So What is Intuitive Eating Anyway?
A quick explanation from your friendly Michigan Eating Disorder Therapist
In a world obsessed with diets, weight loss plans, and food rules, the idea of intuitive eating can feel a little... confusing and countercultural. No counting calories or macros and no “good” or “bad” foods—just you and your body learning how to interpret each other’s signals and needs and trust each other again. So what is intuitive eating, anyway?
A Return to Your Inner Wisdom
At its core, intuitive eating is a framework that helps people tune back into their body’s natural hunger and fullness cues, rather than external rules about what, when, or how much to eat. It was developed by two registered dietitians, Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch, and first introduced in their groundbreaking book Intuitive Eating (1995, now in its 4th edition). It’s not a diet—there’s no end goal of weight loss or body control. Instead, it’s about healing your relationship with food and learning to respond to your body with care and respect.
The 10 Principles of Intuitive Eating
Tribole and Resch outline 10 core principles that support physical health, mental well-being, and body attunement. Some of the most foundational include:
Reject the Diet Mentality – Let go of the idea that there’s a perfect way to eat or a perfect body to strive for.
Honor Your Hunger – Feed your body when it needs food, without shame or delay.
Make Peace with Food – Allow all foods to fit. When nothing is off-limits, food loses its power to control you.
Respect Your Fullness – Notice when you've had enough and trust that you can eat again when you're hungry.
Challenge the Food Police – Quiet the internal voice that labels foods (and your worth) as “good” or “bad.”
Honor Your Health—With Gentle Nutrition – Nourish your body in ways that feel good and sustainable, not punishing or perfectionistic.
It’s Not Just About Hunger and Fullness
Intuitive eating also recognizes that food is far more than just fuel—it’s emotional, social, and deeply cultural. From family traditions and holiday meals to birthday cakes and comforting childhood favorites, food carries memories, meaning, and connection. We don’t eat in a vacuum, and intuitive eating makes space for that. Rather than trying to eliminate emotion from eating, it honors that emotions are part of our relationship with food.
Eating for comfort or connection—whether it's a bowl of soup when you're sick or ice cream after a breakup—is not something to feel guilty about. It’s part of being human. In fact, soothing yourself with food now and then can be a perfectly valid coping tool, especially when it’s one of many in a larger emotional toolbox. Intuitive eating encourages us to step away from shame and embrace a more compassionate, nuanced view of why we eat the way we do.
Importantly, intuitive eating also invites us to heal emotionally—not just physically. It helps us unlearn toxic beliefs about our bodies and food that we may have picked up from diet culture. As we begin to eat with more self-trust and less judgment, we also start to soften our inner critic. This is where the deeper work begins: rebuilding body image, practicing self-compassion, and letting go of the shame that so often surrounds eating. The goal isn’t perfection—it’s peace.
Who Is Intuitive Eating For?
Anyone can benefit from intuitive eating*, especially people who’ve spent years dieting, struggling with disordered eating, or feeling stuck in a cycle of guilt and deprivation. It's especially helpful for those working on body acceptance and seeking a more peaceful relationship with food.
That said, it’s not always easy at first—especially if you’ve spent years disconnected from your hunger cues or taught to fear certain foods. Working with a therapist or dietitian trained in intuitive eating can be a helpful part of the journey.
*If you are actively struggling with an eating disorder, it is often not recommended to start with intuitive eating because the body’s cues are likely very dysregulated from physiological and psychological impact of the eating disorder. In early treatment, most clients start off with a meal plan (a form of mechanical eating), which helps the body’s organ systems heal and with time, the body’s cues, such as hunger and fullness, also regulate. Once cues begin to return and eating disorder cognitions are at a manageable level, your treatment team will support the you in learning how to intuitively eat.
Final Thoughts
Intuitive eating isn’t about eating whatever you want, whenever you want, with no thought or care. It’s about reconnecting with your body, healing from food rules, and learning to nourish yourself from a place of respect rather than restriction. It takes time, patience, and unlearning—but the payoff is freedom, peace, and trust in your body again.
For more on this topic, check out Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Anti-Diet Approach by Evelyn Tribole, MS, RDN, and Elyse Resch, MS, RDN.
If you’d like to learn more about how to practice intuitive eating, send me a message so we can set up a phone call or a session. If my practice is full, I’ll connect you with trusted colleagues.