The first principle of intuitive eating is to reject the diet mentality and in our diet-driven society, that is much easier said than done. I see it on TV, in magazines, on blogs, heck, I even see it in the comments section here at Honoring Health. For most of us, the diet mentality is so ingrained in who we are, we don’t even know how to recognize it, let alone reject it. Here are a few examples:
- Viewing food as “good” or “bad”
- Believing that life will start when you are x pounds or wear a certain size clothing
- Counting anything as way to lose weight – points, calories, carbs, fat grams, food servings
- Ignoring hunger signals to lose weight
- Cheat days
- Being on or off the wagon, sometimes referred to as being on or off “track”
- Using exercise as a way to “earn” food or “payback” for food already eaten
Do you recognize any of those thoughts or beliefs?
In order to be an intuitive eater, you must first completely, without a doubt reject all of those ideas. You have to embrace the truth that your body is wise and it is the only guide you need to feel and look your best. By tuning into your bodies wisdom instead of the diet mentality, you will reach your bodies natural weight or “set point” and you will have a much healthier relationship with food. Let go of the idea that the next best thing in fad diets is the answer to all of your problems with food. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, it isn’t about the food.
So, what can you do to actively reject the diet mentality?
- Throw out your scale. Smash it with a sledge hammer. It does not determine your worth.
- Burn your diet books. All of them.
- Get rid of all of your clothing that does not fit, whether bigger or smaller
- Stop visiting weight loss websites, blogs, forums, centers, whatever
- Tell your friends and family you aren’t going to diet anymore
- Take care of your self and constantly remind yourself that with hard work and patience, you will learn to trust your body
With time, patience and faith in yourself, you can reject the diet mentality. Will it sometimes feel never ending?
Yes. But can you do it?
Yes.
Do you recognize the diet mentality in your thoughts and actions? What about in the world around you? How do you reject the diet mentality?
I totally know what you mean with this. Man I am living in this..and f— it’s hard to let go of. When I read the ‘You have to embrace the truth that your body is wise and it is the only guide you need to feel and look your best.’—it sinks back in to my heart..cause man I am about 1 click away from signing back up to WW. I only tell you this, cause then it gets it out of my head. I have had a ‘last supper’ for the past month pretty much every day. What is interesting is that I was eating candy today and I tooked at it and said ‘look at what sugar makes me do, binge.’ Then i STOPPED and said ‘NO, sugar doesn’t make you do anything. it’s your choice, quit acting like a victim’. I find that my day REVOLVES around food. So I have some things to think about..but I guess from a purely money focused arena..thanks for not letting me waste money. From others..thanks for reminding me that MY BODY is my source of knowledge and I have to constantly remind myself of that.
I threw out my scale 5 years ago. And then I bought another one. And then I got rid of that one. And now I’ve been scale free for nearly 5 years and I get weighed once a year at the doctor’s office for my annual exam. I weigh backwards and ask them not to tell me the number. I have had ups and downs and steps forward and backward, but the fact remains that when I trust my body I am happy and content with myself. The minute I start to restrict or cut out this food or that food, I am back on the dieting merry-go-round *like that*.
I am sensitive to gluten so I stay away from it, but that doesn’t cause problems for me because I’m avoid gluten to feel better, not to drop 10 pounds.
When I decided to really listen to my body and give it what it asks for, I found my way to a natural weight without having to work at being size “whatever” and not having to worry about cheating or eating the wrong food. There is no wrong food. Food is just food.
I’m so happy you’re writing an Intuitive Eating blog. There’s a need for it, I believe. I like health and fitness blogs because I love working out and kettlebell training and feeling strong, but they all lose me with the low-fat, calorie counting, no dairy, whatever. That part of the equation just doesn’t work for me.
Wow, I just wrote a book in your comment section. Sorry about that.
Thanks for your comment, Beth and I’m glad you like my blog. No worries on the long comments, those are my favorite kind! I love discussion and hearing everyone’s point of view!
As you know, I was trapped in the diet mentality for years. If I was dieting, then I was “good.” If I was “off-track,” then I was “bad.” Such twisted thinking, and yet who can blame someone for it when those messages surround us?
By the way, someone sent me a message yesterday saying that they found your blog through my blog and they love it! :)
Those messages are everywhere! It really is no wonder we think the way we do, but as you know, we can re-wire what we think and believe!
