Learning to respect your body signifies that you treat it with kindness, and love. It means you stop restricting food to try to make your body look like someone that does not have the same genetics as you.
Intuitive Eating1 is a book, created by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch, that presents 10 principles to create a healthy relationship with your food, body, and mind. The 10 principles build upon one another. Work on every principle one by one. If you have not read the Principle #1, Principle #2, Principle #3, Principle #4, Principle #5, Principle #6, or Principle #7 please refer to it before getting into this article.
Disclosure: I am not a HEAS (health at every size), intuitive eating, or a nutrition expert. This is a presentation of what the research suggests and is in no way a “prescription” of any type. On one hand, these Intuitive Eating articles, and principles may not be for everybody. On the other hand, this content may be very applicable and helpful to other people, and especially people that have been on restrictive diets. Also, people that are simply interested in learning how to eat more intuitively, despite not having been on restrictive diets, can of course learn from these principles.
We All SHOULD Look Different1
Research has proven that humans can biologically control their body weight. As a result, humans can keep a stable weight in response to eating a variety of foods, including fruits, veggies, and whole grains.
However, we must understand that this weight range will not be the same for everybody! We are all born with different amounts of fat mass and lean mass. For people with high levels of lean mass, it may be much easier to build muscle. For people with higher levels of fat mass, it may be more difficult to gain muscle mass. Thus, we must accept that is normal for people to have different body shapes within our society.
Unfortunately, many people do not. Societal pressure to be thin enables many people to attempt to change their biological weight by using calorie restrictive diets, or by ignoring internal cues, making their weight fluctuate. As discussed in previous articles, calorie restrictive diets may lead to short term weight loss, but this weight loss is not maintained over the long term. Reversely, people who eat mindlessly may eat more than their bodies need, leading to a higher weight then their set point weight.
In fact, the consequences of cycles of weight gain and weight loss may be more harmful than staying at a stable weight range.
The Importance of Healthy Habits Versus Weight2,3
A study done over 14 years with 12000 participants started the movement of “health at every size”. Results of this study showed that all-cause mortality risks were NOT determined by body weight, but by four simple lifestyle habits: Not smoking, moderate alcohol consumption, five servings of fruits and veggies per day, and moderate exercise levels. Individuals in all body mass indexes (BMI) (“healthy”, “overweight”, or “obese”) had the same risk of mortality if engaging in those four habits. Interestingly, among participants engaging in 2 or 3 of the habits, there was a higher mortality risk for the “healthy” BMI in comparison to the “overweight” BMI.
Body weight should not be an indicator of health. Healthy behaviors should be the indicator of health. When we see somebody in a larger body, we must be aware of judgement as we have no idea what types of habits this person engages in.
This study demonstrated the flaws of the Body Mass Index measurement. It categorizes people without knowing any of the lifestyle habits in which these individuals take part. Epidemiological studies have found that overweight and obese people live as long, if not longer than people that are in the “healthy” BMI range.
Health At Every Size: Shifting Focus from Weight to Health3,4,5,6
Health at every size (HAES) is a paradigm that is aligned with this principle of respecting your body. This paradigm celebrates body diversity, challenges scientific and cultural assumptions, and wants people to move and eat with compassionate self-care (Lindo Bacon, 2020). See https://haescommunity.com/ for more details.
1. Body acceptance
Research has shown that lower body satisfaction predicted less physical activity, and more unhealthy eating behaviors. Reversely, self-acceptance has allowed people to be more compassionate to themselves, care for themselves, leading to higher self-esteem, and engagement in positive health behaviors. Despite weight not being the focus of HAES, body satisfaction has predicted less weight gain over time.
2. Reliance on internal cues rather than food rules
This paradigm supports intuitive eating and learning about the different ways different foods make you feel, in terms of mood, concentration, energy levels, bowel movements, satisfaction, satiety, comfort, and pleasure (Bacon & Aphramor, 2011). Intuitive eating has been showed to be positively associated with greater diversity of food intake, increased enjoyment and pleasure of food, reduced symptoms of disordered eating, and has not been associated with weight gain.
3. Pleasure-derived movement rather than structured exercise
Finding enjoyable ways to be active, rather than a strict number of minutes is what HAES promotes. Feeling alienated from one’s body is normal when ignoring internal cues. Movement can help regain touch and trust with physicality and has been associated with numerous psychological and physical benefits (which can be felt when you move in pleasant ways).
Summary: How to Respect Your Body7
“Respecting your body means treating your body with dignity and meeting its basic needs.”
Tribole & Resch (2012, p.169)
- Feed your body with a variety of foods, textures, flavours, & aromas
- Dress in clothing in which you feel comfortable
- Stop body checking on scales or mirrors
- Stop comparing the clothing size you used to wear with the size you wear now
- Talk to your body kindly
- Challenge the fat talk
- Adopt a lifestyle that you can sustain for the rest of your life
- Do things you love everyday
