The voices of Intuitive Eating: Destructive and Empowering
In the realm of therapy, intuitive eating offers a powerful framework for promoting a healthy relationship with food and body image. As a therapist specializing in intuitive eating, I encourage my clients to work towards identifying the different voices that contribute to their feelings about and decisions around food. Destructive voices are the thoughts and ideas that influence someone towards diet culture practices whereas allied voices are the thoughts and ideas that are meant to empower clients to make autonomous decisions around food and their bodies. In this blog post, we explore the voices of intuitive eating, and how you can start to identify the ways they impact your relationship with food and yourself.
Destructive Dieting Voices:
The Food Police Voice:
This is the voice that gets you in “trouble” for not following the “rules” of diet culture. It may also be the voice that rewards you for “good” behavior, such as eating low caloric foods or avoiding sugar. The food police voice tends to police your actions and try to keep the person “in check,” by reminding them the laws of diet culture.
The Nutrition Informant Voice:
The nutrition informant voice bombards us with external opinions and often conflicting information about what we should and shouldn't eat. It promotes rigid guidelines, often rooted in pseudoscience or fad dieting, and undermines our ability to listen to our own bodies. This voice erodes trust in our intuition and undermines our innate wisdom when it comes to nourishing ourselves. When we begin to recognize the informant speaking, we can challenge the advice it gives and instead remind ourselves of the principles of Health at Every Size.
The Diet Rebel Voice:
The diet rebel voice is a rebellious force that pushes back against diet culture and societal pressures. For many, eating “healthy” has been a rigorous and exhausting mountain to climb, always chasing the next fad or trend and this voice tells us this goal is impossible. “You might as well finish that box of cookies since you already broke your diet and had two of them!” This voice makes it hard to discern what it is one truly wants.
Allied Voices of Intuitive Eating:
The Food Anthropologist Voice:
Much like an anthropologist, this voice practices neutrality and observes the physical and emotional cues of the eater to make decisions and build insight about how to best fuel and serve the body. “I noticed when I had sugar late in the day, I had trouble falling asleep. That isn’t good or bad, it’s just something I know about myself”. In therapy, we work together to shift food police thoughts into more neutral observations rather than positive or negative judgements.
The Nurturer Voice:
The nurturer voice embodies compassion, self-care, and unconditional support. It encourages us to prioritize our well-being, embrace self-acceptance, and nurture a positive relationship with food. This voice fosters a loving and gentle approach, helping us honor our bodies and meet our needs with nourishing choices. “I am just as worthy of a bubble bath and self-care routine after eating that piece of cake as I am on a day I had salad.”
The Nutrition Ally Voice:
The nutrition ally voice combines evidence-based knowledge with individualized needs. It recognizes that nutrition is not a one-size-fits-all approach and encourages us to seek reliable information from qualified professionals. This voice supports our journey by providing balanced guidance and helping us make informed decisions that honor our health and well-being.
The Intuitive Eater Voice:
The intuitive eater voice is the essence of intuitive eating itself. It guides us to trust our bodies' signals of hunger, fullness, and satisfaction. This voice encourages us to let go of external rules and embrace a flexible and non-restrictive approach to eating. It promotes mindful awareness and enjoyment of food, fostering a harmonious relationship with nourishment.
