The Anti-Diet Revolution: 5 Signs You’re Ready for Intuitive Eating

Hey there, diet-culture survivor! If you’re reading this, you’re probably sick and tired of being, well… sick and tired. The endless cycle of new diets, “lifestyle changes” (spoiler alert: still a diet), and the emotional rollercoaster that comes with them? Yeah, it’s exhausting. But here’s the good news: feeling fed up might just be your ticket to food freedom (intuitive eating).

🌟 Just a heads-up, some links may be affiliate links; simply put: I get a little cash if you buy something through my links at NO extra cost to you! 🌟

The Truth About Dieting (That Nobody Wants to Tell You)

First, before I jump into the signs you’re ready to jump ship from diet culture, let me spill some tea: the diet industry is worth over $70 billion dollars. Billion. With a B. And guess what? They’re profiting from your belief that you need to be fixed. Spoiler alert: You don’t need fixing, babe. (According to Market Research, the diet industry actually skyrocketed to $90 billion dollars in 2023… UGH! Gross!)

But I digress.

What Is Intuitive Eating?

I’m assuming that because you’re here, you’re already familiar with what intuitive eating is, but we all know what happens when we assume (you’ve heard that saying before, right? lol). So I’ll start with a brief, basic definition 😉

Intuitive eating is a self-care eating framework developed by dietitians Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch. Unlike traditional diets that tell you what, when, and how much to eat, intuitive eating encourages you to trust your body’s natural wisdom about food and nutrition.

(if you want more in depth info, check out my post Breaking Free from Diet Culture: A Beginner’s Guide to Intuitive Eating)

5 Signs You’re Ready to Break Up with Diet Culture & Start Intuitive Eating

1. You’re Completely Over Food Rules (Like, SO Over Them)

Remember when eating a cookie didn’t require a 45-minute mental debate and three hours at the gym to “earn it”? If you’re exhausted from calculating, weighing, measuring, and tracking every morsel that passes your lips… woo hoo (I’m so glad!)! That mental fatigue is actually your inner wisdom screaming, “Enough already!”

Signs you’re there:

• You catch yourself daydreaming about eating without calorie-tracking
• The thought of starting another Monday with a new set of food rules makes you want to scream
• You’re tired of turning down social invitations because they don’t fit your “eating plan”

2. Your Social Life is Suffering

If you’ve ever said no to eating out with friends because you don’t know how many points are in pizza, steak & potatoes, etc. or skipped birthday cake because it wasn’t your “cheat day,” you might be ready for change.

Here’s some questions I want you to sit with and answer honestly:

When was the last time you:

• Enjoyed a meal without worrying about how many calories, macros, points, etc. it had?
• Went to a restaurant without checking the menu (and calories) beforehand?
• Actually tasted your food instead of just calculating its macros?

Life’s way too short for missed memories because of freaking food anxiety!

3. The Binge-Restrict Cycle is Your Toxic Ex

Oh honey, I’ve been there! And honestly, I still sometimes struggle with this sometimes.

Restrict all week, binge on the weekend, feel guilty, start restricting again Monday morning.

Or it could look like this too:

• Eating “perfectly” all day, then demolishing the pantry at night
• Looking forward to cheat days more than your birthday
• Feeling out of control around “forbidden” foods

If this toxic relationship with food is starting to feel like a bad romance novel you want to put down, you’re definitely ready for intuitive eating.

4. You’ve Lost Trust in Your Body (But Want it Back)

Think back to when you were a kid…

It was normal to trust your body and what I mean by that is you knew when you were hungry, you stopped when you were full and that was it. No more thoughts about food.

But then… the older you got, diet culture or some “well-meaning” family/friend/etc. came along and convinced you that your body couldn’t be trusted and that you needed to fix it.

If you’re yearning to get back to that natural relationship with food, your body is literally begging you to try intuitive eating.

Signs your body trust needs rebuilding:

• You don’t know what hunger feels like anymore
• You only feel safe eating at predetermined times
• You trust a fitness tracker more than your own hunger cues

5. You’re Craving Something Sustainable (Finally!) Like Intuitive Eating

If you’ve started to realize that the definition of insanity is trying the same diets (or different ones) expecting different results, you’re ready for an approach that actually works long-term!

Intuitive eating isn’t a quick fix – it’s a journey back to trusting yourself and your body.

You might be ready if:

• The thought of another “New Year, New You” diet makes you roll your eyes
• You’re tired of your weight yo-yoing more than a competitive yo-yo champion
• You want to focus on literally ANYTHING else besides food and dieting

Ready to dip your toes into the intuitive eating waters? Here’s how to start:

• Start noticing how diet culture shows up in your life (trust me, it’s everywhere)
• Begin questioning those food rules you’ve collected over the years
• Get curious about your hunger and fullness signals (even if they’re super quiet right now)
• Consider working with an intuitive eating counselor or coach

And head on over to part one in this series: Breaking Free from Diet Culture: A Beginner’s Guide to Intuitive Eating.

The Bottom Line

If you’re nodding along to any (or all) of these signs, consider this your permission slip to explore intuitive eating. You don’t need another diet – you need freedom from the endless cycle of restriction and guilt. And guess what? That freedom is totally possible.

And one more thing…

You deserve to find self-love in a world obsessed with thinness!

Okay, and one more thing too…

If you’re feeling nervous about intuitive eating, that’s totally normal! Remember: you didn’t learn diet culture overnight, and you won’t unlearn it overnight either. But every journey starts with a single step – or in this case, maybe a single cookie eaten without guilt 😉

I highly recommend Intuitive Eating – A Revolutionary Anti-Diet Approach book (affiliate link) and The Intuitive Eating Workbook: Ten Principles for Nourishing a Healthy Relationship with Food (affiliate link) as resources to help you on your journey!