What To Do When You Know About Intuitive Eating But You’re Still Obsessing Over Food
If you’ve been learning about Intuitive Eating for a while but you’re still obsessing over food, you might be feeling discouraged.
I remember feeling this way at the beginning of my journey. My mind was still filled with food, food rules, and calories.
It can feel scary to not feel free from food stuff right away, especially because Intuitive Eating is a non-diet approach in a culture filled with diets.
It’s normal to feel stuck and discouraged, and I want you to break through this place because when we start to feel discouraged, we immediately think “this isn’t working” and then find another diet.
The cool thing is that when you get past this stuck place and continue to move toward peace with food, you start to find freedom.
You also start to think about food and your body less, which means you have so much more mental space to live your life and focus on what’s truly important to you.
In this post, I will help you uncover one reason you may be stuck obsessing over food. I’ll give you some examples and ways this roadblock may be showing up in your life, so you know how to recognize it.
I’ll also show you how to approach this roadblock so you know what to do about it so you can move forward in ending obsessing over food so you can claim your power and live your fullest life.
Yes, changing your behaviors is key to creating a new experience. (a world where your mind is no longer obsessing over calories, points, whatever and into a world where you are mentally free to live your fullest life). There absolutely are actions to take to get there.
But you must not ignore changing your sense of identity. Trying to incorporate the practices of Intuitive Eating while you still believe that you are a chronic dieter simply won’t have much effect.
One of the most common mistakes I see in my practice is turning Intuitive Eating into a diet. That means that you create food rules around it and when you’re chained to food rules, you’re not mentally free to live your fullest life. Telling yourself “I’ll only eat when I’m hungry” is a common way this shows up.
So, ask yourself:
“Am I still viewing myself as a chronic dieter?”
“Am I afraid of not doing Intuitive Eating 'right'?"
“Am I afraid to make mistakes in my Intuitive Eating journey?”
If you answered yes to any of those questions, look at it from a place of curiosity, instead of judgment.
If you answered yes, you have information about the next place to focus on.
This is why I am so in love with Transformational Coaching.
Transformational Coaching up-levels how you see yourself.
And when how you see yourself shifts, so do your behaviors around food and how you show up in the world.
Think: your most confident, fearless, empowered self.
Take one of my clients. She had been struggling with food for a while and when we first started working together, I showed her some simple Intuitive Eating practices to get started with.
A couple weeks in, she hit a roadblock.
She was having trouble following through with the practices- which is a totally normal part of transformation.
Now, the common thing to do when you hit a roadblock is convince yourself to simply try harder.
But instead, we dove right into her roadblock. I helped her understand what exactly it was keeping her from following through.
After asking some powerful questions, we uncovered that confidence was what was really getting in her way at this moment. She wasn’t feeling confident and it showed up in many ways in different areas of her life.
She wasn’t feeling confident in her body.
She didn't feel confident that she’d be able to ever feel at peace with food.
And she was also experiencing a lack of confidence in her social life and career.
She noticed she wasn’t making as many plans with friends, showing up as her true self, speaking up in her career, or going after what she really wanted.
This is why I always say that Peace with Food isn’t just about the food.
And this was a big breakthrough.
The problem wasn’t so much following through with her Intuitive Eating practices. It was that she was identifying as not confident, unimportant, and not capable.
Well of course it’s going to make it hard to go after what you truly want, with your relationship with food and in life, if you’re feeling unimportant and not capable.
So transforming that became the work.
And it rippled out into her whole life.
She not only transformed her relationship with food, but she also found body acceptance, went after what she wanted in her career ( She hired a career coach, networked her butt off and found her dream role), moved to a new city, and made a ton of friends.
The main thing I want you to take away from this blog post are that roadblocks are an invitation for an identity shift.
Roadblocks do not mean try harder and force yourself to follow through- even though that’s the common approach.
If you’ve been feeling stuck and you’re tired of obsessing over food, combining both Intuitive Eating and Transformational Coaching could be life changing for you.
Intuitive Eating will teach you how to eat in a way that honors your body’s internal cues. It’s how you break free from the constant dieting cycle.
Transformational Coaching is how you shift your relationship with food, your body and yourself from the inside out. It’s how you get to step into your most powerful, capable self and it’s how you can create your fullest life.
If you are considering support in ending obsessing over food and stepping into the YOU who lives her fullest life, click here to learn about private coaching and request a free Peace with Food Discovery Call.
Let’s chat, get to know each other, and identify your next steps toward your ultimate peace with food.
I'm rooting for you.
xo,
Melissa