I don’t think there’s any freedom in having zero structure. It’s not a superior form of intuitive eating to totally wing it and not care what happens. That’s really stressful for most of us. We want to take care of ourselves. We want to feel good. That requires some flexible structure. The Intuitive Eating book calls it gentle nutrition. It’s ok to know what’s best for your health and wellbeing and to actively choose it. Picture a straight line graph with rigid restriction and body obsession on one end and total food apathy and not caring about your body and health on the other. Intuitive eating is a range in the middle. The idea is to listen to and trust your own body, but maybe you’re most comfortable with a little more structure and more caring, or maybe you feel your best with less structure and less focus on outcomes. As recovering black and white thinkers, the tendency is to believe that the choices are total control or total disaster, but it’s about coming back to the middle over and over again while avoiding the extremes. Maybe you have some flexible structure around the number of meals or the types of foods you want to include but let appetite dictate amounts and timing. Or maybe minimum amounts are important but appetite determines the food that sounds good and whether you eat more at that meal. I like having a fairly predictable meal pattern. I like covering my nutrition bases as well as eating for pleasure and satisfaction. Totally winging it doesn’t suit me. I want to know roughly when my next meal is, that I’ll like the food, and that I’ll have enough. That requires at least some basic planning or structure. The intuitive element is the freedom to not only listen to my body but to totally change my mind. The structure is there to help me maximize enjoyment and satisfaction, not to lock me down
top of page
bottom of page