Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch
“Intuitive Eating” by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch is a transformative guide that challenges diet culture and introduces a mindful approach to food. It advocates for listening to our bodies’ natural hunger and fullness signals rather than following restrictive diets. Published in 2012, this book has become a pivotal resource for anyone looking to develop a healthier relationship with food and break free from the vicious cycle of dieting.
7 Key Lessons and Takeaways
- Reject the Diet Mentality: Understand that diets often fail and lead to weight gain, creating a cycle of hope and disappointment.
- Honor Hunger and Fullness: Listening to your body’s hunger and fullness signals leads to healthier and more balanced eating habits.
- Make Peace with Food: Allow yourself to eat any food without guilt, reducing cravings and the allure of the “forbidden.”
- Challenge the Food Police: Silence the internal voices that judge your food choices as good or bad.
- Discover the Satisfaction Factor: Enjoy eating by choosing foods that satisfy your taste buds and nourish your body.
- Exercise for Well-being, Not Weight: Focus on movement for how it makes you feel rather than just for burning calories.
- Respect Your Body: Accept your natural body shape and stop comparing it to societal ideals of thinness.
Who May Benefit from the Book
- Individuals tired of the dieting cycle
- Those struggling with eating disorders
- Health professionals seeking alternatives to traditional diet advice
- People interested in mindful eating
- Anyone wanting to improve their relationship with food
The Book in 20 Words
Intuitive Eating promotes a compassionate, healthy relationship with food by rejecting diets and listening to your body’s natural cues.
The Book Summary in 1 Minute
“Intuitive Eating” presents a liberating alternative to diet culture, encouraging readers to trust their bodies’ natural hunger and fullness signals. The authors dismantle the myth that dieting leads to lasting health, revealing instead how it often results in weight gain and psychological stress. Through mindful eating practices, the book teaches how to reconnect with your body’s wisdom, enjoy food without guilt, and develop a sustainable, healthy relationship with eating.
The Book Summary in 7-10 Minutes
Reject Diet Mentality
Why Diets Don’t Work
Dieting is harmful, leading to short-term weight loss but long-term weight gain. Chronic dieting slows metabolism, increases cravings, and triggers feelings of guilt. Instead of relying on external rules, intuitive eating urges individuals to tune into their body’s natural signals of hunger and fullness.
The False Promises of Diet Culture
The promise of quick and permanent weight loss from diets is misleading. Research shows that dieting is a consistent predictor of future weight gain. Moreover, the mental toll of constantly restricting food can result in feelings of shame and failure. Intuitive eating provides an alternative by helping individuals reject the false hope diets offer.
Despite clearer food labels and advanced nutrition science, dieting often leads to weight gain—not loss. The billion-dollar diet industry thrives on this cycle of false hope and failure.
Why Diets Backfire
Restrictive eating triggers survival instincts, causing binge-eating once the diet ends. Studies, like Ancel Keys’ WWII experiment, show that deprivation leads to overeating and mental distress—not due to lack of willpower, but because of biology.
A New Way Forward: Intuitive Eating
“Intuitive Eating” calls for rejecting diet culture and trusting your body instead—offering a sustainable, science-backed path to truly healthy eating.
Mindful and intuitive eating encourage listening to your body’s hunger and fullness cues, helping you avoid overeating and enjoy meals more. By rejecting dieting and trusting your body, you can build a healthier, stress-free relationship with food that supports both physical and emotional well-being.
Honor Your Hunger and Fullness
Trust Your Body
Intuitive eating teaches individuals to trust their body’s signals of hunger and fullness. Honoring hunger prevents overeating that occurs when the body is starved. Recognizing fullness helps individuals stop eating when they feel satisfied, not overly full.
Tools for Attunement
To better attune to hunger and fullness, intuitive eating advocates using tools like the Hunger Discovery Scale and Fullness Discovery Scale. These tools help individuals tune into their body’s needs, avoiding overeating or undereating based on external rules.
