30. Intuitive Eating and healing your relationship with food

In this episode of the Heal with Grace podcast, we welcome guest Jenn Baswick, an intuitive nutritionist, to discuss her approach to overcoming binge eating, overeating, and emotional eating. Jenn shares her personal journey from clean eating to binge eating and finally finding balance through intuitive eating. The conversation delves into identifying disordered eating patterns, the principles of intuitive eating, and how it can be adapted for those with chronic illnesses or food intolerances. Jenn emphasises the importance of self-care, regulating the nervous system, and maintaining a healthy relationship with food. Listeners will gain insights into starting their journey towards food freedom and building a positive relationship with their eating habits.

About Jenn:
Jenn is a non-diet Registered Dietitian, Certified Intuitive Eating Counsellor, cat mom, and cookie dough lover. She helps women overcome binge eating, overeating, and emotional eating so that they can embody their version of food freedom. Jenn is dedicated to helping guide her clients and community to leave all of the "shoulds" of diet culture in the past and find confidence in their own inner wisdom to guide their eating decisions, increase their self-worth, and embody their most authentic selves.

Connect with Jenn:

- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/the.intuitive.nutritionist

- Website: https://theintuitivenutritionist.com

- Free Quiz: https://theintuitivenutritionist.com/quiz

- Podcast: https://theintuitivenutritionist.com/podcast

- Contact: jenn@theintuitivenutritionist.com

Resources & Links:

• FREE Top 3 tips to regulate your nervous system Training
• Work with us in therapy or coaching
• Curable: https://getcurable.com/healwithgrace

Connect with Grace:

• Connect on Instagram
• Check out my website

Transcript

[00:00:00] Grace: Hello, and welcome back to the heal with grace podcast. I have our special guest here, Jen Baswick, who is the intuitive nutritionist.she's a non diet registered dietitian, certified intuitive eating counselor, cat mom and cookie dough lover. Ooh, I love that. I am so a cookie dough lover too. She helps women overcome binge eating, overeating and emotional eating so that they can embody their version of food freedom.

She's dedicated to helping guide her clients and community to leave all of the shoulds of diet culture in the past. and find confidence in their own inner wisdom to guide their eating decisions, increase their self worth, and embody their most authentic selves. Hi, Jen. Thank you for being here. Thank you for having me.

I'm so excited to chat with you today, Grace. Yeah, this is a really important convo, because not only do we deal with chronic illness and food intolerances and things like that, but it's so not talked about enough, the overlap between people that deal with disordered eating or histories of eating disorder that also have chronic illness.

So I'm really excited to have you on here. Okay. Sorry, I'm going farther into it before we even let you introduce yourself. So tell us a little bit about you and what led you to become the intuitive nutritionist. 

[00:01:22] Jenn: Yeah, absolutely. I thank you for that nice intro, but I'll share a little bit. more about myself and kind of what led me to be here.

So like you shared, my business is called The Intuitive Nutritionist and I am trained as a registered dietitian. I always like to add that like non diet piece in there because just a little distinction. I am not the kind of dietitian that's like, yeah, eat this. Don't eat that. Here's your plan. That's not me.

So always want to. You know, add that in there. Also a certified intuitive eating counselor. I absolutely love this work. And the reason, or if we kind of like go back in time, how I landed to be doing this work and running this business is because I had my own personal journey that is very related to all of this stuff.

And then it's like simplest form. I like to say my journey really looked like kind of in a place of clean eating and then a place of binge eating and then a place of intuitive eating. That's kind of the overarching phases that happened in my own personal relationship with food. And the Spark Nodes version really is, you know, when I was young, I struggled with body image.

I did some dance, gymnastics, things like that, where, you know, these things can come up a lot for young children, really, and especially women. And that's something that I experienced with, you know, feeling like, I, my body was progressing in puberty faster than everyone around me, and I felt really uncomfortable because of that and felt like something was wrong with my body.

And then that just kind of like planted a seed from when I was very young to then turn into more of this stuff. When I was a teen, I, you know, in those days too, like. The Tumblr and Pinterest, Fitspo, like the inspiration stuff was thriving at that time and definitely got sucked into all of that. I, one experience that I had that I know many others share is I got really, really into Kayla Ittsine's bikini body guide stuff.

That's a throwback. but really like into any kind of workout plan, right? Cause that's what that essentially was, but way of eating also with different diets and you know, whether it's actual formal diets like that, or, even Atkins was around still kind of thriving at that time, or, just tracking things in say like my fitness pal.

I did it all. I tried all the things, even those dreaded containers from the 21 day fix. The colored ones. Oh, it was a lot. So I tried like all the diets just in an attempt to make my body into something that I thought it should be and felt like I needed to be fixed. So there was of course, like looking back now, I didn't really see it this way, but looking back now, A lot of deep rooted insecurity and wanting my body to be different so that I felt better about myself, felt good enough, all those things.

