Intuitive Eating Before and After: It’s Not About the Photos
Have you ever scrolled through social media and seen those “before and after” photos? You know the ones I am talking about. On the left side, there is a person looking unhappy in a larger body. On the right side, they are beaming with a huge smile in a smaller body. We are trained to think this is what success looks like.
But when it comes to intuitive eating before and after, the transformation looks very different. You cannot capture the most important changes with a camera. The real magic happens in your head and your heart – not on your waistline.
At The Full Plate, we want to show you what life looks like when you finally stop dieting and start living. Learn more about our mission to help you make peace with food.
Table of Contents
- The “Before”: Life in the Diet Trap
- The “After”: Freedom and Satisfaction
- Comparison: Diet Mentality vs. Intuitive Eater
- Why We Don’t Share Weight Loss Photos
- Start Your Own Journey
- FAQ
- Sources
The “Before”: Life in the Diet Trap
Before finding Intuitive Eating, many people feel like they are stuck in a prison made of food rules. You might identify as a “Professional Dieter.” This is someone who is perpetually on a new food plan, trying the latest commercial diet, or buying every new diet book that hits the shelves.1
In this “before” stage, you probably do not trust yourself around food. You might ignore your stomach when it growls because it isn’t “time” to eat yet. If you ignore hunger for too long, you might end up engaging in “Last Supper” eating. This happens when you eat as much of a “forbidden” food as possible because you vowed to start a new diet tomorrow.2
You also have a loud voice in your head judging every bite.
“The police station is housed deep in your psyche, and its loudspeaker shouts negative barbs, hopeless phrases, and guilt-provoking indictments.”3
This voice is called the Food Police. It tells you that you are “good” for eating minimal calories and “bad” for eating a piece of chocolate cake.4 Living like this is exhausting. It takes up so much brain space that you barely have room to think about your hobbies, your friends, or your dreams.
If you struggle to understand your body’s signals because of these loud voices, looking at the Intuitive Eating Hunger Scale can help you start listening again.
The “After”: Freedom and Satisfaction
Now, imagine the “after.” In the intuitive eating before and after journey, the “after” is where you find peace. You are no longer fighting a war with food. You give yourself unconditional permission to eat.5
This might sound scary. You might think, “If I can eat whatever I want, I will never stop eating candy!” But usually, the opposite happens. When you know you can eat a cookie whenever you want – not just on a “cheat day” – you don’t feel the urgent need to eat the whole box right now.
In the “after” phase, you discover the Satisfaction Factor. The Japanese have the wisdom to keep pleasure as a goal of healthy living, but we often forget this in our rush to diet.6 When you eat what you actually want, you feel satisfied sooner. You stop eating because you are content, not because a rule told you to stop.
If you need a little inspiration to get into this mindset, read some of these mindful eating quotes.
Comparison: Diet Mentality vs. Intuitive Eater
To help you see the difference clearly, here is a breakdown of how your mindset shifts during this process.7
| Issue | The “Before” (Diet Mentality) | The “After” (Intuitive Eater) |
|---|---|---|
| Food Choices | “Do I deserve this? If I eat this, I have to make up for it later.” | “Am I hungry? What sounds good to me? Will it be satisfying?” |
| Hunger | Ignore it, drink water, or wait for the “right” time. | Listen to it. Eat when biological hunger starts. |
| Eating Experience | Food is the enemy. You feel guilty eating “bad” foods. | You deserve to enjoy eating without guilt. Food is fuel and pleasure. |
| Exercise | Exercise is punishment for eating. Focus on calories burned. | Move because it feels good. Focus on energy and stress relief. |
| Progress | Measured by the number on the scale. | Measured by how you feel and your trust in yourself. |
Why We Don’t Share Weight Loss Photos
You will notice we do not promise weight loss or show skinny “after” photos. Intuitive Eating is an anti-diet approach. When you focus on weight loss, you stop listening to your body’s internal cues. You cannot truly make peace with food if you are only eating to change your body size.8
Some people lose weight, some gain weight, and some stay the same. The goal is to respect your body and accept your genetic blueprint. Just like a person with a shoe size of eight would not try to squeeze into a size six, we should not try to force our bodies into a size they are not meant to be.9
If you need tools to help you navigate this, visit our resources page for helpful free guides.
Start Your Own Journey
Your “before and after” story is waiting to be written. It won’t be a picture of a smaller waist. It will be a story about how you reclaimed your life from diet culture.
It can be hard to do this alone. Working with a Certified Intuitive Eating Counselor can give you the support you need to trust your body again.
Are you ready to fill your plate with freedom? Join The Full Plate Community today and start your journey toward a healthier, happier you.
Join our
Intuitive Eating Community
Heal your relationship with food without shame, without rules, and without restrictions.
Free membership
No credit card required
FAQ
You might lose weight, you might gain weight, or your weight might stay exactly the same. The goal of Intuitive Eating is not to change your body size, but to heal your relationship with food. When you stop focusing on weight loss, you allow your body to settle at its natural, genetic weight. If you are holding onto the hope of weight loss, it actually makes it harder to become an Intuitive Eater.
This is a very common fear! It makes sense that you would feel this way if you have been restricting food for a long time. However, when you give yourself unconditional permission to eat, the urgency to eat specific foods goes away. It is a concept called “habituation.” When you can have a cookie anytime you want, it stops being so special, and you naturally start craving a variety of foods—including nutritious ones.
There is no set time limit. It depends on how long you have been dieting and how deep the “Food Police” voices are in your head. For some people, it takes a few months to feel a shift. For others, it might take a few years. Remember, this is a journey of self-discovery, not a race to a finish line. Be patient with yourself.
Yes! Studies show that Intuitive Eating is linked to many health benefits. These include lower blood pressure, better cholesterol levels, and higher self-esteem. Because you are not stressing about food constantly, your overall stress levels go down, which is great for your heart and your mind. If you want to learn more practical tips, signing up for our intuitive newsletter is a great way to get weekly advice.
You measure progress by how you feel instead of a number. Ask yourself: Do I have more energy? am I less worried about food? Do I feel less guilty after eating? These feelings of peace and freedom are the true signs of success. If you want to dive deeper into this topic, consider signing up for one of our intuitive eating workshops.
Sources
1: Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch, Intuitive Eating: A Revolutionary Anti-Diet Approach, 4th ed. (New York: St. Martin’s Essentials, 2020), 57.
2: Tribole and Resch, Intuitive Eating, 42.
3: Tribole and Resch, Intuitive Eating, 71.
4: Tribole and Resch, Intuitive Eating, 71.
5: Tribole and Resch, Intuitive Eating, 70.
6: Tribole and Resch, Intuitive Eating, 72.
7: Tribole and Resch, Intuitive Eating, 109.
8: Tribole and Resch, Intuitive Eating, 17.
9: Tribole and Resch, Intuitive Eating, 75.