Growing up surrounded by diet culture, my perspective on health, fitness, and body image was deeply influenced. The focus was always on weight loss, calorie counting, and striving for a thin body. This unhealthy mindset was the norm, and it took a toll on my well-being. I found myself struggling, hating my body, feeling unsatisfied with food, and plagued by insecurity. My life revolved around my body and food, making it difficult to make authentic decisions or enjoy life fully. I felt trapped and lost.

However, as I embarked on my journey in Health Education, a new understanding of health began to unfold. I started discovering the missing piece in my life. As I learned about how to implement sustainable health in my everyday life, I also learned healthy coping strategies for anxiety and difficult emotions, which brought about positive shifts in my overall well-being. I realized that addressing the lingering dark cloud above me was essential to fully comprehend and embrace my mind and body. It required delving deep into my body image and understanding how my experiences had shaped my self-perception.

Engaging in this work was challenging and vulnerable. It forced me to confront uncomfortable truths and raised countless new questions. Yet, it also provided me with valuable answers and insights into my own journey of self-discovery. I came to understand that our relationship with our bodies and our self-image is complex and multifaceted, constantly evolving as we learn and grow. In the process, I’ve come to appreciate that true health encompasses much more than physical appearance. It involves nourishing our bodies through kindness and food, listening to our intuition and following it each step of the way, and embracing a holistic approach to well-being that goes beyond societal expectations. By continuing to explore and challenge the notions of diet culture and body image, I have gradually freed myself from the constraints that once held me back.

The Hard Reality

The pervasive influence of diet culture has ingrained in us the notion that we must go against our body’s natural desires in order to achieve a specific ideal. Unfortunately, this narrative has created a profound sense of mistrust between women and their own bodies. As I began working with clients on health and wellness, I saw this recurring theme pop up. From a young age, women are conditioned to believe that their bodies are flawed and in need of constant control and modification. My clients would come to me wanting to initiate change in their health and yet they were suppressing their natural signals in their bodies. They would ignore our cravings, and adhere to strict dieting rules. This disconnection from our body’s innate wisdom leads us to rely on external sources and arbitrary guidelines for nourishment, perpetuating a cycle of restriction and deprivation.

I saw my clients succumb to the demands of diet culture, unwittingly eroding the trust that they once had in their bodies. Constantly seeking external validation and approval, they would become detached from their own intuition and unique needs. When we question our body’s signals, doubting its ability to guide us towards true nourishment and well-being. This mistrust not only affects our relationship with food but seeps into every aspect of our lives, hindering our ability to make authentic choices and hindering our self-confidence. This made health coaching difficult because without trust and intuition, it’s difficult to make sustainable change.

The 5 Main Triggers

In a world obsessed with diets, quick fixes, and the pursuit of an ideal body, intuitive eating offers a refreshing and empowering approach to nourishing ourselves. It encourages us to listen to our bodies, honor our hunger and fullness cues, and develop a healthy relationship with food. However, it’s important to recognize that certain triggers can hinder our journey toward intuitive eating and influence our perception of body image. During my time of exploration, I tapped into the damage that restrictive dieting left on me and explored how the world around me was shaping my habits and patterns. As I started noticing these similar patterns in clients, I honed in on what they were struggling with most. I found some similar patterns in myself and in my clients. I noticed 5 triggers that impacted our ability to follow intuition, eat freely, and have a positive relationship with the mind and body. Through this discovery, I have developed a framework that I use with clients to help them improve their body image and relationship with food. I created this free guide that explores all 5 of the main triggers with journal prompts and a quiz to evaluate them in your life. Let’s chat about the big 5…

1. Emotional Triggers
   Working on addressing emotional triggers related to food can be a beneficial step towards developing a healthier relationship with eating. Overcoming the issue of using food as a coping mechanism for emotional triggers requires a mindful and compassionate approach toward your relationship with food and emotions. Recognizing that emotional triggers can lead to using food as a source of comfort is the first step towards overcoming this issue. By acknowledging the connection between your emotions and eating behaviors, you open the door to developing healthier coping strategies.
2. Restrictive Dieting
   Overcoming the issue of restrictive dieting and the resulting feelings of deprivation is a journey toward developing a healthier and more balanced approach to food and eating. Breaking free from the cycle of restrictive dieting begins with a shift in mindset and adopting a more flexible and intuitive approach to eating. Recognize that labeling certain foods as “forbidden” or “bad” only heightens the desire for them, often leading to overeating or feeling out of control around those foods.
3. External Influences
   Overcoming the issue of external influences on our relationship with food requires a conscious effort to reclaim our autonomy and reconnect with our body’s innate wisdom. Recognizing the impact of external influences on our relationship with food is the first step toward overcoming this issue. By acknowledging the pressures, cultural norms, and exposure to food advertisements, we can start to understand how they shape how we feel around food and eating.
4. Mindful Eating
   Overcoming the issue of a lack of mindful eating involves reestablishing a deeper connection with food and cultivating a more conscious and present approach to our meals. In today’s fast-paced world, it’s easy to fall into the trap of mindless eating. The constant rush and distractions often lead to eating on the go, multitasking while eating, or simply consuming food without paying attention to our body’s signals. By prioritizing mindful eating, we can break free from this cycle and regain control and satisfaction with our food.
5. Past Trauma
   Overcoming the impact of past trauma on our relationship with eating requires a compassionate and healing approach. Experiences of trauma, whether directly related to food, body image, or other aspects of life, can leave lasting imprints on our relationship with eating. Trauma can trigger a range of emotional and physiological responses that disrupt our sense of control around food. However, with time, self-compassion, and support, it is possible to heal and develop a healthier and more empowering relationship with food.

These 5 triggers will ebb and flow in your life based on various situations and surroundings. I have created a free quiz for you to understand which triggers impact you most with a guide that walks you through each trigger and how to overcome and balance the impacts. Click here to get your free guide and quiz!