The Truth About Intuitive Eating (Hint: It's Not What Jillian Michaels Says It Is)
A few weeks ago, Jillian Michaels, “health expert” and personal trainer released an IGTV video where, line by line, she went through each of the 10 principles of intuitive eating and explained everything that was wrong with it.
The only problem (aka the real problem) is that she has no previous, or thorough knowledge of intuitive eating and took each principle out of context and took it upon herself to analyze it.
Now, if you are deeply entrenched in diet culture, you may not have seen anything wrong with Jililan’s video (which, for context, if you’re feeling up to it, you can watch it here – however, MAJOR trigger warning, especially if you are in the midst of battling an eating disorder or disordered eating).
The reason why you may not have seen anything wrong with Jillian’s video and her philosophy is because diet culture (which I’ll define shortly for you) runs so deep, that it’s disguised as “health”, “health habits” or “healthy behaviours”, which Jillian teaches through her exercise programs and meal plans.
The common belief is that restricting “bad foods”, controlling yourself around food and forcing yourself to push through exercise programs is the only way to truly be healthy. No where, along the way, have we been taught that our bodies are actually really smart, know how to self-regulate around food and as a whole, to trust our bodies.
Diet Culture is really good at making us believe we can’t do that – trust our bodies, that is. Diet Culture is a belief system revolving around the idea that thin bodies are the most desirable and healthy; it promotes weight loss as a means of attaining higher status; demonizes a certain way of eating; and oppresses people who don’t match up to its picture of health.
From that, maybe you can already see why this standard and expectation of health is so damaging and the very reason why people are constantly struggling with food, their body and their weight. That’s what diet culture is set up to do, though. We have to remember its a billion-dollar industry. If it were to tell us to simply trust our bodies, people wouldn’t be investing so much in detoxes, skinny teas and supplements that hold the false promise of weight loss (and that all of their problems will be fixed once they do so).
When I watched Jillian Michael’s video, it infuriated me for many reasons, but mostly because she continued to perpetuate her weight stigmatizing and fat phobic views that are incredibly damaging and often at the root disordered eating and eating disorders, that million of people suffer with today.
I was immediately inspired to create a rebuttal video to debunk the false information Jillian shared and to share the truth about intuitive eating. If you missed the video, or would like a refresher, you can watch it on my IGTV over here. However, I also put my thoughts into a transcript to make it more accessible for those that have a preference for reading. So, enjoy! :)
Jillian Michael’s False Information Re:Intuitive Eating #1:
“I love someone at a size 16, they’re deserving of love – but it does NOT mean they’re healthy”
Rachel: “Hm. Okay. So Jillian, I don’t know if you’ve ever shopped at more places than one, but if you have you would know the size means ABSOLUTELY nothing since sizes vary across stores and what you just did was define someone’s state of health based on something that has nothing to do with their health.
The only time I’ve been a size 2, which is what you’re suggesting is “healthy” is when I was anorexic and eating next to nothing .
I am currently a size 14 woman and I eat intuitively and what I consider to be as “healthy”,which if you read the book, Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole & Elyse Resch, you would know it encourages you to gravitate to foods that make you feel good. For me, that looks like a ton of vegetables, grains, protein, nuts, seeds along with chips and wine from time to time”.
Size does not define health, though. Period.”
Jillian Michael’s False Information Re:Intuitive Eating #2:
”You can’t possibly give yourself unconditional permission to eat all foods. It’s called self-control and balance."
What if I said give yourself unconditional permission to drink and smoke? Or to max out your credit card?”
Rachel: What Jillian has done here, is she’s extracted a concept and tried to invalidate it by applying it to other aspects of life, such as drinking and smoking and maxing out your credit card. The thing is, intuitive eating and these principles weren’t developed with the intention of it being applied to drinking and smoking and maxing out your credit card, making this argument invalid.
And yes, I know, when you read the words “giving yourself unconditional permission to eat all foods” out of context, you assume people are just going to lose control and eat all the things, but what happens is the complete opposite.
First off, here’s what happens when we live in the all or nothing mentality (Jillian’s view), or have a black & white view of what health entails:
1. You say a food is bad, and you can’t have it.
2. Well, then you’ve put it on a pedestal, put a novelty around it and made it the forbidden fruit.
3. You want the forbidden fruit. Intense desire builds.
4. You eventually have it, you feel like you ruined the day already so you just continue to eat the whole thing (i.e. the pint of ice cream or bag of chips).
5. You feel physically uncomfortable, guilty and shameful.
6. So you set out to restrict, deprive and avoid “bad foods” tomorrow to start fresh
7. The cycle continues (and truthfully, never ends).
Now, here’s what happens when we give ourselves UNCONDITIONAL PERMISSION to enjoy all foods:
1. You make these foods available in the house (i.e. chips, chocolate, ice cream) knowing that you do enjoy them from time to time.
2. When the desire to have them comes up, you enjoy it.
3. … then you move on with your life.
