Intuitive Eating, Intuitive Living, and My God-given Limitations

As I’ve written about here at Teacher by Nature before, overeating is a struggle for me. What I’ve found the most challenging about getting my eating habits under control and honoring to God is the fact that I cannot stop eating. Those who find themselves enslaved to alcohol can simply (yet not easily) stop drinking alcohol. Alcohol is not necessary to human survival. Food, however, is. I cannot stop eating or, more specifically, I cannot stop consuming calories and nutrients. Both are good and necessary for life and the proper functioning of my body.

I grew up in a very health-conscious family. My parents taught me the difference between nutritious foods and less nutritious foods, and gave me an excellent foundation for healthy eating. Unfortunately, like many other American teenagers, I also grew up hearing about diets–certain ways of eating that will cause you to lose weight and look and feel amazing, all in a short amount of time. Almost a “best life now” scenario. Do this, and you’ll have this result. If you don’t have this result, it’s your fault–you didn’t follow the diet properly, or you ‘cheated’ too many times, or you simply don’t have the willpower. Onto the next diet, onto the next trend.

A couple weeks ago, if you had asked me if I was a chronic dieter, I would have given you a firm ‘no.’ I am not a chronic dieter, I would have said, with certainty and maybe a small hint of indignation. After reading the first chapters of Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Diet Program that Works by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch, I’ve changed my mind. I realized that I’ve been dieting on and off for years, but called it something else to make myself feel better. Over the years, I’ve completely cut out desserts, only to overeat them once I started eating them again. I’ve also limited the amount of calories I take in during the day, only to find myself ravenously hungry and eating everything in sight after the kids go to bed. Diets come with a list of external rules; intuitive eating encourages you to listen to your body’s internal cues. Intuitive Eating has also helped me realize some things about my life that are not diet-related.

I wrote down the following quote in it’s entirety. For some reference, I’m reading from the 2nd ed. of the book, which was published in 2003. On pg. 52, Tribole and Resch say

I like this quote so much because you could insert any other self-care routine into it and the basic principle would still apply. Only you can determine when you are tired and need to go to bed. Once you determine that you’re tired, the best thing you can do is to follow that internal cue and get some sleep. Only you can determine when you need to have a night in, all by yourself at home, and when you need a night out, sipping coffee with a friend.

I also like this quote because I am so, so terrible at following my internal cues. Following external rules is just so much easier. They’re laid out neatly and they promise results fast. I have to constantly remind myself to listen to my own body signals and emotions–they’re usually telling me something important.

This all comes back to being made in God’s image. I’m reading Jen Wilkin’s book None Like Him as part of a Bible study through church this summer. She touches on this concept a lot–that we need to be aware of our own humanity, and the limitations that accompany humanity, because this is glorifying to God. It sets him apart from us. His thoughts are higher than our thoughts; his ways are higher than our ways (Isaiah 55:9). He is infinite, incomprehensible, self-existent, self-sufficient, eternal, immutable, omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent, and sovereign (the ten attributes of God that Wilkin discusses in her book). She says

I am limited by what and how much I can eat. This is a good thing. Instead of forcing myself to keep eating even though I’m full, I need to listen to what my body is telling me. Likewise, if I’m hungry, it’s okay to eat, even if I just ate an hour ago. Intuitive eating is helping me to ‘honor my hunger.’ God gave me internal cues so that I can follow them and do what’s right for the body he created and gave to me to steward. I can celebrate this limitation by taking the time to enjoy every bite of food I take and by making nutrition-conscious choices as a way to steward my body well, not as a way to perfectly follow someone else’s diet plan.

The same goes for sleep–I am limited by the amount of sleep I get. This is a good thing. The principles behind intuitive eating are teaching me that I can’t stay up late and then expect to feel great the next morning, ready to tackle household projects and hit this whole mom thing out of the park. I must learn to honor my tiredness and also my need for rest, both God-given, good limitations. I can celebrate these limitations because they teach me to trust in God and not my own actions. He is working even when I’m asleep. He doesn’t need me, but he does like to work through me.

Finally, I am limited by how many activites I can cram into one day. This is a good thing. Not every day needs to be filled with action and excitement and quippy lines, like a Marvel movie. Sometimes my days can look more like a scene from Cranford (by Elizabeth Gaskell), me, just going about my daily activites, teaching, cooking, cleaning, and raising two sweet children. God is omnipresent, but I am not. I can celebrate this limitation by fully embracing every moment God gives me to live. There will be beautiful moments, and sorrowful moments, and moments of frenzy and chaos, but God is among them all, using them to refine me and make me more like Christ to the praise of his great name.

Photo: the M&Ms were delicious