One of the most common questions that I get asked is: “Can I still do intuitive eating if I have a health condition like diabetes?” And my answer is a resounding YES. It’s a common misconception that with intuitive eating we don’t care about health. That’s not true at all. In fact, the research on intuitive eating shows that it can be a wonderful tool for managing your health. And sure, there are some strategies that we can apply when it comes to nutrition and other behaviors that can support certain health conditions - and that’s one of the ways we can apply Principle #10 of intuitive eating, which is called “Honor Your Health With Gentle Nutrition.” 

 

I sat down with a friend of mine, Emilee Wilson, to talk about her experience towards finding freedom with food as someone who has lived with diabetes for most of her life. To say that Emilee knows a little bit about what it’s like to apply gentle nutrition with food is an understatement. 

 

In this episode you’ll learn:

• Why the weight-focused medical model for diabetes keeps people stuck in the diet mentality (and can make health worse over time).
• Powerful tips for how to have gentle boundaries with food without making any type of food “bad” or “off limits.” 
• Strategies for pairing food together to prevent blood sugar highs and lows.
• How to listen to your body and honor your health (without obsessing about calories and weight).

 

Whether you have diabetes, PCOS, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, autoimmune issues, IBS, reflux, or any health condition that might be impacted by food, this episode is for you. It’s also for you if you are worried that intuitive eating might be bad for your health, or if you have health issues that run in your family that you want to prevent or delay. Even though we are talking about diabetes specifically, the idea of applying gentle nutrition can apply to us all in one way or another. 

 

You’re going to learn a ton about how to think of food and nutrition differently than we have been told to by diet culture. I want you to literally and figuratively have your cake and eat it too - which I know is a terrible pun but I couldn't help myself! I know that you care about your body and your health AND that you want to have freedom with food. You truly can have both if you understand these strategies and mindset shifts. 

 

Hit play and enjoy!