Intuitive Eating After You’ve Hit Diet Rock Bottom

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It was January 1st, and like everyone else, I was feeling gross from all of the holiday indulgences. Also, like everyone, I wondered if I should start a diet program. 

 

Only this time, as I went to do research on which program to start … yet again, I found that I simply couldn’t. I truly hit diet rock bottom.

 

I cannot physically or mentally take on another diet program.

I cannot take on another failure.

I cannot take on disliking my body more.

I cannot take on logging every single thing I eat or drink.

I cannot take on working out as punishment or to earn more food.

 

I am simply done with dieting. 

 

So what does a person do who is done with dieting, wants to live a healthier life, but also still wants to eat pizza without guilt? Answer: start an intuitive eating journey! 

 

a hand holding up a sign that says, “What is intuitive eating?"

 

On the recommendation from my therapist (a man who never actually gives me recommendations), I decided to start this year by meeting with a nutritionist. I figured she’d give me some new “rules” to follow on what’s “good” and what’s “bad,” and then I’d ride off into the healthy living sunset. SPOILER ALERT – this is not what she did! In fact, by the end of our appointment, I’d learned two things about myself. 1) Even though I wasn’t currently on a diet plan, the diet mentality was deeply engrained into the way I moved about my life in terms of food and my body. 2) I wasn’t eating enough during the day. I was effectively starving my body until dinner each day which was sending a famine and store message to my body. 

 

Instead, my new nutritionist bestie told me to work on eating three meals and three snacks a day and to eat whatever I felt like eating. Try to fill my plate with mostly vegetables, but if I didn’t some days, who cares. She also recommended that I read the book Intuitive Eating. Now, I’ve been Intuitive-curious for a bit now, following the birth of my second child. But this is the first time I’ve decided to go all in. 

 

a breakfast spread on white dishes on a white tablecloth

 

For all of 2022, I’m committing to working through and living the 10 Principles of Intuitive Eating. Much in the way I respect and trust my therapist to help me work through life trauma, I’m going to trust my nutritionist to help me unlearn harmful diet culture ideals. In the end, I hope to have a better understanding of my body and what it needs to do the things I want it to do. I hope to have a better appreciation for my body and all that it’s given and continues to give to me. I hope to be released from the weight loss and diet cycle and have a better relationship with food and my body. I hope all of this sets an example for my babes – especially my daughter. 

 

I’ll meet with my nutritionist from time to time as I work through the Intuitive Eating book and workbook. I’m using this post to make you my intuitive accountability buddy. A reminder that I don’t need diet culture if I’m just listening to my body. 

 

I plan to do a mid-year post to check in on how my journey is going so I hope you’ll check back!