Not all diets are created equal.

There are those that are designed by the professionals, there are those that sweep across social media and are punted by influencers, and then there are diets that don’t really seem to be diets at all.

Take for example ‘intuitive eating’, which has become popular with health bloggers, Instagram ‘fitspo’ accounts, and wellness news publications.

Whilst the philosophy has been around since at least the mid-90s, when dietitians Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch wrote about it, there has been a resurgence in recent times.

According to VICE, here’s what we’re dealing with:

Put simply, intuitive eating is intended to eliminate the guilt associated with food and the binary of foods as “good” or “bad.” “It’s more of a psychological attitude; it’s not about counting calories or ‘eat this, don’t eat that,’” [Lisa Sasson, a clinical professor of nutrition] continued.

Intuitive eating doesn’t exult any of-the-moment superfoods; there’s no obsessive nutrition label reading.

Yeah, that doesn’t sound like a diet at all. In fact, it sounds like an eat-whatever-you-want free-for-all.

Registered dietitian Anne Mauney says that the focus is on how food makes you feel, and those participating need to be conscious of how full or hungry they are:

That means eating slowly, putting down the fork periodically, checking in after a few minutes to see if you’re still hungry, and not continuing to eat just because there’s still food on your plate.

The idea is that the longer you stick to these lifestyle changes, the more you’re in control. “You respect your own body’s signals,” Sasson explained.

By this point, you may have realised that weight loss isn’t really the aim, despite the fact that some companies have looked to capitalise on the diet’s popularity by marketing as such.

That irks those who swear by intuitive eating as a healthy lifestyle choice, aimed at achieving longer-term results:

Intuitive eating isn’t a get-fit-quick scheme—dietitians will tell you it’s more of a yearslong and in fact lifelong undertaking. [Molly Bahr, a licensed mental health counselor] said it’s a way of eating and living meant for anyone who’s tired of going on diets but not getting the long-term results they expected or hoped for. One of the things she liked about it is that it can truly be tailored to anyone—especially with the help of a dietitian—regardless of their relationship with food…

“Keep in mind, this process can take months and years. No one is expected to get a handle of all 10 principles in 12 weeks—that’s sort of a lingering diet mentality.”

I reckon it requires a decent degree of self-control, but that’s a struggle most of us face every day when staring down food.

If you want to learn more about the diet, read the rest of VICE’s article here.

[source:vice]