The point of intuitive eating is and is not

The point of intuitive eating is NOT….

• to eat whatever you want whenever you want (though you absolutely can)

• to “get your eating under control” (though it can have this impact, just maybe not how you’d think)

• to lose weight or gain weight (though either could happen)

The point of intuitive eating IS THIS: to bring you back to interoception.

Interoception is the ability to listen to your internal self.

Can you tell if you need to pee right now? That’s interoception.

Can you feel your heart beating without putting your hand on your body? Interoception.

Can you tell when you’re hungry? Full? Tired? Angry? Need to stretch?

If you can sense any of those things, you have access to interoception.

Babies are excellent at (some) elements of interoception. They cry when they’re hungry and turn away when they’re full. They fuss when something feels off. 

Then adults say weird things like “You’re not sad, you’re fine” or as they get older: “Don’t eat that, you’ll get fat.” Things that make internal listening harder. 

But now it sounds like I’m blaming individual parents and I’m not a fan of that. Really it’s a system-wide thing that we’re taught to prioritize our minds and not our bodies. It’s a broader culture that chips away at interoception.

Sometimes I’m in the middle of work and need to pee and catch myself thinking “ugh, now? I JUST peed!” As if my body is not allowed to…. pee again??

I often feel the urge to produce more, make more, check off more things on the list… and it’s too easy to feel like my body gets in the way of my ability to accomplish.

But my body is not in the way of anything, because my body is the vehicle that makes all experiences possible. 

Without a body, I am not of the earth.

Intuitive eating is one of (many) ways I attempt to honor my body.

Intuitive eating (re)taught me how to listen to my hunger and fullness, how to hear my cravings, how to trust my need for movement and rest and calories and laughter.

Intuitive eating helped me return to the wisdom I was born with– how to listen to myself and know.