What A Week Of Intuitive Eating Looks Like & What We Can Learn From It
Over the past week, I committed to posting everything I ate on Instagram in efforts of showing what intuitive eating can look like. I say, “can” look like, because the reality is that intuitive eating is always going to look different. I certainly don’t eat the same thing week after week, and what I eat is naturally going to look different from one person to the next.
I wanted to show this because there are still a lot of questions around intuitive eating and what exactly it is. I put together this super comprehensive post that talks about everything you need to know about intuitive eating in hopes of working towards debunking some of the common myths surrounding it.
One of those myths about intuitive eating is that it’s the “eat whatever the heck you want, when you want” diet (and when I say "the word “diet” in this case, I’m referring to a way of eating – not necessarily a restrictive way of eating). And while, yes, it’s true, intuitive eating allows you to eat what you want, it’s not this wreck less, binge-like way of eating that immediately results in obesity (another common myth).
As a quick tangent, that myth alone just goes to show how dangerous and invasive diet culture really is. The fact that we have actually come to believe that we will automatically gain weight and be unhealthy if we listen to our body and honour what it needs is actually wild, and a direct result of diet culture. Diet culture is the system within society that revolves around the idea that “thin is best”. It makes you believe that you can’t trust your body, forcing you to put trust in diet-related products or services. It thrives off of you hating yourself so it can continue to market products and services to you.
But I, along with thousands of dieticians working within the field of intuitive eating, are here to tell you otherwise. We’re here to remind you that your body is smart. It knows how to create a human without you exercising any deliberate brain power. You came into this world as an intuitive eater – you would cry to signal you were hungry, and turned your head away when you were full. That’s because your body is smart and knows how to self-regulate.
Part of breaking up with diet culture is recognizing that “healthy living” and “healthy eating” can look different from person to person. It can also look different depending on the day, or if you live with a chronic disease/illness.
Take someone with Crohn’s Disease for example – something like a leafy green salad is awful for them, because their digestive system can’t break down such fibrous vegetables. But foods, like potatoes, would actually work well for them since they’re easy to break down. Proof that, what is healthy for someone with Crohn’s, is different than what is healthy for the average person.
If you’ve been following me on Instagram over the past week as I’ve shared my #RachelsIntuitiveEats in my Instagram Stories, you’ve likely seen how intuitive eating can take you on quite the ride. Sometimes it means you’re going to have noodles, eggs and vegetables for breakfast. Other times, it’s no breakfast. Sometimes it’s a big leafy salad. Sometimes it’s a butter tart.
And, you know what? I still consider this to be “healthy” – but it’s my healthy. It’s what works for me. And through this post, I hope you’re able to get a better grasp of what intuitive eating is so you can start to find your own healthy that feels good for you!
A Week In The Life Of An Intuitive Eater
Please note, these are just snippets of what I ate throughout the week. This isn’t close to everything I ate over the course of a week. As a reminder, this is also not the “gold standard” of how you should eat. I show this to you to show that healthy eating can be diverse and inclusive of all foods (not just “healthy” foods) and to encourage you to trust your body and where it takes you.
Breakfast
Last night’s leftovers: Vermicelli noodles, mango salad with chicken and a shrimp & pork fresh roll
Sourdough and butter (a breakfast appetizer – or “brappetizer” – to respond to hunger before breakfast was ready)
Chicken and Veggie Egg Scramble
Breakfast Platter – boiled eggs, beets, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers, guacamole
Lunch & Dinner
Chicken Taco Salad
Vietnamese – Vermicelli, Fresh Rolls, Mango Salad, Vietnamese Pancake
Cheese and Nuts Snack Platter (and rose!)
Snacks
Colombian Mango – OMG! This was so good. I could’ve cried while eating it.
Lemon Cheesecake Doughnut and a cinnamon-bun like treat
What We Can Takeaway From This Glimpse Into Intuitive Eating
It’s okay to eat breakfast foods that aren’t “traditional” breakfast foods
Friendly PSA, that you can eat whatever food you want at any given meal. You don’t have to eat pancakes or cereal for breakfast just because they are common “breakfast foods” (unless you truly want to). As you can probably tell, I tend to gravitate towards non-traditional breakfast foods. That’s what I often intuitively desire!
You can still eat and live healthily even if you don’t eat salads every day
I find people tend to beat themselves up if they don’t consume enough vegetables in a day and while I’m all for people getting beautiful veggies into their day, you are not a bad person, and no less healthy, if you happen to not have veggies in your day. Some days you may want more than others, some days – less so. That’s okay too!
When you give yourself permission to enjoy all foods, you don’t feel out of control around them
I talk about this a lot in my emotional eating support program, The Break Free Method, as well as in my Intuitive Way For Eating program. Many people think that when you give yourself unconditional permission to eat all foods, you’ll just lose control and won’t be able to stop eating. When in fact, the opposite happens. You may have noticed above I enjoyed foods like a Lemon Cheesecake Doughnut and the thing is, I felt satisfied after eating that small wedge because I knew it was available if I wanted it, but the reality is, you don’t always want those foods 24/7. If you’re curious to learn more about this, I talk about it in episode 54 of the Fill Your Cup Podcast.
It’s okay to go back for seconds
Going back for seconds doesn’t mean you don’t have self control or will power. It simply means, you’re hungry, or something you ate was delicious and you want more of it. That is not a crime. Diet culture wants you to believe that it’s a crime, but it’s not a crime.
The standard definition of “health” is hurting people
I say this with a ton of compassion as I have a ton of colleagues who are doing great work in the health and wellness field. But I do think more education and awareness is needed around what health is and what it looks like. The reason being, most people (and almost every client that comes to me) constantly feel like a failure as a result of not being able to “keep up” with the standard way of healthy eating, which is militant, rule driven, black and white and sets people up for failure. How? Well, the minute you happen to eat something outside of what’s “healthy”, the minute you feel like a failure, which starts that whole guilt/shame style that keeps us stuck in the diet cycle.
If you have any questions about this, or intuitive eating as a whole, feel free to comment below or DM me on Instagram @rachelmmolenda.
If you are looking for support with Intuitive Eating, hop on over here to learn about my 4 month one-on-one coaching program, The Intuitive Way For Eating. If you feel like it’s a good fit for you, you can book a Connection Call here where we’ll determine if it’s a good fit to work together.
In the meantime, I’d love to hear from you about this. What came up for you? What thoughts did you have while browsing through this post, or following my posts over the past week showing everything I ate?