And I felt like, you know, I was just being healthy by doing all these different diets and trying to eat so clean and be the healthiest version of me so I could then, then change my body. And it just went on for like years and years and years. And eventually got to the place where I couldn't really take it anymore.

And as a lot of people say, like falling off the wagon kind of started to become more of an extreme where it turned into binge eating and really that out of control feeling and behaviors with food where I just couldn't leave the foods that I was trying to not eat alone anymore. And then that started taking over.

And that was a whole nother phase with binge eating, the overeating, the emotional eating. All that. And that also lasted for years. And then finally, I almost had like a little epiphany in a yoga class, which is a whole other story. But I realized how I was really not treating my body with respect. And I was being really unkind.

Towards myself and it just like all kind of became clear to me and at that point I was already studying nutrition. Like I went into studying nutrition kind of from this obsessive place of how can I learn more about this thing that I'm so like stressed about and focused on so that I can help other people like, you know, do this because maybe I'll be able to finally get it together myself.

Oh, and looking back, it just makes me, So intrigued what drives us to get to where we like authentically land. But anyways, someone in my sphere told me about intuitive eating at that time. And I love all things intuitive. So I've never before that heard those two words together. And just because I'm an intuitive person, I'm like, yeah, intuitive eating.

Like, is that a thing? What is that? What does that mean? So then I started diving into that. And learning about it and realize that was exactly what I needed. So really went through my own healing journey in this sense. I did a lot of therapy myself as well and working through all of these things to now be in a place where I can confidently say I'm an intuitive eater.

And this is the work that I do as I became a registered dietitian. I knew this was the path that I wanted to go and helping folks overcome all these struggles with food as well. 

[00:07:04] Grace: Thanks for sharing that because it can give a picture of the different stages. Also what it can look like, right. And actually, even though it's a bit of a different timeline, that's, that's kind of how mine went as well from cleaning to bingeing to, to, to intuitive eating and mix in some chronic health intolerances there, but, started off with very like, yeah, that's it.

I mean eating because if I was healthy, right. I was healthy. Yeah. Yeah. And it can be a slippery slope. Yeah. Okay. So then. When we're even talking about like disordered eating for someone who maybe haven't hasn't recognized that or what that might look like, what, how do you describe that? 

[00:07:49] Jenn: Yeah. Yeah. It is kind of a vague term, right?

Because when we think. Eating disorders are like, what's traditionally considered an eating disorder. They have kind of like, clear cut criteria and whatnot to put them into like, buckets, but disordered eating is kind of like, looking at it more of like, a spectrum and that there can be. a wide variety of things that can fall under this bucket.

and I am truly of the belief that if anyone is struggling in your relationship with food in any capacity, what, no matter what it is or where it lands on, whatever the spectrum is, you deserve to get support to, you know, heal from that and overcome that. It just kind of maybe depends on what level of support you may need.

Right. But when we're talking disordered eating, it could be again, a wide variety of things, but I'll give some examples to kind of paint the picture of what it could look like. So this could look like thinking about food 24 seven, right? Like it is normal to think about food. We are going to think about food.

I had this conversation with the client the other day and she's like, well, I was thinking about it. I'm like, you can think about food, but it's when it becomes like this obsessive thought that doesn't leave, like you can't really move on from it. Whereas like normal food thoughts kind of come and pass along like clouds rather than something taking over your thoughts.

So that thinking about food 24 seven, there could be a fear surrounding foods. Typically there are fears around certain foods, and feeling like a lot of anxiety maybe towards certain foods. Often the ones that like, you know, diet culture demonizes are the ones that people have fears surrounding them.

And that's all of it really can turn into feeling guilty when you're eating. So that guilt or shame from an eating scenario could be a sign of disordered eating as well. you know, binge eating, feeling out of control around food, those types of behaviors. You, maybe you can't keep your favorite foods in the house, or you feel like you can't keep them in the house because you can't leave them alone.

And it's just like, if they're there, it's this, Oh my God, it's like talking to me from the cupboard. I can't stop thinking about it. I just want to have it all right now. Or when you do allow yourself to have those foods, you just truly can't stop. And it's something that does feel like a little out of control.

Right. there could also be, and I always add, you know, emotional eating in here, but I want to say like emotional eating itself is not inherently a bad thing. It's okay to eat Eat and find pleasure and soothing and satisfaction from food. That's wonderful. That's a great thing that food can do for us.

But when we're really using food to soothe from our emotions in a way that ends up making us feel worse in the long run, or it's our only crutch that we're leaning on, or we automatically do it without giving it any thought. Those are things where, you know, we could look at. So kind of that sense of out of control around our emotions and eating our feelings Really just any kind of like food related stress or anxiety.

trying to make up for what you eat is a big one too. And you think like, Oh, well I had that dessert. So now I have to, you know, do so much exercise later to make up for that. And that's, that can be disordered as well. There's also the. All or nothing mentality, so thinking of things in very like, black or white or good or bad, or it has to be like this or, you know, nothing.

