My latest article written for HealthQuarters! Read on for intuitive eating tips to guide you in your journey to ditch the diet and develop a healthy relationship with food.
We tend to think of diets and meal plans as the IKEA furniture instruction manuals to healthy eating: a little complicated, but worth the effort. But humans are not like furniture. We’re subject to changing schedules, fluctuating metabolisms, variable emotions, unpredictable circumstances, and countless other factors that might necessitate deviation from our diet “instructions.”
In fact, regimented diet plans can easily drive you into a bad cycle: adhering to strict food rules leads to accidental slip-ups or purposeful rebellions that rear their ugly heads through overeating or feeling out-of-control with food. After a binge, the typical response is a resolution to double down on portioning and avoiding certain “binge” or “addictive” foods. But the idea that you can fix your out-of-control eating with more restriction only exacerbates the issue rather than getting at the root cause.
Drop the Diet
There is a way to address overeating at night, binging, and feeling out of control with food, and it doesn’t involve doubling down on your diet or cutting out an entire food group. It’s called Intuitive Eating, a particular philosophy developed by Elyse Resch and Evelyn Tribole…
It’s going to be a journey of dedication to ditch the diet mentality… but it doesn’t have to be confusing. You can start applying some of these intuitive eating tips today! And if you haven’t read it, check out my first post on why diet plans and weight loss meal planning services aren’t as calculated as you thought… and actually do more harm than good.