Intuitive Eating may change your weight

- and get your body to a place where it feels comfortable and happy

This was the topic of a recent Instagram post of mine. Weight gain is a concern for many people who would like to use intuitive eating. Most people really like the idea of intuitive eating: it all makes sense and feels like a good approach to health and wellbeing. But many people are also really worried about what intuitive eating might do to their weight. Questions that often come up for them are: "Will I put on weight?" or "Will I be so out of control around food now that I am allowed to eat anything I want that I won't be able to stop?"

These questions are absolutely legitimate, and fear of weight gain is real - unfortunately we live in a world where people in larger bodies are often not treated with kindness and respect.

The short answers to the two questions above are: No one will be able to predict how your body will react to intuitive eating in terms of your weight. And any feelings of being out of control around food are short-lived (if they occur at all!) and you WILL be able to stop eating.

To go into a bit more detail:

Your body has a set weight range (which can fluctuate around 10-15lbs up or down) at which it feels happy and comfortable. This range is in part genetically determined, but can be up-regulated (for example by gaining weight through yo-yo dieting, medication, health conditions). Your set weight range may be a place that you don't like and that you are actively fighting against. It could be that you are thinner than you would like to be, or that you are larger than you would like to be. Whilst it can be slightly easier for people with a low set weight range to gain weight, it is often a constant battle to lose weight when your set range is at a higher level. You are in a continuous fight with your body.

Intuitive eating can result in weight gain, weight loss or weight maintenance. You won't be able to predict where your body settles. But what you can say is that with intuitive eating it WILL settle in a range that it feels comfortable at (this assumes that you are not taking any new medication or have a new health condition, which can still have an effect on your weight regardless of your eating habits). What will also happen when you use intuitive eating as a framework for your relationship with food and your body is that your worries and anxieties around weight will become less and less dominant. You will feel liberated from the shackles of dieting, and you are likely going to have a lot more time to focus on things that really matter to you in life. Weight will be a descriptive factor but not something that defines your health and happiness.

Your body is no longer your enemy but your ally.

When you allow all foods to be part of your life again you may go through a phase of eating A LOT more than you are used to. This is totally normal and actually a very important part of your initial intuitive eating journey. You are letting go of restriction and the rebound effect of that is often eating more than feels comfortable (physically as well as psychologically/emotionally). If you allow this to happen, and you give yourself unconditional permission to eat, this phase is likely going to be short-lived. You will learn to understand that you can have any food when you want it, nothing is forbidden, and that food is there for joy, nourishment and not to cause you anxiety. You will learn to listen to your hunger and fullness cues and understand how much and what food makes you feel good, and how much and what food doesn't sit so well with you. The amount you may eat initially could be close to what your body actually needs: often we base our food intake on external guidelines that are way below what we require, and it gives us a very skewed sense of what an appropriate portion is for us.

If you are interested in intuitive eating but have any concerns about it, or you feel, after reading this blog, that you are ready to go on your own journey with it and would like some support, just get in touch! You can email me or book a free discovery call to discuss your concerns and goals.