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Intuitive Eating
Virtually in Marietta, GA and Serving Clients Virtually Nationwide
Are you tired of trying to keep up with the latest diet fads only to feel more confused and frustrated than when you started? Has your relationship with food started to feel like a full time job (with no benefits). Do you wish you spent less time caught up in constant “food noise” so you can focus on, well… anything else?
If you answered “yes” (or even “maybe”), let’s talk about Intuitive Eating!
What is Intuitive Eating?
Intuitive Eating is an evidenced based approach to eating and nutrition that emphasizes rebuilding trust with your body. It gives the framework to make the shift from weight focused, rule based eating to health promoting practices and healing your relationship with food and body. The goal is to begin to work with our body instead of fighting against it. Intuitive eating encourages connecting with and honoring the body’s natural signals around hunger, fullness, satisfaction, and overall well-being.
Benefits of Intuitive Eating:
Research shows that Intuitive Eating is has physical, psychological, and behavioral benefits including:
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Improved self-esteem and lower body dissatisfaction
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Lower rates of eating disorders and disordered eating behaviors
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Less depressive symptoms
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Positive changes in total cholesterol levels, HDL, and LDL
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Beneficial effects on blood pressure and inflammation markers
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Decreased patterns of weight cycling (which can happen with yo-yo dieting)
What Intuitive Eating is not:
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A hunger/ fullness diet
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Rigid rules, contingencies, or food math
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Something that relies on guilt or shame as motivation (unlike diet culture!)
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A way to control food or weight
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Ignoring nutrition or health
We are all born intuitive eaters. Babies instinctively cry when they are hungry, and toddlers often stop eating when they’ve had enough or gravitate towards foods that are enjoyable to them. As we grow up, we receive messages about food, eating, weight, and bodies that can cause us to pull away from our natural instincts and intuitive nutrition. We begin to follow external rules about how to nourish and care for our body. Most of us have been exposed to messages like “eat this, not that”, foods being labeled as “good” or “bad”, thinner bodies being seen as “healthier”, the idea that food must be earned, or restriction being praised as self-control. The list could go on and on. These create less attunement to natural hunger and fullness cues and disrupts trust in our bodies.
Imagine driving a car on a tire that’s slowly losing air but ignoring the pressure light. At first it might seem fine, but as it continues to lose air, the car won’t handle the way it’s designed to, leaving you feeling unsure or even unsafe. Our bodies work in a similar way. When we don’t respond to our natural cues and our body’s needs, we can become disconnected from them and our body may not function the way it was designed to. This can eventually reduce trust in our body, making it harder to know when, what, and how much to eat.
The good news is that it’s possible to relearn how to identify and respond to natural cues, rebuild trust, and have a healthier relationship with food and eating. Progress here looks like practice, not perfection, as there is no “perfect” way to eat. Intuitive nutrition is individualized and an approach that can be practiced by anyone.
The intuitive eating framework is based on a set of 10 principles used to guide the journey of learning to or improving our instinctive ability to nourish our body.
Core Principles of Intuitive Eating:
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Reject the Diet Mentality - letting go of food rules and diet messages that create guilt, rigidity, and fear
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Honor you hunger - reconnecting with and understanding your internal hunger cues in order to eat regularly and nourish your body
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Make Peace with Food - unconditional permission to eat all foods to reduce food noise
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Challenge the Food Police - identifying and challenging beliefs or judgements about food or eating behaviors
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Feel Your Fullness - noticing different levels of fullness and trusting your body to signal when it has had enough
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Discover the Satisfaction Factor - allowing yourself to choose foods that are enjoyable and satisfying
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Cope with Your Feelings Without Food - identifying emotions and responding with gentle curiosity and utilizing healthy coping skills as opposed to using food behaviors
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Respect Your Body - caring for your body with respect because it supports your life, not seeing it as a problem to fix in order to fit societal standards
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Exercise - feel the Difference - incorporating movement that feels enjoyable rather than punishing or compensating
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Honor Your Health with Gentle Nutrition - making food choices that support health and align with your goals and values
Ready to take the next step?
Working with one of our registered dietitians would provide guidance and support as you learn and practice intuitive eating. Through nutrition counseling, our goal is to help you:
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Feel more confident in how to nourish your body
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Use practical, sustainable strategies to support your health goals without dieting
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Increase flexibility and freedom around food
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Reduce guilt, anxiety, and stress around eating
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Pursue peace and connection with your body
If this resonates with you, or even if you’re just feeling curious, you don’t have to figure it out on your own. We are here to support you in your journey one step at a time. At Whole Self Nutrition, our approach is individualized, non-judgmental, and rooted in evidence-based care.
If you are ready to take the next step, we offer a free 15 minute discovery call where you can speak with one of our dietitians!
Resources:
Hazzard, V. M., Telke, S. E., Simone, M., Anderson, L. M., Larson, N. I., & Neumark-Sztainer, D. (2021). Intuitive eating longitudinally predicts better psychological health and lower use of disordered eating
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Serving Clients Virtually Nationwide
1225 Johnson Ferry Rd # 170,
Marietta, GA 30068, United States