4 Common Reasons Why Intuitive Eating Isn't Working For You

Do you feel like intuitive eating seems to work for else everyone but you? You know all the "answers", you've tried to apply the principles to how you eat and view food, but it just doesn't seem to be sticking. I hear you, girl! I want to share with you 4 common reasons why intuitive eating may not be working for you and encourage you to keep working towards full peace with food! Because you're worth it! And though this is hard work, a healthy relationship with food will impact you for the rest of your life!Can I give you a little perspective here... maybe you've been struggling with anxiety with food for a while now, maybe a few years even. This way of eating takes time to learn. All your years of living with a "diet-mindset" have to be torn back, all the rules around food and eating that you've been living by all this time have to be challenged. This. Takes. Time. Give yourself so much grace!That being said, let's talk through some of the main reasons why you still feel like intuitive eating just isn't clicking and how to make progress forward and feel confident as you explore this new way of thinking about food! 

1. YOU HAVEN'T FULLY LET GO OF YOUR "DIET-MENTALITY"

I've said it before, but you don't necessarily have to be on a diet to still have a "diet-mentality". Diet-mentality can sneak into your life and be just as sneaky and difficult to get rid of. Diet-mentality for you could very well be you continuing to go on another diet for validation with eating and the sense of control and accomplishment that it brings. It could also, though, be little things throughout your life such as weighing yourself and letting a scale dictate how you feel about your body and then influence how you eat. It could be what you're filling your mind with and who you're surrounding yourself with as you scroll through social media.Action Step: Commit to one final cleanse... a "diet cleanse". That means really surveying your life and all the things that keep you in diet-mentality. Get rid of your scale so that you're not tempted to weigh yourself. Weighing yourself does not add to your life and does not help you tune into your body as you want to with intuitive eating. Unfollow people on social media who make you feel like you have to eat a certain way (you know those people). And it may not be that they are intentionally trying to mislead you and harm your relationship with food. But you have to be strong and fight for yourself with this one! You can always re-follow in the future. But for now, you need to put your healing first. And lastly, after cleansing, fill your life with positive influence! Whether it's filling up your social media feed with positive messages around food and intuitive eating or reading books that empower you, choose to fill in those spaces where diet-messages previously influenced you.Cleanse. Then fill. 

2. YOU AREN'T SLOWING DOWN

Just like to have a healthy relationship with a friend you need to make time for them, and making time for them means slowing down and getting away from your to-do list for some intentional time, a healthy relationship with your body takes intentional time. Intuitive eating is about tuning into your body and it's needs, and in order to do this you have to slow down. And by slowing down, I mean having intentional time throughout the day to connect with your body, making it a priority to acknowledge what messages your body is telling you whether that message is that you're hungry, or thirsty, or needing energy, or too stressed.Action step: Start by having a regular time where you check in with yourself. Maybe that's with a morning routine, waking up just a few minutes earlier to spend time journaling. Start small with this one, because I know that slowing down is not probably not your forte. But I can't stress enough how important it is to have times throughout your day where you can check-in. And it's not to say that you're not still being productive and getting stuff done. It's that you're not putting your to-do list above your own self-care. You hear? :) 

3. YOU AREN'T EATING REGULARLY THROUGHOUT THE DAY

You've probably heard of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. Well, we can apply the same concept to how you learn to be more intuitive with eating. You have basic needs that must be met first before tapping into the part of your brain that helps you tune in with body cues. One of those basic needs is to eat regularly throughout the day. If you've ever had a day where things got busy and you, for some reason or another, went a long period of time without eating, you know that you just can't think straight. Your body's primal instincts kick in and it's only concern is getting energy, aka food, in as quick as possible. If you're struggling with not feeling control with eating, likelihood is that you're not eating enough, regularly throughout the day.Action step: Plan for hunger. Meal prep some easy breakfasts or have simple ingredients to throw together a breakfast that will fuel your morning. Pack lunch for when you're at work. Keep weeknight dinners simple for when you come home late and don't have the energy to make something complicated. Have snacks on hand... there's no harm in having snacks that are there for you if you do need an energy or mental pick-me-up. 

4. YOU AREN'T LETTING YOURSELF "FAIL"

There isn't any failing here, really. What I'm trying to get at is that in order to be intuitive with eating you have to be willing to let yourself get uncomfortable and even feel like you're failing a little. Again, there isn't really any failing. But there will be times where you may eat more than you wanted, more than is comfortable, because you're still learning what satisfied fullness feels like. There will be time where you eat something that used to be a "fear food" and you start to feel some guilt sneak in. Hear this...the rules that you had and maybe still have around eating are your way of feeling safe with food. But they're keeping you from experiencing this beautiful relationship with your body and with food in the way you were created to experience. And in order to live with more food freedom, you've got to be willing to test those rules and get uncomfortable. It's hard work! I know! But the result is so wonderful... food freedom!Action step: Write down some of your food rules and then challenge them. If you have the rule of not eating after 7, give yourself permission after dinner to have something else like some chocolate or ice cream. And then, if it sounds good, let yourself eat! If you have the rule to not get seconds at a meal, give yourself permission to eat more. Little by little, letting yourself challenge these food rules will teach you how to be in better communication with your body which is what you want as you're becoming more of an intuitive eater.  Know that no matter where you're at, you can re-claim your intuitive eating ability. You see, you were born as an intuitive eater. Diet culture got in the way. But now you're here and it is possible for you to be at peace again with food!Want to experience a little more of what a Day of Intuitive Eating looks like? Download my free intuitive eating journal guide that will help prompt you with questions to ask yourself as you go throughout your day!