Diet Culture Educational Resources
As a clinical nutritionist, Ive found that intuitive eating is the most effective tool for developing a healthy relationship with food and your body. Intuitive eating teaches you to tap into your innate hunger and fullness cues. It requires you to relearn how to engage with food without restriction and without labeling food as good or bad.
The trauma around body image is more powerful than the one around food. What I have found over the years is that when we work through our relationship with food, its a lot easier and faster to heal body image issues.
We offer a variety of programs that will help you should you decide to opt-out of diet culture:
1) The Intuitive Eating Project This is a self-study program that will help you relearn how to eat intuitively at your own pace.
2) The Going Beyond the Food Academy This is group coaching program where we teach the Going Beyond The Food Method and offer support and coaching in a more in-depth approach. In this program, we talk about mindset, emotions, body image, intuitive eating, and mindfulness.
3) Conquer and Thrive This is a six-month, high-touch intensive program where you work one-on-one with me. Here, you learn how to work your way out of the diet culture and heal your relationship with food, your body, and yourself.
Myth : Intuitive Eating Doesnt Solve My Emotional Eating Problem
Fact: There is only one truth around that. Intuitive eating does prevent emotional eating. Now, heres the thing. I didnt say solved it. I said to prevent it.
If you find yourself saying that eating intuitively wont solve your emotional eating problem, again, its your diet brain speaking. You have been programmed to seek an external solution to an internal problem. You internally developed the behavior of using food as a soothing or regulate your emotions. This behavior is what we commonly refer to as emotional eating.
And now, you want a quick fix, a formula to come along and tell you how to prevent that. Thats the model of dieting. Its all external. Its just about food.
Intuitive eating will not solve the problem of emotional eating but you will. Its really up to you. Through the process of intuitive eating, you will figure out why youre using food to cope with your emotions. Heres another scoop for you: emotional eating is normal. Emotional eating is a gift when understood properly.
Intuitive Eating Free Resources
Want to have a better relationship with food and become healthier in the process? Ive put together some free resources to help you begin your intuitive eating journey:
1. Is intuitive eating right for you?
2. Get Started with our free intuitive eating guide
3. Listen to our Intuitive Eating podcast episodes on the Going Beyond the Food Show.
4. Get some tips and more information from my Intuitive eating blog.
Don’t Miss: 90 Day Probationary Period Letter
How To Take Steps To Control The Urge To Binge Eat
Binging is not the only way to deal with these intense feelings. Creating alternative coping strategies can help when trying to manage the desire to binge eat.
To do this, start by noticing your triggers:
- Have you had a stressful day at work?
- Has someone said something to hurt your feelings?
- Are you feeling lonely?
Once you can see a pattern, you can start to identify coping strategies to put in place and reduce binge eating. These coping strategies can then be practiced when the psychological or emotional urge to binge eat arises.
Here are three more tips to help you control the urge to binge:
What Are The 13 Myths Of Intuitive Eating
Myth 1: Intuitive eating is unhealthy.
Myth 2: Intuitive eating will make me gain weight.
Myth 3: Intuitive eating means Ive given up on myself.
Myth 4: Intuitive eating is simply the eat when you are hungry and stop when youre full diet.
Myth 5: You can be a good intuitive eater or a bad one.
Myth 6: You can count macros and still be an intuitive eater.
Myth 7: Intuitive eating means you eat whatever you want, whenever you want.
Myth 8: Intuitive eating is for healthy-minded people. I wont do it right and Ill gain weight.
Myth 9: Intuitive eating doesnt solve my over-eating problem.
Myth 10: Intuitive eating doesnt lead to weight loss.
Myth 11: Intuitive eating will make you binge on food that you shouldnt be eating.
Myth 12: Intuitive eating is impossible because of food addiction, and certain foods are addictive.
Myth 13: Intuitive eating is only for people with eating disorders.
Now, lets begin exploring the diet culture so you can take your first steps to freedom!
