Why I Ditched Dieting For Intuitive Eating
As I’m sure you may know by now, my relationship with food has always been pretty complicated. Between my Ulcerative Colitis journey and being a young woman with societal pressures to look a certain way, I used to always look at food as the enemy. It either made my stomach hurt or it made me gain weight. And don’t get me wrong, I’ve always loved food. I grew up with the privilege of having healthy, home-cooked meals, and understood the benefits of eating healthy food. But I also grew up having traditional “unhealthy” foods.
Once I was finally diagnosed with Ulcerative Colitis and I was healing, I finally could eat all of the “unhealthy” foods I wanted without pain. For almost a year after my diagnosis, I went on without a care in the world for my health. I ate all the junk food in the world, drank a lot and never exercised or got enough sleep. As a result, I had gained weight for the first time in my life and suddenly hated my body. Not only was I unhappy with how I looked, but I was unhappy with how I felt. I knew something had to change and that started my dieting yo-yo-ing that would consume the next year and a half of my life.
With the end result of being “skinny”, I tried every meal plan and diet I could. I counted calories, ate out of portion containers, counted macros, and did everything in between. I restricted everything that was “unhealthy” and became obsessed with working out every single day. Until one day I woke up exhausted and sick of living my life around the food I was eating and exercise I was or was not doing. I finally realized that I could enjoy eating healthy foods but I could also eat whatever the hell I craved/wanted letting go of the fear of becoming fat. This was the moment I decided to ditch the dieting for good and start my journey of intuitive eating.
So what is intuitive eating? According to Healthline, intuitive eating “is a philosophy of eating that makes you the expert of your body and its hunger signals. Essentially, it’s the opposite of a traditional diet. It doesn’t impose guidelines about what to avoid and what or when to eat.” So it basically throws all rules of every other “diet” out the window.
Now I have days where sometimes I don’t eat any vegetables (GASP), and some days where my plates are filled to the brim with fruits and veggies. And the thing is, that’s okay! Sometimes my body and soul crave a bagel for breakfast and sometimes its a smoothie. Now I listen to my hunger cues, eat when I’m hungry (or not hungry and just because something sounds good) and eat what sounds good at that moment. And the funny thing is I actually crave “healthier” foods for the most part now. My body feels better when I treat it with love and give it foods that are nourishing. But that doesn’t mean pizza and ice cream aren’t just as nourishing for my soul some days.
It’s taken me months to get to this point and some days my mind still plays tricks on me when I order something “unhealthy” especially if I haven’t worked out. But the point is not to be perfect. It’s to try my best every single day to TRULY listen to my body and give it what it wants. And sometimes that means eating something that just sounds good even if I'm full.
My journey with intuitive eating isn’t perfect and is still new, but I wanted to share where I’m at with you guys. And I am in no way an expert in this. This has just been my experience with it. I was sick of food running my life, I knew it was time to get myself in a better place. But in no means is the journey over. I still have those negative thoughts that pop up every now and again around food. But each day gets easier and easier. And I know you can get there too.