Intuitive eating doesn’t always have instant results. If you’re on your intuitive eating journey, you probably know it’s not consistently easy – it can be frustrating and messy, sometimes even downright hard. 

The good news? There are strategies to fastrack past some of the hard, the messy, without turning intuitive eating into just another diet. 

I’m not talking about skipping over the important parts or doing a “quick fix”. I’m talking about focusing your energy on taking action on things that work so you can actually move forward. 

Let’s dive into the four strategies that speed up the process and m the needle forward so you can find true freedom with food and peace with your body.

Strategy #1: Skip Rules & Try Food Experiments Instead

Diet culture is packed with rules:

– “Don’t eat after 8 pm.” 
– “Only have food during your eating window.” 

Even after you move away from diet culture, it’s hard to break free from these kind of rules. It’s tempting to create a new set of rules for intuitive eating, but I’ll be honest: this is dieting trying to take back control of your brain.

Instead, try food experiments.

My favorite way to do this? Ask “What happens…?” 

For example: 

– What happens if you have a bigger breakfast in the morning instead of a just protein shake? 
– What happens if you combine a carb and protein at your snacks?
– What happens if you decline to get weighed at your next doctor’s visit?
– What if you dance around your living room instead of doing that 30-minute workout?

Chances are that just reading that list made you curious. Maybe you wondered “What would happen if I had a little chocolate with all my meals?” Food experiments inspire curiosity, which leads to data instead of judgement. 

– Maybe that morning dance party boosted your confidence and you headed into your day feeling confident in your body.
– Maybe combining a carb and a protein in your afternoon snack brought you out of the dreaded 3 o’clock slump. 
– Maybe having a couple scrambled eggs with your bowl of cereal gave you the energy you needed for the morning.

Food experiments move you into action mode so you learn by doing. And because you’re experimenting, there’s no failure, just data. 

Strategy #2: Notice Hidden Diet Behaviors 

Diet culture is sneaky. It wiggles its way back inside our psyche without us noticing. 

Think about it this way: have you ever noticed yourself doing something like this during your intuitive eating journey?

– Asking for light dressing on your salad 
– Skipping the bread basket
– “Earning” dessert
– Body checking every time you walk by a reflective surface
– Engaging in diet talk with friends or family 
– Buying a walking pad for your desk and becoming obsessed with steps

These are all subtle signs of diet culture and here’s the truth: they slow down your progress because they reinforce old rules and deepen those neural pathways instead of creating new ones.

What’s the solution? Grab your magnifying glass because we’re playing Diet Detective. 

For one week, jot down every choice you make, even the subtle ones, that is rooted in diet culture. 

How do you know if it’s rooted in diet culture? Good question. It may not always be clear because we’ve been so conditioned to think in terms of diet culture that we don’t even recognize it anymore.  

A quick way to tell? Ask yourself, “When do I still feel guilty about something with food, my body or weight, or exercise?” 

That can look like feeling guilty for…

– Eating certain foods → Diet culture 
– Going over an amount of calories → Diet culture 
– Walking instead of running → Diet culture 
– Doing yoga instead of strength training → Diet culture 
– Eating a piece of pie because you saw a photo of yourself you didn’t like → Diet culture

These behaviors may be hard to see at first. If you need a second opinion on whether something is diet culture, feel free to ask in my free Intuitive Eating Made Easy Facebook group or shoot me a DM.

Strategy #3: Practice Responding to Triggers

It happens to all of us. You’re blindsided by diet talk in the company chat, an onslaught of social media posts from diet influencers talking about holiday eating rules, or a midnight body image spiral. 

It doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong or that you’ll fail. It simply means you’re human. 

Some of these triggers may come out of left field, but the good news is most of them we can prepare for. How?

1. Make a list of possible triggers. 

Think going to the doctor, seeing relatives over the holidays or family reunions, having lunch with a friend who is obsessed with their latest diet, having your photo taken or going to a wedding. 

2. Rehearse scripts and coping strategies

If you know what triggers you, you can prepare your response to it. For example, if the women in your family gather in the kitchen at Thanksgiving to talk about diets, you can choose to go color with the kids, watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade or do something else. Or if being weighed at the doctor’s office triggers you, practice how to kindly – and firmly – say you don’t want to step on the scale. 

Rehearsal and preparation shrinks the recovery time you need from these triggers. You’ll know how to respond to them more effectively or even avoid them altogether. This will speed up your overall progress and build confidence that you know how to handle these situations. 

Let’s face it: diet culture isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. Let’s anticipate, plan and prepare. 

Strategy #4: Stop Waiting for It to Get Easier & Go All In

I hear it all the time: “I’ll do intuitive eating later when the kids are older / money isn’t so tight / after the holidays / once I read that intuitive eating book again.” 

But here’s the truth: Life never pauses. Diet culture never pauses. Waiting only keeps you stuck. 

There’s always going to be a reason not to: the holidays, vacation, work stress, kids’ stuff, health. You can choose to wait until “life calms down,” but chances are, you could be sitting in the same place 6 to 12 months from now. Except you’re probably feeling defeated and hopeless because you’ve been floundering for so long. 

But by committing to going all in and giving your relationship with food the full healing it deserves, you’ll speed up your progress. 

This is exactly what I teach in Non-Diet Academy. Click here to learn more about how you can accelerate your progress now.

Before You Go

“Faster” doesn’t mean rushed, skipping over key things or doing mediocre work. It means intentional. Intentionally showing up, intentionally focusing on what moves the needle, intentionally healing your relationship with food. 

Lean into these four strategies and watch your progress go from sluggish to smooth.

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Looking for more support on your journey to food freedom and body acceptance?

– Check out my course, Non-Diet Academy
– Join my Facebook group & community “Intuitive Eating Made Easy”
– Take my FREE quiz “What’s Your Unique Path to Food Freedom?”
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