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Food & Fitness

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(Diet) Culture & Society

The term “intuitive eating” has entered the mainstream, and it’s easy to find influencers and self-proclaimed experts on social media touting its benefits. As explained on, say, TikTok, the idea is pretty straightforward: you eat exactly what and how much you feel like eating, listening to your body’s 

 as well as its cravings. But in reality, intuitive eating is much more complex—especially for those who have struggled with an eating disorder. Read on to learn the definition of intuitive eating, its risks and benefits, how it relates to eating disorder recovery, and more.

Often when people learn about intuitive eating for the first time, their response is something like this: “But if I allow myself to eat whatever I want, I’ll just eat donuts and French fries all day.” Indeed, there’s a common fear that without the structure of a diet plan or food rules, eating will start to feel out of control, and you’ll only choose “

.” But while intuitive eating does emphasize giving yourself permission to eat a wide variety of foods, including the fun foods you love, this doesn’t mean saying “screw it” and never eating a fruit or veggie again.

“Intuitive eating is a framework that helps people improve their relationship with food,” says registered dietitian and certified intuitive eating counselor Jen Baswick. “Intuitive eating is all about unlearning and letting go of the external ‘rules’ taught to us by diet culture and re-learning your natural internal cues to let them guide your eating habits.”

Listening to and honoring your body’s cues instead of a diet (or eating disorder voice) is a foundational aspect of intuitive eating, but it’s not simply about eating when you’re hungry and stopping when you’re full—it’s a lot more nuanced than that. “Intuitive eating includes how and why we eat what we eat—preferences, nutrition, access, nervous system and health function—as well as our emotional relationship to food and even how we view physical activity,” shares eating disorder dietitian Tracy Brown, RD.

Developed in the 1990s by dietitians Elyse Resch and Evelyn Tribole, intuitive eating includes 

Giving yourself unconditional permission to eat

Developing healthy coping strategies for emotions

Balancing eating for health and pleasure (AKA “gentle nutrition”)

The risks and benefits of intuitive eating

Intuitive eating is a practice that can have a powerful and positive domino effect in your relationships with food as well as life beyond the plate. In my own practice as a dietitian, I observe clients of all genders, ages, body sizes and diagnoses reaping numerous benefits of intuitive eating, and my colleagues in the space report seeing similar changes.

“Some of the benefits of intuitive eating include fostering more self-compassion, higher self-esteem, and more optimism,” Baswick says. “It’s also associated with a decrease in 

, preoccupation with food, food-related anxiety, and 

.” Research shows associations between intuitive eating and better 

However, intuitive eating can be a risk for people who struggle with eating disorders and try to go all in before they’re ready, or for those who don’t have the right support (like a dietitian and therapist) in place.

“Sometimes, people can jump right into intuitive eating without understanding that as soon as the container of their ‘diet’ is lifted, often big emotions can arise that they aren't prepared for, and a ‘whack-o-mole’ situation can happen,” explains Brown. “Like ‘if I’m not restricting, then I over-exercise.’” There are a number of different ways this might show up, but people should be on alert for compensatory behaviors—like compulsively working out—that arise once the 

For this reason and others, it’s critical that those in eating disorder recovery take baby steps toward intuitive eating. Doing this allows time for organ systems to heal, for the eating disorder voice to quiet, and for a person to become reconnected with their body.

There’s one more risk that merits a mention: the risk of intuitive eating getting warped by the forces of diet culture. I often catch this in my own practice, when intuitive eating starts to morph into a perfectionistic hunger-fullness diet. “The 

 and diet industry has now co-opted the term intuitive eating and uses it in a restrictive way surrounding weight loss, which it is not meant for,” Baswick says.

Who is intuitive eating for (and not for)?

Generally, intuitive eating is meant for every human, since we come out of the womb connected to our hunger and fullness cues. However, diet culture, disordered eating, or eating disorders can often sever our connections to our bodies and require us to re-learn how to get in touch with them through professional support.

