Welcome back to Rebuilding Trust With Your Body, I’m Katy Harvey your host. Today on the show we are going to be talking about an aspect of intuitive eating that isn’t talked about enough. It’s something that we tend to gloss over and drive by without stopping to linger on it and dig deeper. And this one particular intuitive eating skill is something that is going to have a significant impact on your health, so it’s absolutely worth slowing down to focus on intentionally, which is why we are going to have this discussion today on the podcast. 

That skill I’m referring to is honoring your fullness. I know, I know, on the surface it seems obvious, and you might even be thinking about skipping the rest of this episode, but I can promise you that you don’t’ want to do that because I am going to be sharing some aspects of this that you’ve probably never considered before, or that you’ve never slowed down and thought about when it comes to fullness.

It sounds so simple to “eat when you’re hungry, and stop when you’re full,” – but you and I both know that’s a lot more complicated than it sounds. If it were that easy, everyone would immediately be an intuitive eater when they decided that’s what they wanted to do.

There are a LOT of reasons that it’s hard for us to honor our fullness…You might still be disconnected from your body from years or decades dieting and training yourself to NOT listen to your hunger signals. You might have habituated yourself to only letting yourself eat until you’re not hungry, but you’re avoiding fullness. Or perhaps you’ve habituated yourself to eating to a high level of fullness that’s actually more than what your body needs. Maybe you have spent years and years creating fake fullness with things like salads, diet soda, rice cakes, and when you eat something more calorie-dense like nuts or cheesecake, you tend to overeat because you’re so used to filling up on those low-calorie foods and drinks.

You see, fullness is complicated. There are times that you probably find yourself wanting to keep eating even when you’re full because the food tastes so good. Or that you don’t recognize you’re full until you’re stuffed. Or maybe you thought you were full, but then 30 or 60 minutes later you’re hungry again and you’re confused why the food didn’t stick with you longer than that. 

Recognizing and honoring fullness is a really important skill, and I want to give you some guidance and tools to help you with this today – so that you can leverage it to your advantage to be able to eat the foods you love, while also honoring your fullness and your health!

Before we dive into our main topic for today, you know what time it is…We’ve got some Wellness Woo to talk about. 

Wellness Woo is the stuff that diet and wellness culture tells us we should do in the name of health, but it’s really based on pseudoscience, exaggerated claims, or just nonsense. 

Today’s Wellness Woo is: Plant-based milk (almond milk, soy milk, oat milk, coconut milk, chia milk) 

• Popular as “healthier” alternatives to cow’s milk
  • Almond milk brought in > $2 billion in 2019 (probably higher now)
  • With these plant-based products they’re taking the plant – whether it’s an almond, soy bean, oats, and they’re heating it, grinding it down, filtering it to remove chunks of stuff, and then adding things like fat, emulsifiers, and other ingredients to make it the taste and texture of regular milk. (What’s interesting is that the a lot of the people who view these as a healthier alternative to cow’s milk are also the people who say that our food should have less ingredients…)
• Based on underlying assumption that cow’s milk is bad (debunk)
  • There have been plenty of studies, systematic reviews and meta analyses that show that dairy products have many health benefits, including for bone health, cardiovascular health, blood lipids, high blood pressure, and insulin resistance.
• There’s a time and place for alternatives
• But plant-based milk isn’t an equal swap
  • If we look at the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, fortified soymilk is the only plant-based milk recommended because it is the closes nutritionally to cow’s milk. 
  • It would be more accurate to call plant based milk a juice because that’s essentially what it is – we are juicing the soybean or the almond to make it. And it’s not nutritionally equal or comparable to cow’s milk. Most plant milks are much lower in protein, calcium, vitamins A and D, and potassium. (Yes, some companies do fortify their products by adding these in)
  • Cow’s milk is a good source of protein and calcium, which are really important for kids especially, and all of us need calcium throughout our lives for our bones, and actual dairy products such as milk, yogurt and cheese are the easiest and most bioavailable way to get it. 
  • Some plant milks contain nutrients that aren’t in dairy milk – and this can be helpful depending on how we’re looking at it.  For example,  medium-chain triglyceride oil, which for someone on a medical ketogenic diet for epilepsy.
  • One annoying thing I saw is that some companies market “clean processing” of their products, b/c otherwise they’re being hypocritical, right?
• Drink whatever you like, but I want you to be aware that it’s not inherently healthier, nor is it giving you the same calcium that you might think.
  • Be especially aware of this if you’re giving it to your kids
    • There was a systematic review where they looked at a bunch of studies on what happens when we give plant milks to kids, and they found over 30 published cases of severe nutritional deficiencies (eg, rickets, failure-to-thrive) reported in children between 2.5 and 22 months of age who consumed rice, almond or soy milk instead of breastmilk, infant formula and cow milk
    • So it’s important for parents to know that it’s not necessarily “healthier” to give this to your kids – even though they are marketed as healthier than dairy products. 
    • Now, if a child has a milk allergy, then of course they have to avoid dairy, and in that situation we work with the parents to make sure that they are giving their kids enough protein, calcium and vit D from other sources.  

Overall, I am not against plant based milks. If you like them, drink them. But the “woo” part I want to challenge is that it’s not inherently healthier than cow’s milk, and there are downsides to plant milks nutritionally. I don’t want you just blindly following these trends because of the marketing without seeing through that and understanding at a factual level what’s going on. It’s the misleading of consumers and the false narratives that make the marketing of plant based milks woo for me.

