"I feel guilty that I missed a workout" versus "I feel disappointed that I missed a workout." I thought that was a great way to differentiate working out with a diet mentality from working out for health.
I feel this! I used to force myself to work out because I didnt want to feel guilty.. I discovered a routine I love (weight lifting and cardio dance) and when gyms closed for coronavirus, I realized how much I missed the interaction and how much I missed the sore muscles, but I didn’t feel guilty that I hadn’t done it. I cannot wait to get back to it Monday when gyms open back in Texas because I love the way it makes me feel. Huge difference!
Intuitive eating taught me that the brownie is a brownie, eat it and move onto a nourishing next meal. In the past, I would have eaten 6 brownies and a whole pizza because “I already messed up today”. As a result, I have lost weight and started moving more. But, I do use my Apple Watch fitness app to track my movement.
also I love that you are so open to different experiences and opinions - I'm the same as you in that my orthorexia and binge eating history has informed my hate of calorie counting etc!
@@lulumvs9869 Nope, lost weight. Initially I was jogging every other day for 20-40 minutes then stopped when it got cold. Now I'm doing light stretching at night, 30 crunches and 10 push-ups daily. Sometimes I'll do a long walk or yoga but I won't get back into anything too much until everything defrosts.
i’ve had an unhealthy relationship with food ever since i can remember. as a child, i was always an “early bloomer” and bigger than the other kids my age. i’ve struggled with body image and dieting since my pre-teens (diet culture messes up 12-year-olds too). i’m currently 16, still working through some stuff, but i’m learning to listen to my body and live to be healthy, not skinny. thank you for your videos, they really help💕💕
I have been in recovery from many types of eating disorders. I had time to run through many of them in 30 years. I am now 61. I am proud and praying for your journey as it can be bumpy but doable and well worth sticking to. I found that accountability helped me a lot but supportive people who had been there done that helped the most. I pray you have some people to accompany you on your journey.
As someone who is trying hard to reevaluate guilt and shame in my life in general, I really appreciate your videos. I honestly never realized that my "healthy" upbringing had such an effect on the feelings I have toward my body, food, and exercise. Also, I am vegan simply because it is important to me and for my mental health to know that I do not need to harm others simply to survive. But it can be hard to not get wrapped back up into diet culture or orthorexic thinking when looking at vegan influencers' content. Very appreciative of your perspective.
Check out Madeleine Olivia if you haven't already. She doesn't talk about intuitive eating specifically, at least I haven't noticed her doing so, but her way of eating I think IS intuitive and accessible, and she's just so lovable (:
I've been a vegan for 13-14 years, and recently started eating more intuitively as a vegan. Love it. Registered Dietitian - Sadia Baidia's Pick Up Limes website is amazing!! It works for a Vegan and Intuitive Eating individual.
I'm in the same boat, trying to re-evaluate guilt and shame. I had no idea either the effect it has had on my attittude towards my body and how detrimental it has been toward my mental health and how I feel about myself in general.
So I know that you wrote this comment a long time ago, but check out the "Pick Up Limes" channel. Sadia is a vegan RDN who believes in intuitive eating, and she is honestly a joy to watch, regardless of whether or not you are a vegan.
I used a calorie counting app for about 3 months earlier this year and I found it really helpful! It helped me to learn what is actually in my food (it also told me rough carb, protein and fat percentages) and helped me to re-evaluate my snacking behaviours which were slightly out of control. Coming face to face with the amount of rubbish I was actually putting in my body really helped me to change my behaviours and focus more on whole foods, vegetables and making sure I am eating enough protein because unless it was a day when I ate chicken I basically ate none and I didn’t even realise! I can really see how it could be detrimental to people who struggle with control and disorder eating issues but thanks for giving it’s slight shout out 👍🏻 if you use it in a healthy way, more for education than for tracking each exact mouthful it can really help and now I have a better idea of what I’m eating I don’t need to use it anymore!
I agree! Calorie counting has really helped me break away from binge eating by helping me get a better, tangible perspective on what I eat and proper proportions! As a result I have mostly overcome bingeing! There are times, however, that I do feel in an unhealthy mentality of calorie counting, but when I notice this I walk away until I feel like I can go about it in a non moral mindset again!
I had dieted several times in a very restrictive way. Now in my 30s when I tried to start restricting calories it MESSED WITH MY MIND! All of a sudden I was in a binge restrict cycle. It was scary. Here to explore other options. It's so emotional. I added these videos to watch later weeks ago, glad I felt ready to watch them today. Hoping to start meeting with a nutritionist very soon. Thank you for using your voice!
I'm the exact same. I quickly become obsessive about logging my intake. I stopped when I noticed I was beating myself up t for eating more calories one day than I did the previous day. I started seeing my calorie guide (fitbit) as a limit and aimed to get as low as possible. Of course this was followed by binging and hating myself. Repeat cycle several times. Now I stay away from calorie counting.
I’m at a healthy weight but mentally am not healthy. I’m recovering from chronic calorie counting and bad relationship with food. I have lost touch with my intuition over the years and I’m trying to get it back but not gain weight just improve my mentality. Can you touch on intuitive eating for those covering from eating disorders?
@@AbbeysKitchen YES ABBEY PLEASE! I have been recovering for about 9 months but i only recently stopped calories counting and I find im still aproximating in my head and im afraid ill gain so much weight without monitoring my intake. How can we regain trust?
Carolina Jorge calorie counting programs were created after it became normal to eat a diet with too high in calories, resulting in excess weight gain or eating disorders. when you eat a diet primarily consistent with our natural history (whole grains, starchy veg, legumes, some fruit and veg, minimal nuts, seeds, avocados, little or animal foods and no highly processed foods) it is unnecessary to count calories or restrict eating, and you can eat until full.
If you are in recovery from an eating disorder or subclinical disordered eating...you should consult a registered dietician who specializes in intuitive eating/HAES. A well-trained dietician in this area will know exactly how you walk you through the process. Know that when recovering from an ED, it can take MANY YEARS to fully find comfort in intuitive eating. It will be an uncomfortable process, but well worth it and very interesting (if you allow it to be). You really need the individual time with an RD who you trust...not just a youtube video series.
so happy to find a dietitian like you on youtube! i've been fat literally my whole life, and when i was in middle and high school especially, my mom put me on every diet out there--low-carb, WW, you name it. they were never permanent solutions, and they always made me feel worse about myself. i discovered the basics of IE/HAES philosophy in college and stopped trying to lose weight, and it absolutely changed my life. i haven't owned a scale in years. i eat better, i enjoy exercise more, and i feel so much better about myself. excited to look through the videos in this series and learn even more about IE!
Listened to the side effects of dieting and started sobbing. It’s all me. I’m just starting on a journey towards intuitive eating and hearing that confirmed for me that I’m doing the right thing. I’m terrified
I love your message. I am so tired of the mental struggle, anxiety, and depression that comes along with dieting. Thank you for focusing on behaviors and easing into these changes, so refreshing. I already feel better.
I am soo thankful for you. My disordered eating started with bulimia, and evolved into not eating, and then used diet culture to cultivate an unhealthy life style. I needed you right now.
I went from restrictive(orthorexic (“recovering,” obsessing over macros/calories)~>back to restrictive (prone to binging because of mental restriction)~>allowing myself to eat what I enjoy and makes me feel good, thanks to your videos!! Except, for me, rather than calling it “intuitive eating” or “eating mindfully,” I’m just eating! I’ve begun rejecting the diet mentality and I’m continuing to give my body and mind the clarity and abundance it deserves
Can’t thank you enough for this. Your educated perspective is such a fresh breeze from what I’m used to. Diet culture is ingrained so deep in me that I almost feel an emotional release as I watch you talk about this. I think it’s something I’ve needed to hear for years. I’ve had this thinking in the back of my mind for so long, and people around me saying that I NEED to lose weight to be healthy but in reality that only worsened my relationship with food. Jesus, I could cry at the moment. Thank you for existing Abbey ❤️
The Intuitive Eating book has been the best purchase I've ever made. Learning to trust my body, learning to listen and actually hear my body (pushing away the diet and ED voice) has been so great. I feared the whole "bingeing forever" element, but I've learned that bingeing is ONLY a result from physical or emotional restricting. I still have diet related thoughts with labeling food and myself, but it's getting easier to catch them, and I now know there's hope to one day have food freedom. I look forward to this series. :)
This is such a great video! I’m not overweight, but I have a horrible relationship with food. I eat when I’m tired, stressed or to release emotions. I was trying to be healthy, but I ended up so confused that I cannot tell for sure when I’m hungry or full, and I don’t even know what I like anymore. I bought the intuitive eating book and started the process two months ago. I know it’s going to be a long journey but I’m glad I’m in it. This series is going to be very helpful for me! Thanks!
Calorie counting really healed my relationship with food, it forced me to come to terms with my emotional and foggy eating habits pretty much overnight. Also, writing things down helps me not to overeat (or binge eat sometimes). I was on the verge of an eating disorder, it was life saving for me. When I am at a healthier weight and more in tune with my body, I will possibly stop. I don't count compulsively, some days I don't count at all, but i feel like I'm improving my relationship with food a lot. I honestly have always hated restrictive so much I am surprised this works
I feel the same way. When I’ve tried eating intuitively I end up getting to a place where I’m over eating and eating when I’m physically full I don’t know how people can so easily not eat when they’re full. I can get eating when you’re hungry but food tastes good and sometimes I want to eat certain foods even when I’m not hungry. When I track my food (not necessarily count calories but keep a log of everything I’ve eaten and can really see it) I can remind myself that I’m not hungry and that’s for GOOD reason. That I’ve already filled myself with so much food. I would say I have a better relationship with food than some but more and more I try and focus on how Food is Fuel. If I already have a full tank I can get to where I wanna go but to keep pouring fuel into the tank isn’t going to make it run better than just a normal full amount of fuel.
@@clairedillon6168 Same. I would eat until I felt sick, and I was so ashamed that I would try to vomit after binging or starve myself on other days. I had become afraid of food.
Me too! I simply had no Idea of normal portion sizes! Counting made me realize what they are. I still do it most days..it became a habit haha. but I dont obsess over it. It makes me feel proud when I see where I came from not having a clue and now intuitively put together 3 meals a day that more or less fit in with what I need to sustain myself.
SeiraVonKarma thats the thing there is no such thing as “over eat” unless you hurt yourself. Potion sizes are different for everyone. It seems like just more diet and weight lose scemes
I am post ESG (endoscopic sleeve gastroscopy - non surgical), and although I am still at the beginning of my journey, my food intake is more restricted (for obvious reasons!) I want to learn a lot more about intuitive eating and stop continuously tracking every bite I take and every step I make! Thanks Abbey 🙏❤🙏
I'm sure other people have asked this and you might touch on this when you talk about nutrition, but my biggest concern is how to trust my body, my cravings, my hunger cues, etc. when they aren't healthy. What I mean by this is I hardly ever feel motivated to cook my own meals and/or I'm constantly craving fast food. I will also find myself using delivery services as my primary source of food. So for me, my body constantly craves these things and I usually only eat when I'm hungry. But I know the foods I mostly consume are not healthy. I know I'm not getting the right amounts of fruits and veggies, but I don't crave those things. So how can I trust my body and eat intuitively if what my body wants and craves is not healthy?