So it's that's when people kind of get on that. Like, well, I'm either eating clean or I've like, you know, for the day and I had 1 bad thing and now we're totally overboard or something like that. That line of thinking. Well, having really rigid rules, right? I think that's kind of a big one that sticks out when it comes to disordered eating as well as like being very rigid and restrictive about what and what you cannot eat.

how much of those things you can and cannot eat and being very rigid and like tracking that and being obsessive about it or what times you can eat, right? Time restricted eating can be a thing there too. Any of those really rigid rules that are like putting your eating in a box where you're not able to listen to your body.

You're just following some set of arbitrary rules, right? So really in general, I know there's a lot of examples, but in general, if you're obsessing about food, stress around food, in these really rigid, restrictive patterns with food, that Or the guilt and shame, like all of that, that could very well be put into the disordered eating bucket.

Yeah, no, those are really helpful to, to talk about to have those examples. because more often than not, it's hard to recognize. I mean, I remember being in it and I had no idea all these things I was doing right until you start to hear someone talk about it or, yeah, shift it in different ways. Definitely. I know. I felt the exact same way because now, now I can see it very clearly, of course, but when I was in it, I thought I was just being healthy and doing what I was supposed to do. Like, that's really how it felt until I learned that these things may not be the most supportive and yeah, feeling this way, it doesn't have to be like that.

[00:13:10] Grace: Yeah. Yeah. And even to the point where you, Well, I'll just share the example, in the middle, like, probably the heightened of clean eating slash starting to binge eat more. I had a friend that we were definitely like, not healthy for each other, you know, like, totally egging each other on with it and like, teaching each other probably new, very unhealthy skills.

And I remember her saying, like, I. you know, I wake up and go to bed thinking about food and I was like, so then I started to do that because I was like, oh, well, I need to think about it more, you know? And then, then once I recognized it, I was like, oh, this sucks over it. Like so consuming, I can't, I'm obsessing.

I can't stop.just those little, those little awarenesses of, oh, that's a pattern that's really exhausting me, actually. It's taking up a lot of my life. It's taking up a lot of my time. For sure. Does that actually mean that it's healthy then? You know? 

[00:14:09] Jenn: yeah, it can take over so much. And I think another piece or thing that just came to mind for me when you said that too, that I think is a sign that eating could be maybe disordered is not being able to go out.

And enjoy foods. I say, you're going out to a restaurant or you're going to like a barbecue or something with friends or, or whatever. And you're just like, I'm not going to have, like, what I normally have. And that's really stressful back. That's another sign too. Yeah, yeah, 

[00:14:38] Grace: that's hard or going the opposite direction, right?

When you're like, oh, well, I can only have this now because I'm out. Yes, exactly. You eat it all and you over eat and you binge and your stomach hurts. Yeah, 

[00:14:48] Jenn: totally. 

[00:14:50] Grace: Yeah. So then when we're talking about, okay, so we've talked about what disordered eating could look like, what then is, if we've learned all probably so many different diets and so many different ways of eating, what's intuitive eating?

How is that different than sticking to something specific like a diet or 

[00:15:09] Jenn: clean eating? Yeah, definitely. Intuitive eating really itself is a, at its simplest form, the definition really of intuitive eating is that it's a non diet self care based eating framework, right? So it's non diet in the sense that it is not a diet.

It is not a set of rigid rules telling you what to eat, what not to eat, when to eat, how to eat. Not like that. No rigid rules, non diet and self care based, meaning that it is really surrounded around taking care of yourself, taking care of your wellbeing as a whole, because something that diets or whatever, like rigid meal plans.

Cause sometimes people don't think they're on a diet, but it's just like clean eating or trying to be so healthy. I kind of, when I say diet, I mean all of those things. But when we are in that kind of, diet mentality line of thinking, it is not considering all parts of us. It's really kind of focusing on that physical act of what nutrients we're consuming and that's it.

And health and our wellbeing and taking care of ourselves is so much more than that. It takes our physical body, of course, but also our mind, our emotions, our spiritual wellbeing. Every aspect of our wellbeing comes into play with intuitive eating. It's not leaving things out like traditional diets, clean eating, what have you does.

So it's bringing everything together. And the way that I like to describe it the most is that we are letting go of all the external rules, external noise, whatever shoulds you heard about what you should eat and how you should eat. All those rules external to you, we're leaving all of those. behind letting go of them.

And we're coming back to your internal wisdom. We're coming back to that innate wisdom of your body. And the way you can think about this is like babies, right? They have when like the baby is born, they have a very innate system that alerts you when they are hungry and they will eat when they are hungry and they will stop when they are full.

They just truly do of course, there can be. You know, different difficulties with breastfeeding or bottle feeding or things like that to actually get the baby to eat at first. Those are difficulties aside, but really, in its, simplest form, babies know how much to eat when to eat what they need and they know how to regulate in that way.

