Welcome back to Rebuilding Trust With Your Body, Katy here, and I’m really excited for this episode because it’s part of a new series that I’m doing called “Nothing’s Off Limits.” Just like nothing is off limits around here with food – nothing’s off limits with your questions. I posted about this the other day in my IEME FB group, and on my IG stories, and you all didn’t hold back. I am here for it. 

There are so many things that have felt taboo to talk about in the IE space, and here in this episode we’re going there. We are going to have an

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: Pink Himalayan Salt

Comes from Pakistan, and it is pinkish in color from some of the minerals that are in it, particularly iron oxide.

It’s mostly (like 96-99%) sodium chloride. SOME of these pink himalayan salts need purification because of impurities that aren’t safe for consumption. 

Yes, it does have trace levels of some minerals in it like Fe, Mg, K+, manganese, etc. – but for that to offer any nutritional benefit you’d have to consume 600x the recommended amount of daily Na from the salt. So that’s not worth it.

My main beef with this salt is that it lacks iodine. There’s a reason that regular table salt is iodized….because we have very few sources of iodine in our diets, and iodine deficiency can cause hypothyroidism and goiter. Because of this, as a dietitian, you won’t find himalayan salt or sea salt at my house. I’m team iodized salt all the way.

The other problem with Himalayan salt are the wellness claims being made about it such as:

– Helps control water levels in the body
– Antiaging
– Balancing electrolytes
– Regulates blood sugar
– Brain health
– Boosts energy
– Promotes absorption of nutrients
– Improves vascular health
– Supports respiratory function
– Reduces risk of sinus problems
– Promotes healthy bones
– Boost circulation
– Supports libido
– Promotes kidney health
– Aids metabolism
– And of course…weight loss

Let me be clear that it does NONE of these things. In fact, what we really need to look at is the fact that this is primarily NaCl…and while we do need some Na in our diet, too much is not good for our blood pressure, vascular system, heart or kidneys. It puts you at risk for HTN, cardiovascular disease, stroke, and all sorts of issues. 

What about the lamps? No. Just no. If you like the way it looks, great. But it’s not purifying your air or helping with your respiratory system. There are claims about the negative ions from these lamps supposedly having health benefits, but they don’t put off enough negative ions for it to make a difference. The lamp probably isn’t going to hurt you, but it’s not making you healthier. 

So for me, himalayan salt is total Wellness Woo. 

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…

From FB Group:

