Are you feeling lost without all your diet rules? Are you struggling with the phase of intuitive eating where you give yourself permission to eat all foods? Do you feel chaotic, scared, and exhilarated all at the same time? Are you worried that this phase is never going to end, and your relationship with food is never going to calm down? Listen now to start working through these struggles.

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Episode's Key Points:

• When we are trying to learn a new way to eat, we have to recognize the old rules that dictated our way of eating in the past. We also need to recognize the harm that these rigid rules inflicted on our body, emotions, and relationships!!
• The "calm" that comes with strict food rules is an ILLUSION! These rules are not nourishing or comforting.
• This new way of intuitive eating has NO rules because our bodies are not meant to be controlled or regulated.
• Willpower should not be associated with food intake. Instead, food intake should be thought of like a pendulum! Think about how a pendulum evens itself out... if you pull it back and allow the pendulum's swings to peter out on their own, its movements become much less erratic. But if you continue to pull it back and don't allow it that time to settle, it will continue to swing from one extreme to another. The more the pendulum is pulled, the more it reacts!
• Give yourself time to heal!! Diet rules are ingrained in us from such a young age, and we have a lot of unlearning to do. This will take TIME.
• Your brain will likely start to crave a return to diets and rigidity... notice these thoughts, but try not to act on them.
• Be COMPASSIONATE for where you are in the moment!!
• An eating disorder is a monster that sucks the life out of people affected, including family. Self-compassion is essential for recovery.
• If a person is in strong recovery, settling into intuitive eating can take at least a year... give yourself time!!
• Weight restoration: for many people in recovery, eating a lot more food during recovery to satiate the body post-eating disorder is very necessary! Gaining weight can be a super hard experience though, so be patient and kind to yourself.
• We live in a world that considers dieting to be "normal" eating... but it's not! Our world is dealing with its own eating disorder.
• Food and recovery are not black and white. There is so much gray area in our intentions!!
• Having a recovery team, including a therapist and a weight-inclusive dietitian, is essential to successful recovery.
• Why are carbohydrates getting such a bad rep?? Every cell in our body needs glucose... which is what carbs break down into when we digest them!
• The food addiction issue: if you feel like you aren't allowed to eat something and eventually "give in," it can feel like certain foods are addictive. But if you give yourself permission to eat all foods, "addictive" foods lose their power!
• The more one is deprived of a food, the more their body is going to want to eat it!!
• Even though intuitive eating and recovery can feel like you're walking a tight rope without a safety net underneath you when you first walk away from dieting and eating disorders, in the long run you are pursuing healing and health!!

Show Notes:

• Link to subscribe to the weekly FREE Food Peace Newsletter. It is sent out every Tuesday morning and no spam EVER. By signing up, I will also send you Love Food's Season 1's Food Peace Syllabus.
• Evelyn Tribole on Love, Food
• Marci Evans on Love, Food
• "When Relying on Hunger is Too Scary" blog post
• 8 Keys to Recovery from an Eating Disorder by Carolyn Costin ---> This week's Food Peace Syllabus addition
• Eating Disorder Dietitians
• Julie Dillon RD blog

Do you have a complicated relationship with food? I want to help! Send your Dear Food letter to LoveFoodPodcast@gmail.com. 

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