Also Check: 90 Day Employment Probationary Period Template
Late Night Snacking Usually Due To Hunger Or Boredom
If you know you binge late at night, you can avoid this by simply shifting your bedtime. Once youve had a full day of eating regularly, and honoring your cravings, you can go to sleep satisfied. Getting to bed earlier has many other benefits too, including emotion regulation and proper hormone functioning.
Related: Not sure if youre getting quality sleep? Click here to learn how to get there.
Stop With The Restriction
If you have been suddenly restricting yourself when it comes to food because you want to lose weight or even for any other reason, it is important that you do make changes to the same.
It is completely futile if you make drastic changes to your routines and diets because the same will end up affecting your overall well being. Our body is programmed to function in a certain way and if you make abrupt changes without easing the body into it, chances are that you are going to experience the repercussions of the same.
Instead of depriving yourself off of the foods that you have cut out from your diet, it is best suggested to ensure that you do indulge in healthier switches in your life. It is best suggested to do that instead of pulling them out of your diet completely.
Also Check: Can You Donate Blood While Menstruating
What Is Diet Culture
From the sound of it, you might think the term diet culture refers to a group of people who are on a diet. But it actually has a different meaning.
Christy Harrison, a colleague of mine, has the best diet culture definition. She defines it as a system of belief that worships thinness and equates it to health and moral virtue. Its now prevalent in our society and oppresses women from all over the world!
How does this impact your life?
This means you may have spent your entire life thinking that youre broken just because you dont look like the impossibly thin ideal.
Thats just one angle. You can also look at the diet culture from three other angles:
The second angle is that it promotes weight loss as a means of attaining higher status. It makes you feel compelled, almost obligated, to spend massive amounts of time, energy, and resources, trying to shrink your body so you can fit into this thin ideal. Now, research is very clear that the dieting model has a 95 percent failure rate, so it might as well be an exercise in futility.
The next angle is it demonizes certain ways of eating while elevating others. It forces you to be hyper-vigilant about your eating, shames you for making certain food choices, and distracts you from the pleasure of eating as well as from your purpose and power.
Last but not least, it oppresses people who dont match the supposed picture of health or the thin ideal. This affects us most particularly as women, although its starting to affect men.
Carb Up On The Right Carbs
Your body is going to naturally search for carbohydrates during PMS. But that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. While you usually crave fries, white bread, chips and muffins, there are good carbs that can crush your bodys need for bad carbs.
Of course, were not really loading up, but a few moderate portions of complex carbs can help raise your serotonin levels to stave off all those yearnings for burgers and screaming within: wtf. why am I always hungry before my period?
The key is to eat the right amount of whole natural complex carbs to raise your serotonin without sending your blood sugar sky-high. Great choices include two ounces of whole wheat or chickpea pasta, a slice of sprouted grain bread, or even a small baked potato.
Also Check: Primosiston To Stop Period
Coaching Tips And Mental Tricks To Eliminate Period Cravings And Beat Emotional Eating:
Prevent depression: I used to experience mild depression during PMS. My symptoms would get worse two days before my periods and then disappear two days later. If this sounds like you, read my article about how to stop overeating and sugar cravings during depression.
Use the fastest relaxant of all: I give all my email subscribers access to training videos that will show you exactly what to do to . This technique does wonders and also releases stress. If you havent already done so, subscribe to my newsletter. Fill out the form at the bottom of this article to start enjoying busting any cravings in eight to twelve minutes.
Use the 8-12 minute craving buster technique:
Control Stress Eating: Periods can create subtle bodily changes and mood swings that increase stress levels. If you feel stress eating gets out of whack before or during your periods, then read this article: how to stop stress eating All the tips combined in this article and related articles will help you turn your period cravings into a bad memory. They are easy to follow and take very little time to do. Try them to prevent menstruation and PMS weight-gain and cravings and enjoy the results normal eating throughout the month and stable weight and shape. Please leave your comments below and, if you havent already done so, subscribe to my newsletter now and lay your hands on the most powerful technique to
Symptoms Of Binge Eating Disorder
The main symptom of binge eating disorder is eating a lot of food in a short time and not being able to stop when full. Other symptoms include:
- eating when not hungry
- eating very fast during a binge
- eating alone or secretly
- feeling depressed, guilty, ashamed or disgusted after binge eating
People who regularly eat in this way may have binge eating disorder.