“Some people will need guidance as anyone who has struggled with emotional under- or overeating has been disembodied for months or years,” Brown says, “and they’ll likely progress more efficiently and with less guessing and stress with someone offering feedback and a safe relationship.” 

might be a more helpful alternative at first. 

According to Baswick, there are a few populations that may have a harder time practicing intuitive eating, such as those who are food insecure or have food allergies. “Using intuitive eating with populations who may have a more complicated relationship with food is not impossible, but should always be approached on a case-by-case individualized basis.”

Intuitive eating could also be a risk for someone with a metabolic condition, like diabetes or hypertension. “If someone who has diabetes wants to practice intuitive eating, they should get the support of a dietitian to help them understand how to use the principles of intuitive eating while also understanding how to keep their blood sugar managed well,” says Baswick.

Can intuitive eating fit into eating disorder recovery?

 shows a link between using intuitive eating principles on college campuses and improved eating disorder symptoms among students, versus using self-weighing and calorie counting. 

 evaluated an intuitive eating program in an eating disorder treatment center, finding an association with intuitive eating abilities and positive treatment outcomes.

In my clinical opinion, intuitive eating can be successfully and effectively used at any part of the eating disorder recovery process, as long as it's done so consciously and carefully. For example, I’ve had clients who are still 

, disconnected from internal cues, and still need to mechanically eat and follow meal plans closely; however, they can start to learn to practice permission with food (a foundational part of intuitive eating), within the structure of their plans. I’ve also had clients simply start to notice hunger and fullness cues (another critical step in intuitive eating) before and after meals without necessarily letting these cues guide eating habits yet. For clients further along in recovery, we work to move them away from meal plans and into alignment with their bodies.

“I believe that aspects of intuitive eating can be very complementary to eating disorder recovery, especially rejecting the diet mentality, making peace with food, and body respect, to name a few,” adds Baswick.

However, Brown, Baswick and I all agree that honoring hunger and fullness are two of the trickier intuitive treatment principles to follow early on in recovery. “It takes time to develop accurate interoception, or feeling hunger and fullness separated from emotions or trauma body memories,” Brown says. “People can and do get signals back, but accuracy builds as physical, emotional, and mental healing occurs.”

Baswick adds that gastroparesis (slowed stomach motility) and feelings of early fullness despite needing more food (which is common in anorexia) can complicate things. She also points out that the rigid thinking common in eating disorders can make the looser framework of intuitive eating tricky. “One danger is if a patient turns following their hunger and fullness cues into another restrictive pattern to follow,” she says. “This is why it's so important to work with a dietitian that specializes in eating disorder recovery and knows intuitive eating well to support people along their recovery journey.”

Whether you are in eating disorder recovery or are simply working on your relationship to food and body, intuitive eating offers a liberating alternative to the rigid, black-and-white thinking of diet culture and eating disorders. A departure from eating and living with self-control, judgment, and punishment, intuitive eating provides a nuanced, compassionate way of nourishing yourself from an embodied place of self-care, self-trust, and self-respect.

Linardon, Jake et al. “Intuitive eating and its psychological correlates: A meta-analysis.” The International journal of eating disorders vol. 54,7 (2021): 1073-1098. doi:10.1002/eat.23509

Hayashi, Lauren C et al. “Intuitive and mindful eating to improve physiological health parameters: a short narrative review of intervention studies.” Journal of complementary & integrative medicine, 10.1515/jcim-2021-0294. 16 Dec. 2021, doi:10.1515/jcim-2021-0294

Tylka, Tracy L et al. “Intuitive eating is connected to self-reported weight stability in community women and men.” Eating disorders vol. 28,3 (2020): 256-264. doi:10.1080/10640266.2019.1580126

Romano, Kelly A et al. “Helpful or harmful? The comparative value of self-weighing and calorie counting versus intuitive eating on the eating disorder symptomology of college students.” Eating and weight disorders : EWD vol. 23,6 (2018): 841-848. doi:10.1007/s40519-018-0562-6

Richards, P Scott et al. “Can patients with eating disorders learn to eat intuitively? A 2-year pilot study.” Eating disorders vol. 25,2 (2017): 99-113. doi:10.1080/10640266.2017.1279907

What Is Intuitive Eating? (And Can It Fit into Eating Disorder Recovery?)