Thanks for sharing that about your reader, that means so much to me!
I liked reading your thoughts about intuitive eating. I have been doing this for more than 3 months now and have lost 19 lbs. However, I have a little different take on the issue. My method of intuitive eating is cutting out almost all processed foods and all sugar (I use minimal honey). I have proof for myself that sugar is so bad for my body and it masks my hunger. I still keep my scale and weigh myself every day. I’m still in the learning process of how much I need to eat or what is too much. I also still have 23 lbs left to loose and need to make sure I’m still loosing and not plateaued or gaining.
Intuitive eating has been the best thing to me ever. I have learned so much about myself and my body. I still occasionally eat fast food or have a little sugar, but I no longer feel guilty or have binges on them because I know that the food is not healthy. A lot of the times it doesn’t even taste good to me!
Chari´s last blog ..WheatGrassKits.com Review & Giveaway
Chari, I so admire that you’ve reached such a healthy place with your eating. I feel the same way about white sugar; I hardly crave it now, knowing how it ravages my body afterwards.
Is the weight that you’re trying to lose a number that your doctor has discussed with you? I’m just curious because I want to lose weight because the weight I’m at now feels too heavy for my joints…but I’m wondering if there are other indicators that will let me know when I’ve reached my natural weight.
I’m sorry to intervene ladies but out of respect for by blog as a resource for people learning to eat intuitively, I would really appreciate if you could take the weight loss talk elsewhere.
I still struggle with this one, the first principle of Intuitive Eating! I find that when I get stressed or upset about something, the diet mentality sneaks back in and I start thinking about cutting back, exercising more, skipping dessert, reading “good” books with the diet mentality hiding in them, and I have to start all over again because it throws me off so bad. I usually have a few days where I choose not to exercise or give in to emotional eating a little more to really drive home the point that dieting is NOT part of my life anymore, and will never be again. I’m going through one of those periods right now and my body feels lousy. This last one has been pretty severe. I haven’t had a “fat day” in a long time but yesterday, I had one and I couldn’t figure out what was really bothering me. My “recovery periods” have been getting shorter and shorter though, so I count that as progress.
This was likely one of the hardest steps for me in Intuitive Eating process. It felt like I was brainwashed and I had to reprogram my thoughts, my beliefs and my choices. It is something that I freely admit that I still struggle with. I think Intuitive Eating is such a wonderful approach to your relationship with food but with that comes effort, conscious decisions and practice. Only then have I been able to reprogram this brain of mine. I’ve particularly been challenged this year as I’m getting married. Thoughts of trying to be a certain size for the wedding, looking a certain way leads me back to where I don’t want to be…
Ultimately my way of rejecting the diet mentality is to remove ALL LABELS OF FOOD. No good, no bad, no in between. Food is just food.
Oh and I might, might have had a diet book burning party. :)
Funny how I don’t feel that I have a diet mentality (I eat intuitively) yet all your point about how to “reject” it are things I won’t do. Like for me I think a lot of it has to do with the fact that I blog about my weight loss, so I track progress with the scale (though I take breaks from it… like this month without the scale), and I read diet/fitness books to review (but don’t follow their advice unless it’s about clean/whole eating), I visit weight loss blogs and forums to get and give encouragement because it’s needed, etc. The only point on that list I really like and follow is the last one. :)
For me I just eat when I’m hungry – I don’t have set times or schedules and I eat what I want until I’m full. I don’t count calories even though people say I should and I don’t weigh or measure my food. It’s nice to just eat and not worry about those kinds of things. I’d much rather enjoy my food than think about the chemical makeup of it and how many calories it contains. But I also have cut most sugar out of my life and only eat sweets on weekends. I’ve learned through eating intuitively that sugar tastes yummy to me but it doesn’t make my body feel very good and it encourages me to eat more even though I don’t need/want it. One of the good things about listening to your body is that you can learn these kinds of things about yourself instead of following some diet’s rules that may or may not actually apply to you (some people can eat sugar without a problem!).
