Permission is a beautiful thing. Once we allow ourselves to eat all the things, we can stop placing food on a pedestal and can finally eat in a more balanced and nutritious way naturally.
One of the most common misconceptions about Intuitive Eating is that you end up eating anything and everything with zero regard to your health. The truth is, however, that people who adopt Intuitive Eating begin to consume more fruits and vegetables and have a diet with more diversity and variety. They also have lower incidence of binge eating and disordered eating. (Holler at me if you’d like to read the studies that have shown these things to be true!)
The kicker is that one of the principles in Intuitive Eating is the unconditional permission to eat. That’s right. Unconditional. Like nothing is off limits.
And that can be SCARY. Especially if you’ve been on countless diets and have been told that certain foods are the cause of diseases. But the scariest part for most of my clients is the idea that once these foods are off-limits, they’ll NEVER stop eating them. And that they will eat them to excess. And that said food(s) will make them fat.
But in reality all permission really does (in the long run) is take the food off of the pedestal that we’ve put it on. And it’s that same pedestal that causes us to binge or overeat or feel out of control around food or eat past comfortable fullness. Because deprivation of anything will cause these things to occur.
So what if we lived in a world where all foods fit. How would that feel? How would it feel to not think about food 24/7? How would it feel to make food decisions based on what you REALLY want to eat? How would it feel to actually choose to eat vegetables because you LOVE them and not because someone once told you that they are good for you? If staying away from sugar laden foods was not because of a rule from a diet but because you really don’t like the donut that much anyway. Or you’ll have it later and only eat half because “woah” that was sweet and I’ve had enough.
I used to think Dr. Oz was crazy when he said to only eat 3 bites of a dessert. I never understood how someone could do that. How was it humanly possible to stop at 3 bites? Well now I know, because I’m often that person. And not because I think I “shouldn’t” but rather because I simply don’t want anymore. (And that’s not to say that I don’t eat the whole thing sometimes too, because sometimes I really want it and that’s ok too!)
You don’t have to stay where you are. There’s a way out.
If this resonates with you and you are like most people and need guidance or support around your relationship with food, I’m here to help! You deserve to make peace around food. You can prioritize your health AND give yourself unconditional permission to eat! Let’s chat! Schedule a Food Freedom Fundamentals call.