Book Review: Intuitive Eating

I just finished reading "Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Program that works" by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch. I found it fascinating...even the chapters that were somewhat dry and academic. I think my interest in the book stemmed from a couple of things: one, I have been on a new hormone therapy, which causes "temporary" water weight gain, which lead me to subsequent panic producing food obsession, and two, I am totally burned out on any form of dieting and weight control.

The premise behind intuitive eating involves waiting to eat until one is hungry, choosing any appealing food, and slowly savoring each bite until full. An "appealing food" removes the moral rightness and wrongness of ANY food, and after awhile, one will naturally choose healthier options, because food restrictions have been lifted. The authors feel that we overeat on junk mostly because we have been conditioned to judge food according to diet rules: some foods are "good" while others are "bad," and due to natural rebellion, we want the forbidden (remember Adam and Eve in the Garden:). The main reason we overeat, according to the authors, is that we have tried our best to live under chronic diet rules, and that has caused us to biologically and psychologically revolt and crave sweets and fats.

For some of you this won't be new information. Many of us have tried the "Weigh Down Diet," by Gwen Shamblin of the Weigh Down Workshop, and while much of her "diet" contains the very same elements of intuitive eating, her main premise is that when we overeat, or eat when not hungry, we commit the sin of gluttony. The authors of "Intuitive," however, insist that part of the pleasure of eating involves occasionally eating when not hungry-as in a celebration or to top off dinner with dessert.

I took issue with Ms. Shamblin back when I first tried her "diet" (she insists it's not a diet, but a way of eating that honors God), with her works-based eating plan. She claims we can only please God by avoiding gluttony (defined by her as eating outside of hunger) at all costs, which creates a new rule that few of us have
ever even thought of. Don't get me wrong, I do believe gluttony is a sin, much as gossiping, pride, self-absorption, etc. are sins, but I do not believe that eating a piece of dessert after dinner when no longer hungry constitutes gluttony. Her whole food-freedom (no food is righteous and all foods are created equal, and if we listen to our bodies, we will eventually desire the foods our bodies require) premise sounds wonderful and freeing until one encounters her whole "thou shalt not eat when not hungry, period, and if thou doest, repent and wait for hunger again." That legalism gets old in a hurry. On the pettier side, I could not stand the sound of her voice on her audio recordings, or even the tone in her books. I felt like she was arrogant, attention-needy and self-righteous, and along the way she even admitted she didn't really struggle with overeating. "So why should we listen to you then, huh?" I wanted to ask. But I digress, and you will think I'm critiquing "the Weigh Down Diet" book. I guess I have harbored some resentment against her program...

Back to the book in question: I started the "program" of intuitive eating three days ago...and already I have noticed a phenomenal change: Food does not stress me out, AND I have passed up sweets (my former nemesis) just because I don't feel like eating them at the time. Unheard of for this lady! It's quite cool. I am not, however, naive enough to think I've become an intuitive eater, but the freedom from worrying about what I should eat, when I should eat, and how much I should eat, and what foods are sinful and should be avoided like the plague thrills me no end. I will keep y'all posted as I walk through this journey...