Are you doing intuitive eating all WRONG!?

One of my favorite things I get to do with my clients and in the WBK Health and Hormones course is help women to heal their relationship with food and movement through intuitive eating. To me, it’s the most helpful form of eating disorder or disordered eating recovery when you’ve come from a place of restriction, feeling out of control around food, or are constantly counting calories and tracking macros.

I know how that experience was for me…

DRAINING

EXHAUSTING

ALL-CONSUMING

… and that’s why I was so grateful for the day I found intuitive eating, and I’m so excited each time I get to introduce one of my clients to it.

If you’re new to intuitive eating, there is a whole book you can read up on and learn all of the principles. As you dive into the book or my course, each person I’ve worked with, including myself, has this “aha!” moment where it just clicks, and they realize that their relationship with food doesn’t have to be that HARD. You become more and more aware of the rules you’ve built up around food. You start to understand how you’ve labeled foods as GOOD or BAD. And you see how sneaky diet culture truly is.

Once you have that awareness, you move into giving your body permission to eat until it feels full. You begin to become more in tune with your body’s signals of hunger and fullness. You start to feel more free around food, less need to restrict, and less restriction means less triggered binges. If you’re on this path, you’ll probably start to find more people to follow on Instagram who spread this message, listen to podcasts that resonate the same message, and feel like you’re unlearning everything diet culture taught you. Until one day, you’re hit with a very frustrating question.

AM I DOING THIS WHOLE INTUITIVE EATING THING WRONG SINCE I'M HAVING CAULIFLOWER RICE INSTEAD OF RICE?

DO I WANT THAT SALAD INSTEAD OF PIZZA?

AM I BAD AT INTUITIVE EATING BECAUSE I'M CHOOSING A GREEN SMOOTHIE?

I know that with all of the women I’ve worked with, again including myself, this little bit of self-doubt creeps in at some point when healing our relationships with food. It’s natural because for so long, you’ve associated certain foods with dieting and being “low calorie.” And if you feel like you’re questioning yourself. Like you’re uncertain of if you’re dipping back into the land of diets or if you’re craving something light and fresh, there’s a straightforward question you can ask yourself:

DO I TRULY WANT THIS OPTION, OR AM I CHOOSING THIS OUT OF FEAR/ CONTROL/ STRESS?

Ask yourself how you would feel if the lighter option you’re considering is no longer available how you would feel about the alternative. For example, if the restaurant you were at didn’t have cauliflower rice and white rice was the only option. Or if you ran out of lettuce for a salad and it’s late, and you had to order a pizza, how would that make you feel? Out of control, or calm? If you’re still feeling out of control, it’s just a way for you to notice (judgment-free) that you may still be trying to really micromanage your food.

Understanding the current status of your relationship to certain foods that have been tied to restrictions and diets in the past can really allow you to move forward and make better, more aligned choices that are stress-free in the future.

You can still totally enjoy a lean green protein shake or a nice big green salad as an intuitive eater, honestly. For hormonal balance and overall health, it’s encouraged and a great part of a balanced diet. As long as the choices you’re making are coming from a place of true desire rather than fear and control, you’re doing this whole thing right.

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Kelley