You’re reading all the books, listening to all the podcasts, and loving all the anti-diet posts on Instagram…but you’re still eating in secret, spiraling after a “bad” food day, and telling yourself that you just “need to lose a few pounds.”
If it feels like you can’t stop overeating or kick judgmental thoughts to the curb, I’m going to be honest with you: diet culture is still living rent-free in your head.
Today, I want to show you how my client Emily* changed her relationship with food and her body in just under a year, even when it felt hard…and how you can do the same.
Meet Emily*
When I first met Emily, she shared that she’d been struggling with figuring out how to eat if she wasn’t dieting, tracking her food, and counting calories. She liked the idea of intuitive eating, but didn’t know how to put it into action in her everyday life.
Emily had done the head work – read the book and understood the concepts – but she didn’t have the practical tools and steps to translate that into what she wanted to eat for dinner or what it actually looked like in her body.
Less than a year later, she was stashing her leftover pasta primavera with sausage and Reese’s cup in the break room fridge for lunch and dreaming about her summer vacation without planning to cut out carbs the month before.
It wasn’t always smooth sailing. Let’s explore the four areas that Emily got stuck in on her intuitive eating journey, the tools we used to help her through, and how you can use them too.
Roadblock #1: Not Knowing When, Where, or How to Eat
Because Emily was struggling with putting the intuitive eating principles into place, the first thing we did was implement into my SCA framework.
Schedule. If you’re thinking, “Eating on a schedule doesn’t sound very intuitive!”, I hear you…but in the beginning, it’s important. Why? You don’t trust your hunger or fullness cues yet, and your digestive and appetite hormones are jacked up, so we need to get them back into a rhythm to show your body fuel is available.
Composition. Pair carbohydrate, protein, and fat to get a good balance of what you’re craving, what naturally tastes good, and what your body needs nutritionally.
Amount. This is determined by your hunger and fullness cues, a.k.a., listening to your body.
This 3-step process for body-led eating helps you get back to a place where you are connected with your body and can trust yourself with food.
Roadblock #2: Health Concerns
About three months in, Emily got her labs back and her A1c was still in the pre-diabetic range, so we leaned into two powerful gentle nutrition tools:
- My snack hack. For a satisfying and energizing snack, pair a carbohydrate with a protein. Think cheese and crackers, fruit and Greek yogurt, or a cheese stick and some crackers. (My favorite? Doritos dipped in cottage cheese!)
- Decharming foods. If there is food that you’ve binged on or you feel like you eat too much of, you’re not alone. I break down the three strategies to help you enjoy those foods without going overboard in this episode.
You don’t have to ignore or sacrifice your health in the name of food freedom or intuitive eating. It is possible to support your health in effective and sustainable ways – and dieting isn’t one of them.
Roadblock #3: Body Image Spiraling
At the six-month mark, Emily was getting ready to head to a college friend’s wedding and had a body image spiral. A few months later, she experienced an unexplained weight gain. We did an audit. She took the results to her doctor and discovered her thyroid was out of whack. Rather than restricting her eating, Emily listened to her body, got curious, and stayed compassionate even in the presence of fear and negative body image thoughts.
If you experience negative body image thoughts or have a spiral, take a breath and do a quick vibe check:
- How’s your body image right now?
- How do you feel about your body?
- On a scale of 1-10, how much do you want to change your body right now?
Write these answers down and journal it out. If you’re experiencing symptoms, physical or mental, write them down to bring to your doctor at your next appointment. Reclaiming a positive relationship with your body takes effort, but be patient, practice gratitude, and trust the process.
Roadblock #4: Overcoming Exercise Resistance
After nine months, Emily expressed a resistance around exercise. She wanted to do it, but couldn’t make it happen. We worked together in a 1:1 session to reframe it as joyful movement and Emily had a breakthrough. She found she loved pickleball, rec league soccer, and swimming.
It is possible to build a sustainable exercise routine without focusing on weight loss, steps taken, or, well, any kind of numbers. Finding a type of movement that brings you joy is so much more important than the stats on your smartwatch app. Focus on finding new ways to move, embrace the days you don’t feel like exercises, and lean into the journey.
Intuitive Eating Principles Aren’t Enough
Having the head knowledge of intuitive eating isn’t enough to heal your relationship with food and your body. To make real, lasting peace with food, your body, your health, and exercise, you need to have the skills, strategies, frameworks, and tools ready in your toolkit for whenever you need them.
I’m not going to lie. There will be emotional hangups on your journey. Shame stories, old body image wounds, fears, and barriers will pop up and try to get in your way. But when you have the full set of strategies and skills, not just the intuitive eating principles, you know how to navigate every step of the way.
Everything can change for you when you lean into this process of healing your relationship with food and your body. You deserve peace and freedom with food, your body, and within yourself.
If you want support along this journey, I’d love to invite you to join me in Non-Diet Academy.
And remember – you are worthy just as you are.
*Name is changed.
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Search for Ep.195 (Transcript): How Intuitive Eating, Body Image Work, and Gentle Nutrition Changed Everything for my Client in Under a Year
Looking for more support on your journey to food freedom and body acceptance?
- Join my Facebook group & community “Intuitive Eating Made Easy”
- Take my FREE quiz “What’s Your Unique Path to Food Freedom?”
- Save $120 on HelloFresh, my fav food delivery service!
- Check out my course, Non-Diet Academy
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