What happens is that as babies grow up, they are influenced by well, meaning caregivers, but getting different types of restrictions or shoulds placed on their eating that takes them away from that. Inner wisdom. Now, that doesn't have to be the case, but in the world we live in, a lot of us, parents, caregivers included, are affected by diet culture and what we think we should be doing.

And then over time, as we grow up, all these rules kind of get layered on top of that innate inner wisdom. So we lose our touch with it, but we all have that. And the inner wisdom to guide our eating choices, it's just taking the layers off of all of this programming and beliefs about diet culture and how we think we should eat and what's right and wrong, getting rid of all of that external noise to come back to that internal wisdom.

So really. It's meant to let go of all the rules, overcome all those struggles that I was kind of mentioning when it comes to disordered eating, feeling more confident with your food decisions, and really just improving your relationship with food, your body, and yourself. And one thing that's actually really interesting about intuitive eating is that it, Was actually created back in 1995.

So it's been around for a while and a lot of people don't know that because it's just been getting hype in the past few years. Like, it's become more of a mainstream popular. Lingo to throw out there, but it's been around for a long time and it's been researched in hundreds of studies proving and showing how much its effectiveness is in improving an individual's overall health and well, being even.

extended outside of their relationship with food. So it's really about just coming back to your authentic self when it comes to eating so that you can thrive in your wellbeing in all of the ways. Yeah. Thank you 

[00:19:35] Grace: for that. That's, goes very in line with what we talk about here on the podcast, learning more about yourself and honoring your true body's wisdom, honoring your true pace, your nervous system, what fits you, what doesn't fit you.

And of course we're going to do that, of course, but I mean, it makes sense to learn how to do that with food, especially when food is so tied in so much right or wrong health, right? Or wrong cult. Like it's tied in our culture. It's. Tied into so many things and it can be a beautiful thing, right? Food brings people together and is yummy and all the things.

we just think the health industry is tied so much meaning behind food and what's right and wrong. And it's really hard to get out of that. It's hard to shut out what's you've learned, what you've learned and tune in to your body. So then you mentioned when we're trying to listen more to our body, and I think you've mentioned before, like building that relationship with yourself and with your food.

What does that mean to build a relationship with food? I've had that question before, and I want to know how you answer 

[00:20:48] Jenn: it. Yeah, absolutely. I know that that can sound like a funny thing is like our relationship with food. What are we in relationship with food? but really like. That relationship with food just means how we interact with it and how it supports us and how we feel in that dynamic, right?

So really a relationship with food, you could think of kind of like a relationship with anything else. Like, just as you have a relationship with food. with other people or yourself or, or whatever. It's a dynamic that is going both ways, right? You're benefiting, you're adding, they're adding, benefiting, right?

Back and forth, so forth. You are doing the same thing with food. You're interacting with food. You're kind of giving your input. The food is giving you input by giving you, you know, nutrients, satisfaction, joy, pleasure, what have you. It's a dynamic. interaction. So it is kind of this relationship and food really plays a big role in our lives.

Honestly, maybe even more than a lot of other people and relationships because we are eating food multiple times a day, every single day. Like it's something we truly need for survival. And if you don't have a good relationship with food, That may be leaving you feeling really crummy because you're interacting with it all the time.

Right? So improving that relationship can really impact you on a big level of ways in. Yes, your health, but also all those other areas of your wellbeing that we talked about because yeah, if you're feeling stressed and you're feeling stressed multiple times a day or obsessing about it, right? Like we were talking about those thoughts and it's taking over your thoughts 24 seven and you can't show up in your life and do the things that you truly want to or focus your energy on healing in other ways, right?

With like chronic pain and things like that. If you don't have that brain space to be able to do the things that you need in your life. It's really hard. And then that, you know, relationship with food kind of takes over because it's such a negative, tumultuous relationship, right? So we want to have a positive relationship with food so that we can, you know, be able to benefit from food because it gives us so many wonderful things and not have that.

Take over our lives. It's just something that's, you know, benefiting us. We're enjoying it without the stress, without the guilt, without the obsession, without the shame. But yeah, we're, we're given more space to be able to live life in a more authentic, full way without all the struggle. Going on, does that answer your question?

I know it's kind of a hard thing to describe, but 

[00:23:41] Grace: yeah, no, it really does though. what I'm kind of hearing is that when we can, almost when we can take the morality off of food, right? Like you're saying the right or wrong. And when we do that, then. We don't have as much shame and guilt around it, whether we're eating something we should not be eating or something like, you know, whatever it is, it doesn't increase or induce shame or guilt because we shouldn't be eating it, but we are feel crappy about it.

Yeah, I'm shifting that relationship and allowing provides less and we know shame, guilt or emotions leads to a whole slew of issues. So chronic mental and physical health. 

[00:24:18] Jenn: Definitely. Yeah, the shame and guilt is at a lot of the core of relationships with food that are not serving us. And it can turn into such a wide variety of things that people often blame themselves for because what they ends up happening, right?

