Is intuitive eating worth a look?
Like body positivity, there are a lot of good ideas behind intuitive eating. It's a great way to lay down a solid foundation for your self esteem, through self acceptance and appreciation of your body. If you are happy with your body the way it is, and you love and treat it properly, then there's nothing wrong with these ideas at all.
Good Vibes Matter
Unfortunately, that's about all intuitive eating has to offer.
At Blacktie Mealprep, when we see a weight loss concept that depends on ideas like “Give yourself unconditional permission to eat", and “one of the most basic gifts of existence—the pleasure and satisfaction that can be found in the eating experience"… it doesn't take much to see that intuitive eating is more about getting good vibes, and less about actually moving the needle.
For any weight loss to happen, your body must use more energy than it takes in. From dieting to extreme exercise and fasting, there are a million ways to do that--but that's what it comes down to: the habit of creating a calorie deficit that is then maintained through the right combination of exercise, then eating the right foods, at the right time.
Put Them To Work
Making that habit stick is where most people get stuck, then out of despair or frustration reach out to all sorts of fads and concepts to take that frustration and despair away. Fortunately, your mind is already equipped with a built-in hack to make habits stick: repetition.
If you hate exercise, then your first step should be simply parking as far back at parking lots as possible, and eating a single piece of fruit per day. Then you work your way up to always taking the stairs, and eating a fruit with every meal, and so on.
Soon you're automatically parking far and eating fruits without thinking about it, because your mind automatically is takes those shortcuts. Then you may consider removing one less patty from your burgers, maybe adding a quick walk around the block on nice days.
Create New Habits
Before you know it, your mind sheds it's old unhealthy ways in favor of new habits that you enjoy naturally. When treating your body right feels natural, you will feel strange if you don't do it. In fact, on some days you'll even want to kick it up a notch, and this is where a gym membership and mealprep come in.
The truth is, everyone is fighting an invisible battle that you can't see. For some people, finding an idea or obscure fact that explains their lack of progress--and convincing you of it--is a lot easier than admitting that for things to change for the better, they need to stop doing what they're comfortable with and start making healthy, positive changes in their lives.
You can believe any idea you want, but your body will still run the numbers and show the results on your waistline. Let your mind work with your body—with the truth—so you can experience the best of both worlds.