La'Tia Smith totally. It’s a process. I’ll touch on this in part 2 and also part 10. But it needs to START w rejecting the diet mentality. Even if you’re not physically restricting, holding onto notions about healthy food vs unhealthy food keeps us in scarcity mode and you’ll be unable to actually listen and hear what kind of foods make you feel best.
La'Tia Smith i know, right?? All i ever crave for is processed foods, like chocolate, cookies, chips, etc. Ive never had a craving for broccoli or salmon. How am i supposed to trust my body when all it ever wants is processed food snacks??
It’s about gentle nutrition! You mainly eat whole foods but you allow yourself the pleasure foods as well and when you learn to listen to hunger cues, you won’t overeat the pleasure foods. It’s okay if everything you wat isn’t “healthy,” what counts is if you listen to what your body wants and needs.
Hailey Elianna i dont think i can hear what my body wants and needs then because it always just wants processed foods. Also, ive had disordered eating for the past 24yrs, ever since i became anorexic my sophomore yr of high school. Im either restricting my diet, lose weight, or binge eating on processed foods, gaining the weight back (and then some). I cant seem to coast in the middle - its either one extreme or the other. I think ive been in this torturous cycle for so long, i dont know how to properly hear what my bodys trying to tell me
Serra Hwang You should definitely read the Intuitive Eating book and the accompanying workbook is great. I know how scary it is but I promise that embracing intuitive eating is the best thing ever 💜 It may take some time and practice but you can definitely get there, you deserve to be at peace with food and your body. You can always search for a RD that is “anti-diet” like Abbey to work with (: xx
I am very glad I found an app in development called "you ate". You set goals. Any goals. It does not track amounts or calories. You can take a picture or write what you ate and then set If this meal was in alingment with your goals or not with no other connotations whether it's good or bad. I mean I'd love eating fully intuitive but my ADHD prevents me from remembering or being in tune with myself. So I use this app to help me remember what I ate and whether I liked it. And when. So that when I go for half a bag of doritos i can go "why?" Instead of just doing it and feeling nauseous. Often I'm tired or would prefer to eat something else.
I’m very late to this video, but I was excited to get the app you recommended and it wasn’t in the App Store! I’m trying one Ate Food Diary listed as a mindful intuitive meal journal. Fingers crossed!
Some people need to lose weight in order not to die, specially if they are 200-300 kg. So the damage from diet is preferable than dying from food addiction... I understand your point, but some people need this desperately in order to live. I understand that my struggle with 58 kg is bullshit for some people and I agreed this does not mean I am unhealthy, but if you feel bad in these kg, its better to try to improve your way of eating. This is what I try to do now. Just trying to be in a better shape and health.
Hey Abbey! I used to focus so much on weight loss and it caused me to fail constantly. Since I have been watching your channel I have learned that focusing on health is a long term sustainable way to live rather than just trying to make myself smaller.
I am regularly seeing my dietian and she recommended me Abbey's channel.This is exactly what she has been teaching me. Waiting for the rest of the series, it looks super informative:)
Yes Abby, Yes! I know I need to lose weight because of my health. My doctor has said so but I have been told this since I was 13 (a great thing to tell a 13 year old.) All of the things you listed happened. Now with the help of a therapist and listening to my body over the past year I have been slowly loosing the weight in a healthy way for the first time in my life. I know this doesn’t happen for everybody but my goal was just to eat healthy and listen to my body and so far so good. Thank you
Calorie counting helped me to be more conscious of what I eat. I realise with calorie counting that I was actually under eating. I can now eat more my performance in the gym is better and I actually lost body fat. So I am loving it. Yes I use a food scale yes I use my fitness pal and yes I am more healthy and yes I am more happy.
I practiced intuitive eating years ago for about ten weeks and I lost 26lbs. It works. I went back to emotional eating- not taking responsibility in certain areas of my life. But now I am getting back on track with the help of God and grace.
Hi Abby, I'm so glad I found your channel! I learned a lot about myself and that my realationship with food is complicated sometimes (I do not have an eating disorder, but I think/thought too much about what was healthy etc.). After a difficult time in my life (depression, drug addiction) I wanted to start over and do everything right - work out, eat healthy, get my shit together, but it didn't work the way I expected and I developed an unhealthy body image. I started therapy and I'm feeling a lot better already. I'm not an intuitive eater yet but I'm on my way. Just wanted to thank you for your time and effort and your sensibility with this topic. Your channel is great and I wish you and your family all the best
I loved the extra bits where future-you jumped in to remind people to find what works for them and whatnot. I've been using a food-tracking app for the last couple months. I've always had a fairly intuitive approach to eating, which works well most of the time, but can lead to fairly unhealthy eating when I'm depressed or very busy. But since a brain injury over a year ago, I've had a lot of trouble with executive function, pain, memory, etc, and I've developed digestive issues as well. Using an app to track things means I notice patterns that I didn't before; like how a little bit too much fiber can mess up my digestion, and how I feel better overall on days when I eat more protein. And I can go back to check how much water I've had and if I've taken my multi. I also wear a fitness tracker watch. I got it primarily to track my heart rate (long story. Heart palpitations, finally got a cardiologist recently). But the step and exercise tracker functions are also useful for reminding me to get some exercise, and also reminding me not to overdo it. I'm looking forward to the rest of this series! These tools really help me right now, and with such low energy and forgetfulness, I desperately need all the help I can get. But I don't want to get sucked into the obsessive diet culture that they often accompany.
I was always ok with the way I looked, but I know that being overweight is not healthy. It is such a shame that society has accepted it for soooo long that we don't even know how a healthy weight should look like. I was constantly dieting from the age of 12, and I got sick of it mentally, so I started to just eat healthy plant-based foods, and all my junk food cravings are disappeared! I do not crave them at all. I excluded oil from my diet, and I started to lose weight. Now I feel soo much better, and it is not just the food. But the mentality, because when I tried to diet I ALWAYS failed and felt guilty. But now, I just simply eat what works best for me, and try to do as good as I can. No cheat days, no more guilt. PS ABBY IS SINGING! WHAAAAT? Love you ♥
I am so thankful you're delving into this topic so thoroughly! It is complex for sure! I appreciate the evidence-based, respectful tone of your channel.
Okay, I'm hearing you, Abbey; and I agree with you. This is actually what I talk about with clients when teaching them how to get into a healthy and positive mindset.
Intuitive eating x intermittent fasting has changed my life and saved me. I don't fear carbs as much as I did, I'm starting to feel better by eating more, and I'm not obsessive over trying to eat as little as possible and burn them off. I'm not there yet, but I'm definitely getting there. This chanel is amazing too!!
I found it really helpful to not worry too much about what I *shouldn't* eat, but more about what I *should* eat. What I want for breakfast doesn't matter, nothing is forbidden, BUT it has to include at least a bit of fruit or a bit or veggies. I love eating left over cake for breakfast (when I got some) but I also eat an apple or some joghurt with berries. So all in all it comes out more balanced and I feel less like eating more cake. Same for lunch, everything is okay, BUT it has to have veggies, preferably a lot. The rest can be anything what I feel like. I felt like these very simple rules made it so much easier to get everything else more healthy. But I have to add, that I already ate relatively healthy anyways. Just snacked a lot and ate very carb heavy, I have a lot of cravings and get hungry easily (still have cravings for sweets though, but that's okay). Incorporating more fat and protein really helped with cravings during the day. Not that I was avoiding them, but I just didn't have enough (e.g. bread with jam for breakfast).
T F this is amazing and the kind of advice I also love to give. I talked about this in my book mindful glow about a more additive approach vs elimination
I'm vegan for ethical reasons. It's not restrictive to me when I'm home, but it can be in social situations or at restaurants. I don't see animal products as off limits because I'm afraid of them making me fat, but I do keep them off limits because I don't want to contribute to something I don't agree with. Can that still be intuitive?
Yes it can! I am an intuitive eater, vegan, whole foods. Works fine. In real short animal products are not food to me so they dont register as something I want to eat. It is kinda funny tho, years ago if I wanted to treat myself I got like croissants for breakfast, now it means eating oatmeal with nuts and fruits and such, and I am so happy with that meal, just as I used to be with the other things I ate. It doesnt feel restrictive because the things I dont eat are not food to me. I eat about 80% or so whole foods but when I want to I go for the fake meats or snacks....but since they are expensive I hardly do that ;)
I was vegan for a while and I ended up craving a lot of foods that were off limits to me. I ended up binging like crazy for an entire summer when I switched to being vegetarian because I could eat all the stuff I had been craving for so long. The way I see it is that you’re still making a HUGE difference if you eat 99% or 95% vegan, and if you do crave something non-vegan once in a while, allowing yourself to have it isn’t the end of the world, especially if you still aim for sustainable/ethical non-vegan options. A lovely girl I follow on Instagram does this. She is “plant-based”/vegan but has chicken and other things once in a while when she craves it and I think that’s totally okay.
I think calorie counting is a helpful tool, a lot of people out there have no idea how much they're actually eating. Knowing how many calories are in the portions of the foods I habitually consume helps me know if I'm eating too much/too little. Nowadays I don't track my calories in apps or even weigh my food, I just eyeball and do some quick math to know how much I've eaten throughout the day, to make sure I stay within a healthy range. If I go over, I don't stress it, I just move on. And if I eat under my calories, I make sure to up my food intake the next day so I'm within that healthy range. I do need to improve on incorporating certain foods into my regular day-to-day instead of limiting them to "cheat days", but I do think calorie counting is helpful.
Hi abby. I would like to thank you. Thank you so so much for being such a reasonable and considerate person. The way you address every single point you want to make, makes my heart warm. I got quite confused and tired of the extremes presented on social media. It’s either Health at every size extreme or diet culture extreme. I didn’t know what to believe anymore. You have really changed the way I look at food. You have given me actually useful tools to apply and look out for. Not only by saying hey eat intuitively. Because oh lord, I sure didn’t know what that meant 5 years ago for example. You actually give tips and tools. This comment is already way too long, but way too short to express my gratitude towards your existence. Thank you Abby! Muchos love from London ♥️
The only thing I’m binging .... is your videos. I. Can’t. Stop. First and only TH-cam I’ve ever subscribed to. Sorry to fan girl out on you but you are so poised, knowledgeable, and fierce! I have been introduced to so many new things, the level of food toxicity on social media (old millennial here 🤷🏻♀️), the need to change our language which is so powerful TO empower, and INTUITIVE EATING! I ordered the book and I’m so excited to read it and start on the journey to CHANGE THE WAY I LOOK AT MYSELF! I’m a chef and culinary instructor so your videos are feeding my soul on sooooooo many levels and I plan to pass on so much of this information to my students 💕 Okay. Fan girl moment over. You’rethebestokbye.
