Can You Be an Athlete and “Do” Intuitive Eating? Thoughts from a Board Certified Sports Dietitian

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Written By: Lauren Manganiello, MS, RD, CDN, CSSD, RYT;  Registered Dietitian, Nutrition Therapist, and Board Certified Specialist in Sports Nutrition 

Published on: 11/5/2020 ; Updated on 11/22/2023

At first thought, it would seem like the answer to this question would be no.

I mean, in the world of competitive sports and sports nutrition, when anyone talks about diet, it’s always about specific food choices and nutrient timing.

Food is utilitarian and so many athletes eat according to specific goals: lose weight, gain weight, get faster, get stronger, etc. and not about enjoyment or satisfaction. 

Unfortunately, these dietary restrictions can overflow from fueling for sport into everyday life resulting in increasing amounts of athletes with relationships with food and body that are unhealthy.

The longer this relationship goes on, the more likely it is for that disordered relationship to turn into a full-blown eating disorder.

Not only is this problematic because of the toll it can take on a person in the obvious ways, ie obsession over food and body, drastic weight fluctuations, impact on mental health… there are other side effects that most don’t realize can occur like electrolyte imbalances, cardiovascular abnormalities, stroke, hormonal imbalances, loss of menstruation leading to osteoporosis, and the list goes on.

The irony in all of this is that while most athletes begin strict diets in order to optimize performance and improve in their sport, the snowball effect they see because of the restrictions these diets have ends up leaving them with a negative return on their investments. 

In contrast, Intuitive Eating takes a much gentler approach to creating a relationship with food.  It takes the focus away from exterior rules and restrictions putting it back on getting in touch with what’s going on inside your body and mind.

So, getting back to the question- can you be an athlete and an intuitive eater? 

My answer to you is, yes.  If done properly, following the 10 principles of Intuitive Eating will only help an athlete to maintain a healthier relationship with food and their body.

So, as an athlete, how can each of the principles of intuitive eating apply to you?  Let’s take a look at each of the 10 principles…

1.  Reject the diet mentality: Regardless of whether you are an elite athlete, or just someone who likes to be active now and again, no one is sheltered from the influence of the diet and wellness industry.  It’s hard to go through the day without seeing an advertisement for Keto, paleo, WW, etc.  We live in a society OBSESSED with being thinner, better looking, healthier, and no one is immune.  Under-fueling, however, can affect athletes and active individuals in a much more radical way than the average person. While cutting back on a few calories here and there may not seem like that big of a deal, under fueling can lead to hormonal imbalances, bone loss, and even risk of cardiovascular event or stroke.

2. Honor Your Hunger: As we get older, we tend to assign” rules” to the way we eat.  “No eating before X time/ after X time… only eat every X hours… wait X amount of time after exercise to eat… eat within X amount of time after exercise…” When did we decide we wanted to make ourselves crazy looking at the clock and doing math all day just so we can eat?  If you want to eat something, eat it. Honor your hunger. It’s your body’s way of telling you what it needs. Now can our hormones, stress levels, lack of sleep impact our appetite? 100%. But denying your hunger isn’t going to help address the underlying issue. (we’ll talk more about this in a future post) 

3. Make Peace with Food: During exercise (and after for immediate replenishment) athletes need easily accessible energy that their body can use readily. This means eating one of the most vilified foods out there – sugar.  Sugar and other sources of simple carbohydrates can be an athlete’s best friend when it comes to game time performance so the mindset that sugar is bad or carbs make you fat (which is wrong anyway), should be rethought.

4. Challenge the Food Police: See principles 2 & 3. All of this work takes time. It’s not going to change overnight. So be patient with yourself and celebrate the small wins like recognizing the negative self-talk or “food rules” that can sneak up on you without you even being aware of it!

5. Respect Your Fullness: Here is where eating mindfully comes into play.  Because an athlete burns so many calories during their sport, it makes sense they would have a larger appetite than the average person.  Check in with yourself while you’re eating.  Ask yourself “how hungry/full am I on a scale of 1-10?” and stop when you feel comfortably full, not when your food scale or macro count tells you.