• Diana:
  • How do you know that you are truly living your life the Intuitive Eating way? Sorry if this seems silly, but as much as I feel I’ve got this, there are days when diet rules sneak into my thoughts. There are days that I have poor body image. There are days when I long to be in a smaller body. Does that mean, IE is not fully integrated in my life?
    • Intuitive eating is one of those things that doesn’t have a finish line. It’s kind of like yoga, or meditation, or a sport like golf – there’s not a moment where you’re going to feel like you can check that off. It’s more about continuing to show up for the practice and what it looks like each and every day – because each day will be different, and it might require you to lean on different principles of IE in different seasons of life. 
    • That longing to be in a smaller body is a really normal ongoing part of this process – how could it NOT be given the world we live in that continues to bombard us with messages about how we need to be smaller. GET CURIOUS about what’s going on outside of food/body/weight on those days…
• Kerry
  • I want to know if anyone actually ends up smaller or do we all just intellectualize a new set point and buy bigger pants?
    • This is the million dollar question that’s on almost everyone’s mind, isn’t it? It’s the question that will practically get you kicked out of some IE FB groups. It’s the question that we can’t help but ask.
    • In my email newsletter this week I shared an analogy about how a bad body image day is like when I stubbed my toe at the beach and almost called 911 – which would have been an overreaction. We need to make sure that you’re not responding to your weight or body image distress by symbolically calling 911 and reverting back to dieting behaviors. (Side note – if you’re not already on my newsletter list, you’re going to want to be there. I’m trying some new things to jazz things up a little bit, and I’m sharing more personal and BTS stories, resources and articles that you’ll find helpful, insights from what I’m seeing in the diet industry, as well as the field of nutrition and dietetics and what conversations the professionals are having that you can be a fly on the wall, as well as the conversations I’m having with my peers in the IE space. You can get on the newsletter at nondietacademy.com/newsletter – it’s linked in the show notes. If you’re already subscribed to my weekly newsletter, I’d LOVE to hear your thoughts and feedback on the new format, so either reply to one of the emails or DM me and let me know what you like, what you don’t like, and what you want to hear more of!)
    • Short answer…it depends…
    • Set point weight
    • Come back to the question and the framing of it – because underlying this question for a lot of people is the assumption that IE is only “working” if you are losing weight. Like you’re tricking yourself into magically losing weight while not dieting…and we want to watch out for this sneaky type of diet mentality that creeps in, because it will undermine your efforts to do IE correctly. 
    • The goal is to focus on honoring your body’s appetite signals, to make peace with food, to practice gentle nutrition, to move your body because you respect it (not forcing yourself to do it out of hatred like a drill sargent), and to honor your health. When you are doing these things, your weight will settle where it is meant to. 
    • We don’t have to put our head in the sand. Stay curious about what your body is telling you with weight. 
    • And one last thing – YES, buy bigger pants. Your body will thank you. 
• Dana (and Rebekah)
  • What do you recommend for emotional/impulsive eaters who also have a mental health disorder that impacts their emotions and thoughts/judgement?
    • Treating the mental health disorder
    • Being aware of impulsivity and find ways to slow down (e.g. delete the Door Dash app off your phone, put the food in the cupboard/pantry rather than where you’ll see it, etc.)
    • Learn the skills of emotional regulation. DBT skills are great for this. We don’t want to be using food to regulate emotions.
    • The IE principles and philosophy still apply here. Dieting and restricting don’t fix impulsive or emotional eating – it often makes these things worse. 
• Tracey
  • I’m reading the book to try to work on intuitive eating. I also suffer from night eating syndrome. I thought once I started eating enough during the day & I stopped depriving myself that the night eating would stop. It hasn’t. I also struggle with insomnia and depression and I am on prescription medication to treat that. (Also dealing with menopause) Help!
    • NES is a sleep disorder, and it needs to be treated by a medical provider with expertise in this area. 
    • As a dietitian, whenever I have someone struggling with this, one of the first things we do is make sure they’re eating enough during the day – that is important, but if it’s continuing to happen we need to dig deper. 
    • Getting properly medicated for the insomnia and depression is going to be the key here. And also addressing any menopause symptoms you’re having because that can disrupt sleep as well. Your doctor can help you with these things. (Good example of how it isn’t always about the food.)
    • Another behavioral strategy is to put things in place to wake you up and make you more conscious before you can eat at night. I was working with a client once who struggled with this, and we had him put a chair in front of his door that he would have to move to open it if he woke up at night. Another client put a ribbon or a string across her doorway. 
    • “Sleep training” yourself to go back to sleep without food.
• Jo
  • How does the perimenopause affect the body’s ability to regulate its set point properly and allow for intuitive eating when hormones are strongly running the show and influencing cravings?
    • I am getting SO many questions lately about perimenopause – and I think it’s because it’s getting talked about more in our culture, it’s not so hush-hush, but I’m also seeing that diet culture has (of course) latched onto it and is making women distrust their bodies even more. There’s all this propaganda about trying to control your weight and your body, and lose belly fat, and lessen cravings, and all sorts of wellness woo that’s targeted towards women in this age bracket. 
    • We can think of perimenopause as puberty part 2…
    • Your body IS regulating its set point – even if you gain weight. Most women do gain weight with menopause. And that’s a GOOD thing…
    • A couple of things that are important from a gentle nutrition standpoint with perimenopause:
      • Insulin resistance
        • More protein, more complex carbs
        • Strength training
      • Cholesterol
        • Unsaturated fats
        • Fiber
      • Bone health
        • Eating ENOUGH
        • Calcium and vitamin D
        • Strength training
• Betsy
  • How long on average do most people take to learn to eat intuitively?
    • It’s highly variable. For some people it “clicks” pretty quickly if they were ready for it, and weren’t too far down the diet culture rabbit hole.
    • But for most people, it takes longer than they think it will or wish it would. 
    • We don’t have studies showing us a clear timeline (that I’m aware of). We can borrow from the ED literature – which is imperfect, and of course doesn’t represent everyone trying to do IE…
      • Several years for ED recovery – for some people it can take over 10 years of doing the work. 
      • For people w/o ED, in my experience, I would say it takes 1-3 years. Sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less. 
    • Let’s keep in mind that most people have been struggilng for DECADES with dieting by the time they start IE, so it’s going to take time to unlearn all that old diet mentality crap, and time to learn new ways of thinking and being with food. Behavior change is hard. It takes work, repetition, and time.
    • We can speed up this process by adding in support. Just like if you were trying to learn how to play the piano, it would go faster if you had a skilled teacher who knew how to teach piano, rather than trying to DIY it on your own from YouYube videos. And the more you practiced, the faster you’d get the hang of it. It’s like that with IE, which is why I offer my programs like IEE and NDA to speed up the process and make sure you’re doing it right – because you don’t want to waste time misapplying the concepts, which is like driving the wrong direction on your road trip and ending up lost in a different state than you intended to arrive at.
      • I’m one of those people who thinks that I know where I’m going whenever I get in the car (and I hate listening to my GPS giving me directions), so I’ll start driving, and it’s not until I realize that I’m not finding my destination where I thought it would be that I’ll type it in and realize I’d gotten off course. There are so many instances that I could have saved myself SO MUCH TIME if I had just typed it in and followed the expert guidance from my GPS from the beginning. That’s what I am doing with the clients inside my programs. You’re getting a clear roadmap, and me as your guide to keep you pointed in the right direction, or to help you course-correct if you get off course.

