The Intuitive Diabetic Podcast: Intuitive Eating, Diabetes, Non Diet, HAES

If you've ever been confused about emotional versus physical hunger, than today's episode is for you.    On today's show, I discuss 8 signs that your hunger is emotional versus physical.  I also point out some diabetes caveats, and I provide you with some tools you can use before turning to food when faced with emotional hunger (knowing that food is always an option).

What you'll learn in this episode:

• the gift of emotional eating
• 8 signs of emotional hunger versus physical hunger
• tools to help you move from reactionary eating to being responsive to your emotional hunger

Mentioned in the show:
Lindsay's Instagram:
https://instagram.com/theintuitivediabetic/

Lindsay's Website:
https://www.lindsaysarson.com

Work with Lindsay:
https://www.lindsaysarson.com/work-with-me

After years of dieting and living with diabetes do you have trouble identifying your hunger signals? Or do you go most days without feeling hungry, only to find yourself ravenous in the evenings? Than this is the episode for you!

On this episode you'll  learn:

• why you may never feel hungry
• how our thoughts, and beliefs impact our hunger signals
• the role of dieting and restriction in creating cognitive dissonance 
• how we can increase interoceptive awareness with intuitive eating
• what are body scans, how to practice them, and why they are beneficial 
• some not so common ways to identify hunger, sooner (hint: it's more than a rumbly tummy)
• how to create hunger self-care practices
• how to avoid a common hunger mistake

Mentioned in the show:
Lindsay's Instagram:
https://instagram.com/theintuitivediabetic/

Lindsay's Website:
https://www.lindsaysarson.com

Work with Lindsay:
https://www.lindsaysarson.com/work-with-me

Giving yourself unconditional permission to eat is by far the most challenging principle for many living with diabetes to do on their intuitive eater journey.  It is no wonder really, as it goes against so much of what we are taught is needed to support our health in diabetes culture and further reinforced by diet culture in general.    Yet, for many of us this idea of needing to control ourselves around food can be the very thing that gets in the way of supporting our health and ends up harming our relationship with food.  We may find ourselves in a recurrent pattern of restriction to overeating, or bingeing. 

On today's episode we look at why it is so important to embrace this principle,  the eating patterns that can be experienced when you don't, and conversely, the health benefits that can be experienced once you do.

By listening to this episode you'll learn:

• Why it can feels so scary to embrace giving yourself unconditional permission to eat
• The 5 patterns that can result when relying on food rules and restriction
• What is Habituation and things to consider before commencing
• How embracing all foods can support your health

Mentioned in the show:
Tribole, E & Resch, E (2017).  Th Intuitive Eating Workbook: 10 Principles for Nourishing a Healthy Relationship with Food.  New Harbinger Publications, Inc., Oakland, CA.
Lindsay's Instagram:
https://instagram.com/theintuitivediabetic/
Lindsay's Website:
https://www.lindsaysarson.com
Intuitive Eating with Diabetes 1:1 Coaching Program:
https://www.lindsaysarson.com/intuitive-eating-program
Work with Lindsay:
https://www.lindsaysarson.com/work-with-me

Today we explore the topic of fake fullness and how these behaviours can keep us fearful of foods and disconnected from our bodies.  Although diet culture, and anti-fat culture promote such behaviours as supportive of our health pursuits, it is important to recognize the danger in continuing these strategies when working to improve our relationship with food, our body, and our diabetes.  

On this episode we discuss:

• What is fake fullness?
• How it is often encouraged and normalized to support 'health'
• 6 ways it can interrupt you from connecting with your intuitive eater
• The hunger/fullness trap

Mentioned in the show:

Lindsay's Instagram:
https://instagram.com/theintuitivediabetic/

Lindsay's Website:
https://www.lindsaysarson.com

Work with Lindsay:
https://www.lindsaysarson.com/work-with-me

Rebecca Redmond, fierce diabetes advocate, writer, author, speaker, and fellow type 1 diabetic joins the show today.  Rebecca and I have a candid conversation about some of the things we'd love to see normalized within the diabetes community and the importance of increasing body diversity and representation within the diabetes space. 

Rebecca's work is largely driven by her passion to normalize all sides of living with diabetes, and bring light to those topics that often go left unsaid.  And thank goodness for that!

In this episode we discuss:

• Rebecca's journey with diabetes
• How impactful the diabetes community has been for her as an adult
• Where her passion for advocacy and making change within the diabetes landscape comes from
• the dangers of the comparison trap within our community 
• The need to normalize and remove some common stigmas when living with diabetes, including those wavy blood sugar graphs
• Her struggles with body image and the need to normalize all bodies, and increase diversity within our community
• How thinness does not equal health

How to connect with Rebecca:

https://instagram.com/rebaredmond/

Mentioned on the show:

https://instagram.com/theintuitivediabetic/

https://www.lindsaysarson.com

The desire to be healthy is ubiquitous in our cultural climate, but especially so within the diabetes space.    This need to pay even closer attention to health, because of diabetes can create more hyperconsciousness surrounding food choices and other associated health behaviours.  Behaviours, that for some can turn into an obsession,  leading to the development of disordered eating and eating disorders, including orthorexia.   

Given the prominence of diet culture within our cultural climate, and given our increasing backlash in its weight focused messaging, it is no wonder that diet culture has learned to shape shift into a more outwardly acceptable pursuit - optimal health.  A pursuit however, that still idealizes smaller bodies and demonizes food choices.

