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Brynn Morgan

Aughenbaugh

English 12

30 January 2017

Intuitive Eating over Dieting

Everyone is born with the innate ability to sense hunger and fullness (Tribole and Resch

106). The Intuitive eater begins to operate when a toddler starts eating solid foods and tells them

what they do and dont like (Tribole and Resch 106). If parents arent sensitive to signals from

intuitive eating when children are young they will probably mistrust them and eventually lose

touch with them as well (Tribole and Resch 106). Everyone is born an intuitive eater, it is

proven that dieting is counteractive and is harmful rather than healthy.

Dr.Tribole and Dr.Resch, authors of Intuitive Eating explained Biologically, your

body experiences the dieting process as a form of starvation. Your cells dont know you are

voluntarily restricting your food intake. Your body shifts into primal survival mode-metabolism

slows down and food cravings escalate. And with each diet the body learns and adapts, resulting

in rebound weight gain. Consequently, many of our patients feel like they are a failure but it is

the dieting that has failed them. Each diet teaches the body to adapt which then makes the

metabolism slow down (Tribole and Resch 3). When dieters are underfed coffee and diet

drinks often get abused to help them feel energetic (Tribole and Resch 3). Every diet is

preceded by consuming foods the dieter presume they wont eat again, this farewell to food party

is known as the last supper (Tribole and Resch 3). Studies indicated that post-dieting binges

occur in forty nine percent of all people who end a diet (Tribole and Resch 2). Tribole and

Resch reveal that, A team of UCLA researchers reviewed thirty-one long-term studies on
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dieting and concluded that dieting is a consisted predictor of weight gain up to two-thirds of the

people regained more weight than they lost. Therefore it has been found that dieting affects the

body in negative ways and post dieting binges occur which then leads to gaining the weight back

and then some. Dieting is a vicious cycle.

It makes sense that society examines food as well as create diet beliefs and the influence

they have based on the initial point of changing beliefs about food, feelings, and behaviors

(Tribole and Resch 110). Tribole and Resch explain a similar scenario that most dieters go

through, When you get on a scale in the morning and it drops a pound, you say that youve been

good. If it goes up a pound, youre bad. when youre dieting, you think in terms of all-or-

none. Youre not allowed to have any cookies, and if you eat one, you think and feel that you

must finish them all. Dr. Albert Ellis and Dr. Robert A. Harper, respected pioneers of rational-

emotive psychotherapy found that the inner dieting myths which are cognitive disorders lead to

feeling bad when self- imposed dieting rules are broken (Tribole and Resch 110). Negative

thoughts and restrictions on food eventually makes for an out of control feeling when a

forbidden food is present. Forty five percent of 2,075 adults surveyed said that they feel guilty

after eating foods they like (Tribole and Resch 89). One in four dieters categorize food using

both guilt and no guilt labels (Tribole and Resch 89). Dieters felt guilty for high calorie,

diet-breaking foods. Even Though there are more fat free and diet foods than ever before, nearly

two-thirds of adults are overweight or obese (Tribole and Resch 6). Over twelve hundred tons

of fat were liposuctioned from 1982-1992 (Tribole and Resch 6). Studies showed that only one

year after liposuction procedure the fat returned, in a different part of the body (Tribole and

Resch 6). This proves that dieting will leave people feeling disappointed in the end and they

will be right back where they started.

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Fifty percent of american adolescents begin dieting before the age of fourteen (Ojeda).

Dieting can stunt growth because it often prevents teens from getting the calories and nutrients

they need to grow properly (Ojeda). Girls who diet may stop menstruating due to lack of

necessary fat which then can lead to osteoporosis (Ojeda). These terrible side effects of dieting

is no way to be rewarded. If these young ladies engaged in intuitive eating they would enjoy

eating, they would be confident in themselves and never feel the need to go without again.

Ojeda, a blog author states that A 1999 study conducted by researchers at the University of

Texas at Austin and Stanford University School of Medicine found that teenage girls who try to

lose weight are more likely to gain weight, and girls who diet usually start a crash diet that is

unhealthy and extreme. When they cannot maintain such a rigid program, they binge, which

leads to weight gain and discouragement. Since it is hard to stay on track of a diet at social

events most dieters often avoid them. A common reason to start dieting is to better fit in with the

idea of what girls are suppose to look like shown on media. Girls believe if they dieted they

would fit in better but strict dieting often requires missing out on parties and get togethers. It is

proven that dieting only makes for a worse social life than trying to improve it. Miller a database

author shared her own experience, I spent most of my life in and out of obsessive dieting and

disordered eating. I snuck food, I judged food, I worshipped it, I binged on it, I hated it, and I hid

inside it. But I know, at one point before all that, I just ate because I was hungry. Repeated

dieting is often the stepping-stone to an eating disorder (Tribole and Resch 3). Guernsey a

database author explains Many teenagers diet in hopes of improving self-esteem and social

standing, only to develop unhealthy eating habits. As a result, a number of teens also develop

eating disorders including, a condition often marked by binge eating followed by purging.