Just started intuitive eating not by choice but by just trying to eat healthier. I hope I will reach all of my goals and your videos really help me going towards the right direction. So thank you 😊
I really appreciate your opinion and how you acknowledge that some things like calorie counting can be negative, but also work for some people. I know from my personal experience its been super negative, but currently, its been improving my mental health. I used to be unhealthy and a lot heavier, I lost 20kg and had to re learn how to eat again. At first I became obsessed with tracking and it was really negative to my mental health, but now I just use it as a guide to make sure I'm eating portions that arent too big, and its keeps me on top of my snacking behaviour. I struggled losing weight because of the "sneaky calories" so logging my food helped me realise this was a bad habit as I was eating when I wasn't hungry. But now I'm doing so much better and seeing better progress at gym and personal health. This worked for me, and may not work for everyone so please seek medical advice first and I hope everyone the best with their health 💜
Dear Abbey, i am so glad i found you on TH-cam. I am struggeling a lot with this diet mentality... It's hard to separate yourself from all this crazy stuff, especially when you're young. But you helped me, thank you Abbey - greetings from Germany :)
I think a better name would be ‘mindful eating’ A lot of people are coming from a. History of disordered eating and I know from personal experience someone telling me to eat whatever I want (mentally as well as physically) would lead to emotional eating and sometimes a binge. I’ve been finding it helpful to particularly think about how I will feel physically after eating something (eg will I have more energy or will this make me lethargic) There’s so many other factors people don’t talk about which contribute to our ability to intuitively eat and I wish it was spoken about more Side note: I found the end part about diet talk vs healthy talk really useful
The good diet vs bad diet phrases are exactly the conversations I have with myself when I'm trying to plan a carb heavy meal or something with lots of butter. Have to talk myself into allowing myself to have it. I know it will take time to work on this and have it be more effortless. Thank you for all your videos Abbey, I'm hooked!!
I don’t know if you intentionally posted this on the day before Thanksgiving, but thank you! Just what I needed to see to get my mind in a good, healthy place before tomorrow.
As a person who’s chronically ill I know that some of these things can be really helpful for us, like fitbits to track your heart rate or counting calories or sugar or other nutrients that might be hard for you to get, or that you have to avoid because of a medication etc. Weighing yourself can also be incredibly important for people who struggle to keep weight up because of lack of appetite due to medications or illness
I have been on and off WW for years. It has taken me a long time, but now I realize that it is not working for me and that it has been giving me more anxiety than help. That is really hard to admit, because I have touted it as a really great program and lifestyle. However my mindset has begun to shift. I want to start at a foundation of not having anxiety and learning to really take control of food instead of it having power over me. I really appreciate these videos and can't wait to learn more about basically tapping into my own body's cues.
Fellow dietitian here - hayyy 🙋♀️ love seeing more awesome dietitians on TH-cam and even more so... dietitians talking about intuitive eating! 💙 keep spreading that message girl!
I'm trying to break up with diet culture and change my way of thinking about food and your channel has been so helpful to me! I will say my FitBit has been very helpful to me only because I have some serious chronic illness issues and was bed ridden for a time and I use my tracker to measure how much physical activity I can handle. Like it was celebration at one point when I could do 500 steps a day. Now as I've recovered quite a bit, I know I can handle a day that amounts to 6,000 steps but if I go over that, my body will crash hard. I use this when we do family day trips and such so I know when my body is reaching it's limit and know when I need to stop and rest or bow out for the rest of the day. Admittedly this is not the purpose most people use a FitBit for but just thought I'd throw it out there. I still have a long way to go in changing the way I eat and think about food and want to thank you for all of your work and helpful content!
I ended up losing weight from intuitive eating actually.... my BP dropped from 116/82 to 101/61( which is good ) and I have more energy and even been in the mood to work out. I think in this case me losing weight ( 110kg - 78kg ) was helping improve my health but would diffidently be better than if I did a fad diet, elimination diet or whatever unnatural diet. I am however aware of how intuitive eating can be counteractive for people with binge eating disorders or those who can't say no to that family pack of cheetos but I feel that intuitive eating is great if you get accustomed to eating mostly clean foods. Key to it is ensuring you get hydrated ( dehydration can trigger hunger ) and knowing when you are actually hungry and when you are not and knowing that the focus isn't " lose the weight " but actually eating the proper amount and getting the proper amount of exercise that rewards you with weight loss.
Hi, Abbey. First of all, I wanna say thank you. About 3 weeks ago, my relationship with food was so poor. Then I found your videos which really helped me to decide to rebuild my relationship with food. I must admit that diet culture helped me to build up a good eating and excising habit. However, diet also makes me feel anxious after eating delicious food and then I just start a more strict diet. However, after the strict diet, I couldn't help to eat tons of biscuits, banana chips, gelato and chocolate even though my body told me I was full. The condition has circled for 2-3 weeks and I felt guilty and dispressed at that time. After watching your video, I have escaped from the vicious circle and feel more relaxed. I still weigh myself but I'm not so care about the number anymore. Now I enjoy my home-cooked "healthy meal" but I also don't feel bad after eating a feast in my friend's birthday party. I think I'm starting my own intuitive eating and I'm quite happy about it, many many thanks to you!
I thought I was intuitive but turns out that I have diet mentality. This video is a real wake up call for me. Firstly knowing that I have an unhealthy mindset with regards to food and secondly that I completely lack self awareness.
I'm on my week 2 of IE. I've finally faced all my eating errors and decided to take them down one by one. Excited to see the full series, because that's mostly what inspires me to keep going! Thanks for making this video.
I'm so excited to follow your intuitive eating series! I have been trying to follow intuitive eating since I realized that dieting didn't work for me, and counting calories made me start to develop an ED.
Yes! And the setbacks feel shorter and further between, I find, in my own journey, it’s much easier to bounce out of the mentality of ‘binge’ or over indulgence the longer I practice intuitive eating. As a yoga practitioner/instructor and conscious consumer of animal products it might seem like second nature, but it’s a strong mental muscle to flex and I find the longer you Intuitive eat the easier it gets. Also totally agree on the watches - I witness it consume my students and took over me when fitbits FIRST came out .. absolutely counter productive and dishonest when it’s comes to the AUTHENTIC + GENUINE mind/body connection.
This looks really good. I really don't like the thought of dieting, even though I am overweight at the moment, because I feel like my Mum has been forever dieting and I don't want to do that. Neither do I want my daughter to see me worrying about it all the time. I was also always made to finish my meal and still feel like I have to! Our children are just told that they can have desert if they eat the main meal but they don't have to finish it. They can have fruit any time, whether they have finished their meal or not. I'm really excited to see the rest of this series!
This sounds so good in theory and I'm hoping to get here soon, but in practice my eating disorder has royally fucked up my "intuition". I'm in recovery and doing well and It's been a few years, but my body still doesn't always send the right signals. Sometimes my body doesn't know I should eat until I noticed I haven't eaten ANYTHING and it's 4pm, or until I'm in pain from eating too much. Do you think you could ever talk about how to "get intuitive" after an eating disorder? Thank you for your videos ❤️
I should also note that with ED specifically you need to work w a RD and therapist on mechanical feeding (eating every few hours) before you can actually dive into full IE so you can regain your hunger cues. More coming next week
Hi Abbey! I just want you to know that this series helped me so much. I have a really bad relationship with food because of how much i try to restrict myself with certain things, and also the fact that my mentality with nutrition if horrible with everything Ive learned. This helped me so much and honestly I think itll help me in the long term. I think ive fully recovered thanks to you.
Ironically, weighing my food and using a calorie&nutrition tracking app helped me in the ways you describe IE as helping. It's simple, unemotional data for me & completely different than when I tried restricting too much and then binged, and didn't see any results. I know how my choices are effecting me and can trust the process. I know eating at maintenance will keep my body the same and eating more or less will change my weight in a predictable way. One thing I really like about the app I use (Chronometer) is that I can see the past seven days averaged - it's helped me realize how overeating one day won't completely ruin my diet. Different strokes for different folks! A lot of people need to take a step back from obsessing over external data points but that doesn't mean the tools should be demonized like I sometimes see.
I started reading up on intuitive around four months ago before I started university, at the time I was 16.1 stone (which isn’t actually terrible because I’m 6foot3) I was pretty much the most unhealthy I had been. I don’t have a scale personally, but when I was at the gym today I weighed myself and I am currently down to 13.7 stone, which is a healthy BMI for me. I realise now, that my problem before was that my relationship with food was fundamentally flawed, I would force myself into huge calorie deficits, then binge eat when my appetite became too much for me to handle. Whereas now, I pretty much just eat what I feel like eating, and what seems to satisfy me/what looks healthy. it’s very liberating because now that I don’t see food as a source of guilt, I’ve actually been naturally eating more healthy foods, and Ive pretty much stopped binge eating altogether, this is because I never feel the need anymore. I have really unhealthy foods in my house, but now that I’m eating intuitively, I ironically don’t have as much inclination to eat them.
Your videos have really really helped me. I started intuitive eating at the start of the pandemic. At first I had no clue what to do and ate whatever I wanted. My body craved carbs then. A few months ago I discovered this series. That has helped me. I needed the gentle nutrition, nutritious foods, back in my life. Although I don’t like the videos where you review people’s diets. It’s triggering and although your reviews are often kind, I don’t know if you ask their permission? Maybe it triggers those you review that have disordered eating. Nonetheless, I am super grateful for the intuitive eating videos in particular. So thank you.
I'm happy I don't have diet thinking when it comes to exercising anymore. But through your videos I understood that I'm not yet completely over diet thinking regarding food. Thanks for helping me on my journey on overcoming this. Your channel opened my eyes.
Great video. Finally, I am so glad that someone is talking about this because I always think that most people around me (including me) have confined themselves to failure and few people who have succeeded are where they are because they give food priority. And I want food to be a no-brainer, natural fuel for the body. I did a lot of diet (and honestly as a vegetarian I'm still dieting), I did it with professional help and every time it took a huge toll on my mental health (with which I usually have no problem). Until recently, when I started having problems after eating a certain food (which my boyfriend would say I was addicted to) and I was like "no no, oh no, what am I going to do" and I continued to eat it with problems and then one day I he just spoke to himself: "Seriously, why it is bothering me, something so insignificant, you still have a lot of things that you enjoy" and I haven't had it since that day and I don't have the urge. He really goes down to the old saying that "what is forbidden tastes better". One thing that really makes me angry: Being overweight is like a green card for all unsolicited advice. "Oh, you will be thin if you do it and not! This and this" ... And I guess what is my purpose in life: to be thin or to be happy? I know my body better than you, I also know about risk and health problems, but it's not your place to call. (And unfortunately I was part of the problem when he was younger, skinny and healthy) I am gaining weight due to stress, I know it, I am experiencing it, but the society still thinks it's okay to add on a pile of my stress and would like me to feel guilty and failed. So again, I am very grateful for your video that helps me grow and understand the tactics of the diet society and that it is everywhere!
Abbey, these all sound beautiful. I want a positive relationship with food. I want to trust my body. I want to learn to follow intuitive cues. I'm gifting myself the book for Christmas. I cannot wait to work on my homework this week.
I am curious and determined to investigate this more. I got the Intuitive Eating book today and will watch more of your videos. My BED has been flaring lately very badly and I have lost and gained the same 15-20 pounds 3 times in the last 6 months without even consciously paying attention to it, that's how stuck I am in this cycle. I am very unhappy with my weight but trying to lose it has never worked long term so I am ready to try something new. So happy I found your awesome videos here. They are something I can feel good about binge-ing!
I would LOVE to see an Abbey video about Weight Watchers! I think there is SO much to dive into there. I know she did the video about the WW kid’s app, but I want more!
I love all of your videos and I love your point of view on things. I’m so happy you’re doing a series on this. I’ve struggled with eating for a very long time and I’m looking forward to watching this series and learning from it. Thank you so much, Abbey!
