Good morning! Thank you to everyone who came out to Break the Diet Cycle presentation. I hope you’re
starting today feeling curious about Intuitive Eating and eager to rediscover your favorite foods in a fresh,
positive way. I attached the PDFs of the presentation for you to reference, as well as the “HAES (Health
at Every Size) Manifesto”, by Dr. Lindo Bacon, author of Health at Every Size. This provides a snapshot of
the science behind the weight neutral approach, Health at Every Size, which Intuitive Eating is aligned
with.
For those of you who couldn’t attend, you may be wondering- what exactly is Intuitive Eating? As I
mentioned in an earlier newsletter, Intuitive Eating is a non-diet approach to food and health. The
framework consists of 10 principles to help you examine and reevaluate your beliefs & attitudes about
your body, your food, physical activity, health, and more. While practicing Intuitive Eating, individuals
relearn how to eat in accordance to their natural hunger and fullness cues; food cravings; energy needs,
and so on. They begin to trust their body to tell them when to eat, what to eat, and how much to eat.
The Ten Principles of Intuitive Eating are:
1. Reject the Diet Mentality
2. Honor Your Hunger
3. Make Peace with Food
4. Challenge the Food Police
5. Feel Your Fullness
6. Discover the Satisfaction actor
7. Cope with Your Feelings without Using Food
8. Respect Your Body
9. Exercise to Feel the Difference
10. Honor Your Health with Gentle Nutrition
Intuitive Eating may seem like a straightforward concept, but in a culture that heavily promotes dieting and
weight loss as a path to health, happiness, and even moral virtue, it can be hard to break out of the Diet
Cycle (seen below). Also known as the “Restrict-Binge Cycle”, this eating pattern is typically kicked off by
some diet thought, like “I need to lose weight” or “I need to start eating better”.
Here are some examples of how this might play
out:
● Eating “clean” all week only to overeat all your favorite foods during the weekend.
● Sticking to a diet plan all day long, staying within the calorie goal, up until nighttime
when it seems like all your cravings hit at once.
● Keeping a particular snack food out of the house, only to binge on it once you finally cave and buy it after a tough day.
● Or just generally feeling “out of control” around certain foods you don’t consider healthy and are off-limits.
Relatable? You’re not alone. Many of my clients have been stuck in the Diet Cycle at some point in their
life, with a common idea being that they either need to lose weight or eliminate certain foods in order to
be healthy (refer to the attached HAES Manifesto for more reading on this!). And while their intention is
good, they end up falling into this trap where they deprive themselves of adequate fuel or satisfying foods
(or both), in order to reach their health goal. When they inevitably break the diet, “Diet Culture” messaging
tells them they are the problem; that they don’t have willpower; that they aren’t disciplined enough, which
contributes to feelings of guilt and shame.
The reality though, is that “diets” (restrictive diets) don’t work because they create a state of deprivation,
either in the biological or the mental sense. Meaning, whether we are restricting our energy intake to meet
a weight loss goal, or avoiding food groups or favorite foods due to diet rules, it could lead to a
compensatory response or “rebound” eating (like eating the whole sleeve of Girl Scout cookies at once,
secretly sneaking the extra slices of pizza, or eating past comfortable fullness every weekend or anytime
you encounter “fun foods”). Repeated attempts to restrict in pursuit of “good health” can instead lead to a
strained, unhealthy relationship to your body and your food. The guilt, shame, and the belief that you are
a “failure” may create more distrust in your body and your ability to make your own healthy choices. This
leads to the feeling that you have to rely on a diet plan to “stay on track”, “finally” lose weight, or eat
“right”. Which of course perpetuates the cycle.
So where do you go from here? You can learn more about Intuitive Eating here. I also provided some
suggestions at the end of my presentation for how to start practicing Intuitive Eating today. Check them
out in the attached PDF. If you would like additional guidance, send me an email:
Mary@marybalogrdn.com. with “Advantage Strength Discovery Call” in the subject line, and we’ll set up a
free 30-minute Discovery Call so you can ask questions and learn more about my approach & services.
All for now! Look for more nutrition content every other week in Brian’s newsletter. Thanks for reading!
→ What I’m Reading: The Black Women in Food Initiative (BWIF) feature on Dine Diaspora
→ What I’m Streaming: “Reconnecting with Our Foods & Seeds with Shelley Buffalo”, Spirit Plate
Podcast, hosted by Shiloh Maples, and produced by Whetstone Radio Collective
→ What I’m Cooking: Fudgy Chocolate Cake with Fluffy Chocolate Frosting by Yossy Arefi from her
book, Snacking Cakes
Mary is a Registered Dietitian-Nutritionist and Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor working in partnership
with Advantage Strength to offer Nutrition services. Her background is in clinical nutrition, local food
systems, and culinary arts. Her goal is to help enhance your relationship to your food, your body, and your
community. To learn more, visit http://www.marybalogrdn.com/(or stay tuned for more newsletter content!).