My chronic illness keeps me from making peace with food. {Ep 88 with Elyse Resch}
Sep 18, 2017
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Expert in finding food peace despite a chronic illness, Elyse Resch joins to talk about intuitive eating. They discuss the challenges individuals face with chronic illnesses, finding gratitude for the body's healing abilities, and shifting focus towards foods that can be enjoyed. The host encourages self-compassion in relation to food and shares resources for PCOS.
Finding satisfaction in gluten-free options can help overcome feelings of deprivation and reduce binging.
Self-compassion and gratitude are essential for rebuilding trust and connecting with the body's wisdom in intuitive eating.
Deep dives
Rebuilding Trust and Finding Compassion
The letter writer has dealt with a series of betrayals and struggles with chronic illnesses. Their complicated relationship with food includes feelings of deprivation and binging. Elise Resch, co-author of intuitive eating, suggests focusing on rebuilding trust and embracing satisfaction in eating. She emphasizes the need for self-compassion and gratitude for the body's healing process. The letter writer is encouraged to navigate intuitive eating principles beyond just pleasure and taste, incorporating instinct, emotions, and rational thought. Starting with compassion and satisfaction can lead to a more holistic approach to intuitive eating.
Overcoming Feelings of Deprivation and Binging
The letter writer feels constantly deprived, leading to episodes of binging. Elise Resch suggests shifting the focus from what cannot be eaten to exploring alternatives and finding satisfaction in gluten-free options. The concept of 'for the most part' is introduced, allowing a balance between foods that are pleasurable and those that are nutritious. Emphasizing the pleasure aspect of intuitive eating helps address feelings of deprivation and mitigates the drive to overindulge.
The Importance of Compassion in the Healing Process
Compassion plays a crucial role in overcoming challenges related to food. Elise Resch highlights the significance of self-compassion and emphasizing the acknowledgement of coping mechanisms and past behaviors. Shifting the mindset from judgment to curiosity and gratitude enables the process of healing. Making peace with food involves trust in the body's wisdom and release from feelings of betrayal. Recommended resources for further guidance include 'Fat is a Feminist issue' by Susie Orbach and 'Secrets from the Eating Lab' by Tracy Mann, along with Elise Resch's own 'Intuitive Eating Workbook' and her upcoming book on intuitive eating for teens.
Are you trying to find food peace, while also struggling with a chronic illness that requires food restriction of some kind? Do you have fear around certain foods making you sick? Have you struggled with the deprivation and binge cycle? Listen now for some strategies to tackle these food peace challenges.
This episode is brought to you by my FREE PCOS video training. Get connected now and be the first to get it when it releases in mid-September. You CAN make peace with food even with PCOS and I want to show you how. Join our Facebook group to get extra support!
Feelings of betrayal from food and your body can make finding body trust and connecting with your internal wisdom that much harder.
Have self-compassion and gratitude for what our bodies CAN do!
Let's shift our thinking... instead of listing all the foods you CAN'T eat when you struggle with something like celiac disease, figure out all the foods you CAN eat.
Intuitive eating isn't JUST about flavor (Elyse calls it "the tongue")! It's also about tuning into how we FEEL when we eat certain foods.
Intuitive eating is a combination of instinct, feeling, and thought!
How do we use our body, education, taste, and intellect to help guide us in our choices?
Healthy eating includes pleasure and satisfaction!!
If we don't honor our hunger, we'll put ourselves in a situation where we're ravenous, and then we can't find satisfaction in our food. Likewise, if we eat without hunger present, food just doesn't taste as good! It's all about finding the middle ground with hunger.
Feelings of deprivation lead directly to bingeing!
Shifting our mentality can open the door to profound healing.
Dieting doesn't work!!
Lean into compassion... whatever we've done, we've done it because it's what we thought we needed to do at the time. It was a way to cope! We can't get mad at ourselves for doing our very best, even if it didn't turn out to be a sustainable path for progress.
Come from a place of curiosity, rather than judgment.
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