6. Discover The Satisfaction Factor:  Ever have this experience: You’re craving a cookie but you don’t want to eat the cookie because you think it’s “bad” so instead you eat EVERYTHING ELSE IN YOUR KITCHEN and then because you’re still not satisfied, you finally just eat the cookie?  Instead, next time try having the cookie or whatever else it is you’re craving.  You’ll find that you’re satisfied and don’t feel the need to overeat.  As an athlete, you’re not really eating for satisfaction because you’re told you need to eat the “right” foods in the “right” amount at the “right” time, in order to meet specific goals.  Too often this leads to the aforementioned binge-restrict cycle.  To keep a healthy balance, allow yourself to eat foods that make you feel satisfied while still being mindful of your goals.

7. Honor Your Feelings (without using food):  Life is stressful.  Heck, right now we’re living through a global pandemic!  Even if you’re not an athlete and putting undue stress on your body on a day to day basis, I have a feeling you might be pretty stressed out.  It’s not uncommon for people to turn to food as a comfort in times like this.  It’s a learned coping mechanism that served us in the past and likely got us through some very difficult times. But now it’s time to learn to cope using other tools available to us (we’ll go deeper into what these may be in a future post).    

8. Respect Your  Body:  Everyone’s genetic makeup is different. You could keep the same diet and exercise routine as another athlete and look completely different.  Be curious as to why you might be comparing your body to someone else’s.  Most likely, the person you’re comparing yourself to is probably doing the SAME EXACT THING with someone else, and someone is probably doing that with you.    The next time you hear that voice in your head feeling envious of another athlete’s physique, try making that voice say three nice things about your own.

9. Movement—Feel The Difference:  There seems to be this common misconception out there among athletes that a workout isn’t a workout unless you end up exhausted and dripping sweat at the end. You might be able to get away with ignoring the aches and pains of training like this all the time in your 20’s, maybe even into your 30’s but at some point, your body will not be able to take that kind of beating.  The fact of the matter is, recovery days, even if they are used for active recovery like taking an easy walk, stretching or foam rolling, are EVEN MORE IMPORTANT than training days.  Consider this part of your training- giving your body the chance to repair itself before you put more strain on it. 

10. Honor Your Health With Gentle Nutrition:  Keep in mind when making food choices 1) Am I eating enough to keep me fueled and healthy 2) Is this a food choice I will be satisfied by.  Remember to keep in mind that you are a human being, and there is no such thing as a “perfect” diet, that one meal will not make or break your performance.

I recognize that eating intuitively isn’t as easy as just following 10 steps because it feels like you are going against everything you’ve ever been taught about how to eat and that can be terrifying.  As human beings, it’s only natural to want to stick with behaviors we feel are safe.  But if you KNOW those behaviors haven’t been serving you, or could potentially harm you, then doesn’t it make sense to try to change, even if it does mean facing fear?  On the other side is a full life, free of restriction and a healthier relationship with food and your body.

Focusing on all 10 principles at once can feel overwhelming. Perhaps focusing on one principle at at time could be helpful. I highly recommend reading “Intuitive Eating” by Evelyn Tribole, RDN and Elyse Resch, RDN. They also have a workbook for adults and a workbook for teens as well.

References:

Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Anti-Diet Approach by Evelyn Tribole, RDN and Elyse Resch, RDN

The Intuitive Eating Workbook: Ten Principles for Nourishing a Healthy Relationship with Food by Evelyn Tribole, RDN and Elyse Resch, RDN

The Intuitive Eating Workbook for Teens: A Non-Diet, Body Positive Approach to Building A Healthy Relationship with Food by Evelyn Tribole, RDN and Elyse Resch, RDN

www.intuitiveeating.org

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Author Bio 

This post was written and reviewed by Lauren Manganiello, MS, RD, CSSD,  a Registered Dietitian Nutritionist and Board Certified Specialist in Sports Dietetics. Lauren holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Integrative Neuroscience and a Master’s Degree in Nutrition. She specializes in working with athletes and active individuals on their relationship to food and body image, including intuitive eating, disordered eating, eating disorders, and relative energy deficiency in sport (RED-S). Lauren is also an Adjunct Professor at New York University (NYU).

 

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