When we have this really like all or nothing thinking of, okay, well this food is good and this food is bad. And I really like these foods that I'm calling bad. Like, let's throw an example out there. Say ice cream. That's one that can be demonized. Ice cream. I love ice cream, but. It's bad and I shouldn't have it.

And then, you know, say summertime comes around and you get some ice cream and you have it in the house, say like a tub of Ben and Jerry's or something, and it's your favorite kind. And then you can't stop thinking about it, but you're like, well, I shouldn't be thinking about it. And there's this, the shoulds are coming in, right?

Like, I shouldn't have it. I can't have it. And then you can't take it anymore. And you're like, well, I really want to have it. And then you have it. And then there's still those thoughts being like, you shouldn't be eating this right now. You're eating too much. Like all of those different thoughts are causing more of the guilt, more of the shame.

And it's then perpetuating, well, like this whole, I, I usually call it effort eating where it's like, well, I already feel this way. So why not just continue? And then you eat more and more and more, and then you feel more guilt and shame, and then you feel like you need to do something to fix it. So then you go into like more of the, well, tomorrow morning I'm going to start eating clean again, and I'm going to do so good.

And then your body can't take that after trying to restrict it. And then the cycle repeats, right? Then we're like, then we go overboard with ice cream again, or whatever the food is, but it's really just this cycle that never ends until we end the cycle. Yeah, 

[00:26:05] Grace: no, that was a great example. It, I mean, it paints the picture, and that's the kind of picture I think that I know I needed at the time to really realize, oh, I'm doing that.

And, oh, that really resonates, you know, you see me because that's what I'm doing, but I feel so shame, so much shame around it. And I didn't know anyone else did that too. 

[00:26:24] Jenn: Yeah. Yeah. 

[00:26:26] Grace: Understand. 

[00:26:27] Jenn: For sure, and I think a big thing to that, like, if anyone's feeling that and experiencing that, I really want you to know that it's not your fault because I think that's the biggest thing that people place on themselves.

I did right. It was like, what's wrong with me? Why? Why can't I stop doing this? Like, I'm just flawed. There's something broken about me and because I can't control my eating, but it, it, that's not the case. I promise you that's not the case. It's the system that's flawed is the shoulds that are making you feel that way.

And there, there is a way out. Right. And it's not your fault. 

[00:27:03] Grace: Yeah. 

[00:27:03] Jenn: Thank 

[00:27:03] Grace: you. Yeah, for sure. For saying that. Oh yeah. So much like shame and blame, but it, because we're told that we should be able to control. Yeah. Right. So it's like, well, if I can't control it, I'm just a piece of shit essentially. I can't do it.

You know, that's so not true. Oh yeah. I hope whoever's listening really hears that message. It's not, it's not that simple. We aren't that simple of human beings. We're complex. There's way more underneath the surface. 

[00:27:32] Jenn: Totally. And I think something that helped me almost like. Believe that a little bit more was also realizing how much of a giant industry dieting is like the diet industry in general is profiting essentially off of you struggling to keep up with that thing, because then.

What do you do? You do it more, right? Like you, you buy into doing more diets and trying it again and again and again, or continuing that membership or whatever it is because you're like, well, I just need to do better and then I can fix it. But it never works because it's a broken system and it's just feeding off of your shame to make you feel like you're broken and you need fixing.

But it's, it's the system that's a problem. And I mean, I could get on my soapbox about this, but I will leave it at that saying that it's not your fault. It is the way these things are set up. And it's just, it's not supportive for actually connecting to yourself and what you need.

[00:28:32] Grace: Let's talk a little bit more about like clean eating. And specifically to when, you know, most people listening to this are dealing with some sort of chronic pain, chronic illness, and they've gone down the road of, like, functional medicine, which they usually put on some sort of clean eating. They don't say diet, but we're going to say diet here.

And some people are truly having, like, big negative reactions in their body when they eat certain foods, right? So whether that's histamine reactions or gut intolerances or IBS or migraines or something, because of direct results of certain foods that whether it's been for a long time or whether they're starting to realize it now, and then oftentimes it's confirmed with a food sensitivities test. So, how how would someone incorporate intuitive eating when they have some kind of food intolerance? 

[00:29:24] Jenn: Yeah, absolutely. I think it's. big common misconception about intuitive eating that it is something that is a free for all and you know, you just kind of go for it.

Oh, like loosey goosey, whatever, who cares? Like it is not that at all. So I want to say that. And like on another layer of that is the misconception that folks who have different intolerances, right. Or allergies or health things going on. That directly kind of correlates to certain foods that they cannot do intuitive eating.

And I would argue that that's incorrect and that you can, anyone can incorporate intuitive eating into the way that they are approaching food and their relationship with food. And. What is different for folks who may have intolerances or, or whatever these things are with food when we know like having that food aggravates symptoms or makes you feel really, off or crummy or, or whatever the digestive upset or pain or whatever, right.

