As the weeks went by, our clients were eager to please us and followed their meal plans. We weighed them each week, and finally, their weight goals were met. Unfortunately, however, some time later we started getting calls from some of these same people telling us how much they needed us again. Somehow, the weight had come back on. Their calls were very apologetic. For some reason, they couldn’t stick to the plan anymore. Maybe they needed someone to monitor them. Maybe they didn’t have enough self-control. Maybe they just weren’t any good at this, and definitely, they felt guilty and demoralized. In spite of the “failure,” our patients put all the blame on themselves. After all, they trusted us—we were the “great nutritionists” who had helped them lose weight. Therefore, they had done something wrong, not us. As time went on, it became clear that something was very wrong with this approach...
All our good intentions were only reinforcing some very negative, self-effacing notions that our patients had about themselves—that they didn’t have self-control, they couldn’t do it, therefore they were bad or wrong. This led to guilt, guilt, guilt...
How could we, as nutritionists (registered dietitians), trained to look at the connections between nutrition and health, sanction a way of eating that seemed to reject the very foundation of our knowledge and philosophy?...
Intuitive Eating provides a new way of eating that is ultimately struggle-free and healthy for your mind and body. It is a process that unleashes the shackles of dieting (which can only lead to deprivation, rebellion, and rebound weight gain). It means getting back to your roots—trusting your body and its signals....
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