Most people who are interested in intuitive eating hold some desire to lose weight. But is it possible to do both?
Intuitive eating is all about listening to your hunger and fullness signals. It is respecting them, tuning into them and actioning them. Dieting does the opposite.
If your weight has been artificially lowered (through dieting etc), it’s going to very hard to keep it down. And if you’re still trying to maintain your artificially low weight, then you’re not going to have the space to embrace intuitive eating.
But what happens if you want to do both? Or you’re not sure?
When you start to embrace intuitive eating, you may feel like you’re in limbo for a bit.
In reality, everyone goes through a period of straddling the fence between weight loss and intuitive eating. You may hold onto some dieting behaviours for a while whilst taking steps to let go of others. It takes a while to change your behaviours. And sometimes a lot of reflection. And reframing of thoughts and values.
And it’s scary. Letting go of a potential thinner body is really scary. And it may involve elements of grief and mourning.
Doing something that has a lot of unknowns is scary. But one thing I do know is that you deserve the freedom that comes from a more peaceful relationship with food and your body. And unfortunately, that cannot be found in a diet.
Interested in learning more?
Al xx
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