• Julie
  • Ok, how dang long should it take to “decharm” food? I know everyone is different, but good grief, my slow progress in all of this is super discouraging! I’m an overachiever and it’s making me feel like a failure Note, I’ve been TRYING to do IE for 7.5 months now
    • For those of you listening who are unfamiliar with “decharming” it’s one of my signature strategies that I teach, and I go into the step-by-step for it inside NDA. There are 3 different levels of decharming that you can choose from, and it typically goes the fastest when you do level 3, which is the most intense, structured, and systematic level. Typically with that approach, the food is decharmed within 1-2 weeks. 
    • Now, I’m curious from the way you worded your question if you’re trying to globally decharm ALL food, or if you are systematically following the steps to do it for one specific food at a time like I teach? That might be what’s tripping you up here.
    • I also want to zoom out and give you perspective that you’re saying how discouraged you are that you’ve been doing this for 7.5 months and your progress is super slow – 7.5 months is not that long. I know it feels long, but in the grand scheme of this process it’s not. So take a deep breath and give yourself some grace and patience. Remember that you’re unlearning DECADES of programming towards the diet mentality with food. It’s going to take time to rewire your brain and build these new neural pathways. It’s also going to take time to reconnect with your body, and rebuild trust with your body (and for your body to trust you). 
    • Diet culture has progammed us to expect instant results, quick fixes, and to be really impatient. I wish that this process didn’t take as long as it does, but I really want to normalize this for you. (And like I said, having that expert support and guidance to help you through your specific stumbling blocks is so so helpful where we can dig in there and see what’s working, what’s not working, and utilize some targeted strategies to make it all click for you.)
• Anonymous
  • Does too much sugar really cause withdrawals and spikes in blood sugar levels ?
    • There’s so much fear mongering out there about sugar. So I want to empower you with an understanding of a little bit of food science, and human physiology, so you can understand how your body works and what happens to the food you eat, because it’s actually pretty cool.
    • First of all, let’s clear one thing up that I hear allllll the time – sugar is NOT an addictive substance. For some people if FEELS addictive, but what’s actually going on is more accurately a COMPULSION, not an addiciton, and I know it sounds like semantics, but the language is really important here…
      • Because it’s not an actual chemical addiciton, there is not a withrawal process. The only food substances that cause that are caffeine and alcohol.
    • So what happens when we eat sugar? (walk through digestion)
    • Why we need blood sugar
    • Blood sugar “spikes” are normal and expected
    • It only becomes concerning when going too high or too low, or if we aren’t getting enough sustained energy (e.g. when eating simple carb on its own)
      • The GN strategy (principle 10 of IE) that I teach inside NDA is my SCA framework (schedule, composition, amount). (don’t give too much away here…just create intrigue)

Instagram:

• Daniel
  • How to navigate anxiety/overwhelm and hunger at the same time while feeling good?
    • I assume you mean while feeling good while you eat and after you eat. 
    • 1) Name the emotion – get curious about what it’s trying to tell you. Inside PTE, which is my audio mini course, I tell the story of how my therapist stopped me in my tracks when she taught me to think of emotions differently, rather than being afraid of them. This totally changed the way I was reacting to my emotions by using food or restriction to cope, numb and avoid my feelings. 
    • 2) Powerful Pause
    • 3) Stay connected with your body while eating
    • Gentle movement after eating can help with anxeity, overwhelm, and digestion – but we don’t want this to become compulsive, obligatory or compensatory

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

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