If I could just eat less…

Thin people are not thin because they are able to take a few bites of food and leave the rest. They are (mainly) thin because that is their genetic blueprint for size.

Mistakenly, many thin people – and I used to be one of these – believe being careful with their calorie intake, is what keeps them thin or lean. Since practising intuitive eating principles I have stopped being unnecessarily careful with food and I am still thin. Pretty much everyone in my family is thin.

Last week I had a few clients express the idea that if they were just able to say no to food, or just able to have a few bites and leave the rest, they could be thin like their thin friends they see (sometimes) do this.

When we explored this further, my clients realised a few things…

Their friends are in thin bodies because;

They have always been in thin bodies, as are many (if not all) people in their family. That said, families can have strikingly different genetic blueprints for size, where one sibling is naturally thin and another naturally bigger based on their parents genetic blueprint.

I am not saying with people with a genetic blueprint to be thin can eat whatever they want and never gain weight. My point is that perceived self control is not their reason for being thin.

And yes, there are some people who keep themselves thin by eating very little, but they are the minority.

We also discussed their perceived “superpower” of being able to just eat one piece of chocolate and we decided this might be because…

A) They’ve never tried to restrict it

B) They do eat more when they feel like it and without any anxiety or guilt

C) They have a positive relationship with food where they know they can eat what they’re hungry for, whenever they’re hungry for it, without judgement from themselves or others

This message is really important because if we keep expecting everyone to be able to achieve a similar body type through managing their food “better”, we are seriously misguiding people and setting many up for a lifetime battle with food and their bodies.