Fresh Focus Podcast EP #89
Title: Introduction to Intuitive Eating
Host name and Credentials: Erin Gobeille, MS, RDN
Facility: VA Portland Medical Center
Guests and Contributors:
Audrey Perkins, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor. Clinical Outpatient Nutrition at VA Puget Sound in Seattle, WA.
Ericka Brandon, RDN, Outpatient Dietitian at the Tennessee Valley VA Health System
Christina Johnson, MS, RD, Outpatient Dietitian at the VA Portland Medical center in Oregon

Transcript:
Erin: Welcome to Fresh Focus Podcast, I’m Erin, a registered dietitian at the Portland VA Health Care System. I am excited to be your host for the next several episodes! Today we are going to be introducing Intuitive Eating by talking about what it is, why it matters to us as dietitians and how we have seen Veteran’s lives and health impacted through the addition of Intuitive Eating. I’m with Audrey Perkins a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor at VA Puget Sound in Seattle, WA and Christina Johnson a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist at the VA Portland Health Care System in Oregon. Thank you for joining me today on the podcast!

Audrey: thank you for having me, I am excited to be here!
Christina: Me too! I am always happy to talk about Intuitive Eating!

Erin: thanks, taking a look at the history…… the concept of intuitive eating has been around for a while but the term intuitive eating and the frame work we use today was created by 2 RDNS evelyn trevelee and elish rush in 1995. The concept has continued to grow in popularity with more research out there to support its benefits and while the intuitive eating framework is one that is being integrated into general healthcare systems and used by a variety of medical providers we also find this fits really well into our veteran population given their unique experience with food in their body during their time in the service such as strict rules, food environment, access to food, making weight, physical fitness requirements. When first learning about IE it can be hard to understand we hope to introduce and explore the framework throughout this series. Audrey and christina what are the ways you both help people understand IE.

Christina : The way I help people understsand is that intuitive Eating is not just another diet – in fact, it is quite the opposite. If you have ever been on a diet you may be familiar with food rules, rigid meal timing, and restriction. Diets are based on external cues telling us when, what and how much we can eat. By following strict rules, we can get out of touch with what our bodies are trying to tell us. And we can even begin to view food in a negative way, impacting our relationship to food and our bodies.
Our current food environment is saturated in that diet mentality, and the magnitude of available options (good and bad), make us more vulnerable to experience negative relationships with food, and really
Intuitive Eating is a non-diet approach to eating that combines our natural instincts, emotions and rational thoughts. Intuitive Eating focuses on our internal cues such as hunger, fullness, and cravings to help guide our food choices. Instead of being given a list of foods that we can or can’t eat, Intuitive Eating teaches us how to listen to what our bodies are telling us and gives us the tools to respond in a way that honors our bodies and our health.

Audrey: yes, recently a veteran and I worked on giving permission to enjoy food without unnecessary restriction and taking the emotion out of it. And although it hasn’t been easy to for her to do. She has appreciated relaxing on her usual food rules and show herself that she could do it and it’s a good place for her to start. Removing the use of food as a coping mechanism helps my patients remove the guilt. Getting back to feeling our best by eating well to fuel a functioning body, enjoying the process, and not obsessing over it. When you think about it, we’re all born with this natural ability to know when to eat and how much to eat and that comes in the form of our hunger and fullness cues. When babies are introduced to new foods we start to develop our preferences for food through tastes and cravings. We’re learning through our bodies’ experience of eating. When working with veterans we want to empower them to trust their ability to meet their own needs and be in a healthy relationship with food.

Erin: very well said, thank you, for those who have spent years dieting and following food rules it can really be a challenge to get back in touch with your hunger cues.

Audrey: exactly furthermore as humans we are exposed to mixed messaging on tv, social media, even in conversation labeling foods as “good” and “bad”. How often have you heard carbs are bad or listen to a friend or loved one refer how good or bad they have been related to how they have been eating a certain food or a certain way and that impact on their body weight or their shape. When we restrict our food choices for weight loss or another health goal based on these messages. We begin to question our bodies natural hunger and fullness cues.

Erin: that’s a really good way to put it I am sure people are wondering why this shift in how we think about food matters?

Audrey: well let’s start with how dieting impacts us. It’s this on and off eating style that people adopt in order to achieve some weight or health goal, but the problem with diets- they are designed to be short term.

In fact, studies show us that 95% of diets fail and that up to 2/3 of people who go on a diet will end up gaining all the weight back they lose, plus some. We see day in and day out how frustrating that is for our Veterans and it can be harmful to their mental health, physical health and well-being.

Christina: that’s a great point Audrey, intuitive eating can have a positive impact on our nutritional choices but also the mental state, emotional responses, learned behaviors, coping mechanisms, and social norms. It is less about what you take in and more about our perceptions, reasoning, and relationship to what we consume.

Erin: exactly, I actually have s great example of this positive impact that can have on nutrition as well a veteran in one of our IE groups shared about her negative experiences with vegetables not enjoying taste of them because she viewed eating vegetables negatively as a punishment however since learning about IE and adapting some of those tools and skills she has been able to improve her relationship to vegetables and has been able to introduce more vegetables and have them on her plate more often.

Audrey: such a great story, Through counseling using Intuitive Eating principles and teaching our Intuitive Eating group at the seatle VA I have seen how this shift has impacted several Veteran’s lives.

Christina: yes I agree with our group in Portland, It has been an eye opening experience to use Intuitive Eating counseling skills in one-on-one visits, as well as in group settings, to help veteran's rebuild that broken relationship. I can see and hear a weight being lifted and stress being reduced with respect to food. IE has some impact to some of our veterans in many ways and some ways not even related to food one veteran said IE applied to their food and diet and other parts of their lives as well and allowed them to look at food differently. I had another veteran who was also so impacted by taking our course said it was a life changing experience.

Erin: Yes that’s so great to hear and such a great example of how intertwined food is in our areas of our lives and how working on our relationship with food can impact things we maybe don’t think about when we think about our eating patterns. Everyone is impacted by diet culture in some way, our society is steeped in this mentality- but it’s amazing when you can start to break free from the mentality, have a healthier relationship with food and more time and mental space to focus on other goals and things in life you enjoy. We always hear about the journey being more important than the destination, and as overused as that phrase is, intuitive eating can be a way to help invest in the journey of healthy change. Amazing things can happen when we shift our perspective from obsessing over the summit, to focusing on the beauty of the climb. We want to invest in the entirety of our health; physically, mentally, and emotionally.
Thank you both for joining today and sharing your expertise and I am so looking forward to talking even more on this topic in future episodes. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast and tune into more episodes where we will continue to answer questions about intuitive eating and how you can incorporate it more into you life. If you have any questions or need personal recommendations, feel free to contact your local VA dietitian! Thanks for listening!