Recommended Reading: 90 Day Probation Period Template
Myth : Intuitive Eating Is For Healthy
Another version of this myth is, Intuitive eating works only for certain people. Im different.
Fact: Intuitive eating is not another diet or a new scientifically-created way of eating. Its innate in all of us. We were all born intuitive eaters.
Just observe a baby. When she feels hungry, she cries. When you feed her, she stops crying. Then, she stops feeding when shes full and falls asleep. The cycle begins anew she feels hungry again.
Intuitive eating is simply going back to the way you were born.
Now, why would you feel its not for you? Your diet brain is partly responsible for that. Its saying, You know, girl, youve been dieting for years. Look where you are today. Youre not doing this right. You have to have a lot of restriction and control. Otherwise, youll lose control. Youre not good enough to do intuitive eating.
Is intuitive eating only for certain people? Absolutely not. Its for everyone because we all have it within us to be an intuitive eater. But if you want to be 100% sure, take the intuitive eating quiz.
How I Finally Stopped Binge Eating
Id love to say there was a magic cure that made things click, but it didnt happen overnight. For me, the change was more gradual.
The following things helped me get there:
Seek Professional Counseling: I was too embarrassed to seek professional help at the time, but I still wish I would have seen a counselor for help. Id recommend anyone who is struggling with binge eating, or another eating disorder, to seek help as soon as possible. I think it would have saved me a lot of time and struggle to have a professional guide me through the recovery process, since really none of my friends or family could relate to what I was going through.
As an alternative, I did read a lot of books. I cant say that one book in particular gave me an a-ha moment, but I do think that as a whole, they helped gradually change my mindset. Here are a few of the books I found helpful.
Read Also: 90 Probationary Period Employment Form
Metabolism And The Munchies
Your body has to work a little harder in prep for its surf on the crimson wave, too. Thats why your basal metabolic rate speeds up just before and during the early part of your period, Bustillo says.
A slightly higher calorie burn and demand for energy in the days leading up to and the start of code red can also drive hunger.
Frustratingly, hunger can also be a reaction to denying yourself food. If we anticipate saying no to the good stuff because we know were going to be extra hungry, the body actually makes the hunger instinct even stronger, Heskett says.
Self Care To Reduce Stress
Stop binge eating by taking your mind off the idea of binge eating. Many people binge eat to fill an emotional void. The food acts as a form of comfort and you start to believe that you will feel better once you eat. A slight negative event may shift your mood entirely, cause low self-esteem and therefore reveal the perfect opportunity to binge. The reality is, when you finish, you feel even worse than when you started. Thats why it is so so important to look after yourself and steer clear of things that may lead to stress, upset and so on.
Do things that make you happy and work towards avoiding as many negative thoughts as possible!You can try:
Take time to focus on YOU!
Related Posts: My Night Time Skincare Routine For Super Hydrated Skin
Don’t Miss: Employee Probationary Period Template
Myth : You Can Count Macros And Still Be An Intuitive Eater
As intuitive eating becomes more popular, Ive been seeing other versions such as keto-intuitive, flexible eating with intuitive eating, vegan intuitive, intuitive cheat day, etc.
Fact: People are getting tired of dieting. Their bodies are getting run down. Their emotions are all over the place. People are looking for another way. And so, diet culture is repackaging and renaming their diet programs so they could fit into intuitive eating because thats what people want.
However, none of those programs is intuitive eating.
Their diet culture version of intuitive eating is the same old diet programs with intuitive eating attached to them. They do this so youll feel better about their programs and get you to be more attracted to their products.
Any rule around food is not intuitive eating. When you have rules as to what you should be eating, that means you dont trust your body. Can you count macros or be keto-intuitive or a flexible eater and still be an intuitive eater? The answer is no.