Whatever's happening with food. If we know that and going back to the definition of what intuitive eating is, it is a self care based eating framework. If you are knowing that say certain foods are gonna cause you harm in a way, then that not having those foods or maybe having those foods to a lesser extent or whatever that looks like for, you know, who you are and what the situation is.

Everyone is unique, but knowing that and taking care of that and honoring that is an act of self care. So with the folks that I work with who have intolerances or certain things going on with food, This is how we approach it. We look at eating as an act of self care and knowing that you are not putting yourself into a place of restriction or dieting or this more harm side of eating like with disordered eating.

If you know for a fact that having that certain food is not taking care of yourself, right? So we are aligning with. Taking care of yourself, taking care of your body's vessel in the way of eating the foods that make you feel your best physically, mentally, emotionally. That is the goal. Period. Right.

That's what we're doing. And anything can kind of fit into that. Yes, it's a lot more nuanced and yes, the whole process of making peace with food and not feeling, out of control around certain foods can get a little bit more, Yeah, nuanced, maybe a little bit more complicated when we have intolerances and things in the mix, but it's not impossible.

I've helped many clients who are in that situation, find freedom with food and find peace with food and be able to eat in that way that makes them thrive physically, mentally, emotionally in all the ways. And I think something that is always important for me to say when having this conversation too is sometimes we can not technically have an intolerance, but some of these foods are demonized by diet culture.

And we're just like, oh, well. you know, so and so from TikTok said, I can't have all of these different types of foods because those are the bad ones and they're inflammatory or whatever. So I'm not going to have those foods. That's different. That is taking on someone else's rules, taking on diet culture and being like, well, I was told I shouldn't have those foods by wherever.

So I'm not. That's different. If you know you have like a real intolerance or allergy or like celiac or something like that, then yes, we're going to honor that. But we need to question too, like, where are these food beliefs coming from? Is it just some rule that so and so told you to do? Then maybe that's not meant for you.

Let's see how your body Feels right. Like what is your body actually telling you and being in communication with you going back to that relationship, right? Like if you have that food and you can actually notice something that makes your symptoms be aggravated or whatever, then yes, that's something to take a look at.

But. Knowing that there is another layer in that with this work where it can get a little bit confusing with everyone throwing stuff out there about what you should and shouldn't eat. So don't get it confused for that. 

[00:34:11] Grace: Yeah, that's where I was going to go next, because it's definitely a component of it, right?

I mean, from my Strong standpoint and what I do, I think that unless it is a true allergy, we can totally work with it and help eliminate that intolerance or sensitivity. Cause more often than not, it is coming from, whether it's something like you said, like you, you saw that you shouldn't eat X, Y, and Z, you know, from whoever, whether it's a doctor or whether it's a TikTok influencer, whatever it is, whoever it is, we've been told that it seeps in, we see it all around us.

And then literally those messages. start to impact our brain and our brain literally sees those foods as dangerous. So every time we eat them, our body reacts. Right. So we can rewire that. That's different than, yeah, like a true allergy. And so, I like that. I like that you're, you know, learning how to, to question actually, where are these things coming from?

Right. Because you don't have to live in this like whole little place where you're so afraid of food, whether that's coming from you. It's whether it's going to make you gain weight to whether it's going to react in your body in a certain way. 

[00:35:20] Jenn: Definitely. yeah, really 

[00:35:21] Grace: hard to live that way. And so much fear around 100%.

[00:35:25] Jenn: And I think it's like, there's so much out there. And I have worked with so many people who are like, yeah, I don't eat dairy or gluten or anything like that. And I'm like, okay, Let's get curious about that. Why, why is it that you do that? And they're just like, well, I was told it's like what I need to do to feel better.

Like told by who and what was your like relationship with those foods like before this and what's going on there. And let's, you know, get curious about that. Is it actually something that your body isn't working well with? Like things are so valid with. It's like celiac, like I mentioned, or, you know, being actually intolerant to lactose, right?

Like there are things that our body doesn't do well with certain people, but the large majority of us don't have those things and we don't need to cut out all of these Big food groups and be left with like, well, what can I eat? Because there's not, you know, what's left at the end of that? Or I don't like the free options or whatever.

You don't have to do that. Just because someone told you to and you're so right. Like the. Stress response that we get from certain foods can actually impact the way we are digesting it and the way we are, feeling into that relationship with our food if we are stressed about it. And that's where this.

You know, relationship with food work comes into is like, let's get rid of that stress and obsession so that your body can properly engage with food and not be in that stress response. That's going to make the whole thing feel so much worse and make you feel icky as a whole. Right? 

[00:37:09] Grace: Yeah, exactly. It ties us right back into the idea of relationship with food, because when we're able to think about it this way, right, so we know anyone knows at any level of the medical system that stress impacts the body.

We, we understand that statement, at least on a surface level. You may not fully grasp like all what a stress really does or types of stress, but.if you're having a stress, if you're stressed around what you're eating, it's going to impact the body. Yeah. So if we can work with the relationship with food and release the stress, actually it's more healthy to then eat more foods instead of to not eat the foods that we're told cause inflammation or whatever, X, Y, and Z.

