Is it possible to lose weight through intuitive eating?

This is probably the most commonly asked question I get asked as an intuitive eating specialist Nutritionist. The short answer is yes. But it’s nuanced, so keep reading. If you’re more of a listener than a reader, I have also answered this question on my podcast, Food, Body and Beyond. Click here to listen to the episode.

Firstly, let me start by saying that intuitive eating is not against weight loss. Rather, it’s against the pursuit of intentional weight loss. Why? Because in 95% of cases, dieting leads to weight regain - and in some cases, more weight comes back than was initially lost.

What about the other 5%, I hear you say? For a very small number of people, they lose weight through dieting and can maintain that weight loss for the long-term i.e. > 5 years. However, for many, this isn’t without significant cost. There are many people in this 5% that are ‘white-knucklers’. That is, they make a hell of a lot of sacrifices to maintain their weight loss. Think life-long restriction, food and body image preoccupation, and a life-limiting lifestyle. Some may even be maintaining their weight loss through an eating disorder.

It is important to remember, that if you need to restrict or micromanage your eating habits to maintain a certain weight, then that weight is not an ideal weight for you.

Now, if this is new information to you, don’t despair just yet. It is possible to improve your health and to stabilize your weight within a range that is comfortable for your body. Unfortunately, due to diet culture that comfortable weight for your body may be different to the number you have in mind.

Have I had clients who have lost weight through intuitive eating?

I have spoken and worked with people who took responsibility for their health, rebuilt their relationship with food, and overhauled their lifestyle, resulting in long-term and sustainable weight loss. I have also worked with people who have done all of the above, and haven’t lost weight, but have stabilized their weight (for the first time in their lives) and improved their health through doing so - happy blood results, hello! Their progress is no less impactful or successful than those who naturally lose weight through the intuitive eating process. These people may have always lived in larger bodies than society accepts - their bodies are just not naturally designed to be thin.

Weight loss that happens naturally as a result of rebuilding your relationship with food and reestablishing health-promoting behaviours is not the same as weight loss that occurs through dieting. If this happens, it signifies that your initial weight was higher than the ideal weight for your body. If it happens naturally as a result of ditching dieting, rebuilding your relationship with food and reestablishing health-promoting behaviours, then it’s likely to be a sustainable change.

However, weight loss doesn’t happen for everyone who goes through the intuitive eating process, and that can be difficult to accept. But what’s the alternative? Dieting isn’t the solution; it actually increases weight over time. What’s that saying from Albert Einstein; Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. There are surgical and medical interventions of course, but the social, emotional, financial and mental cost of this can be too much to bear. That’s a blog for another day!

So what do I do if I’m unhappy with my body?

This is where body image work comes in, and working through difficult thoughts and feelings related to the body. By working through what weight loss/gain means to you, you can disrupt the internal script that influences your thoughts and feelings. I won’t sugarcoat it; it’s not easy work, but wow, is it worth it! I honestly have seen many people blossom in front of my eyes after doing deep work on their relationship with food, body and self. Some of my clients even told their personal stories in my book, No Apologies.

The thing is, we know that weight loss doesn’t change poor body image. That’s because it’s an inside job. I’ve heard more times than I can count from clients in clinic that they felt just as unhappy about their bodies at their lowest weight, as they do or did at their highest weight.

But what if I REALLY want to lose weight?

I am sending you so much love because I know this is so hard. I could easily work with my clients, and you reading this, on weight loss goals (and probably have a more financially lucrative business tbh). I could calculate your caloric intake to match your weight loss goal. I could give you a meal plan and an exercise plan. I could coach you through these adjustments to your diet. I could weigh, measure and track your physical changes. I could cheer you on when you lose the weight. In fact, I’ve done all of this in the past before evolving to weight-inclusive practice.

So why don’t I, if you really want to lose weight? Because it simply does. not. work. Did people lose weight when I did this? Yes. Did they put it back on? Yes. Sure, you’ll lose weight in the short term, but the long-term side effects (and the fact that it doesn’t even do what it says on the tin i.e. long-term weight loss) just don’t make this a safe and effective solution. I talk about this more in this podcast episode.

If I could give you a scientifically founded, long-term, sustainable way to lose weight permanently, I would absolutely do that. I wish for you to be your happiest and healthiest self. Unfortunately, right now, that way doesn’t exist.

So I propose another way.

What’s the healthier alternative?

Rather than hating your body into submission, I propose growing to love and respect your body. Not only does this include body acceptance, but it also includes taking responsibility for your health. That may mean looking at your relationship with food and body image. It may also mean making changes to support a healthier diet and lifestyle.

I propose making effective changes because you love your body. Not because you hate it so much that you want to change it. After all, if hating your body worked, it probably would have done so by now. There is a way. There is hope. And real, sustainable change can be made. Can I promise you weight loss? No, and that’s because I don’t have control over the >100 factors that contribute to your weight, no more than you do. Anyone who promises you long-term weight loss through non-surgical interventions (and these options aren’t even aren’t bulletproof) is quite frankly, not considering the evidence.

However, what I can do is work with you to improve your relationship with food, body and self. I can help you improve your health - physical, mental and emotional. I can help you reach your set point weight - the weight your body is most comfortable at. In my practice, I help clients make these changes through my varied expertise and unique methodology, the REBUILD method. Firstly, we work on removing what you’ve learnt from diet culture that keeps you stuck in a place of food stress and obsession and hinders your health and growth as a human being. Secondly, I teach you how to reconnect with the needs of your mind and body to give you the information that you need to begin nourishing yourself with ease. And finally, we work on re-establishing health-promoting behaviours from this new perspective that you’ve developed from first removing anything that does not serve you and reconnecting with your mind and body. My book, No Apologies, goes into great depth on this also.

To summarize, you don’t have full control over your weight, but you do have influence. By healing your relationship with food, reclaiming your intuitive eater and engaging in health-promoting behaviours, you will arrive at a weight that is most comfortable for you.

The rest really is up to you.

P.S. If you’re interested in one-to-one support, you can book your free discovery call with me here.