Abbey, thank you for this series! My therapist recommended I check you out, as I have orthorexia, and am also dealing with the beginnings of IVF. I appreciate your insight and advice, and I am trying to let go of my disordered tendencies, as I can. You are helping me so much, with the videos and the other resources that you provide.
I decided that soda and certain foods make me break out or be bloated and lethargic. I’ve yo-yo’d so many times, and get heavier each time I “fall off the wagon” of dieting. I’ve started to eat healthier but still had a cookie or fast food chicken sandwich or egg McMuffin if I was really craving one. I also have a soda now and then. I decided that I can sustain restricted eating for months to lose weight, but then I get to a point where I feel I have to have something “bad” and the binging begins. I’m thinking that intuitive eating may be good for me, since I do enjoy healthy foods and how I feel when I’m eating healthier but I can eat cookies or treats and not feel guilty or like I’m a failure. I can’t wait to view this series!
I really appreciate this video it is clearly something you believe in and you're still striving to make those who don't feel like they can do it feel welcome to still learn more. I've said before I think intuitive eating is not right for me at the moment but there are principles that I can take from intuitive eating as I strive for my own lifestyle changes.
The skeptics make it sound like everyone with a BMI over 25.1 has diabetes, depression and minor physical ailments. It’s just not true. I’ve been smaller, I’ve been bigger but (fortunately) have never had any health issues - not bloating, not fatigue, not high BP, not high cholesterol.... I don’t like looking at my stretch marks but stretch marks don’t always mean poor health!
Calorie counting and using my Fitbit has helped me understand my nutrition and how I feel and also helped me to realize that I tend to under eat a lot without trying to unless I’m eating out. I lost 10lbs to make me feel more comfortable in my body by calorie counting and now I do it to maintain weight. “Breaking even” on my calories according to my Fitbit to maintain my weight has helped me to understand when I feel satisfied so I don’t end up over eating or under eating. I know calorie counting isn’t for everyone and can be triggering and obsessive but for me it’s something that works. These days I try to eat intuitively and eat what I’m craving and the counting is just to make sure I’m being healthy about it.
When weight loss is discussed with health improvements, why is it just the big things like heart disease and diabetes? What about the myriad of 'small' positive effects related to weight loss? I've had about 3 health related issues disappear after I lost weight. One (disturbed sleep) was effecting me almost everyday. It's gone, hopefully never to return. 5:52 I'm going to give Abby a challenge. Put on 20 kilograms and see if you still feel that way.
Could you do a bit on binge eating and initiative eating please ? My issue is not knowing when to stop. I recognise in retrospect that I overate, but struggle to be present in the moment. There’s also an issue with waste. I hate wasting food. So even when I’m full, a part of my brain tells me to finish my plate, because I feel guilty throwing food away. Even if I put the leftovers in a lunchbox. I don’t want to eat that food the next day, so it’s not intuitive to force myself to eat the leftovers the next day. Many thanks Abbey, loving your open minded approach
Abbey, please please please check out “The Pleasure Trap” by Drs Lisle and Goldhamer. It outlines the psychology AND the biology driving human food behaviors. It is the missing piece for everyone to understand WHY navigating the modern food environment is so freaking difficult. You are touching on some of the variables discussed in the book, and I cannot recommend this book enough for health/ food professionals who seek to help others. Not to be dramatic or anything but it literally changed my life lol, and I think you would really dig it. Thanks for the videos!!
I really just want to say thank you. This is incredible. I've always eaten this way and every time I even mention it I feel shamed. Because I'm not 'restricting myself enough' or 'being clean enough' or whatever the hell is said to me. Theres been some weeks I want to eat more fruit, particularly bananas after working out really hard. And I have never stopped myself from doing that because of a 'diet'. My weight only changes with how much I exercise. After an injury I gained a little bit of weight, but not a lot because I simply didn't feel as hungry and honored that. While friends, family etc gain much more weight because they refuse to change how they eat because it is a 'rule' they have to follow. Then freaking out about said weight gain. I've never 'restricted' myself beyond simply making sure the amount of food I eat is 'portioned', but even that is sort of loose basis. If I'm still hungry then I will eat, if I'm not then I won't. It's that simple. I love the fact in other videos you've talked about how you have chocolate in your pantry or ice cream in your freezer. I have that as well, and I've never felt guilty for having the occasional bowl of ice cream. Yet my weight is still well within the healthy range for my genetics. The reason I came across your videos is because I'd watched way too many dieting adds and was starting to rethink the way I'm eating. I'm very glad I came across your channel, because it backed up what I've been doing with intuitive eating and has kept me from going down the fad diet path. Thank you.
Love your videos! You have helped me make better choices and be compassionate to myself. I wish you were in my area, I’d totally go to you as a dietician! ❤️
So happy you’re doing this series! I’ve been on my intuitive eating journey since April and the more resources there are the better. Hard shit but worth it!
(fwiw, I'm a person in a larger body who is at the upper edge of what airline seats can handle) I have just barely heard the HAES term. However, as I listen to this and other discussions, one of the things that strikes me is that the negative flip of the idea that is still inherent in "HAES" is also "un-health at any size." In other worse, it seems to me that HAES is an attempt to disconnect the ideas of health and size from each other. You focus a lot on the behaviors as indicators of health. Which I totally get and appreciate! However, it's so hard for us to disconnect these two ideas (health and size) because of the diet culture that has been so very pervasive for so very long that it was important for me to think through this "flip side," especially when I hear the questions like "does this say I can..." etc. Personally, I have been thinking more and more lately of reasons I would like to be "smaller" to make my life more enjoyable/comfortable, such as being eligible for zip lines again and being slightly less uncomfortable in airplane seats. I'm trying so very very hard to think about these behavioral and comfort/enjoyment drivers rather than other reasons.
You are a blessing. I just found you and I'm binging your videos. I think this is brilliant, even as I struggle in my relationship with food, it's very alien to me as someone who's been trying to lose weight for the majority of my adult life.
Thank you so much, you are such a supportive friend for me, I always believe that our bodies evolve to be like this to eat what they need, all we need to do is to eat healthy, don’t overeat any kind of food, not just eat whole food or something like this, I live in China, people are already really skinny but a lot of girls starve themselves even worse and more restrictive, I am not skinny and I am in a really healthy weight and even kind of skinny if I live in America, but people around me are just like to judge me that I am fat and chide me that I can’t fit in that skinny dress, do you know how severe the situation here? The right way to fit in skinny jeans is to be thin enough to wear that like a loose jeans. Sometimes I just feel so sick of my body and I try to lose weight again and again, and I setback into binge. So my situation is that If I eat enough, I will be in normal shape, but I can’t because they will laugh at me, even they are grownups, things are worse in Asia. And you are so supportive, thanks a lot for giving me hope and confirm me that it’s not a wrong thing if I am eating enough, I don’t want starve myself anymore, all I want is to escape this situation 😥😥😥😥
We need more words for 'diets'. It applies to such a wide range of things that even though I know exactly what you're saying, it doesn't sound quite right because you're talking about a specific definition of the word 'diet' but there's so many other definitions. edit: I'm loving the asides that clarify that you're talking to people that intuitive eating is best for and that it may not be the right thing for everyone.
this is great :) it took a long time but I started doing this myself about 5 years ago. it made such a big difference in how I view food and weight, and It made me realize how negative my relationship with food and my weight was. it also really helps when I'm encouraging my husband and kids to make good choices with food too.
Abby I know this isn’t the video topic but ever since I found your channel last week I’ve been adding fiber and protein to my carbs so that I can regulate my blood sugar and manage my PCOS. Thank you for your compassionate no BS content, after almost 10 years of struggling with ED and not knowing how to feed myself, I finally feel like I have some resources to teach me how to eat so that I don’t spike my blood sugar WITHOUT suggesting weight loss or cutting out carbs. Do you have a book?
I think that the main problem is having an extreme mentality because that comes with an emotional baggage. I love intuitive eating but something that I don’t personally think that helps are the absolutes on something. At the very very beginning of my health journey I only craved Oreos and chips, up to the point that I managed to fool myself into thinking that if I keep my calorie intake up to a certain number, that type of food could be the main source of nourishment. Of course I felt horrible, but I didn’t get that until I started tracking my food, weight and overall how I felt. I understand that is not for everyone, because for me, I was able to disassociate negative feelings towards number but actually gather objective data that help me understand how my body reacts. If I gained weight I didn’t feel bad nor celebrated when I actually loose weight, rather I focused on what was changing, if I was retaining liquids or loos fat. Now, I actually crave vegetables and less processed foods. I no longer track anything and I’m able to feel great. I get that fixing on certain parameters that are arbitrary set, is emotionally detrimental but in my case learning data helped to accept myself and really internalize the reasons that consuming vegetables is important, and at the same time I do not punish myself if one day I wanted cake and eat it.
"I feel guilty that I missed a workout" versus "I feel disappointed that I missed a workout." I thought that was a great way to differentiate working out with a diet mentality from working out for health.
Brittany Grillo yessss
I feel this! I used to force myself to work out because I didnt want to feel guilty.. I discovered a routine I love (weight lifting and cardio dance) and when gyms closed for coronavirus, I realized how much I missed the interaction and how much I missed the sore muscles, but I didn’t feel guilty that I hadn’t done it. I cannot wait to get back to it Monday when gyms open back in Texas because I love the way it makes me feel. Huge difference!
🎉😂g😮
😊i
Intuitive eating taught me that the brownie is a brownie, eat it and move onto a nourishing next meal. In the past, I would have eaten 6 brownies and a whole pizza because “I already messed up today”. As a result, I have lost weight and started moving more. But, I do use my Apple Watch fitness app to track my movement.
Wow that sounds so relatable!
I eat intuitively after experiencing eating disorders for years...it's bloody magical :)
also I love that you are so open to different experiences and opinions - I'm the same as you in that my orthorexia and binge eating history has informed my hate of calorie counting etc!
I’m so so so glad
+Melanie Murphy The videos that you made on the subject one or two years ago helped me a lot with my relationship towards food, thank you so much
I started intuitive eating and exercising moderately and I feel so much better about my body. I also happened to have lost weight.
Coopsickle 🙌🏼🙌🏼
Did you gain any weight when you started intuitive eating? And how much exercise did you do?
@@lulumvs9869 Nope, lost weight. Initially I was jogging every other day for 20-40 minutes then stopped when it got cold. Now I'm doing light stretching at night, 30 crunches and 10 push-ups daily. Sometimes I'll do a long walk or yoga but I won't get back into anything too much until everything defrosts.
Coopsickle awesome. I am learning IE, too, and struggling. This helped.
I bet you gained all that weight back stop making excuses
i’ve had an unhealthy relationship with food ever since i can remember. as a child, i was always an “early bloomer” and bigger than the other kids my age. i’ve struggled with body image and dieting since my pre-teens (diet culture messes up 12-year-olds too). i’m currently 16, still working through some stuff, but i’m learning to listen to my body and live to be healthy, not skinny. thank you for your videos, they really help💕💕
I just discovered this playlist...I’m so excited. I’m trying to recover from bulimia. And this is extremely helpful. It gives me hope 😊
Im really proud of u xx
Same girlllllllll I'm also trying to recover from anorexia and bulimia
I have been in recovery from many types of eating disorders. I had time to run through many of them in 30 years. I am now 61. I am proud and praying for your journey as it can be bumpy but doable and well worth sticking to. I found that accountability helped me a lot but supportive people who had been there done that helped the most. I pray you have some people to accompany you on your journey.
