Tag Archive for: food and nutrition

Gentle Nutrition: Self-Care Versus Self Control

One of the biggest misconceptions regarding Intuitive Eating is that nutrition guidelines and recommendations go out the window, or there is no focus on nutrition at all—it’s the “eating whatever you want when you want” mindset. However, this is far from the truth.

Gentle nutrition is the tenth Intuitive Eating principle and reads a little something like this:

 

“Making food choices that honor your health and taste buds while making you feel well. Remember that you do not have to eat perfectly to be healthy. You do not suddenly get a nutrient deficiency or gain weight from one snack, one meal or one day of eating. It’s what you eat consistently over time that matters—progress not perfection is what counts.”

In order to reach a point of where gentle nutrition can be incorporated, there needs to be space created for a positive relationship with food that allows for this. Hence why there are nine principles that come before this that help you…

 

  • Dismantle diet mentality
  • Challenge the food police
  • Get rid of diet rules
  • Reframe limiting beliefs
  • Accept your body

 

A solid foundation built on these principles needs to be in place for nutrition to be brought into the mix and approached in a non-diet way. This way you’re able to make choices from a loving, caring space and that consider all aspects of who you are (mentally, emotionally, and spiritually).

Difference Between Gentle Nutrition and Traditional Nutrition

 

The difference between nutrition from an Intuitive Eating approach vs. traditional approach is that nutrition is rooted in self-care and approaches it in a way that is sustainable.

 

Gentle nutrition is not rigid, restrictive, or filled with complications like traditional nutrition is often taught or perceived.

What does gentle nutrition look like? It’s different for everyone!

 

Here are some examples:

 

  • Having an extremely busy schedule so you choose frozen or convenience foods, but you try adding some fresh vegetable to the dish.
  • Following a gluten free eating style because you have celiac disease.
  • Choosing low FODMAP foods because you struggle with IBS flare ups and foods with low fermentable carbs feel better and don’t trigger symptoms.
  • Intentionally cooking your meals at home most days of the week.
  • Not giving nutrition much of a thought but including as many fruits and vegetables into your day as you feel like.

 

Gentle nutrition is determined by you based on what feels good in your body!

 

Prioritizing nutrition to whatever degree you feel is your choice (it’s not a “should”). You are making the decisions to engage in nutrition in a way that makes you and your body feel good (which embodies the meaning of self-care). Waking up every day and choosing food that helps you work your best, feel your best, and be your best IS a form of self-care.

Gentle Nutrition: Self-Care, Not Self-Control

 

Gentle nutrition takes the approach that you’re going to choose to eat that salad because it makes you feel your best and you want to nourish yourself with foods that make you feel good (self-care).

 

Whereas traditional nutrition takes the approach that you need to eat that salad because it will help you lose weight, get you healthy, or you choose the salad because you feel ashamed to eat anything else, especially in front of others. It is what you “should” do (self-control).

 

Taking nutrition from this approach can be a challenge. If you feel yourself struggling with determining the difference between self-care and self-control when it comes to food choices, ask yourself these questions:

 

  • Do my actions and decisions around food come from a place that feels balanced, free, elastic, and fluid, or do they feel rigid, controlled, and restrictive?

 

  • If I make a choice that strays from nutrition recommendations, how do I feel?

 

Need support in Gentle Nutrition: Check out The Intuitive Nutrition Circle™ (aka The IN Circle™.) where you learn to integrate gentle nutrition with your Intuitive Eating practice.

 

Note: The Intuitive Eating Basics course is a pre-requisite for The IN Circle. But now you can get the Intuitive Eating Basics course AS PART of The IN Circle for a short time only at a special price. Click here for that option and use coupon code FOODPEACE at checkout!

Offer expires 4/1/22

 

 

Your Body is Not a Calculator

How many servings of grains should I eat each day? How about protein, fruit, veggies, and fat? These are questions I used to get all the time when I created meal plans for clients.

 

That was back in the day when I was doing weight loss counseling (cringe!). The meal plans I created always “worked” for clients if they “followed” them to a T. But the problem was, they were not able to follow them exactly because they had a life to live. They had birthday parties to go to, vacations to go on, business dinners to attend. And once they felt like they couldn’t “stick” to the plan, they started making choices that didn’t honor their health.

 

Of course, we know what followed. Guilt, shame, feelings of disappointment and frustration. Then back on the meal plan, only for history to repeat itself.

 

Energy In = Energy Out

 

When I was in school, I learned about energy in = energy out. And in order to lose weight, you had to take in 500 less calories per day, or expend 500 extra calories per day, to lose 1 pound per week. Nutrition science has come a long way since I was in school.

 

In those early days of counseling, this is how I calculated weight loss meal plans for clients. I first calculated how much energy (aka calories) one needed to take in to maintain current weight. I then subtracted 500 calories and created a meal plan. I encouraged exercise to expend even more energy, this way my client would lose even more weight.

 

The problem with this is that THE BODY IS NOT A CALCULATOR.

 

This formula doesn’t work like this in real life. There are many factors that affect how you absorb the calories that you eat such as medications you might be on, medical conditions/diseases that you might have, your genetic makeup and the bacteria in your intestines to name a few.

 

You cannot manipulate this energy equation by eating less or exercising more to promote weight loss.

 

Once I realized this, I stopped calculating precise meal plans for clients.

 

2 Variables that Affect Your Body Weight

 

Manipulating your energy input and output isn’t going to help you achieve the body you want. But there are certain variables that will affect your body weight that are often NOT addressed. These are:

 

  1. Stress: Do you live in a chronically stressed state? If yes, then your stress hormones (specifically cortisol) are streaming through your body wreaking havoc on your physical, behavioral and emotional health. Perhaps it’s time to figure out what is stressing you out and work on de-stressing with some tried and true stress management techniques such as meditation, yoga, deep breathing, etc. Learn more here!

 

  1. Sleep: Do you get enough sleep each night? There is no magic number but there are enough studies that show that most people need between 7-8 hours of solid sleep. Here’s a hint: If you wake up the next morning yawning, you are not getting restorative sleep. Perhaps it’s time to put a sleep program into place.

 

What About Food/Nutrition and Exercise?

 

You might think because I teach intuitive eating, that I don’t regard nutrition and exercise. This is NOT TRUE! What you put into your body and the movement you do (or don’t do) each day has an important impact on how you feel.

 

The way that I encourage my clients to address food/nutrition and exercise is through a gentle lens. Only when they have rid themselves of the diet mentality can they move into this final step of their intuitive eating journey. And that goes for you too.

 

If you are still counting calories and watching the calorie counter on the treadmill in the gym, then you are not yet ready for gentle nutrition and movement. But if you have given up the calorie counting and watching and have regained the trust in your body to guide your eating, then by all means it’s time to start taking a closer look at the foods you are choosing and the movement you are doing (more on this in a future post!)

 

Final Thoughts

If you are still convinced that watching every calorie you eat is going to make a difference in your body weight, then please show some compassion for yourself. It’s okay, you are surrounded by a culture that has us believing this and I truly know that it’s hard to move away from it (take it from someone who used to calorie count…me!).

 

With time, you will learn to make smart eating choices from a place of self-care. In the meantime, if you need support, you can always reach out to me here!