I remember hearing the term “mechanical eating” for the first time when I was studying nutrition. It was presented as a rather dry medical term that’s only applicable to acute eating disorder patients, and taught as a rigid practice that must be approached in a very specific way for progress to occur.

However, I’ve discovered during my practice as an eating disorder dietitian that mechanical eating can actually be a powerful and adaptable tool for people across the eating disorder spectrum and 

. In fact, it can help people meet their nutrition needs in a variety of situations—both within and outside of eating disorder recovery. Today, we’ll explore what mechanical eating is, who it’s for, its pros and cons, how it compares to 

Simply put, mechanical eating is “eating by the clock,” according to Equip dietitian Tanya Hargrave-Klein, MS, RDN. “Meals and snacks are scheduled at specific times throughout the day instead of relying on hunger and fullness cues to prompt eating,” she explains.

In my practice, I often describe mechanical eating as “eating for self-care,” because even when you’re disconnected from your body’s cues, your body still needs energy (calories) to function properly and for you to thrive. Mechanical eating provides structure when cues aren’t available. That structure comes not only from designated times to eat, but also designated things to eat at those times. A dietitian provides meal and snack recommendations, which are tailored to each patient’s needs and include suggestions on both type and amount of food, according to 

 as tangible (and often temporary) tools for meeting energy and nutrient needs. “Meal plans often reduce and even eliminate the stress associated with deciding what and how much to eat,” Davenport says. “Using a meal plan also takes power away from the eating disorder: if the person in recovery has a meal plan and their eating disorder thoughts are prevalent, the meal plan is the guide and not the eating disordered thoughts.”

In eating disorder recovery, meal plans come in a wide variety of forms depending on your specific needs. But you can also practice mechanical eating without a meal plan at all—for example, it can mean simply eating at certain times of the day or eating every few hours. Davenport says, “There’s a spectrum of mechanical eating, which is useful for a variety of needs.”

After periods of malnutrition, under- or imbalanced eating, and mind-body disconnection, mechanical eating can help people with eating disorders know when, what, and how much to eat. Eating disorders often disrupt 

, or awareness of internal body states like hunger and fullness, so having external guidance from an approach like mechanical eating is necessary until cues are reconnected and reliable. For these reasons and others, it’s a helpful practice for a wide range of eating disorder patients with different needs and at different stages of recovery—as well as those without eating disorders. This includes:

“People in the early stages of recovery often aren’t able to tune into their internal cues and are also navigating loud eating disorder thoughts, and using mechanical eating gives them the structure and support to set aside the eating disorder thoughts,” Davenport explains. When I was working in an eating disorder treatment center, most of my patients were using mechanical eating as a tool to help them to 

 and vital signs, normalize eating at regular intervals, and challenge the eating disorder brain. 

 also supports its use as a re-nourishment tool and behavior change strategy to disrupt eating disorder routines.

, mechanical eating is part of caring for themselves, as it offers the support and structure to remind them it’s important to eat the next scheduled meal or snack after a binge,” Davenport says. One 

 of eating disorder patients showed “real-time skills” like mechanical eating and planning ahead are linked to lower likelihood of engaging in binge eating or 

Transitions or stressful life events can be a trigger for eating disorder relapse, and mechanical eating can protect against this risk. In my outpatient practice, I’ve found mechanical eating to be a helpful tool for clients further along in recovery when they’re going through transitions or hard periods, or if they’ve begun to slip into old, harmful patterns.