As someone who is trying hard to reevaluate guilt and shame in my life in general, I really appreciate your videos. I honestly never realized that my "healthy" upbringing had such an effect on the feelings I have toward my body, food, and exercise. Also, I am vegan simply because it is important to me and for my mental health to know that I do not need to harm others simply to survive. But it can be hard to not get wrapped back up into diet culture or orthorexic thinking when looking at vegan influencers' content. Very appreciative of your perspective.
Brooke Monaghan so glad to hear this has helped ❤️
Check out Madeleine Olivia if you haven't already. She doesn't talk about intuitive eating specifically, at least I haven't noticed her doing so, but her way of eating I think IS intuitive and accessible, and she's just so lovable (:
I've been a vegan for 13-14 years, and recently started eating more intuitively as a vegan. Love it. Registered Dietitian - Sadia Baidia's Pick Up Limes website is amazing!! It works for a Vegan and Intuitive Eating individual.
I'm in the same boat, trying to re-evaluate guilt and shame. I had no idea either the effect it has had on my attittude towards my body and how detrimental it has been toward my mental health and how I feel about myself in general.
So I know that you wrote this comment a long time ago, but check out the "Pick Up Limes" channel. Sadia is a vegan RDN who believes in intuitive eating, and she is honestly a joy to watch, regardless of whether or not you are a vegan.
I used a calorie counting app for about 3 months earlier this year and I found it really helpful! It helped me to learn what is actually in my food (it also told me rough carb, protein and fat percentages) and helped me to re-evaluate my snacking behaviours which were slightly out of control. Coming face to face with the amount of rubbish I was actually putting in my body really helped me to change my behaviours and focus more on whole foods, vegetables and making sure I am eating enough protein because unless it was a day when I ate chicken I basically ate none and I didn’t even realise! I can really see how it could be detrimental to people who struggle with control and disorder eating issues but thanks for giving it’s slight shout out 👍🏻 if you use it in a healthy way, more for education than for tracking each exact mouthful it can really help and now I have a better idea of what I’m eating I don’t need to use it anymore!
Amy Hawkins totally! Education is great!
I agree! Calorie counting has really helped me break away from binge eating by helping me get a better, tangible perspective on what I eat and proper proportions! As a result I have mostly overcome bingeing! There are times, however, that I do feel in an unhealthy mentality of calorie counting, but when I notice this I walk away until I feel like I can go about it in a non moral mindset again!
I had dieted several times in a very restrictive way. Now in my 30s when I tried to start restricting calories it MESSED WITH MY MIND! All of a sudden I was in a binge restrict cycle. It was scary. Here to explore other options. It's so emotional. I added these videos to watch later weeks ago, glad I felt ready to watch them today. Hoping to start meeting with a nutritionist very soon. Thank you for using your voice!
I'm the exact same. I quickly become obsessive about logging my intake. I stopped when I noticed I was beating myself up t for eating more calories one day than I did the previous day. I started seeing my calorie guide (fitbit) as a limit and aimed to get as low as possible. Of course this was followed by binging and hating myself. Repeat cycle several times. Now I stay away from calorie counting.
I’m at a healthy weight but mentally am not healthy. I’m recovering from chronic calorie counting and bad relationship with food. I have lost touch with my intuition over the years and I’m trying to get it back but not gain weight just improve my mentality. Can you touch on intuitive eating for those covering from eating disorders?
Raunwyn Cotogna of course. I will write it down ❤️
@@AbbeysKitchen YES ABBEY PLEASE! I have been recovering for about 9 months but i only recently stopped calories counting and I find im still aproximating in my head and im afraid ill gain so much weight without monitoring my intake. How can we regain trust?
@@AbbeysKitchen this is great! like how to listen to your body
Carolina Jorge calorie counting programs were created after it became normal to eat a diet with too high in calories, resulting in excess weight gain or eating disorders. when you eat a diet primarily consistent with our natural history (whole grains, starchy veg, legumes, some fruit and veg, minimal nuts, seeds, avocados, little or animal foods and no highly processed foods) it is unnecessary to count calories or restrict eating, and you can eat until full.
If you are in recovery from an eating disorder or subclinical disordered eating...you should consult a registered dietician who specializes in intuitive eating/HAES. A well-trained dietician in this area will know exactly how you walk you through the process. Know that when recovering from an ED, it can take MANY YEARS to fully find comfort in intuitive eating. It will be an uncomfortable process, but well worth it and very interesting (if you allow it to be). You really need the individual time with an RD who you trust...not just a youtube video series.
so happy to find a dietitian like you on youtube! i've been fat literally my whole life, and when i was in middle and high school especially, my mom put me on every diet out there--low-carb, WW, you name it. they were never permanent solutions, and they always made me feel worse about myself. i discovered the basics of IE/HAES philosophy in college and stopped trying to lose weight, and it absolutely changed my life. i haven't owned a scale in years. i eat better, i enjoy exercise more, and i feel so much better about myself. excited to look through the videos in this series and learn even more about IE!
Listened to the side effects of dieting and started sobbing. It’s all me. I’m just starting on a journey towards intuitive eating and hearing that confirmed for me that I’m doing the right thing. I’m terrified
It will all work out. This will all go away. Sending love
You got this! ♥ im so proud of the decision you take. We're here for and with you too!
I love your message. I am so tired of the mental struggle, anxiety, and depression that comes along with dieting. Thank you for focusing on behaviors and easing into these changes, so refreshing. I already feel better.
I am soo thankful for you. My disordered eating started with bulimia, and evolved into not eating, and then used diet culture to cultivate an unhealthy life style.
I needed you right now.
I went from restrictive(orthorexic (“recovering,” obsessing over macros/calories)~>back to restrictive (prone to binging because of mental restriction)~>allowing myself to eat what I enjoy and makes me feel good, thanks to your videos!! Except, for me, rather than calling it “intuitive eating” or “eating mindfully,” I’m just eating! I’ve begun rejecting the diet mentality and I’m continuing to give my body and mind the clarity and abundance it deserves
Can’t thank you enough for this. Your educated perspective is such a fresh breeze from what I’m used to. Diet culture is ingrained so deep in me that I almost feel an emotional release as I watch you talk about this. I think it’s something I’ve needed to hear for years. I’ve had this thinking in the back of my mind for so long, and people around me saying that I NEED to lose weight to be healthy but in reality that only worsened my relationship with food. Jesus, I could cry at the moment. Thank you for existing Abbey ❤️
Anna Olsenius so glad
Love this so much! I’m a big gain of not focusing on losing weight and instead focus on just gaining healthier practices!
Casey Goldey yes 🙌🏼
The Intuitive Eating book has been the best purchase I've ever made. Learning to trust my body, learning to listen and actually hear my body (pushing away the diet and ED voice) has been so great. I feared the whole "bingeing forever" element, but I've learned that bingeing is ONLY a result from physical or emotional restricting. I still have diet related thoughts with labeling food and myself, but it's getting easier to catch them, and I now know there's hope to one day have food freedom. I look forward to this series. :)
Jennifer 🙌🏼❤️
This is such a great video! I’m not overweight, but I have a horrible relationship with food. I eat when I’m tired, stressed or to release emotions. I was trying to be healthy, but I ended up so confused that I cannot tell for sure when I’m hungry or full, and I don’t even know what I like anymore. I bought the intuitive eating book and started the process two months ago. I know it’s going to be a long journey but I’m glad I’m in it. This series is going to be very helpful for me! Thanks!
Lu yayyyyy
Calorie counting really healed my relationship with food, it forced me to come to terms with my emotional and foggy eating habits pretty much overnight. Also, writing things down helps me not to overeat (or binge eat sometimes). I was on the verge of an eating disorder, it was life saving for me. When I am at a healthier weight and more in tune with my body, I will possibly stop. I don't count compulsively, some days I don't count at all, but i feel like I'm improving my relationship with food a lot. I honestly have always hated restrictive so much I am surprised this works
SeiraVonKarma I’m glad you found what works for you!
I feel the same way. When I’ve tried eating intuitively I end up getting to a place where I’m over eating and eating when I’m physically full I don’t know how people can so easily not eat when they’re full. I can get eating when you’re hungry but food tastes good and sometimes I want to eat certain foods even when I’m not hungry. When I track my food (not necessarily count calories but keep a log of everything I’ve eaten and can really see it) I can remind myself that I’m not hungry and that’s for GOOD reason. That I’ve already filled myself with so much food. I would say I have a better relationship with food than some but more and more I try and focus on how Food is Fuel. If I already have a full tank I can get to where I wanna go but to keep pouring fuel into the tank isn’t going to make it run better than just a normal full amount of fuel.
@@clairedillon6168 Same. I would eat until I felt sick, and I was so ashamed that I would try to vomit after binging or starve myself on other days. I had become afraid of food.
Me too! I simply had no Idea of normal portion sizes! Counting made me realize what they are. I still do it most days..it became a habit haha. but I dont obsess over it. It makes me feel proud when I see where I came from not having a clue and now intuitively put together 3 meals a day that more or less fit in with what I need to sustain myself.
SeiraVonKarma thats the thing there is no such thing as “over eat” unless you hurt yourself. Potion sizes are different for everyone. It seems like just more diet and weight lose scemes
You: Listen to your body.
Me: .....but....my body's stupid....
Sarah Grant I think you’ll enjoy some of the upcoming videos on this ❤️
I am post ESG (endoscopic sleeve gastroscopy - non surgical), and although I am still at the beginning of my journey, my food intake is more restricted (for obvious reasons!) I want to learn a lot more about intuitive eating and stop continuously tracking every bite I take and every step I make! Thanks Abbey 🙏❤🙏
I'm sure other people have asked this and you might touch on this when you talk about nutrition, but my biggest concern is how to trust my body, my cravings, my hunger cues, etc. when they aren't healthy. What I mean by this is I hardly ever feel motivated to cook my own meals and/or I'm constantly craving fast food. I will also find myself using delivery services as my primary source of food. So for me, my body constantly craves these things and I usually only eat when I'm hungry. But I know the foods I mostly consume are not healthy. I know I'm not getting the right amounts of fruits and veggies, but I don't crave those things. So how can I trust my body and eat intuitively if what my body wants and craves is not healthy?
La'Tia Smith totally. It’s a process. I’ll touch on this in part 2 and also part 10. But it needs to START w rejecting the diet mentality. Even if you’re not physically restricting, holding onto notions about healthy food vs unhealthy food keeps us in scarcity mode and you’ll be unable to actually listen and hear what kind of foods make you feel best.
La'Tia Smith i know, right?? All i ever crave for is processed foods, like chocolate, cookies, chips, etc. Ive never had a craving for broccoli or salmon. How am i supposed to trust my body when all it ever wants is processed food snacks??
It’s about gentle nutrition! You mainly eat whole foods but you allow yourself the pleasure foods as well and when you learn to listen to hunger cues, you won’t overeat the pleasure foods. It’s okay if everything you wat isn’t “healthy,” what counts is if you listen to what your body wants and needs.