So that's kind of where I go to it. I'm like, well, right. So what's worse? 

[00:37:57] Jenn: It's like one of the most normalized forms of stress I think there is, right? Like. Everywhere you look, everywhere is like, you should eat this. You shouldn't eat that. Have this much to eat. Do your macros this way. Like it has to be all this rigid stuff.

And that's just like putting everyone in this state of, Oh my gosh, I'm not doing it right. I'm not doing it right. I'm not doing it right. All the time. And like I said, we're eating multiple times a day, every day. And what's that going to do to your nervous system and your stress response? It's not going to make it.

better. Right. It's contributing to adding more stress to it. So yeah, eliminating the stress with food can be so, so like life changing when it comes to a lot of things. 

[00:38:45] Grace: Yeah. 

[00:38:45] Jenn: Okay, 

[00:38:46] Grace: man. I feel like we could keep talking a lot about this.

Let's give them a little, so if someone's just starting to recognize that they want to start their start working on their relationship with food, understand what intuitive eating is. What would you suggest? Where would they start? 

[00:39:06] Jenn: Yeah, definitely. I think there is so much information out there about intuitive eating, but one thing I will say, Just generally, before I go into maybe some of my tips is if you are learning about intuitive eating, since it has become more of a mainstream thing to talk about these days, there are a lot of people who are co opting the term intuitive eating with diet culture out there.

So. If you're seeing like things like intuitive eating for weight loss, or, you know, whatever kind of pairing that's actually taking it away from what the core of intuitive eating is, be wary of that. And if you're ever confused or not sure of who to trust,et cetera. With intuitive eating, there is, the certified intuitive eating counselor.

And if you see someone has that, you know that they will be giving you hopefully the correct advice when it comes to intuitive eating. And if they don't proceed with caution, cause sometimes this stuff can get mixed in and we've been to diet culture. That's the trend I've been seeing in the past couple of years now, which is unfortunate.

but it does happen. So just want to throw that out there. But, some. Tips, I guess for me, first thing I want to say is kind of like maybe a little bit of like what not to do. And that is around, don't treat it like a free for all. Okay. Cause I, I see that being where a lot of people come to work with me.

They're like, I've been trying intuitive eating and it's not working. I'm just even more like. Out of control with food. It's like I've gone from one extreme to the other from like dieting all the time to now it's just like a free for all. That's not what it is. And I know that's what maybe the media paints it to be like, we're just going to have all the fun foods and whatever amount you want and not pay any attention to like, you know, how we're feeling or whatever, all these different pieces.

It's not a free for all and just trying to be like, Oh, well, I'm just going to let myself have all of these foods I placed off limits and whatever amount I want to and just, you know, be like free flowing with it sounds nice. And that is the goal. But if we just jump into the deep end in that spot, it can be really, really overwhelming.

I would say that don't just jump into the deep end and, do it that way. There is really a systematic approach to go about intuitive eating that helps you to not feel overwhelmed. And that's something that I'm big on teaching my clients is how can we make peace with food in a way that's not overwhelming because the goal is to not be stressed.

Why would we cause you more stress in the beginning by doing this whole free for all thing? No, we're not going to do that. So that's kind of first and foremost, and then. My first, like, if you are wanting to get into this, the place I would actually start you is with some reflection, and really kind of exploring where your relationship with food is right now.

Because like we were both saying, Grace, in our own journeys, we didn't even realize what was going on. We weren't sure, like we, we were totally unaware. So the first step would really be getting that clarity of. Where are you at now? Like, what's your relationship with food looking like? What's working for you?

What's not working for you, right? How do all these things Work for you with food, and we can't really move forward without knowing where we are. So, really getting that clarity is going to be able to give you almost these, like, little mini roadmaps of what needs some TLC and what needs your attention when you are starting to actually, like, work on the processes of intuitive eating and some things you can maybe ask yourself.

Would be, you know, how do you feel when you interact with food? Is there any of that stress or obsession or guilt or shame going on? Or can you be in that state of just enjoying or not thinking about it too much? Like, what does that look like? When you're interacting with food, do you think about food a lot throughout the day?

Is it kind of taking over your thoughts? Are you in tune with your body's hunger and fullness? Like, do you know when you're hungry before your body's screaming at you and you get into the hangry state? Are you able to tap into that? Are you able to stop eating at a comfortable place? Or are you often overeating and feeling uncomfortable after meals?

Are you in tune with that or, or not, right. Or you know, are there rules that you're following? Like what, what is all this looking like? Just getting a lot of clarity on where you're at. And the most important thing I tell all my clients, they probably get sick of me saying it, but I always, always want folks to approach everything.

All of this exploration, reflection, everything you do in your intuitive eating journey with curiosity. not judgment, right? Because when we're doing a reflection like that and maybe going through those questions I asked, it can be easy to be like, Oh my gosh, look at all these things I'm doing wrong. And then flip to that other side of self judgment, right?