Neurodivergent people (e.g. those with autism spectrum disorder or 

) with or without eating disorders can benefit from using mechanical eating on a regular basis. Many neurodivergent folks forget to eat because of issues like medication side effects, 

 (or complete absorption in tasks), and decreased interoception. “Some neurodivergent individuals report being unable to tune into their internal hunger and fullness cues,” Davenport says. “In cases like this, mechanical eating is essential to helping people eat enough food at regular intervals throughout the day.”

 (or mental overload hindering decision-making abilities) and reduced 

 necessary for everyday tasks, like planning and remembering, are also common in neurodivergent folks. So mechanical eating can help by creating structure with personalized meal plans including pre-selected menus with simple and accessible foods. Also, 

 shows children with autism are more likely to have food sensory sensitivities, and can benefit from following individualized meal plans including foods with specific textures and preparations.

Anyone participating in a performance-based activity (e.g. 

, actors, and dancers) can use mechanical eating to support balanced and stable energy levels. “They need to eat based on when they have a game, meet, match, or performance, and they need to eat enough to be at their best during those events,” Davenport says. “They may not actually be hungry when it’s time to eat, but they know they need to fuel themselves to get through their match or game.” It can also come in handy after training, practicing, and performing, according to Stephanie Militano, RD, who works with athletes. She says that intense exercise and exertion can blunt hunger signals, making it “

, so sticking to a schedule keeps energy levels steady, powers performance, and supports recovery.”

Anyone needing temporary, circumstantial support

Unexpectedly, everyone can use mechanical as a temporary tool when various circumstances make it hard to stay connected to bodily cues and present a challenge for meeting nutrition needs. For example, you may travel overseas and change time zones, and then eat according to the new time zone’s clock (rather than your hunger) to help your body get on track. Or maybe you get sick with a cold or flu and use mechanical eating by eating bland foods without hunger, since such illnesses typically disrupt appetite and the mind-body connection. Or perhaps a 

 is nauseous, and she uses mechanical eating by eating small amounts by the clock every hour or two.

You may also find it challenging (like many of my clients and me) to stay connected to the body on emotionally charged days—when emotions are running high— and eating may look like eating simple foods every few hours. Finally, Davenport says new 

 can also use the tool, as “it can be helpful to go through their new schedule and plan out when, where, and sometimes what they’ll eat,” she explains. “Putting the information in their calendar and eating based on their schedule and what’s close to their classes is one form of mechanical eating.”

What are the pros and cons of mechanical eating?

Now that we know how mechanical eating can benefit different groups of people—including those with and without eating disorders—let’s explore some of its advantages and drawbacks.

Mechanical eating can be helpful and supportive in a variety of different circumstances. The benefits of mechanical eating include:

In my practice, I often describe mechanical eating to my clients as like picking up the phone to call an old friend you haven’t talked to in a long time. Though it might feel awkward or unnatural at first, over time, mechanical eating can help you re-establish your connection to your body after it’s been lost due to an eating disorder, illness, or another life situation. It’s often a temporary tool used until you recreate interoceptive awareness and 

. “Mechanical eating can be instrumental in helping people reconnect with, rebuild, and begin to trust their internal cues,” Davenport adds.

Offering tangible external guidance when you need it. 

As outlined above, there are many scenarios when the body’s cues aren’t reliable for guiding daily nourishment. Mechanical eating offers the necessary guidance during such times. “If someone needs guardrails to guide and prompt their eating, mechanical eating is a helpful tool,” Hargrave-Klein explains. “Setting up a schedule for eating helps people understand precisely how to adequately nourish their body.”

Disrupting the eating disorder brain and supporting weight restoration. 

In eating disorder recovery, mechanical eating can be a necessary part of 

, which is often required for medical safety and full recovery. Mechanical eating can also help patients directly challenge the eating disorder brain’s rules at meals and snacks—when listening to hunger and fullness cues is basically impossible (since the eating disorder brain will likely be shouting to eat far less, or far more, than a person needs). In fact, research shows that mechanical eating can help to normalize eating regularly, and 

clarify eating disorder triggers, thoughts, and underlying emotions

, which can be addressed and processed with a dietitian and therapist.