Hailey Elianna i dont think i can hear what my body wants and needs then because it always just wants processed foods. Also, ive had disordered eating for the past 24yrs, ever since i became anorexic my sophomore yr of high school. Im either restricting my diet, lose weight, or binge eating on processed foods, gaining the weight back (and then some). I cant seem to coast in the middle - its either one extreme or the other. I think ive been in this torturous cycle for so long, i dont know how to properly hear what my bodys trying to tell me
Serra Hwang You should definitely read the Intuitive Eating book and the accompanying workbook is great. I know how scary it is but I promise that embracing intuitive eating is the best thing ever 💜 It may take some time and practice but you can definitely get there, you deserve to be at peace with food and your body. You can always search for a RD that is “anti-diet” like Abbey to work with (: xx
I am very glad I found an app in development called "you ate".
You set goals. Any goals. It does not track amounts or calories. You can take a picture or write what you ate and then set If this meal was in alingment with your goals or not with no other connotations whether it's good or bad.
I mean I'd love eating fully intuitive but my ADHD prevents me from remembering or being in tune with myself. So I use this app to help me remember what I ate and whether I liked it. And when.
So that when I go for half a bag of doritos i can go "why?" Instead of just doing it and feeling nauseous.
Often I'm tired or would prefer to eat something else.
Wow thanks!!! I've just checked out the app, and it's awesome. I love the idea and a super cool interface. Thx for a suggestion
thank you so much! ive been looking for the equivalent of nicotine patch for myfitnesspal and this might be it!!
I’m very late to this video, but I was excited to get the app you recommended and it wasn’t in the App Store! I’m trying one Ate Food Diary listed as a mindful intuitive meal journal. Fingers crossed!
Some people need to lose weight in order not to die, specially if they are 200-300 kg. So the damage from diet is preferable than dying from food addiction... I understand your point, but some people need this desperately in order to live. I understand that my struggle with 58 kg is bullshit for some people and I agreed this does not mean I am unhealthy, but if you feel bad in these kg, its better to try to improve your way of eating. This is what I try to do now. Just trying to be in a better shape and health.
Hey Abbey! I used to focus so much on weight loss and it caused me to fail constantly. Since I have been watching your channel I have learned that focusing on health is a long term sustainable way to live rather than just trying to make myself smaller.
I am regularly seeing my dietian and she recommended me Abbey's channel.This is exactly what she has been teaching me. Waiting for the rest of the series, it looks super informative:)
I am not a huge abbey fan but seriously she is the only youtuber that believes every body is unique 💙💙👍👍👍👍👍
Happy Me ❤️❤️
Yes Abby, Yes! I know I need to lose weight because of my health. My doctor has said so but I have been told this since I was 13 (a great thing to tell a 13 year old.) All of the things you listed happened. Now with the help of a therapist and listening to my body over the past year I have been slowly loosing the weight in a healthy way for the first time in my life. I know this doesn’t happen for everybody but my goal was just to eat healthy and listen to my body and so far so good. Thank you
Calorie counting helped me to be more conscious of what I eat. I realise with calorie counting that I was actually under eating. I can now eat more my performance in the gym is better and I actually lost body fat. So I am loving it. Yes I use a food scale yes I use my fitness pal and yes I am more healthy and yes I am more happy.
Miss web glad you found what works for you!
I practiced intuitive eating years ago for about ten weeks and I lost 26lbs. It works. I went back to emotional eating- not taking responsibility in certain areas of my life. But now I am getting back on track with the help of God and grace.
If you don’t mind me asking, how did God help?
Hi Abby, I'm so glad I found your channel! I learned a lot about myself and that my realationship with food is complicated sometimes (I do not have an eating disorder, but I think/thought too much about what was healthy etc.). After a difficult time in my life (depression, drug addiction) I wanted to start over and do everything right - work out, eat healthy, get my shit together, but it didn't work the way I expected and I developed an unhealthy body image. I started therapy and I'm feeling a lot better already. I'm not an intuitive eater yet but I'm on my way. Just wanted to thank you for your time and effort and your sensibility with this topic. Your channel is great and I wish you and your family all the best
I loved the extra bits where future-you jumped in to remind people to find what works for them and whatnot.
I've been using a food-tracking app for the last couple months. I've always had a fairly intuitive approach to eating, which works well most of the time, but can lead to fairly unhealthy eating when I'm depressed or very busy. But since a brain injury over a year ago, I've had a lot of trouble with executive function, pain, memory, etc, and I've developed digestive issues as well. Using an app to track things means I notice patterns that I didn't before; like how a little bit too much fiber can mess up my digestion, and how I feel better overall on days when I eat more protein. And I can go back to check how much water I've had and if I've taken my multi.
I also wear a fitness tracker watch. I got it primarily to track my heart rate (long story. Heart palpitations, finally got a cardiologist recently). But the step and exercise tracker functions are also useful for reminding me to get some exercise, and also reminding me not to overdo it.
I'm looking forward to the rest of this series! These tools really help me right now, and with such low energy and forgetfulness, I desperately need all the help I can get. But I don't want to get sucked into the obsessive diet culture that they often accompany.
emily boj so glad
I was always ok with the way I looked, but I know that being overweight is not healthy. It is such a shame that society has accepted it for soooo long that we don't even know how a healthy weight should look like. I was constantly dieting from the age of 12, and I got sick of it mentally, so I started to just eat healthy plant-based foods, and all my junk food cravings are disappeared! I do not crave them at all. I excluded oil from my diet, and I started to lose weight. Now I feel soo much better, and it is not just the food. But the mentality, because when I tried to diet I ALWAYS failed and felt guilty. But now, I just simply eat what works best for me, and try to do as good as I can. No cheat days, no more guilt. PS ABBY IS SINGING! WHAAAAT? Love you ♥
Jana vagyok yay that sounds amazing
That Julia Andrews singing was so good! ;o;
I am so thankful you're delving into this topic so thoroughly! It is complex for sure! I appreciate the evidence-based, respectful tone of your channel.
Tammy Masson yay thanks so glad
Okay, I'm hearing you, Abbey; and I agree with you. This is actually what I talk about with clients when teaching them how to get into a healthy and positive mindset.
Jessica Kathryn 🙏🏼❤️
Intuitive eating x intermittent fasting has changed my life and saved me. I don't fear carbs as much as I did, I'm starting to feel better by eating more, and I'm not obsessive over trying to eat as little as possible and burn them off. I'm not there yet, but I'm definitely getting there. This chanel is amazing too!!
I found it really helpful to not worry too much about what I *shouldn't* eat, but more about what I *should* eat. What I want for breakfast doesn't matter, nothing is forbidden, BUT it has to include at least a bit of fruit or a bit or veggies. I love eating left over cake for breakfast (when I got some) but I also eat an apple or some joghurt with berries. So all in all it comes out more balanced and I feel less like eating more cake.
Same for lunch, everything is okay, BUT it has to have veggies, preferably a lot. The rest can be anything what I feel like.
I felt like these very simple rules made it so much easier to get everything else more healthy.
But I have to add, that I already ate relatively healthy anyways. Just snacked a lot and ate very carb heavy, I have a lot of cravings and get hungry easily (still have cravings for sweets though, but that's okay). Incorporating more fat and protein really helped with cravings during the day. Not that I was avoiding them, but I just didn't have enough (e.g. bread with jam for breakfast).
T F this is amazing and the kind of advice I also love to give. I talked about this in my book mindful glow about a more additive approach vs elimination
Great video! Haven't weighed myself for a few months now, and I feel better about myself than ever! A number doesn't define me.
Krista Petre yaaas
I'm vegan for ethical reasons. It's not restrictive to me when I'm home, but it can be in social situations or at restaurants. I don't see animal products as off limits because I'm afraid of them making me fat, but I do keep them off limits because I don't want to contribute to something I don't agree with. Can that still be intuitive?
Nancy Plants totally! If you don’t view animal products as food, but still allow all non-animal foods openly, that’s perfectly fine!
I do the same! Ethical veganism and intuitive eating have helped my eating disorder in such an impactful way.
Yes it can! I am an intuitive eater, vegan, whole foods. Works fine. In real short animal products are not food to me so they dont register as something I want to eat.
It is kinda funny tho, years ago if I wanted to treat myself I got like croissants for breakfast, now it means eating oatmeal with nuts and fruits and such, and I am so happy with that meal, just as I used to be with the other things I ate.
It doesnt feel restrictive because the things I dont eat are not food to me. I eat about 80% or so whole foods but when I want to I go for the fake meats or snacks....but since they are expensive I hardly do that ;)
I was vegan for a while and I ended up craving a lot of foods that were off limits to me. I ended up binging like crazy for an entire summer when I switched to being vegetarian because I could eat all the stuff I had been craving for so long. The way I see it is that you’re still making a HUGE difference if you eat 99% or 95% vegan, and if you do crave something non-vegan once in a while, allowing yourself to have it isn’t the end of the world, especially if you still aim for sustainable/ethical non-vegan options. A lovely girl I follow on Instagram does this. She is “plant-based”/vegan but has chicken and other things once in a while when she craves it and I think that’s totally okay.
Follow @taylorwolframrd! She’s a vegan dietician :)
I think calorie counting is a helpful tool, a lot of people out there have no idea how much they're actually eating. Knowing how many calories are in the portions of the foods I habitually consume helps me know if I'm eating too much/too little. Nowadays I don't track my calories in apps or even weigh my food, I just eyeball and do some quick math to know how much I've eaten throughout the day, to make sure I stay within a healthy range. If I go over, I don't stress it, I just move on. And if I eat under my calories, I make sure to up my food intake the next day so I'm within that healthy range. I do need to improve on incorporating certain foods into my regular day-to-day instead of limiting them to "cheat days", but I do think calorie counting is helpful.
Tati L. Thanks for sharing! It can definitely be helpful for some people, especially how you mentioned it
Hi abby. I would like to thank you. Thank you so so much for being such a reasonable and considerate person. The way you address every single point you want to make, makes my heart warm. I got quite confused and tired of the extremes presented on social media. It’s either Health at every size extreme or diet culture extreme. I didn’t know what to believe anymore. You have really changed the way I look at food. You have given me actually useful tools to apply and look out for. Not only by saying hey eat intuitively. Because oh lord, I sure didn’t know what that meant 5 years ago for example. You actually give tips and tools. This comment is already way too long, but way too short to express my gratitude towards your existence. Thank you Abby! Muchos love from London ♥️
Flower I’m so so happy this is helping
The only thing I’m binging .... is your videos. I. Can’t. Stop. First and only TH-cam I’ve ever subscribed to. Sorry to fan girl out on you but you are so poised, knowledgeable, and fierce! I have been introduced to so many new things, the level of food toxicity on social media (old millennial here 🤷🏻♀️), the need to change our language which is so powerful TO empower, and INTUITIVE EATING! I ordered the book and I’m so excited to read it and start on the journey to CHANGE THE WAY I LOOK AT MYSELF! I’m a chef and culinary instructor so your videos are feeding my soul on sooooooo many levels and I plan to pass on so much of this information to my students 💕 Okay. Fan girl moment over. You’rethebestokbye.
