Intuitive Eating
Intuitive eating is a funny thing because the word “intuitive” should mean that it happens on its own without any help. And yes, this is the way it should work. In fact, this is actually the way it does work, initially; we all start off as baby intuitive eaters. Unfortunately, though, we live in a society that starts “teaching” us how to eat from a very young age and all of this well-intentioned “nutrition education” backfires, making us lose touch with our eating intuition.
This is where working with a professional can help.
There is an extensive body of research that shows that dieting is not an effective way to achieve weight loss or to improve your health. A dieting body is one where the brain and the body are fighting against each other as both try to be in control of your eating.
This is why intuitive eating is not another diet. With intuitive eating, there are no rules and no right or wrong way to eat. I will help guide you along the way as you re-establish the complex connections and trust between your brain and your body and allow them to work together to guide your eating in a way that works best for you.
Together we will establish a foundation based on the two pillars of intuitive eating:
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Keep your body fed
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There is no such thing as "good" foods or "bad" foods
As we incorporate these principles back in to your life, we will gradually leave restriction, deprivation, binge-eating, food fears, and food guilt behind and replace them with an ability to listen to your own body and complete food freedom!
Is intuitive eating right for me?
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Does your weight cycle up and down?
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Do you feel like you’ve failed every diet you’ve tried?
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Do you feel out of control around certain foods?
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Do you feel like there are certain foods that you should never eat?
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Do you feel guilty after eating forbidden foods?
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Do you feel the need to compensate for eating forbidden foods by eating less, eating healthier, exercising more, etc?
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Do you have a set of "rules" that help you decide what to eat or when to eat?
If you’ve answered yes to any of these questions, you are engaged in the dieting mentality. The dieting mentality tells us that food should only be used as fuel. It tells us that we can’t be trusted to make decisions about what or when to eat and that we need to follow specific food rules so that we don’t lose control of ourselves and become overweight and unhealthy. It tells us that food is not our friend, but an enemy to be both respected and feared.
Common outcomes of dieting and the dieting mentality include increased abdominal fat, increased difficulty losing weight with subsequent diets, fear around food/eating, guilt around food/eating, preoccupation with food, binge-eating, anxiety, and depression.
Many benefits await you once you leave the dieting mentality behind, but this can be a very scary thing to do. It is difficult to reframe our minds to accept a new way of thinking.
Let me help you rediscover your own ability to navigate your eating and allow you to connect to the freedom, peace, and joy of eating intuitively!
