send people straight back into dieting where it feels a bit more familiar. This is where a flexible eating structure can be helpful.
Eat often. Eat adequately. Allow your body and your mind to believe that you will be fed.
5. Body image work is where it’s at.
Principle 8 encourages you to Respect Your Body. Most people we work with at Reclaim Therapy share that they first started dieting between the ages of 8-10.
What this tells us is that most people have been living with the idea that there is something wrong with their bodies for so. Incredibly. long.
As a therapy and coaching practice in Pennsylvania that specializes in providing body image therapy, we know how much healing can happen when someone decides to work through body image issues. We hope to help people relearn how to trust their bodies, regardless of their shape and size, so that they can spend their energy living a life that they love, instead of staying trapped in dieting cycles.
Dieting sucks. An intuitive eating coach can help.
our 13-WEEK intuitive eating coaching group is a great place to start.
Over the course of 13 weeks, we provide space and tools for you to understand the binge-restrict cycle, the role that diet culture and body-shame play in eating patterns, and how to start implementing Intuitive Eating.
Until next time 🧡,
We provide binge eating coaching and therapy along with intuitive eating coaching in Pennsylvania.
Learning how to eat intuitively in a world that is obsessed with dieting isn’t a small feat. The Dieter’s Rebellion is a coaching group for women who are tired of dieting and want to start living their lives in their bodies. Now. Not when.
We also provide online therapy in Pennsylvania specializing in trauma, eating disorders and body image.
Contact an Eating Disorder Therapist in Pennsylvania
Our team of specialists treats eating disorders like anorexia, bulimia, orthorexia, binge eating disorder, compulsive exercise, and chronic dieting. Our team is made up of trauma therapists who also provide EMDR therapy in Pennsylvania. You can start your therapy journey by following these simple steps:
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