Original subtitles

For years I judged my body.

But when it came time for it to save my life,

- it fought for me. - Oh, yes.

I need to treat my body with the respect that it gave me

because it gave me my life back.

♪♪♪

It's no secret that I've struggled with body image and dieting,

and I know I'm not alone in that,

so today I'm talking to a woman

who's helped me change my relationship with food.

She's a nutritionist and author and an all-around amazing woman.

Joining me now, Elyse Resch.

Hi, Elyse. Thank you so much for coming today.

I look at your philosophy

as the main principle behind my eating disorder recovery.

I am so honored to be here. Thank you for inviting me.

Absolutely.

Would you mind sharing what intuitive eating means to you?

Intuitive eating is an anti-diet philosophy

that helps people get reconnected with their inner wisdom.

We're born with it.

- Mm-hmm. - And we get so disconnected

because of diet culture.

- Mm-hmm. - And it taps

into the three parts of the brain:

the instinctual part, the emotional part,

and the cognitive part.

So it's a dynamic interplay of those three parts,

which is so important.

It's not just instinct

because our emotions can affect our instincts,

and then we use the cognitive part of our brain

to be able to, uh, calm us down, take care of our emotions,

and make, you know, the best decisions for ourselves.

When did you discover this philosophy?

Well, I had an eating disorder when I was in my late 20s,

and it was a dieting and bingeing eating disorder.

So I started to really understand

the psychology of why diets didn't work

and why they made me feel so unhappy

when I thought about them.

That's when I came to this place of understanding

that this wisdom is inside,

and tapping into people's internal wisdom

is something that they're going to be able to sustain

for the rest of their lives.

You said something really, really interesting

about our DNA blueprint.

- Oh, yes. - I would love for you

to compare our weight to our height.

Nobody questions their height.

They may not like it.

They might wish that they were taller or shorter,

but they just accept it

because this is the way they're programmed.

Same thing with their foot size or their eye color.

Yet they think they can change their weight.

And that's because they're so brainwashed to believe

that they're supposed to be a certain size or shape,

which means they should be able to try to change it,

and if we're just intuitive with our eating, with our movement,

joyous, enjoying life,

our bodies are going to be what they're going to be.

- Absolutely. - I help out people understand

that when you give yourself the full freedom

to enjoy what you really want to enjoy

and you stay present,

eventually all foods just become part of your life

and nothing is, you know, elevated to a point

of forbiddenness and excitement,

and people are very scared that if they are intuitive eaters

and let themselves eat whatever they want

that they'll be out of control,

and it's just the opposite that happens.

I have clients who say to me, "I'm such a failure at dieting,"

and I say, "No, you're a success at ego development.

You have a strong ego.

You're not gonna let anybody tell you what to eat."

Yes. What a great way of looking at that.

I love that. Or you're not a failure at dieting.

You are a success at growing.

Success at growing and healing and being in touch with yourself.

It's the whole dieting system that's a failure, not you.

♪♪♪

How does someone learn to listen to their body?

First of all, it's an understanding that the signals are there.

They were there at birth.

It's much easier to figure out when you're hungry or full

if you're thinking about "Oh, is it very satisfying

if I go into this meal and I'm not hungry?

No I want to wait till I'm a little bit hungry."

Oh. Comfortable hunger.

You said intuitive eating is not focused on weight loss.

How do you measure its success in one's life?

It's mental health.

Being in a place where you're free to trust your body

and to make peace with food,

which is just enjoying all foods.

The success is are you now free to think about other things

rather than "Did I eat the right food?

Did I eat the wrong food?" You know, "Am I the right size?"

The freedom to just explore

so many more interesting and important things in life.

Yes. I feel like intuitive eating is so powerful

because it's given me space

to use my energy towards making a difference in the world

and leaving it a better place than when I got here.

Rather than spending my entire day obsessing over my image and myself,

I'm able to now release those thoughts,

and I'm not a prisoner in my own mind anymore,

and I'm able to show it for other people.

- For years I judged my body. - Mm-hmm.

And I picked it apart in the mirror,

but when it came time for it to save my life,

it fought for me, and it saved my life.

And that was when I realized

I need to treat my body with the respect that it gave me

because it gave me my life back.

Is there one takeaway that you would want to leave

with a viewer watching

that may be struggling with an eating disorder?

Well, I do believe that intuitive eating

is the final path toward healing that eating disorder

because, until you have made full peace with food

and you're tuned into your body

and you're finding coping mechanisms

and you're not blaming yourself or judging yourself,

until you've done all of that, you know,

you're not gonna be able to fully heal the eating disorder.

- Yes. - I've found that people may be

renourished if they've been starving themselves,

if they've had anorexia

or they've stopped certain behaviors like bulimia.

- Mm-hmm. - And yet they're not free.

- Yes. - So they're physically healed,

but they're not mentally healed.

And so intuitive eating is that final part of it,

the mental and spiritual.

I think that's what I finally got.

- Thank you so, so much. - Oh, thank you.

You changed my life by your philosophy,

and I couldn't be more grateful,

and I'm so excited for everyone to see this episode.

Thank you.