Intuitive Eating for a Diet Alternative

A Welcome Challenge to the Dieting Treadmill

It's one thing to criticize the diet industry and remind everyone that 95% of diets don't work. It's another thing entirely to provide an alternative that is powerful, hopeful, life-giving, and (most of all) effective. Yet Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch seem to pull it off with Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Program That Works.

Who Should Read Intuitive Eating

Intuitive Eating is not written only for those who have disordered eating (although dieting might qualify). So, one caveat before diving into the book: The plan is most helpful after getting major disordered eating under control. In other words, those who have anorexia should be restored to a reasonable weight, and those who binge and purge should put most of that behavior behind them before trying to become intuitive eaters. The good news is that a knowledgable dietitian can help you with all parts of the process.

Premise of Intuitive Eating

Intuitive Eating has so many advantages going for it that it's difficult to pick out a few. Certainly, the authors are able to describe how someone who diets tends to think ("The last four diets didn't work, but this is the one!"). In fact, you can read that in most diet books, which tell you that although you failed before, there's a brand new diet out there that will be different. Tribole and Resch dispel this notion rather handily. What they tell you instead is that if you have any real hope that a diet might work, it will hinder you. Now that's a different perspective.

It's not a joke. Intuitive Eating is about being responsible to your body--which means being willing to eat any food you want in the initial stages of the process to challenge the notion of "forbidden foods." There is no greater attraction than a food that is off-limits, and having plenty of it around (plus permission to eat it at any time) takes a lot of the allure away.

The book also acknowledges that early response to hunger is crucial, which keeps the intuitive eater from getting too hungry and binging in response.

Helping the Body Wake Up

So how do those who try this method avoid gaining weight? In practical ways, the authors urge those who begin intuitive eating to listen to their bodies and find out 1) when they're satisfied in terms of fullness, and 2) whether things actually taste good or not. The focus on flavor challenges the incomplete, though correct, notion that "food is fuel." That's true, but you still have ten thousand taste buds flooding you with all kinds of information on the food you're eating. Intituive Eating recognizes this and encourages satisfaction based on taste, texture, appearance, aroma, and more.

The idea is that if you eat what is satisfying, you'll probably eat less than you would if you tried to avoid it. Plus, being truly aware of what each food brings to the senses may help you realize that you don't even like many of the foods on your "forbidden foods" list.

Nutrition Is Not Forgotten

Lest you wonder if the authors (both registered dietitians) have lost their senses, note that they endorse making choices that honor nutrition in addition to hunger. This information comes late in the book by design: If there is any focus on calorie counting, carb-limiting, or any other dieting mantra early in the process, a person can't get to know her body well enough to be able to incorporate healthy choices in a way that is, well, healthy.

So What's Not to Like?

It's a plan that takes away deprivation, increases awareness, and promotes a broad level of health. It's also a plan that seems to make more sense when working with a professional rather than alone. The authors are describing how they do nutrition therapy, and in one-on-one settings they have the chance to deal with their patients' individual speedbumps. Plus, someone who has numbed his body for years may not be able to learn the signals it sends on his own.

As mentioned above, the book is not a good first stop for those who have anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, or other major eating disorders (unless it leads them to seek outside help). It's an excellent book for these persons once the disordered eating has died down. But listening to the body requires a body that is functioning fairly normally. Anorexia and bulimia can and do make the body malfunction both physically and psychologically. In this environment, intuitive eating is premature.

A Book to Buy and Wear Out

Intuitive Eating is a fantastic text. It's engaging, relevant, practical, and different. It helps readers to set reasonable goals for themselves rather than taunting them with the potential to lose gobs of weight in a short time. It also offers the kind of hope that comes from being more alive and healthy regardless of weight, which is something a diet just can't provide.