If you have an example of Wellness Woo that you want to share, send it to me at rebuildingtrustwithyourbody@gmail.com. 

Ok, that’s enough of that. Moving on to today’s main topic…The underrated intuitive eating skill that you’re probably overlooking for your health. 

And that skill is honoring your fullness. (I know that you might be thinking, “Katy obviously IE means paying attention to hunger and fullness” – and yes, I hear you, but I also want to push back that a lot of you listening to this aren’t actually practicing the skill of honoring your fullness in a nuanced way and this is one of those things that makes a bigger impact on your IE process and your HEALTH than you probably realize. 

>>COMMERCIAL: WEBINAR PROMO<<

I almost never do this, but I am interrupting this episode with a question for you:
Do you ever feel like maybe this whole intuitive eating thing was a bad idea? Like maybe there’s something about it, or about YOU that means it’s not going to work for you? Maybe you just don’t have what it takes to keep chocolate in your house, or to stop eating when you’re full, or to break your habit of snacking at night while you’re watching TV. 

If you’ve been feeling like IE isn’t working, and you’re thinking about throwing in the towel and going back to the familiar arms of dieting, then I have the perfect thing for you. It’s my upcoming LIVE masterclass called “Why IE Isn’t Working For You (And How to Fix It).  

In this masterclass, I’m going to cover:

• The 3 mistakes that will interfere with your ability to do IE the way it’s intended – that are making you feel frustrated and feeling like you’re failing. Chances are you’re making at least one of these mistakes right now. 
• Mindset shifts that you have to make in order for IE to be effective. Sure, you might be letting yourself eat the things like cake and pizza, but if you’re still feeling guilty for it, and you’re still thinking of those foods as “unhealthy” then it’s interfering with your ability to respond appropriately to your body’s internal signals.
• Troubleshooting where you’re getting stuck – with actionable strategies to get you unstuck and moving forward!

If you want to feel clear, confident and EXCITED about IE again, and to know what to do to make it start working for you (rather than against you) – then the Why IE ISn’t Working For You masterclass is exactly where you need to be. 

It’s happening on 3 different days and times next week, so pick the one that works best for your schedule and I’ll see you there. You can grab your spot, for free, at nondietacademy.com/fix.

 >>END OF COMMERCIAL<<

Why Honoring Fullness Matters

• Many people start eating formerly restricted foods but forget to tune into fullness.
• Disconnection from fullness is common after years of dieting and deprivation.
• Comparison to gasping for air after being underwater – the body needs time to recalibrate.

How Honoring Fullness Supports Health

• Eating beyond comfortable fullness leads to discomfort, sluggishness, and if you’re doing this consistently it can damage your health because it means you are eating more than what your body needs. 
• Consistently honoring fullness allows the body to self-regulate:
  • Improves digestion.
  • Stabilizes energy levels.
  • Enhances body trust
  • Honors your HEALTH
• The goal is balance: nourishing the body without overloading it (gas in tank of car analogy)

Understanding Fullness vs. Satisfaction

• Fullness = Physical sensation of food in the stomach.
• Satisfaction = Emotional and mental sense of contentment from a meal.
• Both are essential for balanced eating and avoiding extremes of hunger and overeating.

How Diet Culture Disrupts Fullness Signals

• Tricks like drinking water before meals, eating high-volume, low-calorie foods (e.g., salads, rice cakes).
• Temporary fullness that fades quickly, setting up desperation for more food and potential binging.

Breaking the Cycle and Reconnecting with Fullness

• Practicing awareness of fullness and satisfaction while eating.
• Recognizing the “Last Bite Threshold” – knowing when you’ve had enough.
• Letting go of the “clean your plate” mentality and getting comfortable with “wasting” food and throwing food away – this is a SKILL you have to learn and practice
• Caveat – don’t start avoiding fullness

Action Steps

1. Pre-Meal Check-In: Rate hunger on a scale of 1-10. (message me if you need a copy of the hunger/fullness scale – I have one inside my hunger and fullness guide that is free)
2. Mindful Portioning: Serve an amount that feels right, knowing more is always an option. (And you’re not obligated to eat all of what you put on your plate) – STOP comparing your amount to others!
3. Tune In While Eating: Stop at comfortable fullness.
4. Sit with the discomfort: Acknowledge feelings of sadness, disappointment, anger, etc. Shift from scarcity thinking to permission-based eating. Reassure yourself you can eat again when you’re hungry.

Wrapping Up

• This takes practice, and you have to be patient with yourself.
• Trust the process and keep tuning in to your body’s signals, and staying curious about what your body is telling you. 
• Don’t forget to grab a spot in my free masterclass Why IE Isn’t Working For You (and How to Fix It)! I’ll be sharing some of the things that have made the BIGGEST difference for my clients when they have felt stuck or were wanting to give up on IE. (I’ll also let you in on a little secret – everyone who attends this masterclass live is going to get a free Bonus as a gift from me – it’s my Decoding Emotional Eating Workbook.) nondietacademy.com/fix

In case nobody has told you today – you are worthy just as you are. We’ll talk again soon.

Resources:

• nondietacademy.com/fix
• nondietacademy.com/hunger