Intuitive Eating, Heal your Relationship with Food

Intuitive Eating 101

by Digestive SystemNervous System

Intuitive Eating 101

Intuitive Eating (IE) heals your relationship with food by teaching you to listen and trust your body cues, particularly hunger, fullness and satisfaction.

Shackled to a Failed Diet Culture

We are shackled to a culture of dieting and weight loss.  Nutrition advice and fat diets are ubiquitous.  Research indicates that women internalize the importance of restricting food as young as age 5!   75% of  women participate in chronic dieting or disordered eating behavior. 

Every day there is a new diet or fad that promises to make you healthier and smarter, improve your mood, and help you lose weight.  Yet, we know that diets and fads do not work.   Research shows that roughly 80% of people who shed a significant portion of their body fat will not maintain that degree of weight loss for 12 months; and, according to one meta-analysis of intervention studies, dieters regain, on average, more than half of what they lose within two years.

We know that while it’s hard to lose weight, it’s even harder to keep it off!

What is Intuitive Eating?

Intuitive Eating is not a diet.  There are no food restrictions, calorie counting, or portion measuring.  IE is about learning to trust to your body and identifying your hunger, fullness and satisfaction cues.  It is about breaking free of the control food has over you, and letting go of shame and guilt around eating.

Intuitive Eating is about savoring the pleasure and joy in food, while finding and maintaining a healthy weight. 

Intuitive Eating Benefits

Healing your relationship with food has many benefits, including:

  • Deriving pleasure from food, and freeing yourself from its control
  • Improved health
  • Better body image and self esteem
  • Achieving and maintaining a healthy weight
  • Improved metabolism
  • More joy and satisfaction

10 Principles of Intuitive Eating

  • Reject the set mentality.
  • Honor your hunger.
  • Make peace with food.
  • Challenge the food police.
  • Respect your fullness.
  • Discover the satisfaction factor.
  • Cope with your emotions.
  • Respect your body.
  • Move.
  • Honor your health with gentle nutrition.

Who is IE for?

Everyone.  But ...

You may not yet be psychologically ready for this change, or you may need to correct other physical imbalances.  

Imbalances that may need to be addressed include:

  • Gut flora. Your body contains trillions of bacteria, the majority located in your intestines. Your microbial mix is determined by age, diet, environment, genes, and medications. Your gut microbiota metabolizes nutrients from food and certain medications, serves as a protective barrier against intestinal infections, and produces vitamin K. They affect how foods are digested and produce chemicals that help make you feel full. Thus, they affect hunger - fullness signals, and may cause weight gain.
  • Liver function. Your liver filters your blood, digests fats, proteins and carbohydrates, and produces bile and other enzymes. Toxins, chemicals, preservatives, pesticides, prescription drugs, heavy metals and bad diet choices disrupt metabolic pathways and overburden the liver. An overloaded liver causes ineffective digestion and fat breakdown, and leads to weight gain or weight loss resistance, as well as fatigue and other serious health issues.
  • Hormones. Hormonal imbalance may cause weight gain, or at least weight loss resistance. Hormones affecting weight gain include excess cortisol, insulin and/or leptin blockage, estrogen dominance, a sluggish thyroid, and low testosterone.

It is important to work with a qualified nutritional professional in order to address these imbalances before, or at least in parallel to, starting your IE journey.  Otherwise, you may be sabotaging your efforts.

Are you struggling with gut, liver or hormonal issues? Contact me to learn how I can help you resolve these.

IE May Be Scary

To some, IE may be very scary.  The very idea of not being on a diet, and being free around food may be frightening.  You may not be ready to listen to your body.  In fact, you may be terrified to listen to your body cues, especially those around hunger, fullness and satisfaction.  

You may not be psychologically ready to change, and to do the work necessary to heal your relationship with food.   You may also have physical imbalances, such as liver issues, flora or hormonal imbalances, that can difficult intuitive eating.   These imbalances need to addressed first, or at least in parallel, to an intuitive eating program.

My Approach to Intuitive Eating

My approach expands on Intuitive Eating. It sets up a structural framework on which IE can rest. It also explores and corrects imbalances that may interfere with body cues.

Intuitive Eating is a journey, and its is important to have a structural compass and avoid pitfalls. It may be very helpful to work with an experienced professional to heal your relationship with food.

Contact me to learn more about my approach to heal your relationship with food.

You are worth it!

Weight Loss & Hormones

Weight Loss & Hormones

by Digestive SystemImmune System

Weight Loss and Hormones

The calorie-in/calorie-out hypothesis to diet and weight loss is inadequate.  Calories matter, but so do hormones.  You look and feel your best when your hormones are balanced.   When hormones are out of balance, you may feel irritable, miserable, fatigued, foggy, bloated, stressed and gain weight. Unbalanced hormones lead to weight loss struggles.

In people that eat healthy and exercise adequately, fat loss resistance is almost always due to hormonal imbalances.   The most common reasons that people are unable to loose weight are: excess cortisol, insulin resistance, leptin resistance, estrogen dominance, sluggish thyroid, low testosterone or HPA (hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal) control system issues. 

Many hormonal imbalances can be addressed by diet and lifestyle changes together with targeted nutrients and supplements.  Less frequent, imbalances may require biodentical hormones in the lowest doses and for the shortest time necessary under the supervision of a qualified professional.

