5 Reasons to Stop Intuitive Eating asap - Pt 2

If you missed Part One, check it out here.

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In the mid-‘90s, two dietitians outlined their research-backed, non-diet way of eating in a book called Intuitive Eating. It’s a brilliant outline of how normal eaters, well… eat. But there’s a HUGE DIFFERENCE between describing how normal eaters behave, and trying to imitate those behaviors.

When it really comes down to it, for those recovering from chronic dieting and disordered eating, Intuitive Eating is a brilliantly-disguised enabler of disordered behaviors. Don’t get me wrong, Intuitive Eating isn’t inherently bad. But, without a doubt:

Practicing Intuitive Eating while you’re still recovering from chronic dieting or disordered eating isn’t helpful, it’s retrogressive. If we really want to break it down, fully half of Intuitive Eating’s 10 Principles are like throwing oil on the fire for recovering women.

Let’s break it down.

Principle #5: Discover the Satisfaction Factor

The rule: The authors advise attempting to “find that it takes just the right amount of food for you to decide you’ve had ‘enough’” by making meals a pleasurable experience.

The issue: We go into this at length in the ebook, but the bottom line is: women with a history of chronic dieting and disordered eating physically don’t have the ability to feel satisfied with physically comfortable amounts of food while recovering. The absolute truth is: their bodies need more food. Their bodies aren’t going to feel satisfied from one meal, because it takes more than one meal to eat enough food to heal the damage of undereating. And let’s be honest, eating might not be pleasurable experience if women are afraid of eating what’s in front of them. Not to mention: the thinking pattern of “I must enjoy this meal so I don’t overeat” isn’t exactly the best way to enjoy yourself, either.

What’s more is that their use of the word “enough” is easily interpreted as: the maximum amount of food you should eat before it’s considered too much. In reality, “enough” should be a minimum that women are striving to meet, not a maximum they’re dancing underneath for fear of overeating.

If women in recovery attempt to follow this principle, they’ll drive themselves crazy trying to eat just the right amount of food. This is effectively the opposite of what normal eating constitutes.

Principle #6: Feel Your Fullness

The rule: “Listen for the body signals that tell you that you are no longer hungry. Observe the signs that show that you’re comfortably full. Pause in the middle of eating and ask yourself how the food tastes, and what your current hunger level is.”

The issue: Ironically, Principle #7 explains exactly why Principle #6 is impossible to follow:

“First, recognize that food restriction, both physically and mentally, can, in and of itself, trigger loss of control.”

The glaring problem being: a recovering woman literally can’t feel their fullness in such a nuanced way. Their bodies are physically altered to make this impossible until they’ve consistently nourished themselves.

In fact, in the initial stages of renourishment, women are often persistently hungry past the point of physical sensations of fullness. This doesn’t mean they’ve become binge eaters; it means their bodies need a significant amount of food to repair the damage done by undereating.

Constantly pausing and trying to gauge your fullness essentially confirms two things:

First, that there’s a possibility of eating too much.

And second, that you must be vigilant in order to avoid getting there.

…Neither of which can be true in recovery.

Principle #7: Cope With Your Emotions With Kindness

The rule: “Find kind ways to comfort, nurture, distract, and resolve your issues.”

The issue:  It’s no secret that malnourishment causes mental distress. In fact, the act of eating in and of itself can be stressful for any woman with a history of dieting and disordered eating. Does this mean you need to start foregoing food for journalling? No!

Let’s be real: no amount of knitting and bubble baths is going to heal what under-eating created. The best and only way to strengthen your mental health during recovery is to eat.

Principle #9: Movement - Feel the Difference

The rule: “Shift your focus to how it feels to move your body, rather than the calorie-burning effect of exercise.”

The issue: There are so many reasons this is terrible advice for recovering women!

For starters, many women have long since convinced themselves they actually enjoy the things they think are good for them. Activated charcoal? Spirulina? Look, someone is convinced they love the flavor of these foods, and I guarantee they also love breaking up a sweat.

Joking aside, many women have integrated “working out” with their identity. They become the “fit friend.” Or, if they’re struggling with food and exercise at a time where their career is malleable, fitness might become their career.

Giving someone a free pass to exercise so long as they’re focusing on how their body feels is a moot point for those in recovery. We’ve long since shifted from measuring progress in calories to measuring it by miles run, steps taken, carbs avoided, hours fasted, and on and on. The feeling of relief that you’ve done something “good” by exercising only reinforces unhealthy behaviors.

I’m not saying women in recovery shouldn’t exercise. But in order to have a healthy relationship with movement, women will eventually need to uncouple disordered thoughts from movement, and the best way to dismantle compulsions around exercise is to defy them.

Principle #10: Honor Your Health - Gentle Nutrition

The rule: “You will not suddenly get a nutrient deficiency or become unhealthy, from one snack, one meal, or one day of eating. It’s what you eat consistently over time that matters. Progress, not perfection, is what counts.”

The issue: As someone who personally struggled with Intuitive Eating in recovery, I remember interpreting Principle #10 as:

“It’s OK to slip up every now and then, but you should work towards perfection the rest of the time in order for it to balance out.”

And it took me a long, painful time to realize I was wrong. Mainly because there’s no such thing as perfect eating that you could even progress toward, and no such thing as a slip up.

There’s so much nuance when it comes to making peace with food. Dive deeper into these issues by grabbing your copy of The Empowered Eating Guide here: