What is Intuitive Eating?
Intuitive Eating is an evidence-based, self-care eating framework developed in 1995 by dietitians Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch.
It encourages you to reconnect with your body's internal cues, such as hunger and fullness, and to develop a healthy relationship with food and your bodies. This approach integrates instinct, emotion, and rational thought, promoting a weight-neutral perspective that emphasises body respect and acceptance.
The intuitive eating framework has been validated by more than 200 scientific studies. It is positively correlated to improved body appreciation, image, and function, as well as increased mindfulness, self-esteem, and wellbeing. Intuitive eaters report less body shape and weight concerns, less emotional eating, anxiety, and depression (1).
The problem with dieting
The diet industry generates billions in revenue every year, and like any business, these companies want repeat customers. When we talk about the business of wellness, or the business of dieting, it is not really in the industry’s best interest for someone to actually be successful long term.
The income potential aside, in recent years more and more research has been coming out showing us that dieting is not sustainable long term, those following diets overwhelmingly regain the weight lost, and the deprivation of diets and the yo-yo nature of the process actually results in a higher risk of disease. These eating patterns can lead to weight cycling, a constant up and down of your body weight, which is considered a risk factor for cardiovascular disease, inflammation, high blood pressure, and insulin resistance (2).
Even moderate dietary restriction has been shown to create distorted relationships with food, such as obsessive behaviour and binge eating. In an infamous study from the 1950s, men who were screened to be in excellent mental and physical health were put on a semi-starvation diet for 6-months. Over the course of the diet, these men started to exhibit symptoms that many chronic dieters likely will find familiar: they became obsessed with food, their eating style changed, some experiences periods of binging or purging, personalities began to change, and some developed exercise obsessions in order to earn a higher number of calories. On average, it took the participants about 5 months to normalise their eating after the deprivation period ended, remarking that they often experienced insatiable hunger as well as a fear of future food deprivation (3).
Intuitive Eating is a form of anti-diet
Nourishing our body is a natural response that we are born with. A newborn’s first reflexes are to look for milk from its mother. A baby will ask for food when it is hungry and stop when it is full. This is intuitive eating.
For many of us, as we grew older, we learned to no longer trust our bodies’ natural instincts. We were ordered to clear our plate or finish our broccoli before we could have dessert. Food became a reward and sometimes a punishment. Maybe certain things were restricted or forbidden for you. We can go from one moment of receiving encouragement to continue eating (just one won’t hurt) to the next moment of being shamed for our food choices. It’s no surprise that food has become intrinsically tied up in our emotions and can create intense feelings of guilt or shame.
Intuitive eating is not a diet. It doesn’t include meal plans or count calories or macros. It is essentially deprogramming our learned habits and release judgement and shame around food. It guides you in getting back in touch with your body and trusting it’s instincts. Through intuitive eating you can learn how to decode and step away from the diet culture that is present not only in the media but has also been programmed into your own subconscious.
The principles of intuitive eating
The framework is structured around ten core principles (2):
Reject the Diet Mentality: Let go of dieting and the pursuit of weight loss.
Honor Your Hunger: Listen to and respect your body's hunger signals.
Make Peace with Food: Allow yourself unconditional permission to eat all foods.
Challenge the Food Police: Confront and dismiss thoughts that label foods as "good" or "bad."
Respect Your Fullness: Tune into your body's signals to recognize when you're comfortably full.
Discover the Satisfaction Factor: Find joy and satisfaction in the eating experience.
Honor Your Feelings Without Using Food: Develop coping mechanisms for emotions that don't involve eating.
Respect Your Body: Accept and appreciate your body's unique characteristics.
Exercise—Feel the Difference: Engage in physical activities that you enjoy and that make you feel good.
Honour Your Health with Gentle Nutrition: Make food choices that honour your health and taste buds while making you feel well.
By embracing these principles, you cultivate a more attuned and compassionate relationship with food and your body, moving away from restrictive diets and toward a more balanced and fulfilling way of eating.
Are you interested in learning more about intuitive eating and starting your own journey towards rediscovering the pleasures of eating?
Check out my 6-week introduction to intuitive eating group course
Or, book in for a private consultation.
Find out more about intuitive eating at https://www.intuitiveeating.org/
(1) Linardon, J., Tylka, T. L., & Fuller‐Tyszkiewicz, M. (2021). Intuitive eating and its psychological correlates: A meta‐analysis. International Journal of Eating Disorders, 54(7), 1073–1098. https://doi.org/10.1002/eat.23509
(2) Tribole, E., & Resch, E., (2020). Intuitive Eating, 4th Edition: A Revolutionary Anti-Diet Approach. St. Martin’s Essentials.
(3) Keys A et al. The Biology of Human Starvation vol I & II. University of Minnesota. St. Paul: Minnesota, 1950.