Weight Loss and Covid

Weight loss during covid requires extra discipline and work.  Maintaining a healthy weight and lifestyle during the current coronavirus pandemic is challenging, losing weight more so. It is important not to be too judgmental or self-critical.  

The coronavirus pandemic and resulting lockdowns lead to dramatic changes in health and eating patterns, increasing stress and anxiety, and disrupting sleep. Health concerns, isolation, financial problems, job loss, and general uncertainty during the COVID-19 pandemic contribute to stress.  This additional stress together with the rise in unstructured time, the closure of gyms, parks and recreational centers, and movement restrictions may result in weight gain.

Being overweight and metabolism disturbances contributes to covid-19 negative outcomes.  Obesity leads to a reduction in adiponectin, a substance that protects the lungs.  People with a history of obesity, hypertension, chronic lung disease, diabetes and heart disease may have the worst prognoses from covid-19.

Weight Loss: Hormones that Affect Weight

  • Cortisol
    Cortisol is a hormone produced by the adrenal glands in response to stress. Our modern stressed lifestyle often lead to very high levels of cortisol. Strict diets and stress, shame or guilt around food also raises cortisol. Excess cortisol depletes serotonin, causes insomnia, overeating, weight gain and increases fat deposits, especially around the abdomen. High cortisol is also linked to depression, irritability, fatigue, food addiction and sugar cravings.
  • Insulin
    Insulin is a hormone produced by the pancreas beta cells. It is secreted in small amounts throughout the day, and in larger amounts after a meal. Insulin is responsible for allowing glucose in the blood to enter cells, providing them with the energy to function. Insulin is also the main fat storage hormone in the body. It tells fat cells to store fat, and prevents stored fat from being broken down. Insulin resistance occurs when insulin becomes ineffective and glucose is unable to enter cells. The liver then converts the glucose into fat. Insulin resistance can cause weight gain, sugar addiction and metabolic syndrome.
  • Leptin
    Leptin is a hormone that is produced in fat cells and reduces appetite. Leptin signals the brain to stop eating when you’re full. It also tells the brain that there is enough fat stage which helps prevent overeating. Overweight people have more fat cells and very high levels of leptin. When the brain receives too many leptin signals, it shuts down; leptin levels keep rising, receptors stop functioning, leading to leptin resistance. Leptin resistance increases hunger and reduces the number of calories burnt, causing weight gain. Leptin levels are also reduced when you loose weight, making it very hard to maintain weight loss.
  • Ghrelin
    Ghrelin is a hormone produced by enteroendocrine cells of the gastrointestinal tract, especially the stomach, and is often called a "hunger hormone" because it increases food intake. Ghrelin levels are highest before eating, and lowest after a meal. In overweight people, gherkin decreases very little after meals.
  • Estrogen
    Estrogen is one of the most important female sex hormones. It is mainly produced in the ovaries, with small amounts produced by the adrenal glands and fat tissue. Both very high and low levels of estrogen can lead to weight gain. Estrogen dominance occurs when you have too much estrogen compared with its counter-hormone, progesterone. Having too much estrogen in the body causes a number of symptoms, including weight loss resistance, moodiness, PMS, and heavy periods.
  • Thyroid
    The thyroid creates hormones T4 and T3 that control metabolism, and dictate how fast or slow you burn calories. A sluggish thyroid causes weight gain, fluid retention, hair loss or thinning, depression, and constipation, among other problems.
  • Testosterone
    Testosterone belongs to a group of hormones known as androgens. Testosterone levels affect fertility, sex drive, red blood cell production, muscle mass and fat distribution. Although men have more testosterone than women, the female adrenal glands and ovaries produce small amounts of this important hormone
  • Hypothalamic-Pituatary-Adrenal Axis
    The hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis is responsible for helping us adapt to stress. In response to stress, cortisol is released. We need cortisol for the body to function properly, but when we are constantly stressed the HPA axis gets desensitized to the negative feedback loop, leading to chronic stress on the hypothalamus, pituitary gland and adrenal glands.

Emotional Factors and Weight

Emotions, beliefs and attitudes can derail weight loss. Unprocessed and negative emotions can lead to overeating, alcoholism and other unhealthy addictions. Shame, judgement and obsession also triggers excess cortisol and contributes to weight loss resistance.  Starvation, restricted eating and excess exercise  cause hormonal imbalances and consequent weight issues.

Weight Loss & Hormones: A Reset

  • Eat well. Eat an anti-inflammatory Mediterranean diet rich in vegetables, fruit, whole grains, healthy proteins and healthy fats. Avoid processed foods, refined carbohydrates, sugar, sugar substitutes and hydrogenated or trans fats.
  • Move. Exercise including yoga, Pilates, dance, weight training, and burst cardio (alternating brisk walks with normal pace). Burst training help stabilize cortisol and raises growth hormone.
  • Manage stress. Meditate.
  • Get adequate sunlight. Spend time in nature.
  • Get adequate sleep.
  • Supplement if necessary. Ashwagandha and phosphatidyl serine help balance cortisol. Berberine and milk thistle help balance insulin. Di-Indole Methane (DIM) helps balance estrogen.
  • Address nutrient deficiencies. For example low vitamin C lowers progesterone which makes you overwhelmed and anxious.
  • Remove toxins such as bisphenol A which interferes with estrogen, insulin, thyroid and testosterone messages in the body.

It is important to balance hormones to attain peak health, feel good, energized and focused as well as to maintain a healthy weight.