Intuitive eating (IE), on the other hand, is the complete opposite of dieting, but experts say that it really does help you live a more well-rounded life. She, along with Elyse Resch, RD, coined the term “intuitive eating” in 1995 and authored the groundbreaking book Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Anti-Diet Approach, which is now in its fourth edition. They also wrote The Intuitive Eating Workbook: Ten Principles for Nourishing a Healthy Relationship With Food, which is regularly cited by the new wave of registered dietitians who are moving toward a nondiet approach in their practices. Tribole and Resch have also created a card deck, journal, and other books centered around intuitive eating. We were born knowing how to eat. Tribole says that IE connects you once again to this superpower. IE is based on the idea of “interceptive awareness.” Simply put, it’s a connection with or listening to the physical sensations of your body. What is your body saying it needs now? A snack? A meal? A bagel? A salad? You’ll eat when you feel hungry and stop when you feel full (regardless of how much is left on your plate). This is irrespective of what time it is during the day (many people eat by the clock and wait until they’re “allowed” to eat again), what you’ve already consumed earlier in the day or yesterday, or what your colleague, friend, or family member is or isn’t eating. “It’s a practice about learning to listen to your own body’s signals when making decisions about foods, rather than taking direction from external sources, which is what people do when dieting,” says Bonnie Giller, RDN, author of Enjoying Food Peace: Recipes and Intuitive Eating Wisdom to Nourish Your Body and Mind and a dietitian based in West Hempstead, New York. “A lot of people have the assumption that IE is about weight loss, or if you’re not losing weight, you’re not doing it right. I cannot stress enough that it’s not about weight loss,” says Tribole. The idea that your body’s weight may restore to where it’s most comfortable isn’t a real downside, but it can feel like that if you’ve been a chronic dieter. There’s also fear about how your eating habits will change once you stop following diet rules. Will you sit around and eat doughnuts and ice cream all day? “I tell people that it is possible that once you give yourself unconditional permission to eat, you will want to eat the foods you deemed “bad” before. But over time, this does normalize. Once you can have it whenever you want it, you won’t want to eat it every day,” says Giller. Finally, IE doesn’t ignore nutrition. Rather, it’s ‘gentle’ nutrition. “I encourage people to use taste and nutrition to help guide food choices,” adds Giller. Giller also recommends letting go of scales in your house, including those that measure your body weight or food, as well as any other “dieting” tool. But if that is too big of a jump and you’re not ready for that, it’s okay. A good place to start, says Tribole, is to aim for satisfaction when eating meals and snacks. What sustains you, brings you pleasure, and makes you feel good?
