Becoming An Intuitive Eater & Completely Free With Food: Stages I went through & how long it took?

[@RachaelWrigley]

DISCLAIMER, PLEASE READ: Please note, this video contains only general information for informational and entertainment purposes only. It is not intended to and cannot replace physician advice and diagnosis. If you are unsure if you have an eating disorder or have mental health concerns, please consult a health care professional to seek treatment and appropriate support.

[@auntpurl5325]

This is so freeing!! I'm just a month into the process of "all in" and I feel like shackles have fallen off. I'm already craving fewer sweets, wanting more vegetables, and stopping the mental food police thoughts by replacing them with gentle, friendly, encouraging ones. I've gained 7 pounds, but I am no longer afraid. I have a feeling I'll find my happy place soon enough. At first my impulse was to freak out and restrict, but then I paused to consider everything I'd learned. This is part of the process. An extra 10 pounds may be looming, but so what? Bring on the stretchy pants and loose dresses until I settle in. I have also quickly exchanged weight loss exercise for joyful movement that I love. Strength training because it feels amazing, running because the sunshine is glorious, and stretching because it's relaxing. I am feeling so hopeful. I even went to get ice cream with my hubby and felt no guilt, counted no calories, and got exactly what I wanted, what I hadn't had in years -- a peanut buster parfait. I feel like I've turned a corner. Your videos were super helpful. Thanks for sharing!

[@hussainj5518]

You're ability to articulate your ideas and let them manifest themselves is a powerful tool that you use it incredibly well. Love your videos Rachael 💙💙💙

[@RachaelWrigley]

Wow, thank you, Hussain!!

[@hussainj5518]

@@RachaelWrigley You know Rachael how much I love your way of thinking and your personality which fascinated me over and over. I am really one of the earliest and biggest fans of you Rachael 💙💙💙. Keep Going our lovely influencer 💙💙

[@ea062]

Love the video, very informative! I’m struggling with feeling my fullness sometimes I feel like I can keep on eating forever and never be full (that happens during the meal but I kinda feel satisfied around 2 hours after). I really hope I’m not the only one who feels this way.

[@RachaelWrigley]

No you're not! I talk about that more in my video on 'how do I know when to stop eating?'

[@becs0331]

Nope. This is me too. I always look around at others who stopped eating and think, "am I the only one who is still hungry and can eat another plate?. Everyone else seems to go on with conversations and I'm left thinking only about eating more but not wanting others to judge me!

[@vintervn]

Lovely notes for BED and anorexia recovery: (let's do them togheter, if you want) 1) honor your extreme hunger - it's your body trying to keep you alive - EAT it's the only way to make your body know that you are not restricting anymore, and with time it will stop giving you those strong cues 2) Binge eating VS extreme hunger - You can develop both of them after dieting - Binge eating is something unnecessary, you can develop it after a period of extreme hunger: is your animal or lower brain doing its work and not understanding that you don't need those strong urges anymore - Binge eating urges is just dopamine (hormone of pleasure) doing his tasks - Extreme hunger can become a habit, and then binge eating (binge eating is similar to nicotine addiction) - To break this addiction, you have to IGNORE these urges, or "sitting with them" - on of the main difference between the two is: are you eating in secret? If yes, it may be a binge eating episode 3) "I'm diagnosed BED, what should I do? " - EAT ADEQUATELY or it will never stop, so stop every form of restriction and dieting - set a timer of 10 minutes once you feel the urges, and then repeat until they disappear - try to integrate your fear food in your main meals, Instead of eating them alone 4) What about my weight? - probably you will regain all the weight you lost back, and even overshoot, but remember that is just your body healing Itself. With time, you will reach your weight set point. - You could eventually lose some weight safety after a ED, but make sure to do it with a dietitian or nutritionist Just tell me if you can relate, or if something need to be fixed. Have mercy for my english, I'm Italian. DISCLAIMER: this is what I learnt from surfing for years on KZbin and internet, and by reading "The Brain Over Binge Recovery Guide: A Simple and Personalized Plan for Ending Bulimia and Binge Eating Disorder" by Kathryn Hansens. I just put all my knowledge all together

[@sarahbartlett9870]

I think you need to be careful calling yourself a binge eater if you come from a restrictive past. There are so many people commenting on the recovery videos that they now have BED ( after anorexia). I doubt it. I suspect they have extreme hunger and are not honouring their hunger. The distinction is important because if you think you have BED then your natural instinct is not to honour your hunger, blaming it on binging. Also you become resistant to the thought of more weight gain as you are now a “ binge eater” and not underweight any more. If you have a restrictive history and are binging you are either still underweight for your body or still restricting in one way or another .That’s my 2 cents on the topic.