Tribole and Resch explain how Teenage dieters had twice the risk of becoming overweight,
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compared to non-dieting teens, according to a five-year study. Notably, at baseline, the dieters

did not weigh more than their non dieting peers. This is an important detail, because if the dieters

weighed more it would be a conducting factor, which would implicate other factors, rather than

dieting.

There are so many dieting fads out there and many believe that intuitive eating is a waste

of time. Regardless of these fads intuitive eating is a wonderful journey to healthy eating without

feeling deprived. Goals of dieting can be reached making dieters feel wonderful at the time but

shortly after the body's reaction to restriction slows down the metabolism so all of the weight

comes right back on. It is just not practical to be on crucial diets for a long period of time.

Everyone should try intuitive eating, though it may take some time it will change everyone's

relationship with food and they can enjoy food the way they did as a child without worrying.

Mandy describes the background on intuitive eating Intuitive eating involves returning

to basic drives, dispensing with the notion of good or bad foods and rules about when to eat.

Absent a fear of deprivation, the philosophy holds, ones hunger and taste cues rather than

cognitive rules provide the most trustworthy guide toward balanced healthy eating. There are

ten principles to follow for intuitive eating. Those are rejecting the diet mentality, honoring

oneself's hunger, making peace with food, challenging the food police, feeling oneselfs

fullness, discovering the satisfaction factor, coping with emotions without food, respecting

oneselfs body, exercising to feel the difference, and lastly honoring the health of the human

body with general nutrition(Tribole and Resch 104). Nobody should fight against hunger or

feel like they have to go without, trust it by giving oneself permission to eat. It takes about

twenty minutes for the stomach to tell the brain it is full, eat slowly, observe what happens when

slowing down(Tribole and Resch 105). Eat food the body actually enjoys, if someone eats
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something they dont like theyll never feel satisfied and theyll come back to try and eat

something else anyways(Tribole and Resch 105). Eat attentively, look at the food theyre

eating, smell it, touch it, if one dont pay attention to their food you wont be satisfied(Tribole

and Resch 105).Set up your surroundings so you have to go through some trouble to eat, this

will force you to make a specific decision to eat and lessen chaotic eating or binging(Tribole

and Resch 105). Eat regularly, dont allow yourself to get over hungry. Plan satisfying meals

when noticing the foods that make you feel satisfied. Monitor eating for emotional reasons by

figuring out alternatives than coping with food(Tribole and Resch 106). Get enough exercise,

your body needs the right amount to regulate food intake(Tribole and Resch 106).If you follow

the steps of being an intuitive eater you will never feel disappointed again. Those who truly

engage in intuitive eating have found they dont think about food all of the time and when their

next meal will be. They also notice a difference in appetite as well as healthy weight

loss(Tribole and Resch 107).Listening to your bodys signals with benefit it and change the

way you feel about yourself and eating. A patient of Triboles and Resch shared, If you take

back ownership of your eating signals by making peace with food, you can heal one of the most

basic trust issues and go on to a healthier relationship with food.

Satter a writer explained a common thing among people, Most people are chaotic and

disconnected from their eating. They are busy, distracted, and erratic about the way they feed

themselves. What people dont usually realize is that they can regulate their own intake without

relying on external controls, like scales and diets. It is a proven fact that dieting has failed. It

makes people feel bad after words, messes up the bodies natural senses used for eating and

results in gaining the weight lost back. By beginning the journey back to intuitive eating will

truly change your life and relationship with food.

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Works Cited

Guernsey, Diane. Dieting Leads Eating Disorders. Can Diets Be Harmful? Ed. Ron Lankford.

Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2007. At Issue. Rpt. from Bulimia: My Story. Town and
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Country 160 (Apr. 2006): 184. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 17 Jan. 2017.

Introduction to Dieting: Teen Decisions. Dieting. Ed. Auriana Ojeda. San Diego: Greenhaven

Press, 2003. Teen Decisions. Opposing Viewpoints in Context. Web. 17 Jan. 2017.

Katz, Mandy. To Eat Well, Be Instinctive. New York Times, 16 July 2009: E3 (L). Opposing

Viewpoints in Context. Web. 17 Jan. 2017.

Miller, Kelsey. Why Intuitive Eating Could Change The World. refinery29.com. Refinery29, 3

Dec. 2013. Web. 17 Jan. 2017.

Satter, Ellyn. Regulation of Food Intake. ellynsatterinstitute.org. EllynSatterInstitute.org,

2017. Web. 17 Jan. 2017.

Tribole, Evelyn and Elyse Resch. Intuitive Eating. New York City, New York: St. Martins

Griffin, 1995. Print.

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