Intuitive Eating

Stockholm syndrome

February 3, 2015

Self-Paced Course: Non-Diet Academy

FREE GUIDE: 10 Daily Habits THAT FOSTER  INTUITIVE EATING

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A Certified Eating Disorders Registered Dietitian (CEDRD) with a master's degree in dietetics & nutrition. My passion is helping you find peace with food - and within yourself.

Meet Katy

"You shouldn't eat that, it will make you fat." 

"Why aren't you eating more vegetables?  You know they're healthy for you."

"I can't believe you ate that much."

The inner food critic can be so harsh.  It bullies you into Stockholm syndrome.  You start to believe it.  But the inner food critic isn't your ally.  It makes you feel worse about yourself, which in turn results in treating yourself worse, and so on.  It doesn't create sustained behavior change. 

Breaking free from the inner food critic isn't easy.  It takes a lot of work.  First you must recognize it's voice and defuse from the thoughts.  Tune in to your healthy voice to find out what your true needs are and how to honor them.  Sometimes practicing a dialogue with the food critic can be powerful as a way to strengthen your healthy voice:

Food critic: "You can't eat that, it will cause you to gain weight."

Healthy voice: "I can eat any food I want.  By listening to my body's hunger and fullness signals I know how much to eat, and I trust that this will keep my weight stable."

 

This takes a lot of practice and intentionality, but it really does work.  By countering your inner food critic you are creating new neural pathways for more positive/useful thinking towards food.

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