[@vintervn]

@@sarahbartlett9870 thank you very much for your answer ❤ My background is complicated, I suffer from BED (diagnosed by my therapist) since I was 11, then slipped into anorexia, and I have only deleted my calourie counting app only a couple of weeks go. And i'm eating A LOT right now. My situation is quite confused, at the moment. So I wanted to do a general guide for both of the cases.

[@sarahbartlett9870]

@@vintervn Sounds a bit like me. I was diagnosed EDNOS before it was scrapped and then binge eating. However, I was at a low weight , restricting severely and overexercising. The only reason I was not underweight by BMI category was because of the bingeing 1/2 per week. I did all those stop binging courses, know Kathryn Hansen’s work very well. Tried so hard to dismiss the urges but couldn’t. Therapists gave me bullshit how it was all emotional. Then I did develop what I might see as more classical anorexia which I am still recovering from. I think I had anorexia all along . That is why I’ve needed to gain A LOT of weight to stop binging and even more weight to recover. I was stuck In Quasi for a bit when I wasn’t binging but still restricting at my highest weight ever. Anyway now I have gone All in to achieve full recovery. I am so very hungry and need so much food. I am working with a coach who understands the physiology of restriction. Last year a therapist I saw briefly told me that hunger is normal and I will not die from it. She said to try to sit with the hunger. A nutritionist I saw said “ do you even know how many calories you’re eating”. Then told me to fill 1/4 plate with protein, 1/4 carbs and rest salad and if I want a dessert to make banana ice cream. Please be careful with therapists diagnosing you. What does your instinct say. Do you really think you have BED or are you just in energy deficit from you restriction ?

[@vintervn]

@@sarahbartlett9870 a year ago (I'm 18) i've lost almost 15 kilos in 7 months, I don't know how, and now I gained it all back. I've just went out a period of restrinction, so right now I'm probably experiencing extreme hunger, because I hate A LARGE quantity of food with people around, thing that don't happen during a binge episode. May I be experiencing both sometimes, but I don't want to lose my mind trying trying to figuring out. I'm just looking for something that works. I tried to eat more calories while tracking them down, but it felt like another restriction, because I didn't allowed myself to eat more that a certain amount. So a couple of days ago I tried intuitive eating, and I'll see how it works.

[@vintervn]

Right now I'm not followed by a nutritionist or a dietitian or a expert in ED, just a psychiatrist and a psychologist, so I can't tell what is really happening. :)

[@adelinapepene6314]

Dear Rachel, Your experience is very similar to mine. Right now I resonate fully with what u did, and I am now at the stage to let myself get really hungry until I eat (because when I was binge eating I really never felt hunger, my stomach was always filled) Your words are a confirmation of what I am already doing. Thank you!

[@SaraLamberg-hh5wb]

This is excellent content! Thank you❤

[@lanafattash9281]

I’m so happy I found your channel. I feel that I’m not alone anymore. I’ve been suffering with binge eating for five years now. I’ve always knew I was different than everyone around me from my eating habits. Everything that was normal to my friends and family was so hard for me. I thought I lacked willpower. I always wondered how people around don’t think about food as much as I do and how they can stop eating when they’re full and I literally will keep eating forever. I started to hate the way I look and eat less than what I eat at home because of how embarrassed I feel about my food portions. I cancelled a lot of plans and avoided pictures and videos because I hated how I look. And I always wondered why I keep on restricting and losing weight but instead of keeping the weight that I lost I gain all the weight back if not more because of binging. I went onto KZbin like three months ago searching for ways and methods and diets and other stuff to lose weight (like always) and this is where I reached the binge eating disorder topic and this is where I related too much. I felt home. I decided to collect my courage and go confront my parents about this disorder and that I think that I need to see a doctor or something just to make sure and I haven’t been any sadder than this. I thought I’d find acceptance and support but instead all what they said “ no you don’t eat that way. No we don’t see you do that. We don’t think you have anything wrong. just stop eating and you’ll lose weight. You just want something to blame your weight gain on.” . That broke me. I don’t care if I actually had a binge eating disorder or not I have a problem with food and I should get help for that no matter what. I’ve been trying to convince them to take me to a nutritionist for the past three months but until now they haven’t agreed :( I just want confirmation I want to know that I’m not making things up. I started to sometimes think that I making some things up while I’m acutely not. Thanks to you I’m doing a little better now following your advices. Even if my parents won’t take me I know that I have something and I would get help for it wether it’s a binge eating disorder or not. And even if I have to do that alone without any special help. Thank you so much you really don’t know how much you impacted my life :)))))