Like when we've been in that self judgment from dieting, we can flip to this self judgment in intuitive eating. Like, Whoa, all this stuff is not aligned. No, no, we're not going there. This is just a place for exploration to get curious, to again, give us a pathway to move forward. Forward so that we have that clarity to know what what needs a little, little TLC, a little working on, right?

So curiosity, not judgment is a really big thing to continue to remind yourself because we love to go straight to that judgment place.so that would be. Where to start and then just a couple of other things that I would say some people miss when they're starting their intuitive eating journey or things to maybe look out for that are, I would say more foundational and what I often work with my clients on first.

And that is first and foremost, eating consistently and eating enough, right? Because if you don't have that good foundation of nourishment for your body, doing all the other pieces like overcoming that guilt and breaking food rules and making peace with food and feeling comfortable and confident in making food decisions can feel really hard.

Because if your body is Not properly nourished. It's like, Hey, I don't have enough energy and I'm going to drive you to eat everything in the cupboard because you're not feeding me enough. Right. And if we're not giving our body that consistent energy and nourishment from food, it's really hard to move forward without that foundation.

So that being first and foremost, which If that sounds scary, right, that is an indication that that is something to work on. Something that needs that TLC. And it's okay if it is scary and it's something that you, you can get to. Right. And the second piece of that kind of things people often miss or want to skip past.

And I know we've talked about this, Grace, but really like, Making sure you're regulating your nervous system as you go through this to support the changes to come. Because if we are not in a regulated place, being able to, you know, work through all these mindset shifts we need to make with food and all of these like breaking food rules, stuff like that, it's really hard to do if your system is not.

Regulated, so making sure we're doing the foundational work, but I would say backing it up, zooming it out, do a reflection on how your relationship with food is now, and then don't skip the pieces of eating consistently and regulating your nervous system. 

[00:46:54] Grace: Those are huge. Yeah. Those are really great example or, tips.

So thank you. 

[00:46:59] Jenn: Yeah. You're welcome. 

[00:47:00] Grace: Cool. Okay. One last question that I like to ask everyone. what are you loving right now in your, I call it wellness journey, but it could be anything from not doing something, setting a boundary or a new recipe or whatever it is. 

[00:47:15] Jenn: Yeah. Oh, I love that. And I totally have an answer that feels really aligned for me right now and it's been like a big vibe that I've been, riding out for quite some time and it feels really aligned and that's around this, this whole idea of slow, intentional living and really allowing myself to slow down and have more space to just.

be in my life. And I think, you know, it's actually funny because I can see how much this is actually related to all the struggles I had with food of being in that all or nothing and trying to, you know, make things work and do all this and how it almost transferred over to being an entrepreneur a little bit and always working and trying to, you know, be successful and do things right.

definitely noticing that and noticing how this mindset kind of shifted like that for me and being able to take a step back and be like, you know what, that's not how I want to live my life. That's not what is aligned. And I'm going to slow down. I don't need to do it all. I don't need to rush. I can just live my life and be and still take it.

Do all the things that I want to, but in a more intentional way. So I would say that would be what I'm loving the most right now. It feels a little hard or felt harder at the beginning when I first started playing with this because it can be tricky to shift out of that, like doing energy all the time.

So yeah, a lot of being and a lot of focusing on fun in life. And I love being like kind of connecting to my inner child and being like, what would be really fun? Like, how do we want to play today? Yeah. 

[00:49:02] Grace: Amazing. You and I are very similar in that I'm doing the same thing. It's hard to break out of the conditioning of the go, go, go, but it's really rewarding and juicy and fun.

And yeah, when you do, it feels good. Cool. Glad to hear it. Okay. okay. So where can people find you? 

[00:49:22] Jenn: Yeah, yeah, absolutely. So I am like, if you want to connect with me, I am over on Instagram, probably most I'm at the intuitive nutritionist and I have dots in between the words, but at the intuitive nutritionist, you can definitely feel free to DM me anytime.

I'm also. It's always happy to hear from anyone who has, you know, heard from me and maybe the sense of being on a podcast. So feel free to say hi. I also have a podcast of my own called Intuitively You. So Grace was on my podcast as well. We did a little swap so you can go over there and check that out too.

And one thing I will share a little, freebie that I have if anyone is interested in kind of like a getting started for. step type thing. I have a free why are you binge eating quiz that kind of gives you insight into your personal results and it gives you an action item that you can get started with right away.

So if that's something anyone's interested in, it kind of gives you a place to get started and a little bit of guidance to get the ball rolling. If this, all of this stuff is feeling really relatable to you and you're tired of feeling out of control with food, I would, I would recommend getting started there.

[00:50:35] Grace: Awesome. Sounds really helpful. Okay. Well, thank you so much, Jen. Really appreciate this conversation. I know it's for sure going to be very helpful. So thanks for coming on. Thank you so much for having me, 

[00:50:46] Jenn: Grace. It was so much fun.