I also fully agree with you on the bit about not waiting for your life to start when you are a certain weight. I hate that people do that! I have chosen to do the exact opposite and do everything I can/want to do before reaching some magical weight! numbers don’t matter in the grand scheme of things. :)
I probably should write a blog about intuitive eating soon… I love it! Thanks for the inspiration and the good thoughts. :)
Mary (A Merry Life)´s last blog ..A Quick Guide To Healthy Skin
I’d be really curious to see your perspective on intuitive eating, Mary. I have been reading your blog for a while and following you on twitter and had no idea you were an intuitive eater. I just tweeted this question, too, but I was wondering, what do you feel is the difference between intuitive eating and losing weight without dieting? My perspective is from the book intuitive eating which isn’t about weight loss at all.
I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Cool. I will definitely formulate my thoughts and post sometime next week. :)
Mary (A Merry Life)´s last blog ..A Quick Guide To Healthy Skin
Awesome, I will be keeping my google reader eyes peeled for it ;)
i definitely do…i feel like i’ve seen all of the things you listed in my life again recently, which i hate. it’s good to recognize that though, because now i know what to guard myself against and can basically “call myself out” when those thoughts creep in. thanks for yet another outstanding post :)
I am a struggling intuitive eater. Even though the rational part of me fully believes in intuitive eating and health at every size, which I feel are very interconnected, I have a hard time with my “emotional side” letting the diet mentality go — if that makes sense. It’s that, “I want to do this, but I don’t want to put on any weight in the process” or that small voice inside my head telling me that I’m really just giving up. I know the biggest enemy for me is my scale. It’s a crutch for me — a bad one — but still one I don’t want to get rid of. The intense fear I feel when the thought of getting rid of it proves that it’s not good for me — hopefully some day I’ll be able to rid myself of it. I think I’d be healthier for it, for sure.
Anyway, thanks for reminding us all that even though it’s a hard process, it CAN be done with a lot of hard work!
oh boy, you speak of everything i am in the midst of doing. changing a mindset that has been ingrained with all those things is hard, but possible. you’ve done it, others have done it, and succeeded and feel better, mentally and physically. i can’t wait to get there…
Melissa @ TryingToHeal´s last blog ..Edamame and Chocolate Covered Raisin Oatmeal Cookies
Great post. The thing that jumped out at me the most was the part about being on or off track–that is language I use sometimes and that I never thought of as being diet language. In my own life, I often struggle with a tension between convenience and nourishment in my eating choices. When I feel as though those things have become out of balance in my life, I sometimes refer to my eating as “off track.” I never thought of that as being part of the good foods-bad foods mentality. You’ve given me some food for thought.
Hil´s last blog ..Easy Asparagus and Ham Rolls
I always joke that we aren’t on a track, we are on a life. I like to think of it as a hiking trip. Sometimes, you may get lost only to discover the most beautiful view you’ve ever seen. I don’t view that as a mistake or falling off, I view it as a lesson in the making.
Oh, and PS, nice to see you again :D
Good point. :-)
And it’s great to see you too!
Hil´s last blog ..Easy Asparagus and Ham Rolls
I’m just starting to work on intuitive eating. I have a hard time not counting calories, even if I’m not keeping a food log. I feel like those numbers have been going through my head for 15 years, so it is hard to just shut it off.
I’ve been wondering how calories, food logs and weighing-in figures in to intuitive eating, but I think you helped answer some of my questions with this post :)
Thanks!
zenLizzie´s last blog ..A first day of mindful eating
Have been working on this for awhile. I no longer weigh myself and try to look at eats and exercise as a holistic thing (like, over the whole week, or maybe even month) instead of each individual day needing to be perfect. Its hard but I am definitely getting better. Blogs though, even inspirational ones, I think can sometimes hurt. Because it makes us constantly be THINKING about food and intuitive eating and all that and I think the real key to success is to NOT think about food nearly as much as we do!
I’ve “broken up” with the scale. I used to weigh myself daily. Since January 1, 2010, I’ve only weighed myself twice. I’m happy to report there was a one pound difference in the five and a half months between those two weigh-ins. I contribute that to FINALLY listening to my body.
It’s so hard to get out of the mind set when you have been living in it for so long. I really thought life would be perfect when I reached my weight loss goal, but am I really all that much happier than when I was 250 pounds? Somedays, I wonder.
Alicia at Poise in Parma´s last blog ..A Big Announcement: Women’s Health Magazine