[@tammynguyen8461]

You can follow Maryscupoftea. She can help you as much as she did to me. Good luck. You'll be OK x

[@lanafattash9281]

@@tammynguyen8461 thank you so much! I’ll definitely check her out. You can do it too 💪🏻

[@RachaelWrigley]

I'm sorry to hear about all the challenges you've been faced with. I know it is all far from easy, especially when you're struggling in a way that those around you can't fully understand. I certainly would recommend seeing a nutritional therapist and counsellor trained in the area of eating disorders and intuitive eating and reading the book: intuitive eating, a revolutionary anti diet approach

[@lanafattash9281]

@@RachaelWrigley thank you so much!! I’ll absolutely take your recommendations into Consideration ❤️❤️❤️

[@Mo-tn7lv]

Rachaelllll!!!! Nice to see you're doing great!! Keep it up😁

[@RachaelWrigley]

Thank you!! 😁

[@auntyamelia6906]

Allowing myself to eat what I want, all in, feels too scary I have a few food intolerances, gluten, dairy and fructose And the arm cellulite is really getting to me I want to eat healthy, have good health but I'm not there yet 😊

[@lisag1651]

Hi Racheal, This was 2 years ago. How has your eating evolved and any other new nuggets of wisdom you have to share with us?

[@assoumasoumaa7930]

yesterday it was my first day after a long time when i was really feeling down and angry and i didn't binge and i didn't even had the urge to binge like i was normally sad and i didn't think about food as much as was

[@jillianr.2505]

/current exercise regime and thoughts on exercise? "Shoulds" and "shouldn't" when it comes to hypertrophy, strength training, pilates, yes weight, no weights, etc?

[@marym3355]

dealing with binge eat( mainly sugar ) but having IBS, and histamine intolerance. I find it harder to do intuitive eating because of my stomach issues. Any advice ?

[@lolmac6456]

Wow it sounds like you had a really really easy ride there!! I'm months in n still just want to eat chocolate and pizza

[@lolabus7132]

Hi Racheal, your channel really helps me for binge eating. Do you have any idea what can I read about this topic?

[@moura2682]

Can you please make a video about emotional eating? I can’t stop dieting for the fear of letting emotional eating takes over and ending up with gaining uncomfortable number of kilograms.

[@RachaelWrigley]

I have got one coming out soon! I do also have one out already here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mWq4kqqdoMZ2isk

[@soniaperez3286]

hi!! thanks for this great video. Re. 6:10, how long did it take for "the excitement to taper off" and for those kinds of things to loose their novelty? xx

[@RachaelWrigley]

About a week for me personally :)

[@dianakurland2500]

I’m having an epiphany.

[@jennifert-lewis9426]

Love this! You give me reassurance about intuitive eating (started a few weeks ago, still feels weird not to be starving after work)! Sorry for the randomness, but I was wondering if you've ever had an injury or something that stopped you exercising during your journey? I have a hip injury at present and can't exercise like I want to which is messing with my head as feel kind of guilty..

[@RachaelWrigley]

I have had an injury in my back so I couldn't exercise for a few months but that wasn't during my 'recovery' (as it were). Not being able to be active is always hard mentally I'm sure if you're used to it. The word guilty you used though means that there may more than that going on for you. Speak with someone professionally if your exercise has become something you need to do in order to not feel guilty as that may not be the most positive approach to activity 🙂

[@parisamgh60]

🙏🏻💜

[@Phoenix-uc2lo]

How would you do this with a progressive disease like diabetes?

[@RachaelWrigley]

I'm afraid that's not my area of expertise. Perhaps a dietician and therapist both trained in EDs would be the way forward? X

[@wallyc1349]

You have that young Margaret Thatcher look.

[@RachaelWrigley]

I don't know what that looks like I'm afraid!