“Can you intuitively eat healthily?”
When I recently asked a client how she’d been getting on, she said:
“I feel like I’m still using a lot of headspace and brain power to try and eat healthily.”
That one sentence really stuck with me. It made me reflect on my own journey with food — from a place where every choice required conscious effort, to where I am now, where I barely have to think about what to eat.
Lately, the term “intuitive eating” is everywhere. From my understanding, it’s about moving away from rigid meal plans and diet culture and towards listening to your body. In principle, that sounds great. In practice, I have my doubts.
I believe there needs to be a balance between intuitive eating and having some guiding principles around food. I may sound cynical, but I do wonder whether intuitive eating has become another trend — especially for people who have struggled to follow nutrition guidelines in the past.
As a Nutritional Therapist, I’ve always disliked the phrase “I’m on a diet.”
Our work is not about dieting. It’s about:
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Creating sustainable habits
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increasing nutrient intake based on testing and clinical experience
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compassionate coaching and accountability
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explaining what food does in the body, based on science
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mindful eating
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a holistic approach that also includes sleep, stress, relaxation, movement and exercise
We give clients the time and space to explore their relationship with food, and if someone has a serious eating disorder, we refer them on to appropriate psychological support. Our goal is overall well-being, not weight loss.
Sometimes, this approach does mean recommending that certain foods are reduced or removed — and encouraging others that better support current and future health. But does that automatically mean someone is “on a diet”? Are rules always restrictive? And do they inevitably lead to disordered eating?
Nobody suggests that you can intuitively learn how to drive a car – you need rules and learn the basics, but then it happens naturally (well for most people). If you learn to dance, play the piano or any other skill, you need some guidance before it can become “intuitive”.
Some intuitive eating coaches even suggest that people who follow a healthy diet may actually have an eating disorder, often labelled orthorexia. I’ve also heard claims that people are merely “convincing themselves” they no longer like foods they used to enjoy — and that after “recovery” (meaning after you know longer adhere to “rules”, “diets” etc) they will love them again.
That simply doesn’t make sense to me.
I know for a fact that my taste buds have changed. I genuinely cannot tolerate certain artificial ingredients anymore — and I’m not convincing myself of that. I feel better without them. Why should I go back to loving pasta when it clearly isn’t doing me any good?
For most of my life, I actually ate intuitively. I rarely ate junk food, but I did eat plenty of pizza, pasta and sugary, carb-heavy foods. It worked — until peri-menopause, hormonal changes, and a very difficult mental health period caused weight gain and low energy.
A Nutritional Therapist explained that I was on a constant blood sugar rollercoaster, putting my body under stress. The science made sense. To come off that rollercoaster, I needed structure. I cut out sugar completely for a while — and the cravings disappeared.
Today, I don’t crave sugar. I can choose when to eat it. That feels like freedom to me. Walking to a garage late at night for a chocolate fix didn’t.
The more sugar we eat, the more we crave it. Understanding why those cravings exist is what creates choice — and that’s exactly what we explore in coaching sessions.
I also recommend avoiding foods that are designed to make us overeat or override our satiety signals. From an evolutionary perspective, we are wired to store energy, not lose it. Ultra-processed foods exploit that wiring.
How can I help someone feel better or lose weight if I tell them, “If you feel like eating white bread or mashed potatoes, just eat them” — especially when those foods clearly don’t serve them?
Of course, there’s flexibility. Eating out, social occasions, travel — that’s real life. I don’t feel guilt around food, and I don’t expect my clients to either. But having choice most of the time matters.
There are also clear situations where guidelines are essential. I have Hashimoto’s thyroiditis. When I ate gluten-free for several months, my thyroid antibodies dropped — something I’ve also seen repeatedly in my clients’ blood tests, alongside reduced joint pain and increased energy.
How that could be described as causing an eating disorder is beyond me — especially when health improves.
If reducing sugar and carbohydrates can bring a (pre-) or diabetic person into remission, why would I suggest they can have it when they feel like it? You wouldn’t tell an alcoholic that a little alcohol is fine if they feel restricted. And for some people, sugar and refined carbohydrates work the same way. The body doesn’t need them to survive.
My word of the year is BALANCE*) — and I truly believe balance sits between rigid diet culture and “eat whatever you feel like” intuition. Extremes keep people stuck.
Personally, I have rules around food and movement because rules remove decision fatigue. They save brain energy. For people without major health issues, these are some of my own guiding principles:
- I take the stairs whenever possible
- I choose meat with a high meat content
- I buy organic or free-range when I can (I buy my organic foods either in An Tairseach – Wicklow Town, Killruddery or order online from Green Earth Green Earth Organics store)
- I avoid foods with long, unrecognisable ingredient lists
- I check sugar content — it takes seconds
- I don’t keep bread at home
- When I crave something sweet, I check in: stress, tiredness, emotions — and often the craving passes
These rules don’t restrict me. I don’t fear food. I don’t follow them perfectly. They simply make life easier.
I love real, fresh food. When food is minimally processed, I naturally stop eating when I’ve had enough. It tastes better. I don’t need sauces or complicated recipes — the food speaks for itself.
I fully acknowledge that eating disorders are real and serious. But I cannot see how promoting real, nutrient-dense foods — similar to what our ancestors ate — causes harm. There is strong evidence that ultra-processed foods negatively affect both physical and mental health. To say that these should not be “demonised because they could cause an eating disorder” doesn’t make sense to me!
I like to look at the model of the 4 Stages of Competence: Four Stages of Competence: How We Learn Every New Skill
1. Unconscious Incompetence: When you don’t think about what you eat, or pay any attention at all
2. Conscious incompetence (AWARENESS): When you become aware that you need to change something in your eating habits if you want to feel better.
3. Conscious Competence (LEARNING): When you get advice, seek knowledge, get help and support. This is the critical moment, where people need to find someone who compassionately advises about healthier eating choices. Not a diet, but providing knowledge and choice.
4. Unconscious Competence (MASTERY): This is the point where you are free from having to think or worry about what you eat, and where you can be FREE! You have the knowledge and choice. The choice to choose the product that promotes health and wellbeing!
For me, balance means structure and flexibility. Science and intuition. Choice built on understanding.
I’d genuinely love to hear your thoughts, please drop me an email!
*) I did a workshop with Fiona Brennan The Positive Habit – Fiona Brennan – Fiona Brennan – The Positive Habit who used hypnotherapy, guidance and meditation in a workshop with the aim of finding a “Word of the Year”. The purpose of the ONE word is to really stay focused in your relationships, your purpose/work and your health.
