5 Tips to Accept Intuitive Eating Weight Gain
Written by Isabel Vasquez, RD, LDN
In our society steeped in anti-fat bias, weight gain is often met with fear. Yet, weight gain happens to almost everyone at some point in time, whether it be from aging, childbirth, or a global pandemic!
Ditching a cycle of chronic dieting to start intuitive eating can also result in weight gain.
The uncertainty around if and how your body will change when you start eating intuitively often holds people back from going all in. You may worry that you’ll gain weight incessantly if you don’t follow strict food rules.
Recognizing that the fear is rooted in our conditioning toward anti-fatness is important, as is understanding the racist roots of that anti-fatness.
That being said, most people don’t gain weight indefinitely with intuitive eating. Most of the time, your body weight will stabilize when it reaches its set point range. The pendulum swing between restricting and binge eating will begin to cease and you’ll have a better relationship with food.
In this blog, you’ll learn five tips to accept intuitive eating weight gain. Let’s get to it!
Will Intuitive Eating Make You Gain Weight?
We’re gonna be real with you. People starting intuitive eating can certainly gain weight. That might sound scary to you right now, but the intuitive eating process isn’t meant to be centered around the number on the scale at all.
When you’re operating from a diet mentality, the number on the scale means everything. You may equate your weight and your worth. You may think that to be healthy, you have to lose weight.
Yet, your weight doesn’t have to have all that baggage. Your weight is just one number. It doesn’t have to say anything else about you.
By taking the focus off of your weight, you have space to explore other parts of yourself. You can find what feels good for you by developing a closer connection to yourself.
If your body senses scarcity as a result of constant restriction, then when you start eating enough, you may gain weight. There’s also the possibility that you lose weight, or that your weight stays pretty much the same once you start eating intuitively. Weight is simply not the focus.
If you do gain weight from intuitive eating, it’s often because:
Your body is below its set point weight range. If you were suppressing your weight before intuitive eating, when you start to honor your body’s needs and cravings, your weight may go up if that’s where your body feels more safe and secure.
Your metabolism changed from dieting. If you’ve been restricting your food intake for some time, your metabolism may slow down. That’s because your body is still trying to get everything done that it needs to while having less energy. So, to help you survive in case the restriction continues, it tries to be more efficient and do more with less. That could make your set point weight go up over time.
Neither of these are things to be ashamed of. They are actually incredible ways your body works to protect you and make sure it is safe and can survive, even in the face of perceived famines.
Also, know that these effects can happen even if you are in a body society doesn’t consider “underweight”. If you are below a weight range where your unique body feels safe, the effects of malnutrition can manifest.
But what if I want to lose weight?
Wanting to lose weight doesn’t disqualify you from starting an intuitive eating journey.
Data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey shows that from 2013-2016, 49.1% of U.S. adults reported trying to lose weight in the last 12 months. I’d guess that within the last few years, especially with all the fear-mongering around pandemic weight gain, these numbers might be even higher now.
All that to say, wanting to lose weight is normal. Society conditions us to want weight loss. It’s something you can work through as you progress through your journey. You’re not expected to be fully at peace with weight gain before starting to develop a healthier relationship with food.
Even throughout your intuitive eating journey, you may feel a stronger desire for weight loss at certain times, while that desire may go away at other times.
Given how prevalent the pressure to lose weight is in our society, especially if you have a larger body, how could that desire to lose weight not come creeping back in from time to time?
It’s just about centering around WHY you no longer want weight loss to be your guiding light and not letting those thoughts derail your journey too much.
Tips to Accept Intuitive Eating Weight Gain
When you’re dieting, the prospect of a new diet is the constant glimmer of hope that you may just lose weight and keep it off. You think this time, maybe it’ll be different. Yet, we know that diets don’t work. The majority of dieters regain most of the weight they lost, and ⅓ to ⅔ regain even more.
With intuitive eating, intentional weight loss is not the goal. So what can you do to cope with weight gain after you begin eating intuitively? Here are a few tips!
Reflect on Where You’re At
If you decided to start intuitive eating, then chances are things weren’t working beforehand. Maybe dieting became draining and you caught onto how diets just don’t work.
Maybe you actually started intuitive eating secretly wishing to lose weight, but now you realize that weight loss isn’t happening. That can be tough.