Although wellness culture is relatively new within mainstream dieting spaces, I'd argue undertones of this health movement have been ever present within diabetes care.  And with its emergence into mainstream culture, the ways in which we as a diabetes community have come to view food and health have shape shifted with it. 

Now not only are we concerned of making food choices to support our blood sugars, but also  making food choices that support this idea of optimal health.  Now an apple may no longer simply be an apple.  Before we can eat it, we find ourselves needing to qualify - where it came from, how it is grown, and if it should be eaten alone to best support insulin sensitivity.  We worry whether it will support our digestive and intestinal health.  We question whether it is inflammatory and could contribute to additional autoimmune conditions  etc etc etc etc...

Ultimately, we are creating a society of obsessed and stressed eaters - which ends up taking us further away from reaching and sustainably supporting that healthful existence we may have envisioned.  

On this episode you'll learn:

• What is orthorexia
• How diet culture is shape shifting into wellness culture
• How living with diabetes can facilitate our transition into wellness culture
• The increased prevalence of orthorexia for those living with diabetes
• Steps you can take to move away from obsession and create more flexibility

Mentioned in the show:

Shoemaker, C (2020). Orthorexia Nervosa Prevelance in US Adults with Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes [Thesis Submission], The University of Minnesota.

Lindsay's Instagram:
https://instagram.com/theintuitivediabetic/

Lindsay's Website:
https://www.lindsaysarson.com

Work with Lindsay:
https://www.lindsaysarson.com/work-with-me

Are you interested in intuitive eating, but are cautious about moving forward because you are unsure of what you may experience throughout this process?  You are not alone!  This is one of the queries I receive often and is why I wanted to create today's show.

On today's show, I will be presenting the 5 stages of awakening your intuitive eater using a diabetes lens.  I have modified these stages from the work of  Evelyn Tribole, and Elyse Resch, authors of Intuitive Eating.

In this episode you'll learn:

• How to know if you are ready to begin the process of becoming an Intuitive Eater
• The 5 stages of awakening the Intuitive Eater with a focus on food, body, and diabetes
• The unique aspects experienced within each stage when living with diabetes

Mentioned in the show:

Tribole, E & Resch, E (2020).  Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Anti-Diet Approach. St. Martins Publishing Group, New York.

Lindsay's Instagram:
https://instagram.com/theintuitivediabetic/

Lindsay's Website:
https://www.lindsaysarson.com

Intuitive Eating with Diabetes 1:1 Coaching Program:
https://www.lindsaysarson.com/intuitive-eating-program

Work with Lindsay:
https://www.lindsaysarson.com/work-with-me

On this episode we are breaking down  yet another barrier that can keep so many from trusting their ability to leave the dieting mindset behind and embrace this whole intuitive eating lifestyle, especially while living with diabetes -  "But what if I can't stop eating?".

On the show we discuss:

• where this belief may come from 
• the role of restriction
• the dieting dilemma
• how we may be restricting without even realizing it and how this impacts our cravings around food
• the benefits of being able to remove restriction, and being able to trust oneself around food without control or willpower

Mentioned in the show:

Lindsay's Instagram:
https://instagram.com/theintuitivediabetic/

Lindsay's Website:
https://www.lindsaysarson.com

Intuitive Eating with Diabetes 1:1 Coaching Program:
https://www.lindsaysarson.com/intuitive-eating-program

Work with Lindsay:
https://www.lindsaysarson.com/work-with-me

Is your concern about the potential for weight gain stopping you from embracing your intuitive eating journey?

If yes, know you are not alone.  This is a common concern I hear from many who are considering trying this whole intuitive eating thing.  And really, it is a valid one.  One that is reflective of how diet culture has impacted how we approach our health,  and how we view our bodies. 

In this episode you we discuss:

• What may happen to your weight when you embrace intuitive eating
• What to do if  fears of weight gain are holding you back from  starting this journey
• What is set point theory 
• My own experience with set point after restriction
• How to move past the fear of weight gain 
• The possibility of a body mind set shift in this journey

Mentioned on the show:

Lindsay's Instagram:
https://instagram.com/theintuitivediabetic/

Lindsay's Website:
https://www.lindsaysarson.com

Intuitive Eating with Diabetes 1:1 Coaching Program:
https://www.lindsaysarson.com/intuitive-eating-program

Work with Lindsay:
https://www.lindsaysarson.com/work-with-me

If you are worried about what your blood sugars might look like when letting go of the dieting mentality and embracing this all foods fit approach of intuitive eating with diabetes, you are not alone.  This is a common concern, and one that can hold many people back from embracing intuitive eating.  So on today's show, I share with you my blood sugar journey from dieter to intuitive eater, and I provide you with some tips on how to navigate your expectations of the numbers along the way. 

Some key areas we discuss today include:

• the role of restriction in blood sugar management challenges at the beginning of your intuitive eating journey
• why addressing your mindset surrounding the numbers is important as an intuitive eater
• the concepts of curiosity versus judgement 
• the ebb and flow of diabetes
• the impact a healthy relationship with food and our body has on supporting the numbers

Mentioned on the show:

Lindsay's Instagram:
https://instagram.com/theintuitivediabetic/

Lindsay's Website:
https://www.lindsaysarson.com

Intuitive Eating with Diabetes 1:1 Coaching Program:
https://www.lindsaysarson.com/intuitive-eating-program

Work with Lindsay:
https://www.lindsaysarson.com/work-with-me