Nutrition without obsession
How Gentle Nutrition Fits Into Intuitive Eating
One of the most common myths I hear in my counselling practice is this:
"If I practice Intuitive Eating, I’m just supposed to forget about nutrition."
It’s understandable — after all, so much of the Intuitive Eating conversation online focuses on letting go of restriction, giving yourself permission to eat all foods, and healing from diet culture.
But here’s the key (and vital) truth:
Intuitive Eating is not anti-nutrition — it’s anti-obsession.
Let’s unpack what that means, why it matters, and how you can start practicing gentle nutrition in a way that supports both your body and your mind.
Myth #2: Intuitive Eating Doesn’t Care About Health or Nutrition
When people first hear about Intuitive Eating, they often assume it means:
Nutrition doesn’t matter.
I should only eat what sounds pleasurable.
Health and well-being are no longer priorities.
But that’s not what Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch — the co-creators of Intuitive Eating — actually teach. In fact, these two trail-blazing Dietitians developed this evidence-informed approach because they realized that the primary issues most of their clients were having weren’t nutrition-related. It was their experience (as it is mine), that many of their clients had tremendous amounts of nutrition knowledge. It wasn’t a knowledge barrier their clients faced (they knew “what to eat” to be healthy) - it was their relationship to food that was the biggest challenge!
Tribole and Resch developed this framework (and the 10 guiding principles) to help their clients heal their relationship with their bodies and food so that they could eat in a way that was deeply nourishing to their bodies (and still find joy and satisfaction in food). That’s exactly why the 10th principle of Intuitive Eating is about honouring your health through gentle nutrition.
This principle is about weaving nutrition into your life in a non-restrictive, flexible, self-compassionate way. It’s about making food choices that both honor your health and taste buds, without guilt or rigidity — without being obsessive.
What the Research Says
Studies show that people who practice Intuitive Eating — including gentle nutrition — tend to have:
Better dietary variety over time (nerd out here)
Lower rates of disordered eating and emotional eating (nerd out here)
Improved cholesterol, blood pressure, and blood sugar levels, independent of weight loss (yup, regardless of what happened with their weight, these actual health metrics shifted… for the better — nerd out here and here).
In other words:
Caring about nutrition within an intuitive framework can support your health — without dragging you back into obsession, restriction, or all-or-nothing thinking.
Why It Feels So Hard to Find the Middle Ground
If you’ve spent years in diet culture, you’ve probably been taught:
There are “good” and “bad” foods.
If you’re not doing nutrition perfectly, you’re failing.
You need external rules (macros, calories, points) to eat “right.”
So when you step away from those rules, it’s completely normal to swing the other direction for a while.
You might feel like you’re only craving chips, ice cream, or pizza.
That re-feeding phase can be part of healing deprivation (and interrupting the restrict-binge cycle). Once trust is rebuilt, you’ll notice that your body begins to naturally crave a range of foods — including fruits, vegetables, proteins, and carbs.
Reminder — in the last article, I spoke about how it’s OK to set boundaries around “all foods” so that you feel safe in this part of the process of developing your practice of Intutive Eating.
How to Practice Gentle Nutrition in Real Life
Here’s how I guide clients to explore gentle nutrition without falling back into diet mentality:
1. Focus on adding, not restricting
Instead of asking, “What do I need to cut out?”, try:
“What can I add to make this meal more satisfying and nourishing?”
Examples:Add some avocado or nuts to a salad for satisfaction.
Include a protein with your afternoon snack to stay energized.
2. Tune into satisfaction, not just nutrients
Ask yourself:
How will this food taste? Will I enjoy it?
How will it feel in my body — both now and later?
When nutrition and satisfaction are both honored, meals feel more complete — and you’re less likely to fall into cycles of over- or under-eating.
3. Watch for subtle Diet Culture thoughts
Notice if thoughts like these sneak back in:
“I shouldn’t eat that.”
“I need to make up for this tomorrow.”
“I should only eat ‘clean’ food now.”
When you notice these thoughts of guilt, shame, and compensation, be curious — why not (eat that)? Says who? Does this Diet Culture thought/ rule serve me? My body? Does it honour gentle nutrition and body respect? What is a more compassionate approach?
Movement can play a beautiful role here, too.
When you’re connected to your body, you can start asking:
What foods help me feel energized for movement?
How can I nourish myself before and after exercise?
What balance of fuel and recovery helps me enjoy joyful movement?
This isn’t about “earning” food — it’s about caring for a body you respect.
Note: there’s research to show that adults who eat intuitively have increased intrinsic motivation for physical activity — cool (nerd out here).
Final Thoughts
Intuitive Eating doesn’t mean nutrition goes out the window.
It means nutrition becomes flexible, caring, and life-giving — not punishing or perfectionistic.
You can love kale and cookies.
You can care about fiber and fun.
You can pursue health without falling into obsession.
Gentle nutrition helps you shift from “perfect eating” to peaceful eating.
And that is where true wellbeing begins.
Onward in thriving,
Gillian
PS. In the next installment of this series, I’ll be addressing one of the biggest myths of Intuitive Eating — that you have to completely release the desire to be in a smaller/ different body in order to be an intuitive eater. If you struggle with persistent thoughts of wanting to change your body, but still want to practice Intuitive Eating, you won’t want to miss this next myth!