But the reality is, when these foods are available whenever you want, they aren’t as exciting anymore. You’ll actually notice you don’t really care for them very much.
The novelty is gone. It’s not forbidden, so you can have it whenever you want and the thing is, when you listen to your body, you actually don’t want those foods 24/7.
The body is smart. It made you without your birth mother having to exert any thought or self-control. It wants to feel good. It will gravitate to what it needs to do so.
I hope this helps you to see that giving yourself unconditional permission to enjoy all foods will not make you go “hog wild” around food (Jillian’s words, not mine), and it’s actually diet culture that causes you to continue going “hog wild”, and feeling like you need a diet plan to fix it.”
Jillian Michael’s False Information Re:Intuitive Eating #3:
“It’s about balance”.
Rachel: I know “balance” makes the most sense when it comes to health when we look at it on paper, but the truth is, balance doesn’t exist. What is balance? How do we know if we’re balanced?
And ell me how this approach of “achieving balance” in our lives is really working when it’s (pardon my language) fucking 2020 and diet plans, meal plans and diet culture have been alive and well for decades and people are still walking around confused about health and nutrition, and find themselves always starting new diet plans.
I know the concept of trusting your body might be foreign to you if you’ve only relied on diet plans and exercise plans your whole life
But here’s the thing: If diet plans worked, they would have already.
If your weight loss plans worked, the 65% of people from your biggest loser case study (Jillian referred to this in her video) wouldn’t have gained the weight back and you wouldn’t have as low as a success rate as 35%.
It’s clear that the weight loss strategies Jillian shares are not applicable to the vast majority of the population, especially considering you’re emphasizing 1200 calorie diets (that are a recipe for hormone havoc) “especially to obese people”. All people deserve equal treatment.
And while I’m sure your (Jillian’s) industry and your wallet would love it, i’m not interested in a life of hopping from diet plan to diet plan.”
Jillian Michael’s False Information Re:Intuitive Eating #4:
“Losing weight is actually very simple – eat less and move more”
Rachel: NOPE! Eating less is actually going to trigger a biological response to overeat. Your body is primitive and has unique needs. It’s not as simple as cutting calories or applying a blanket 1200 calorie diet to someone, which is actually only going to do more harm that good psychologically and physiologically.
Jillian Michael’s False Information Re:Intuitive Eating #5:
“There are lots of forms of exercises, but there are forms of exercise that give far better results. So, if you’re not intimidated by them, the why not get results?”
Rachel: Maybe because I don’t want to be in pursuit of “results “my whole life and want to feel content in my body for once?
Using results as a goal isn’t serving anyone, but the diet culture industry at large. Sure it feels awesome to see what you’re capable of and to feel strong when you do challenge your body, but movement should be enjoyable.
If the belief is that consistency and continuing to move is the key, which I believe to be true as well, then we need to celebrate all forms of movement – not just the high-intensity ones. For many, that would not work for their body type or even their state of health, especially those with adrenal fatigue.
Jillian Michael’s False Information Re:Intuitive Eating #6:
“I don’t really know about this .. I think intuitive eating is like a psychological thing”
Rachel: Well, Jillian actually got something somewhat right here! But intuitive eating is more than that.
Intuitive eating addresses the fact that the conventional way health is being taught and circulated isn’t as black and white as saying, “eat this and not that”.
Again, if it was as simple as that, we would all be healthy and happy by now – but many people who know a TON about nutrition, aren’t and there’s a reason for that.
Intuitive eating addresses our relationship with food and strives to heal that before introducing nutrition again. I know it’s confusing when you take the points out of context and you see something like “give yourself unconditional permission to eat all foods” and then “gentle nutrition” but again, this is why its so important to read the literature before critiquing it.
The idea is that by the time you work through the principles and arrive at the last principle, you will have an improved relationship with food; one that will help you navigate food choices without restriction, deprivation or food fears; and make choices out of the brilliance of your body, that you won’t feel deprived or restricted by conventional health & nutrition information. You’ll know how to integrate them into your life in a way that isn’t triggering.
In Summary …
Let’s face it, Jillian was feeling very attacked when she made her video. Maybe she’s sensing that her industry and livelihood is at risk.
Many people are waking up to the fact that diet culture is alive and well and that the way health is being taught these days, isn’t working – especially with the sky-rocketing rates of eating disorders and disordered eating.
And sure, maybe I’m feeling attacked too having watched that video where she is flat-out bashing intuitive eating, but my defence is also coming from a place of making sure people know the truth about intuitive eating, because what Jillian shared in her video is the furthest from the truth.
I know intuitive eating sounds foreign and careless when reading about the principles out of context, but please, I encourage you, to read the book Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole & Elyse Resch before casting any judgments.
And if you want to take it one step further and actually get started on your intuitive eating journey, you may be interested in my online one-on-one coaching program, The Intuitive Way For Eating.
We just closed up enrolment for Fall 2020, but will be opening enrolment again for January 2021 sometime in December. If you want to be the first to receive details about the program when enrolment opens again, you can get on the waitlist over here.