Just started intuitive eating not by choice but by just trying to eat healthier. I hope I will reach all of my goals and your videos really help me going towards the right direction. So thank you 😊
I really appreciate your opinion and how you acknowledge that some things like calorie counting can be negative, but also work for some people. I know from my personal experience its been super negative, but currently, its been improving my mental health. I used to be unhealthy and a lot heavier, I lost 20kg and had to re learn how to eat again. At first I became obsessed with tracking and it was really negative to my mental health, but now I just use it as a guide to make sure I'm eating portions that arent too big, and its keeps me on top of my snacking behaviour. I struggled losing weight because of the "sneaky calories" so logging my food helped me realise this was a bad habit as I was eating when I wasn't hungry. But now I'm doing so much better and seeing better progress at gym and personal health. This worked for me, and may not work for everyone so please seek medical advice first and I hope everyone the best with their health 💜
Dear Abbey, i am so glad i found you on TH-cam. I am struggeling a lot with this diet mentality... It's hard to separate yourself from all this crazy stuff, especially when you're young. But you helped me, thank you Abbey - greetings from Germany
:)
I think a better name would be ‘mindful eating’
A lot of people are coming from a. History of disordered eating and I know from personal experience someone telling me to eat whatever I want (mentally as well as physically) would lead to emotional eating and sometimes a binge.
I’ve been finding it helpful to particularly think about how I will feel physically after eating something (eg will I have more energy or will this make me lethargic)
There’s so many other factors people don’t talk about which contribute to our ability to intuitively eat and I wish it was spoken about more
Side note: I found the end part about diet talk vs healthy talk really useful
The good diet vs bad diet phrases are exactly the conversations I have with myself when I'm trying to plan a carb heavy meal or something with lots of butter. Have to talk myself into allowing myself to have it. I know it will take time to work on this and have it be more effortless. Thank you for all your videos Abbey, I'm hooked!!
I don’t know if you intentionally posted this on the day before Thanksgiving, but thank you! Just what I needed to see to get my mind in a good, healthy place before tomorrow.
Britt Coffee 🙏🏼❤️
As a person who’s chronically ill I know that some of these things can be really helpful for us, like fitbits to track your heart rate or counting calories or sugar or other nutrients that might be hard for you to get, or that you have to avoid because of a medication etc. Weighing yourself can also be incredibly important for people who struggle to keep weight up because of lack of appetite due to medications or illness
Leah Sauter for sure, there are always important exceptions to most things
I have been on and off WW for years. It has taken me a long time, but now I realize that it is not working for me and that it has been giving me more anxiety than help. That is really hard to admit, because I have touted it as a really great program and lifestyle. However my mindset has begun to shift. I want to start at a foundation of not having anxiety and learning to really take control of food instead of it having power over me. I really appreciate these videos and can't wait to learn more about basically tapping into my own body's cues.
Fellow dietitian here - hayyy 🙋♀️ love seeing more awesome dietitians on TH-cam and even more so... dietitians talking about intuitive eating! 💙 keep spreading that message girl!
Dark Blue Nutrition ❤️❤️❤️
I'm trying to break up with diet culture and change my way of thinking about food and your channel has been so helpful to me! I will say my FitBit has been very helpful to me only because I have some serious chronic illness issues and was bed ridden for a time and I use my tracker to measure how much physical activity I can handle. Like it was celebration at one point when I could do 500 steps a day. Now as I've recovered quite a bit, I know I can handle a day that amounts to 6,000 steps but if I go over that, my body will crash hard. I use this when we do family day trips and such so I know when my body is reaching it's limit and know when I need to stop and rest or bow out for the rest of the day. Admittedly this is not the purpose most people use a FitBit for but just thought I'd throw it out there. I still have a long way to go in changing the way I eat and think about food and want to thank you for all of your work and helpful content!
I ended up losing weight from intuitive eating actually.... my BP dropped from 116/82 to 101/61( which is good ) and I have more energy and even been in the mood to work out. I think in this case me losing weight ( 110kg - 78kg ) was helping improve my health but would diffidently be better than if I did a fad diet, elimination diet or whatever unnatural diet.
I am however aware of how intuitive eating can be counteractive for people with binge eating disorders or those who can't say no to that family pack of cheetos but I feel that intuitive eating is great if you get accustomed to eating mostly clean foods. Key to it is ensuring you get hydrated ( dehydration can trigger hunger ) and knowing when you are actually hungry and when you are not and knowing that the focus isn't " lose the weight " but actually eating the proper amount and getting the proper amount of exercise that rewards you with weight loss.
WindXadepts yes and that’s all worked into IE. most ppl think it’s just “eat all the chips you want” but nutrition is a key principal we will get to
Hi, Abbey. First of all, I wanna say thank you. About 3 weeks ago, my relationship with food was so poor. Then I found your videos which really helped me to decide to rebuild my relationship with food. I must admit that diet culture helped me to build up a good eating and excising habit. However, diet also makes me feel anxious after eating delicious food and then I just start a more strict diet. However, after the strict diet, I couldn't help to eat tons of biscuits, banana chips, gelato and chocolate even though my body told me I was full. The condition has circled for 2-3 weeks and I felt guilty and dispressed at that time. After watching your video, I have escaped from the vicious circle and feel more relaxed. I still weigh myself but I'm not so care about the number anymore. Now I enjoy my home-cooked "healthy meal" but I also don't feel bad after eating a feast in my friend's birthday party. I think I'm starting my own intuitive eating and I'm quite happy about it, many many thanks to you!
魍魉魑魅 so glad to hear this ❤️❤️
I thought I was intuitive but turns out that I have diet mentality. This video is a real wake up call for me. Firstly knowing that I have an unhealthy mindset with regards to food and secondly that I completely lack self awareness.
Lydia Chong I’m so glad it’s been eye opening
I'm on my week 2 of IE. I've finally faced all my eating errors and decided to take them down one by one. Excited to see the full series, because that's mostly what inspires me to keep going! Thanks for making this video.
Tora Nagumanova great!🙏🏼❤️
I'm so excited to follow your intuitive eating series! I have been trying to follow intuitive eating since I realized that dieting didn't work for me, and counting calories made me start to develop an ED.
Yes! And the setbacks feel shorter and further between, I find, in my own journey, it’s much easier to bounce out of the mentality of ‘binge’ or over indulgence the longer I practice intuitive eating.
As a yoga practitioner/instructor and conscious consumer of animal products it might seem like second nature, but it’s a strong mental muscle to flex and I find the longer you Intuitive eat the easier it gets.
Also totally agree on the watches - I witness it consume my students and took over me when fitbits FIRST came out .. absolutely counter productive and dishonest when it’s comes to the AUTHENTIC + GENUINE mind/body connection.
This looks really good. I really don't like the thought of dieting, even though I am overweight at the moment, because I feel like my Mum has been forever dieting and I don't want to do that. Neither do I want my daughter to see me worrying about it all the time. I was also always made to finish my meal and still feel like I have to! Our children are just told that they can have desert if they eat the main meal but they don't have to finish it. They can have fruit any time, whether they have finished their meal or not. I'm really excited to see the rest of this series!
just wanted to say thank you so much for this series
Alisa Maksymchuk yay I’m so glad it’s helped
This sounds so good in theory and I'm hoping to get here soon, but in practice my eating disorder has royally fucked up my "intuition".
I'm in recovery and doing well and It's been a few years, but my body still doesn't always send the right signals. Sometimes my body doesn't know I should eat until I noticed I haven't eaten ANYTHING and it's 4pm, or until I'm in pain from eating too much.
Do you think you could ever talk about how to "get intuitive" after an eating disorder?
Thank you for your videos ❤️
Ariana thank you for sharing your experience ❤️ I will work on this topic!
@@AbbeysKitchen again, e second this
I should also note that with ED specifically you need to work w a RD and therapist on mechanical feeding (eating every few hours) before you can actually dive into full IE so you can regain your hunger cues. More coming next week
Hi! There’s a whole chapter on this in the Intuitive Eating book!!
Thank you for bring up this topic
Hi Abbey! I just want you to know that this series helped me so much. I have a really bad relationship with food because of how much i try to restrict myself with certain things, and also the fact that my mentality with nutrition if horrible with everything Ive learned. This helped me so much and honestly I think itll help me in the long term. I think ive fully recovered thanks to you.
Ironically, weighing my food and using a calorie&nutrition tracking app helped me in the ways you describe IE as helping. It's simple, unemotional data for me & completely different than when I tried restricting too much and then binged, and didn't see any results. I know how my choices are effecting me and can trust the process. I know eating at maintenance will keep my body the same and eating more or less will change my weight in a predictable way. One thing I really like about the app I use (Chronometer) is that I can see the past seven days averaged - it's helped me realize how overeating one day won't completely ruin my diet. Different strokes for different folks! A lot of people need to take a step back from obsessing over external data points but that doesn't mean the tools should be demonized like I sometimes see.
I started reading up on intuitive around four months ago before I started university, at the time I was 16.1 stone (which isn’t actually terrible because I’m 6foot3) I was pretty much the most unhealthy I had been. I don’t have a scale personally, but when I was at the gym today I weighed myself and I am currently down to 13.7 stone, which is a healthy BMI for me. I realise now, that my problem before was that my relationship with food was fundamentally flawed, I would force myself into huge calorie deficits, then binge eat when my appetite became too much for me to handle. Whereas now, I pretty much just eat what I feel like eating, and what seems to satisfy me/what looks healthy. it’s very liberating because now that I don’t see food as a source of guilt, I’ve actually been naturally eating more healthy foods, and Ive pretty much stopped binge eating altogether, this is because I never feel the need anymore. I have really unhealthy foods in my house, but now that I’m eating intuitively, I ironically don’t have as much inclination to eat them.
William Scott this is EXACTLY what we’re going for and that the evidence says occurs but most people can’t buy in. Thank you so much for sharing !!!
Your videos have really really helped me. I started intuitive eating at the start of the pandemic. At first I had no clue what to do and ate whatever I wanted. My body craved carbs then. A few months ago I discovered this series. That has helped me. I needed the gentle nutrition, nutritious foods, back in my life. Although I don’t like the videos where you review people’s diets. It’s triggering and although your reviews are often kind, I don’t know if you ask their permission? Maybe it triggers those you review that have disordered eating. Nonetheless, I am super grateful for the intuitive eating videos in particular. So thank you.
I'm happy I don't have diet thinking when it comes to exercising anymore. But through your videos I understood that I'm not yet completely over diet thinking regarding food. Thanks for helping me on my journey on overcoming this. Your channel opened my eyes.
Love the commentary on the interelationship between diet culture and shame. Thank you for the comment on trauma at the end!😃
Frank Myers 🙏🏼❤️
Great video. Finally, I am so glad that someone is talking about this because I always think that most people around me (including me) have confined themselves to failure and few people who have succeeded are where they are because they give food priority. And I want food to be a no-brainer, natural fuel for the body. I did a lot of diet (and honestly as a vegetarian I'm still dieting), I did it with professional help and every time it took a huge toll on my mental health (with which I usually have no problem). Until recently, when I started having problems after eating a certain food (which my boyfriend would say I was addicted to) and I was like "no no, oh no, what am I going to do" and I continued to eat it with problems and then one day I he just spoke to himself: "Seriously, why it is bothering me, something so insignificant, you still have a lot of things that you enjoy" and I haven't had it since that day and I don't have the urge. He really goes down to the old saying that "what is forbidden tastes better". One thing that really makes me angry: Being overweight is like a green card for all unsolicited advice. "Oh, you will be thin if you do it and not! This and this" ... And I guess what is my purpose in life: to be thin or to be happy? I know my body better than you, I also know about risk and health problems, but it's not your place to call. (And unfortunately I was part of the problem when he was younger, skinny and healthy) I am gaining weight due to stress, I know it, I am experiencing it, but the society still thinks it's okay to add on a pile of my stress and would like me to feel guilty and failed. So again, I am very grateful for your video that helps me grow and understand the tactics of the diet society and that it is everywhere!
