Taylor-Leigh
Intuitive Eating as a Vegan – And Other Moral, Ethical, or Religious Diets
Hello & welcome (or welcome back) to my intuitive eating journey! Whether you are joining in on your own journey, or just curious about the path of intuitive eating, you are welcome here.
If you are new here, I am following along with the official intuitive eating workbook and documenting my experience along the way as a way of expressing my feelings throughout the process as well as encouraging you to do the same. In week one, I introduced intuitive eating with awareness, and week two, I talked about fear foods and body sensations.
I am not a medical professional and am not intending on giving out any medical advice. If you are really struggling, seek out a mental health professional, or even an R.D. experienced in intuitive eating, and of course follow along with me either in the book or workbook.
This week I want to talk about my experience intuitive eating as a vegan (or really any other way of eating that requires eating or avoiding certain foods).
Many intuitive eating specialists encourage the “no food rules” approach to intuitive eating as a way to rid ourselves of the diet mentality where food rules are established in the first place. For many of these specialists, no food is off the table. Anything goes.
I’ve talked before about the misconception of intuitive eating being a free-for-all of eating the worst foods for our bodies, but the tastiest & most gravitating foods – whatever, however much, and whenever you want, simply because you want to. That sort of behavior may come as a result of continued restricting where an individual may be out of touch with their hunger and satiety cues. But the real intention behind intuitive eating is to make peace with food by developing an attuned relationship with your body. You come to learn what you best need to fuel yourself by incorporating gentle nutrition, which I will talk about in the next few weeks.
The “no food rules” can be confusing to people who eat a certain way based on their own ethical, moral, or religious standards.
Which is where the question comes in, how can you eat intuitively while being a vegan, or adhering to a certain moral or religious diet?
The simple answer is this: eat intuitively within your own needs. Some people call these dietary restrictions, but I prefer using the word alternatives, or needs, because I don’t consider the way I eat to be restricting.
But there are some ways it may be confusing to eat intuitively while being vegan.
One way is if veganism is a way for you to sneak in another diet. For example, if you learned that going plant-based will help you lose weight and you go plant-based without being tied to any ethical or moral considerations about veganism, then you are using veganism as another way to diet. In this scenario, you may avoid meat and animal products because you fear they would cause you to gain weight, even though you really want to eat them. You may have a “cheat day” where you go hog wild (pun intended) with the fried chicken, ice cream and pepperoni pizza because you are restricting yourself. You may call yourself a vegan for the ease of the label, but it really just means that you are on a plant-based diet, similar to any other diet.
However, if you’re not necessarily vegan, but you adopt a plant-based diet as a means to improve your health and weight-loss comes with it, that’s another story. As long as you feel satisfied, energized, and not deprived, keep doing you! Intuitive eating can still be a great tool to couple with eating for long-term health.
Another way it may be confusing to eat intuitively within a moral or ethical diet, is if you aren’t truly connected to it. For example, I had a friend growing up who was raised Jewish. Growing up with her family, her and her siblings would partake in all the religious customs and traditions, but every chance she could get, my friend would eat shellfish, pork, and other foods that are not Kosher because she felt she was being deprived. As all four of the siblings have since grown up, not one of them considers themselves to be Jewish anymore. Part of their disassociation is because the religion was pushed onto them, which is a whole other issue in itself. Due to them feeling like they were forced into the religion, they did not develop any ties to the beliefs, and instead pushed further away.
They did have some FUN Hanukah parties and super delicious latkes though!
Knowing of examples like the Jewish family of my friend encourages me to be the type of future parent who shares my spiritual and moral beliefs with my future children while also encouraging them to believe what they feel is right for themselves. Developing body attunement is crucial not only for eating, but for feeling emotions in the body. But if I want to instill that into my children, friends, or whoever else, it has to start with body attunement within myself, which is why I am on this journey.
Consider the alternative, adhering to a diet because of your beliefs, & this one applies to my own story. I am a vegan for environmental, moral, health, and ethical reasons, and I don’t consider animals or their by-products to be food for me. Therefore, intuitive eating involves eating everything in the realm of both plant-based and vegan foods.
I have personally struggled with eating disorders while also being vegan. This doesn’t mean that on a binge I go and eat a bunch of non-vegan food. This also does not mean that eating intuitively for me means that all of my morals go out the window and I eat animals.
Personally, I am learning that my body feels best on whole plant foods, lots of starches, veggies, and fruits, while also incorporating vegan “junk food” (i.e. more processed foods like vegan burgers, cookies and ice cream) because they feed by soul. Telling myself I can never have these processed foods just causes me to desire them more, as I talked about in week two. However, the more I develop peace with food and body attunement, the more I am able to recognize my hunger and satiety cues. I can take 2 bites of a piece of cake and realize I am full, or eat half of a pizza if I feel that my body needs it. Avoiding these foods causes me fear and anxiety and depriving myself of them would later lead to overindulging in them, resulting in guilt.
Hopefully this is making sense!
If you are unsure about whether you are eating a certain way as another means to diet orrr because you are truly connected to its roots, try asking yourself some of these questions.
- What is your Why? Why do you adhere to a certain diet? I love learning about veganism through different lenses as a way to reaffirm my actions through my beliefs. Think of all the religions that do this through reflection, prayer, reading sacred text, and communal worship. Or on the flip side, perhaps you were raised within a certain religion, follow all the “rules,” but you don’t feel a personal connection to the beliefs.
- Are your actions connected to your beliefs? (for example, if you are Kosher because you are a passionate & devoted Jew, but you still eat meat that was not slaughtered in the correct procedure), reflect on that, and return to your why.
- Do you find that you are depriving yourself of food you really want? Does it take a great deal of effort to restrain yourself from eating “forbidden” foods? Do you eat them in secret? Did you have a “final feast” before beginning to follow your chosen diet, even if it is for moral or ethical reasons?
- Are you satisfied? Are you eating enough food, and the type of food that truly satisfies you? Maybe you need some new recipe ideas? Many people fall off the vegan wagon, even though they have a passion for the beliefs behind it, because they find they are not truly satisfied, whether with taste or energy levels. Try incorporating gentle nutrition with intuitive eating to ensure you are getting what you want and need to fuel your body and your soul.
- Are you looking to food to fulfill other needs? I highly recommend following the intuitive eating workbook to get in tune with your physical sensations. Maybe your body needs rest, movement, a hug, inner reflection, a cut back on your schedule, rather than food.
And of course, go easy on yourself and take it one step at a time. If you feel overwhelmed, take it slow or maybe a step back. If you feel excited and motivated to eat intuitively while aligning with your religion or morals, then go for it! I am here with you in the same journey.
Taylor-Leigh here! I’m a newbie intuitive eater finding a passion through writing about my experiences of living a simpler, more intentional life.
Last photo by Gianna Grace Photography.