I love eggs. I enjoy them scrambled, in an omelet, hard boiled or in egg salad. But for years before I became an intuitive eater, I would only eat the egg whites. So, my scrambled eggs would be scrambled egg whites, my omelet would be an egg white omelet, I’d eat the hard-boiled egg whites and chuck the yolk, and my egg salad was really egg white salad.

 

Yes, I had demonized the egg yolk – sorry yolk, didn’t mean to do it – I was influenced by diet culture telling me that the yolk was “bad”, it was full of fat and cholesterol, and I needed to throw it out!

 

I even look back on the meal plans I created for my clients who wanted to lose weight (I don’t do this anymore, thank goodness!), and if I was recommending eggs for breakfast, it would always be egg whites.

 

How unfair.

 

Now, as an intuitive eater I no longer fear the yolk.  I eat the entire egg. And, as a RDN and certified intuitive eating counselor, I encourage my clients to eat the entire egg as well (but only if you like eggs of course!)

 

Your food fear is real. You have been told countless times by diet culture that there are “good” foods and “bad” foods and that you are “good” or “bad” based on what you eat. Your entire day is considered “a good day” or “a bad day” based on what you’ve eaten. This list of foods includes what you’d consider snack foods such as chips, cookies and ice cream. But it also includes foods that you would consider meal food such as eggs, dark meat chicken, and white potato.

 

I think about the dozens of eggs I threw out because I substituted egg whites for whole eggs in all my recipes. Granted, sometimes egg whites perform better in recipes if you want a fluffiness to the final product. But more times than not, that’s not the reason I was throwing out the yolks.

 

Just this past Sunday I made a veggie omelet for my husband for lunch. I automatically used 2 whole eggs. And then I made one for myself. What a great feeling cracking the egg and using the entire egg!

 

The final product is so much more satisfying than eating just egg whites. It has what we call staying power!

 

Aside from the satisfaction factor (which happens to be one of the intuitive eating principles), whole eggs are a nutrition powerhouse!

 

Yes, we can talk about nutrition on your intuitive eating journey. Remember, one of my 3 essential ingredients is Nutrition Education (learn more here).

 

Egg Power

Eggs is a source of high-quality protein. It is rich in vitamins, minerals and essential fatty acids.

 

Some of the nutrients found in eggs include:

• Vitamin B12 – helps with red blood cell formation, manufacturing DNA and nerve cells, and carbohydrate metabolism
• Folate – helps with red blood cell formation and DNA metabolism
• Pantothenic acid – aids carbohydrate, fat and protein metabolism
• Zinc – helps in wound healing
• Iron – essential for oxygen transport
• Vitamin E – promotes antioxidant activity and cell membrane integrity
• Chromium – aids in growth and glucose tolerance

There’s More…

 

Eggs are also rich in choline – important for brain function, the antioxidants lutein and zeaxanthin – necessary for eye health, and vitamin D – a key factor in bone health.

 

As an intuitive eater, you are in charge of your food choices. And you will find that you make food choices that honor your health and your taste buds. What a beautiful balance that is!

 

Need help navigating this balance? Just reach out to me HERE!