Abbey, these all sound beautiful. I want a positive relationship with food. I want to trust my body. I want to learn to follow intuitive cues. I'm gifting myself the book for Christmas. I cannot wait to work on my homework this week.
Angelica Garcia hope it helps!
I am curious and determined to investigate this more. I got the Intuitive Eating book today and will watch more of your videos. My BED has been flaring lately very badly and I have lost and gained the same 15-20 pounds 3 times in the last 6 months without even consciously paying attention to it, that's how stuck I am in this cycle. I am very unhappy with my weight but trying to lose it has never worked long term so I am ready to try something new. So happy I found your awesome videos here. They are something I can feel good about binge-ing!
I would LOVE to see an Abbey video about Weight Watchers! I think there is SO much to dive into there. I know she did the video about the WW kid’s app, but I want more!
I love all of your videos and I love your point of view on things. I’m so happy you’re doing a series on this. I’ve struggled with eating for a very long time and I’m looking forward to watching this series and learning from it. Thank you so much, Abbey!
Jayde DiPaolo glad you enjoyed it ❤️
Abbey your videos are really helpful. You feel like a mom taking the time to teach me how to take care of myself. Thank you
Abbey, thank you for this series! My therapist recommended I check you out, as I have orthorexia, and am also dealing with the beginnings of IVF. I appreciate your insight and advice, and I am trying to let go of my disordered tendencies, as I can. You are helping me so much, with the videos and the other resources that you provide.
I decided that soda and certain foods make me break out or be bloated and lethargic. I’ve yo-yo’d so many times, and get heavier each time I “fall off the wagon” of dieting. I’ve started to eat healthier but still had a cookie or fast food chicken sandwich or egg McMuffin if I was really craving one. I also have a soda now and then. I decided that I can sustain restricted eating for months to lose weight, but then I get to a point where I feel I have to have something “bad” and the binging begins. I’m thinking that intuitive eating may be good for me, since I do enjoy healthy foods and how I feel when I’m eating healthier but I can eat cookies or treats and not feel guilty or like I’m a failure. I can’t wait to view this series!
I have an obsession with food and eat even when I'm not hungry and then feel guilty about it, your videos had been so eye opening for me, thank you.
Abby your message is the best! When I dont have the motivation to read the book : intuitive eating, I come and watch your videos and reset!
Have you heard of Dr. Gregors book How Not To Diet? I’m curious to hear your thoughts on it.
Piper Sisk I’ll check it out
I really appreciate this video it is clearly something you believe in and you're still striving to make those who don't feel like they can do it feel welcome to still learn more. I've said before I think intuitive eating is not right for me at the moment but there are principles that I can take from intuitive eating as I strive for my own lifestyle changes.
RandomPerson1313 that’s totally okay!
The skeptics make it sound like everyone with a BMI over 25.1 has diabetes, depression and minor physical ailments.
It’s just not true. I’ve been smaller, I’ve been bigger but (fortunately) have never had any health issues - not bloating, not fatigue, not high BP, not high cholesterol....
I don’t like looking at my stretch marks but stretch marks don’t always mean poor health!
Calorie counting and using my Fitbit has helped me understand my nutrition and how I feel and also helped me to realize that I tend to under eat a lot without trying to unless I’m eating out. I lost 10lbs to make me feel more comfortable in my body by calorie counting and now I do it to maintain weight. “Breaking even” on my calories according to my Fitbit to maintain my weight has helped me to understand when I feel satisfied so I don’t end up over eating or under eating. I know calorie counting isn’t for everyone and can be triggering and obsessive but for me it’s something that works. These days I try to eat intuitively and eat what I’m craving and the counting is just to make sure I’m being healthy about it.
When weight loss is discussed with health improvements, why is it just the big things like heart disease and diabetes? What about the myriad of 'small' positive effects related to weight loss? I've had about 3 health related issues disappear after I lost weight. One (disturbed sleep) was effecting me almost everyday. It's gone, hopefully never to return.
5:52 I'm going to give Abby a challenge. Put on 20 kilograms and see if you still feel that way.
Could you do a bit on binge eating and initiative eating please ? My issue is not knowing when to stop.
I recognise in retrospect that I overate, but struggle to be present in the moment.
There’s also an issue with waste. I hate wasting food. So even when I’m full, a part of my brain tells me to finish my plate, because I feel guilty throwing food away.
Even if I put the leftovers in a lunchbox. I don’t want to eat that food the next day, so it’s not intuitive to force myself to eat the leftovers the next day.
Many thanks Abbey, loving your open minded approach
Heather Honan great questions !!
Abbey, please please please check out “The Pleasure Trap” by Drs Lisle and Goldhamer. It outlines the psychology AND the biology driving human food behaviors. It is the missing piece for everyone to understand WHY navigating the modern food environment is so freaking difficult.
You are touching on some of the variables discussed in the book, and I cannot recommend this book enough for health/ food professionals who seek to help others. Not to be dramatic or anything but it literally changed my life lol, and I think you would really dig it. Thanks for the videos!!
casey miller thanks for the suggestion!
Abbey Sharp you’re welcome!
I just cant stop thinking about food like i dont feel guilt or anything but its always in my head
I really just want to say thank you. This is incredible. I've always eaten this way and every time I even mention it I feel shamed. Because I'm not 'restricting myself enough' or 'being clean enough' or whatever the hell is said to me. Theres been some weeks I want to eat more fruit, particularly bananas after working out really hard. And I have never stopped myself from doing that because of a 'diet'. My weight only changes with how much I exercise. After an injury I gained a little bit of weight, but not a lot because I simply didn't feel as hungry and honored that. While friends, family etc gain much more weight because they refuse to change how they eat because it is a 'rule' they have to follow. Then freaking out about said weight gain. I've never 'restricted' myself beyond simply making sure the amount of food I eat is 'portioned', but even that is sort of loose basis. If I'm still hungry then I will eat, if I'm not then I won't. It's that simple. I love the fact in other videos you've talked about how you have chocolate in your pantry or ice cream in your freezer. I have that as well, and I've never felt guilty for having the occasional bowl of ice cream. Yet my weight is still well within the healthy range for my genetics. The reason I came across your videos is because I'd watched way too many dieting adds and was starting to rethink the way I'm eating. I'm very glad I came across your channel, because it backed up what I've been doing with intuitive eating and has kept me from going down the fad diet path. Thank you.
I think your advice is good not always to go on the scale. It can get people crazy to do it daily. I love your videos.
Sabine Lieb so glad
Love your videos! You have helped me make better choices and be compassionate to myself. I wish you were in my area, I’d totally go to you as a dietician! ❤️
Jason Manning 🙏🏼❤️
So happy you’re doing this series! I’ve been on my intuitive eating journey since April and the more resources there are the better. Hard shit but worth it!
Sarah Montes 🙏🏼❤️
(fwiw, I'm a person in a larger body who is at the upper edge of what airline seats can handle) I have just barely heard the HAES term. However, as I listen to this and other discussions, one of the things that strikes me is that the negative flip of the idea that is still inherent in "HAES" is also "un-health at any size." In other worse, it seems to me that HAES is an attempt to disconnect the ideas of health and size from each other. You focus a lot on the behaviors as indicators of health. Which I totally get and appreciate! However, it's so hard for us to disconnect these two ideas (health and size) because of the diet culture that has been so very pervasive for so very long that it was important for me to think through this "flip side," especially when I hear the questions like "does this say I can..." etc. Personally, I have been thinking more and more lately of reasons I would like to be "smaller" to make my life more enjoyable/comfortable, such as being eligible for zip lines again and being slightly less uncomfortable in airplane seats. I'm trying so very very hard to think about these behavioral and comfort/enjoyment drivers rather than other reasons.
You are a blessing. I just found you and I'm binging your videos. I think this is brilliant, even as I struggle in my relationship with food, it's very alien to me as someone who's been trying to lose weight for the majority of my adult life.
Thank you so much, you are such a supportive friend for me, I always believe that our bodies evolve to be like this to eat what they need, all we need to do is to eat healthy, don’t overeat any kind of food, not just eat whole food or something like this, I live in China, people are already really skinny but a lot of girls starve themselves even worse and more restrictive, I am not skinny and I am in a really healthy weight and even kind of skinny if I live in America, but people around me are just like to judge me that I am fat and chide me that I can’t fit in that skinny dress, do you know how severe the situation here? The right way to fit in skinny jeans is to be thin enough to wear that like a loose jeans. Sometimes I just feel so sick of my body and I try to lose weight again and again, and I setback into binge. So my situation is that If I eat enough, I will be in normal shape, but I can’t because they will laugh at me, even they are grownups, things are worse in Asia. And you are so supportive, thanks a lot for giving me hope and confirm me that it’s not a wrong thing if I am eating enough, I don’t want starve myself anymore, all I want is to escape this situation 😥😥😥😥
You are changing the way I think in a mind 🤯 blowing kind of way Miss Thang!! Hats 🎩 off to you. It’s not easy to do. And I love 💕 it!!
Monica Palombo yay so glad
Glad I found your channel while I’m reframing my mindset around my health journey. Looking forward to learning more about intuitive eating!
We need more words for 'diets'. It applies to such a wide range of things that even though I know exactly what you're saying, it doesn't sound quite right because you're talking about a specific definition of the word 'diet' but there's so many other definitions.
edit: I'm loving the asides that clarify that you're talking to people that intuitive eating is best for and that it may not be the right thing for everyone.
this is great :) it took a long time but I started doing this myself about 5 years ago. it made such a big difference in how I view food and weight, and It made me realize how negative my relationship with food and my weight was. it also really helps when I'm encouraging my husband and kids to make good choices with food too.
Abby I know this isn’t the video topic but ever since I found your channel last week I’ve been adding fiber and protein to my carbs so that I can regulate my blood sugar and manage my PCOS. Thank you for your compassionate no BS content, after almost 10 years of struggling with ED and not knowing how to feed myself, I finally feel like I have some resources to teach me how to eat so that I don’t spike my blood sugar WITHOUT suggesting weight loss or cutting out carbs. Do you have a book?
I think that the main problem is having an extreme mentality because that comes with an emotional baggage. I love intuitive eating but something that I don’t personally think that helps are the absolutes on something. At the very very beginning of my health journey I only craved Oreos and chips, up to the point that I managed to fool myself into thinking that if I keep my calorie intake up to a certain number, that type of food could be the main source of nourishment. Of course I felt horrible, but I didn’t get that until I started tracking my food, weight and overall how I felt. I understand that is not for everyone, because for me, I was able to disassociate negative feelings towards number but actually gather objective data that help me understand how my body reacts. If I gained weight I didn’t feel bad nor celebrated when I actually loose weight, rather I focused on what was changing, if I was retaining liquids or loos fat. Now, I actually crave vegetables and less processed foods. I no longer track anything and I’m able to feel great. I get that fixing on certain parameters that are arbitrary set, is emotionally detrimental but in my case learning data helped to accept myself and really internalize the reasons that consuming vegetables is important, and at the same time I do not punish myself if one day I wanted cake and eat it.
edithvelam that’s so great! So glad it’s working for you