Make Peace with Food
Unconditional Permission to Eat
One of the most revolutionary aspects of intuitive eating is the idea of giving yourself unconditional permission to eat all foods. Removing the stigma from certain foods decreases cravings and binge eating. This process allows individuals to enjoy food more mindfully and make healthier choices without feeling deprived.
Restricting certain foods often makes them more tempting, leading to overeating when they are finally allowed. “Intuitive Eating” advocates for making peace with food by giving yourself unconditional permission to eat. By doing so, the allure of “forbidden” foods diminishes, and eating becomes a more mindful and satisfying experience.
Challenge the Food Police
The “Food Police” refers to internal critical thoughts that shame or judge food choices. By challenging these thoughts, individuals can reduce the guilt associated with eating and develop a more positive relationship with food.
Moral judgments about food can cloud our ability to make healthy choices. “Intuitive Eating” teaches readers to ignore the “food police” — those internal voices that enforce dietary rules and guilt. By questioning and challenging these irrational beliefs, we can make more informed decisions about what we eat, free from guilt and moralizing.
Cope with Emotions Without Food
Emotional Eating vs. Physical Hunger
Many people use food to cope with emotions like stress or boredom. Intuitive eating encourages individuals to differentiate between physical hunger and emotional hunger. By finding non-food ways to manage emotions, individuals can break the cycle of emotional eating and reduce guilt.
Dieting creates an emotional roller-coaster of guilt and deprivation. The act of labeling foods as “good” or “bad” leads to a cycle of restriction and indulgence, perpetuating negative feelings about food. “Intuitive Eating” encourages breaking free from these labels, allowing for a more balanced and guilt-free approach to eating.
Respect Your Body and Exercise for Well-being
Accept Your Genetic Blueprint
Body acceptance is key in intuitive eating. Instead of striving for a culturally idealized body size, individuals are encouraged to respect their natural shape and recognize that health is possible at many sizes.
Exercise for Joy, Not Weight Loss
The authors advocate for moving the body in ways that feel good rather than exercising solely to lose weight. Shifting the focus to how exercise makes you feel can help sustain a long-term healthy lifestyle.
Practice Gentle Nutrition
Balancing Health and Enjoyment
Gentle nutrition encourages making food choices that nourish the body while considering personal preferences. It’s not about perfection, but about building a balanced eating pattern that supports long-term health.
Variety and Flexibility
A varied diet rich in fruits, vegetables, and whole foods is encouraged, but all foods can fit within a healthy eating pattern. Gentle nutrition emphasizes flexible eating rather than rigid dietary rules.
Raise Intuitive Eaters
Fostering Healthy Habits in Children
Parents can foster intuitive eating in their children by avoiding strict food rules and allowing them to trust their hunger cues. This approach helps children develop a healthy, lifelong relationship with food.
Modeling Positive Behavior
Parents are encouraged to model positive eating behaviors by enjoying a wide variety of foods and demonstrating respect for their own bodies.
How to Get the Best of the Book
To maximize the benefits of “Intuitive Eating,” approach it with an open mind and a willingness to challenge long-held beliefs about dieting. Practice the principles gradually, starting with mindful eating and honoring your hunger. Keep a journal to track your progress and reflect on your relationship with food.
About the Authors
Evelyn Tribole is an award-winning dietitian and author based in California. She has represented the American Dietetic Association and has shared her expertise on ABC’s Good Morning America. Tribole is known for her work in promoting intuitive eating and helping individuals break free from diet culture.
Elyse Resch is a nutritionist with over three decades of experience specializing in eating disorders, intuitive eating, and preventative nutrition. Resch is a prominent figure in the field of nutrition, helping clients develop healthier relationships with food through intuitive eating practices.
Intuitive Eating Quotes
“If you don’t love it, don’t eat it, and if you love it, savor it.”
Conclusion
“Intuitive Eating” offers a refreshing perspective on healthy eating, urging readers to trust their bodies rather than follow restrictive diets. By embracing the principles outlined in the book, you can break free from the cycle of dieting, enjoy food without guilt, and cultivate a sustainable, healthy relationship with eating that nourishes both body and mind.