Improving your relationship with food can dramatically improve your quality of life. Maybe you’re like “duh” or maybe you’re surprised to hear that. If you’re skeptical, take it from Dan Harris, author and host of the popular Ten Percent Happier podcast. An interviewer once asked him which was his favorite podcast episode (out of hundreds, interviewing experts and celebrities), and without hesitation, he named the one with my long-time mentor, Evelyn Tribole, co-creator of Intuitive Eating. He said:
“I was a biohacker…wore the ring to track my sleep…was entering my calories and macros into MyFitnessPal and whatever – I did all of that. I was no-carbs, no sugar, I was a hardcore…idiot. I sat down with this woman, who at first…I was like, who is this? Somebody one of my producers set me up with? What is this? And then, this woman, you can hear it on the tape, BLOWS MY MIND. She’s like, there’s no data that diets work; in fact, diets are correlated with weight gain. Two, there’s only so much you can do to change your body and why are you torturing yourself to get some body you had in your thirties, and by the way, there’s no correlation between the “ideal body” and underlying health, so you’re just torturing yourself for an aesthetic ideal that has nothing to do with your actual health and why are you giving these messages to your son, about some foods being sinful like carbs and sugar. And I was like, yeah…YES. And I work with Evelyn Tribole to this day. I dropped all that other stuff and my only person I work with is Evelyn Tribole. That was probably the single episode that made the most change in my life.”
It’s fun to imagine Dan the skeptic and Evelyn the bubbly, passionate research buff/anti-diet Buddhist dietitian going back and forth in conversation. Actually, you don’t have to imagine it. Their interview is here if you’re interested.
Have you ever heard the imperfect saying, “How you do one thing is how you do everything?” Whether we’re talking about food, parenting, yoga, sports, improv, relationships, money or fill-in-the-blank, there are countless doorways to gaining self-awareness.
One observation that my colleagues (who share my philosophy) and I notice time and time again: when people begin to feel safe and trust themselves with food, they begin to trust themselves in other parts of life. And after doing this work for several years, I have to say, that part never gets old. Who would’ve thought that your relationship with food is a doorway to more self-trust, awareness, and authenticity?
One thing that’s important to know: Even thought there are ~220 studies validating it, Intuitive Eating isn’t trademarked so anyone can claim to be an expert. One giveaway that the “expert” (or influencer or company – ahem, looking at you, Noom) doesn’t actually understand IE is if they’re marketing it for weight loss.
I also no longer believe Intuitive Eating is the end-all, be-all eating approach for everyone. First, to engage in IE requires a bit of privilege, including access to food, perhaps access to treatment for trauma or an eating disorder. It can also look very different for people who are neurodivergent. And there are other helpful frameworks (Satter Eating Competence and Body Trust to name a few) that support practicing a non-diet approach, ALL containing wisdom. Not that you necessarily need a framework but it can be helpful if you’re looking to deepen your understanding in this area.
So my intention isn’t to announce, You need intuitive eating! It’s everything! – in reality, maybe it’s not for you or maybe not right now. My intention is to offer an invitation to consider how your relationship with food might reflect your relationship with yourself and how you navigate moving through this world.
I mean, Dan Harris the self-described skeptic is a believer. But what do you think? (Different opinions welcome!) Do you buy into the idea that your relationship with food reflects your relationship with yourself? If so, how?
I’m grateful to be doing work that is so rewarding, supporting people to have a better relationship with their food, body and mind.
My approach is strengths-based, trauma-informed, weight-inclusive (Health At Every Size based) and grounded in cultural humility.
Both my nutrition therapy and body-based practices are influenced by a wide range of teachings and modalities that allow my approach to be both eclectic and more effective than simply working with one lens or modality.
By working together, I hope you’ll gain insight, compassion and tools to feel more resourced and confident about how you feed and care for yourself – well after our time together ends.