I invite you to consider what life is like now compared to when you were at a lower weight.
What has your life been like since you started intuitive eating?
What has your relationship with yourself been like?
How is your mental health?
Are you more connected to yourself now?
Do you have more mental space for things besides weight, workouts, and calories?
Maybe before beginning intuitive eating, you were stuck in the diet mentality, controlling your food intake, being less in tune with yourself, and missing out on social occasions out of fear of the food that would be there.
Think about how you feel now as opposed to how your body has changed.
The alternative may be to go back on another diet, but that would involve rigid external rules and living in a way that disconnects you from yourself (not to mention, a way that is proven not to result in sustainable weight loss anyway).
Give yourself time to grieve the thin ideal.
You may need time to process and accept that your body might not fit into the standards set by society. Allow yourself the time to do that.
Journal It Out
All this reflection may be best done in a journal. Journaling can help you release and process all the thoughts stewing in your mind.
If you’re not a journaler, maybe you record a voice note or release and process these thoughts in whatever way serves you.
You can start by making a list of reasons you began intuitive eating and comparing how you felt on diets to how you feel now. That can help put things in perspective and ground you in the progress you’ve made in your connection to self, reminding you what inspired you to begin this journey in the first place.
Practice Body Neutrality
Body neutrality is a more approachable alternative to body positivity, for some. It’s about viewing your body neutrally instead of negatively.
So many times, negative thoughts about our bodies run on replay in our minds. We may not even realize how harsh we’re being with ourselves until we start to bring awareness to our thoughts.
If you are experiencing weight gain, the harsh thoughts may be really loud, especially if you’ve historically been conditioned to lose weight. Countering those negative thoughts with neutral ones is a great place to start.
Neutrality takes the pressure off of having to feel totally positive about your body and repeat affirmations that you don’t even believe.
Let’s be real. Standing in front of the mirror and repeating “I am beautiful” if you really think you look horrible probably won’t do much.
So, practice neutrality by making neutral observations or comments about your body. Some ideas include:
My body is carrying me through my day.
My body is breathing right now.
Body image is fluid. It’s okay that I don’t feel great about my body right now.
I am gaining weight. That is okay.
My body image isn’t great today, and that’s okay. My body isn’t the most important thing about me anyway.
This is my body. I am working to accept it as it is.
Tend To Your Body’s Needs
This could be a triggering time filled with urges to go back to old dieting behaviors, but it could also be viewed as an opportunity to show yourself compassion and give yourself unconditional permission to eat.
The urge to restrict and combat weight gain may be super strong. However, this is an opportunity for growth and another level of acceptance.
What can you do to take the focus away from weight?
What does your body need at this moment?
Are you restricting food? If so, what is a meal or snack you can prepare yourself now?
Maybe you need to spend time with loved ones, invest in new clothes that fit your body comfortably (if this is within your resources), or just do something to get your mind off of it for the time being.
It can be tempting to go back to fighting against your body’s set point weight but think of this as an opportunity to strengthen your relationship with yourself and build body trust.
Utilize Your Support System
If you don’t already have one, I’d highly suggest building up a support system to help you on your journey. A support system can help hold you accountable, prevent feelings of isolation, and help you develop the skills to progress on your intuitive eating journey.
A support system can include people like an intuitive eating registered dietitian, a therapist, an online community, your family and friends, or any other people and communities that make you feel safe and supported.
You can turn to these people to vocalize your struggles and successes and gain tips on how to navigate it all.
(If you’re looking for an amazing online community of like-minded Latinas ditching diets, check out our nutrition coaching membership, the Chula Club.)
Final Thoughts
Gaining weight is met with fear by many people starting their intuitive eating journeys. There’s no shame in feeling this way; it’s how we’ve been conditioned by our diet-culture-ridden society. Yet, it often doesn’t serve our overall well-being.
Accepting that gaining weight is a possibility when you start intuitive eating is important, and separating your worth from your weight is even more important.
Some other ways to accept the weight gain are through journaling, reflecting on your progress (unrelated to the scale), practicing body neutrality, and leaning on your support system.
If you’re interested in learning more about intuitive eating, our 3-part registered dietitian-led masterclass on intuitive eating is a great resource. It can help you get started in improving your relationship with food, movement, and your body.
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