Power of Intuitive Eating: Expert Guidance from Certified Counselors

Intuitive eating is a transformative approach to food that encourages a shift from restrictive diets and rigid meal plans to a balanced, mindful relationship with eating. Rather than following external rules or calorie counts, intuitive eating empowers individuals to listen to their body’s signals of hunger and fullness, promoting a more nourishing connection to food. In this article, we bring insights from five certified counselors who delve into the guiding principles of intuitive eating, explaining how it helps individuals build trust in their bodies and develop healthier habits. From learning to distinguish physical hunger from emotional cravings to embracing self-compassion at every meal, these experts share their wisdom on how intuitive eating can foster a sense of well-being, body positivity, and freedom from diet culture. Explore their advice to find inspiration on your journey toward a more intuitive, satisfying approach to eating.

Intuitive Eating and a Healthy Relationship With Food

Elizabeth Hammond, Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker and Intuitive Eating Counselor responds to - How Does Intuitive Eating Promote a Healthy Relationship with Food in the Long Term 

“I don't like to frame intuitive eating as a relationship with food because it's really about your relationship with your body and how to use food to care for and nourish your body. Intuitive eating emphasizes using your internal cues (or intuition) to determine what to eat, when, and how much. For people who have dieted or struggled with an eating disorder, it can be difficult to reconnect with this internal wisdom. In the short term, following intuitive eating principles like ditching the diet mentality or having unconditional permission to eat can feel scary or out of control, but over time, trust is rebuilt. At the end of this process, most of my clients find that outside of preparing and eating meals, they don't think about food much at all. They trust that their body will send hunger signals, and their body trusts them to respond to those signals.”

Being Kinder to Your Body and Food

Libby Supan, Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor, Therapist and Coach offers tips on how to be kinder to ourselves when it comes to body and food:

“One of the best ways to be kinder to ourselves around food and body is to practice self-compassion. Instead of criticizing how we eat or look, we can learn to treat ourselves with the same understanding we would offer a friend. This means acknowledging that everyone has days where they overeat or feel less confident in their body, and that's okay. It's part of being human.

Another helpful tip is to challenge the belief that we need to follow strict rules around food. Rigid diets can lead to guilt and shame when we "break" them. Instead, focus on listening to your body—what foods make you feel good, both physically and emotionally? Allow yourself to enjoy all foods without judgment, as no single meal or day of eating defines your worth.

Embracing body neutrality is also important. Rather than obsessing over appearance, we can appreciate our bodies for what they do, like giving us the strength to move, laugh, and connect with others. Our bodies are much more than what they look like.

Lastly, give yourself permission to make mistakes. Progress isn't about perfection; it's about learning to trust yourself and your body over time. By letting go of rigid expectations, we can create a more compassionate relationship with food and our bodies.”

Misconceptions About Intuitive Eating

We asked Alana Van Der Sluys, Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor, Author, and TEDx speaker to address common misconceptions surrounding intuitive eating:

“Many think it's "giving up" on any health-related goals, that it's just eating donuts all day and disregarding nutrition and movement altogether, but that's simply not the case. Intuitive eating has 10 core principles, two of which are "joyful movement" and "gentle nutrition." We've been brainwashed into thinking we need a super restrictive diet to lose weight for health, but weight and health aren't the same thing. Weight is but one piece of the puzzle. What intuitive eating does is help "reset" your body's hunger and fullness cues so that you learn to eat exactly what and how much your body needs to run optimally. We heal the parts of us that want to binge and emotionally eat first, though, because that's not a body problem; that's a mind problem. When we integrate the "gentle nutrition" component at the end of someone's journey, we start integrating the general nutrition guidelines like how much protein and fiber you should get in a day. We also implement "joyful movement," meaning we find types of movement someone enjoys (because it doesn't have to be a treadmill!), because again, we want to follow the typical guidelines for exercise that promote health and longevity.”

Intuitive Eating Helps Reducing Guilt or Shame

Chelsea Levy, Registered Dietitian and Certified Dietitian Nutritionist shares her expertise on how intuitive eating can help reduce guilt or shame around food choices:

“Intuitive eating is an approach that encourages individuals to listen to their bodies and make food and self-care choices based on internal cues rather than external rules.

Through the 10 principles of intuitive eating the following shifts will occur in your living: 

Promotes Body Trust: Intuitive eating encourages individuals to trust their body's hunger and fullness signals. By tuning into these natural cues, individuals can move away from rigid dieting rules, reducing the guilt that often comes from breaking those rules. When people feel more in control of their eating, they often experience less shame around their choices.

Emphasizes Self-Compassion: This approach promotes a non-judgmental attitude toward food and eating. Instead of labeling foods as "good" or "bad," intuitive eating encourages acceptance of all foods. This shift in mindset helps alleviate the guilt associated with enjoying certain foods, as individuals learn to treat themselves with kindness and understanding rather than criticism.

Reduces the All-or-Nothing Mentality: Intuitive eating counters the all-or-nothing mindset that can lead to binge eating or feelings of failure after indulging. By recognizing that all foods can fit into a healthy lifestyle, individuals can enjoy foods they love without the accompanying shame, leading to a more balanced relationship with food.

