You may have heard of intermittent fasting, eating only within specific windows of time, & intuitive eating, a non-diet approach to healthy eating that allows you to listen to your body, break the cycle of dieting & heal your relationship with food… but what the heck is INTUITIVE FASTING? Seems contradicting am I right?!
Can you actually fast & still eat intuitively while also losing weight & learning to keep it off? The short answer… no. Unfortunately this new “way of eating” is just another diet in disguise. The diet industry is profit-driven & always looking for new ways to take money from people looking to lose weight FAST. Sadly, this new DIET is using the “halo effect” of intuitive eating to lure consumers in… and TRUE intuitive eating couldn’t be further from this trendy diet.
So who wrote the Intuitive Fasting book? Dr. William Cole, author of Ketotarian (hmm, another fad diet) & The Inflammation Spectrum. He is a functional medicine practitioner & associated with Goop… a beauty & health company founded by Gwyneth Paltrow, who wrote the forward of the book & highly endorses this way of eating… as well as several other celebrities. Red flag over here!
So what is this “intuitive fasting” way of eating? On the cover of the self-titled book, it states, “The flexible four-week intermittent fasting plan to recharge your metabolism & renew your health”… which gets consumers pumped because “metabolism” is definitely a flashy nutrition word that people are told they need to “fix” in order to lose weight. This book features 4 weeks of guidance, with varying lengths of fasting periods each week to “strengthen & stretch” your metabolism & “reset” the body.
As quoted from the Goop.com website, “This book will not punish or restrict you. Instead, Cole will guide you to connect (or reconnect) to your own body and intuition. You’ll have access to meal plans, recipes, daily eating schedules—and plenty of flexibility”. For those of you that have followed me, you know that “meal plan” & “daily eating schedule” are FAR FROM “flexible”… and nowhere close to being sustainable, achievable & enjoyable for the long haul. And there is nothing “intuitive” about following this plan which tells people they can “eat whatever” while still following a schedule, plan, & suggested foods list. Sigh.
Take home message… just like any other diet out there, ask yourself, “CAN I DO THIS FOREVER?” before jumping in. If it is a “no”… find another way! Nutrition should always be individualized & not a one-size-fits-all approach found in a book promoted by a celebrity.
Looking for sound nutrition help & advice on your health journey?! In my nutrition coaching program, we work to tackle your personal struggles & habits that affect your food choices in order to make results last for good. Sick of starting & stopping yet ANOTHER diet?! Hit REPLY to let me know why YOU are ready to ditch diets for good! Looking forward to hearing from YOU!
