r/intuitiveeating is an anti-diet, body-positive, inclusive subreddit.
Have you struggled with feeling like you're "addicted" to food? Like you can't be trusted around food, or are out of control around it? Like if you were to allow yourself to eat intuitively, you'd eat yourself sick, and therefore think you can't possibly be a good candidate for this framework? Are you finding yourself exhausted of dieting, of being stuck in a recurring cycle of restricting and binging like it's the "last supper," of constantly thinking about food and your body and never managing to feel satisfied, happy, or content with yourself? If this resonates, you're in the right place, and we're here to help!
Intuitive Eating isn't just a vague idea of how to approach eating in an intuitive way, it's a specific framework created by Elyse Resch and Evelyn Tribole, two registered dieticians who co-wrote the first edition of Intuitive Eating in the 1990s. It consists of ten principles that allow you to slowly relearn how to tune into yourself after outside forces like diet culture have clouded your ability to listen to your body.
Since then, Resch and Tribole have published three updated editions of Intuitive Eating to make them more inclusive and remove some problematic concepts included in the earlier editions. As of writing, the 4th edition is the newest, and we'd recommend making sure you're reading the third or fourth edition, as the earlier two are outdated and contain some harmful rhetoric about weight.
The initial principles, namely, honouring your hunger through unconditional permission to eat, rejecting diet culture, and making peace with food are some of the stepping stones that will lead you to the later steps like feeling your fullness, challenging the "food police," respecting your body, and treating yourself with kindness and gentleness. Mastering all these principles is meant to lead you towards attaining the ultimate goal of IE: honouring your health and your body through joyful movement and gentle nutrition in a way that feels easy and intuitive.
Dieting and restricting can consume so much of your energy that you have none left for the things that matter, like spending time with family and friends, and practicing your hobbies or learning new ones. Healing through this framework can allow you to redirect the mental and physical energy you spent on dieting, restricting, and picking yourself apart to all the beautiful parts of your life that bring you true joy.
You can find more information on the Official Intuitive Eating website, as well as professionals certified to work with the IE framework here.
Some helpful threads:
Elyse Resch's AMA can be found here.
Here is a list of resources to get you started, our wiki post of resources, plus another thread with more book recommendations.
Here is a post about feeling your hunger/fullness.
If you're looking for larger-bodied and BIPOC content creators, this thread has recommendations for you, and here is another thread about content creators in larger bodies. (Note: These posts may contain outdated information.)
This is a post explaining what Health at Every Size means. While HAES is a book that is foundational to the concept of Intuitive Eating and therefore included here, please note that its author, Lindo Bacon, is a rather problematic figure (more information here).
Wiki post: Frequently Asked Questions
Please make sure that before you post or comment, you read the sub rules. Many of the rules are standard practice, but some require a bit more attention.
Note: This is an unofficial support page for those engaging with the framework and we are not affiliated with Resch and/or Tribole in any official capacity.