Encourages Mindful Eating: Mindful eating practices, which are part of intuitive eating, encourage individuals to savor and appreciate their food, promoting a more positive eating experience. When people focus on the taste, texture, and enjoyment of their meals, they are less likely to feel guilt afterward.

Focuses on Overall Well-Being: Intuitive eating shifts the focus from weight loss to overall health and well-being. This holistic perspective helps individuals prioritize how they feel physically and emotionally over societal pressures to conform to certain body ideals, thereby reducing the shame often tied to body image and food choices.”

Reconnecting With Food As Nourishment

Lily Thorpe, Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor, shares her insights on how to shift your perspective and embrace food as a source of nourishment rather than a means of control or fear:

“Intuitive Eating is a self-care eating framework, which integrates instinct, emotion, and rational thought. Intuitive Eating (IE) is best understood through the 10 Principles. IE helps people to connect to their deeper need for nourishment rather than focus on rigid rules and ideas about food. Nourishment is about so much more than the nutritional content in food and focuses on many factors of eating, like satisfaction, hunger, preference and nutrition.

A great way to understand honoring nourishment is by observing the way babies eat. Babies are born intuitive eaters, they know when they are hungry, when they are full and when they need different nutrients. Babies have not yet been conditioned by society to believe certain foods are “bad” or “good.” This good and bad dichotomy of food is something the IE helps people let go of. Accepting that all foods can fit into a healthy lifestyle and being more flexible with food is a goal of IE. IE relies on each person to tap into their own interoceptive perception to make food choices. It teaches people how to honor satisfaction and gentle nutrition by choosing foods through a self-care and compassion framework and moving away from judgment.

Controlling and fearing food is a risk factor for developing an eating disorder and can lead to other challenging mental health symptoms. IE is a way to work through some of those rigid beliefs and learn to eat, or return to a way of eating that is more intuitive.”

Making Peace With Forbidden Foods

Karen Louise Scheuner, Certified Intuitive Eating Dietitian & Body Trust Provider, has revealed how she guides clients in making peace with previously “forbidden” foods:

“Making peace with previously "forbidden" foods is one of the key principles of intuitive eating. Dieters often label certain foods as "bad," which then results in avoidance of these foods which actually  increases cravings. This is known as the diet-binge cycle of eating which inevitably results in overeating, binge eating, feelings of guilt and a sense of failure. This vicious cycle reinforces the idea that one cannot trust themselves around food. 

Intuitive eating is an approach  that  restores trust with the body.. The first step is to challenge the "good vs. bad” mindset with food. Look at food neutrally so it loses its power over you. Lift the ban on “bad” foods and give yourself permission to eat (all) foods again. Unconditional permission to eat all foods decreases desire and cravings  which restores balance and trust. We aim to move away from ‘all-or-nothing’ thinking patterns.

Another key step is mindful eating which helps us to stay more connected while eating. We learn to listen to our body’s cues of hunger and fullness. How does the food taste? How does this food feel 30 minutes after eating? These practices help restore trust with our body. 

In the early stages of intuitive eating, some might initially overeat these foods, but over time, this runs its course. Exploring fears around overeating, weight gain as well as normalizing slips are all part of this process.  

Intuitive eating frees individuals from the mental burden of constant dieting, allowing food to become a source of pleasure rather than stress. Deciding to let go of dieting is the first step in reclaiming your birthright to enjoy eating again.”

Eating Without Feeling Out of Control

Stevie Olson-Spiegel, the Intuitive Eating Counselor (LCSW, LSCSW, SEP), explains how someone can transition from calorie counting or tracking macros to intuitive eating without feeling out control:

“It can feel scary to stop tracking everything you eat at first. The fear is that once you do, the guard rails will come off, and you will gain weight. The reality is that you might gain weight if you were eating way below your calorie needs. One of the biggest benefits of intuitive eating is food freedom; the ability to fuel yourself appropriately without restriction. It is important to note that within the Intuitive Eating framework, you should be able to notice hunger and fullness and follow gentle nutrition guidelines. By working on food freedom specifically, you will find that you are able to say yes or no to fun foods based on how you feel that day; that you will not completely sabotage yourself. Intuitive Eating ultimately builds self-trust around food which does take time. 

**One thing to note is that if you struggle with binge eating disorder, the calorie counting and macro tracking could be a bandaid for the disorder. Those with BED feel out of control around food and this diagnosis requires specialized treatment.”

Credits:

• Elizabeth Hammond | EHCounseling LLC | www.ehcounselingllc.com

• Libby Supan | Libby Supan | www.libbysupan.com

• Alana Van Der Sluys | Freedom with Food and Fitness | www.freedomwithfoodandfitness.com

• Chelsea Levy | Chelsea Levy Nutrition | www.chelsealevynutrition.com

• Lily Thrope | Thrope Therapy NYC | www.thropetherapy.com

• Karen Louise Scheuner | Mindful Nutrition | www.mindful-nutrition.com

• Stevie Olson-Spiegel | Embodied Healing KC | www.embodiedhealingkc.com