Though mechanical eating can be extremely helpful—even essential—in certain situations, it’s not a perfect approach in all situations. Some of the potential drawbacks of mechanical eating include:

Mechanical eating can become overly rigid and be taken to unhealthy extremes for some groups of people, like neurodivergent folks or those with eating disorders.

According to Hargrave-Klein, it can limit a person’s ability to be flexible with what and when to eat, which can make certain experiences difficult, like social outings, holidays, and traveling. For some people, “it’s easy for them to become so obsessed with sticking to the schedule and meal plan that any deviation from the plan causes troubling distress and anxiety,” she says.

Honestly, eating is most enjoyable when you’re hungry for the food you’re eating. Eating without feeling hungry can feel frustrating and physically uncomfortable at best, and even maddening and painful at worst. It’s especially hard for those in eating disorder recovery, since the eating disorder brain is often at its loudest during mealtimes, and intestinal conditions (like gastroparesis, which is slowed stomach motility) can develop after periods of malnutrition, which can make the act of eating physically painful.

Potential alignment with the eating disorder brain. 

Mechanical eating can become disordered when it’s used in an 

 for unnecessary periods of time—sort of like an abuse of power by the eating disorder. Davenport says it can become a “crutch,” especially for those with 

, who might use their mechanical eating plan to justify eating less than their body wants or needs. “The eating disorder can misuse the structure, and people can stay stuck using the clock, the amounts of food recommended to eat, and the foods suggested,” she explains. “So mechanical eating, like any tool, can end up being misused by the eating disorder.”

—a way of eating that emphasizes listening to the body—are opposites. The former includes following external guidance, and the latter emphasizes letting internal cues take the lead. “Intuitive eaters rely on hunger cues to know when to eat, they rely on feelings of fullness to know when to stop eating, and they select foods and beverages that will satisfy them in the moment,” Hargrave-Klein explains. “Mechanical eating is prescriptive and provides clear guidance on when to eat, sometimes despite the absence of hunger.”

But despite this opposition, mechanical eating can also be a step towards intuitive eating. “Mechanical eating can be a powerful tool in eating disorder recovery if you are working to get your hunger cues back,” Militano explains. “Over time, structured eating supports the goal of trusting your body's hunger signals.” In fact, the two eating styles can be used simultaneously, because, sometimes, it’s possible to practice 

the freedom of intuitive eating within the structure of mechanical eating

. For example, one of my clients finds it helpful to set alarms to remind her to make enough time to eat lunch amid a busy workday, 

 she lets her body tell her when she’s full and ready to move on from the meal. Or perhaps you have structured mealtimes but give yourself a few options to intuitively choose the contents of your meals. In truth, you can be an intuitive eater and still spend whole days or weeks mechanically eating because you’re sick or going through a hard time.

Frequently, intuitive eating is the desired outcome once someone reaches full recovery, and 

 shows it’s possible for eating disorder patients to eat intuitively eventually. However, it’s important to approach it with awareness, intention, and patience, because it takes time to reconnect with and heal the body, and to be mentally ready for full-on intuitive eating. It’s also important to note that intuitive eating isn’t for everyone and doesn’t always need to be the end goal—for example. neurodivergent people may understandably 

 of mechanical eating indefinitely, to help them stay healthy and thrive.

How to get started with mechanical eating

Whether you’re in recovery from an eating disorder (or supporting a loved one who is), traveling, sick, or think mechanical eating could help you for a different reason, there are a number of different ways you can begin this practice. Some strategies and approaches to consider include:

Setting phone alarms to help remember meals and snacks.

Joining virtual meal support groups for common humanity and encouragement.

Using (non-calorie-focused) food logs or apps like Recovery Record for identifying barriers and patterns.

Working with a dietitian to create a meal plan for structure.

This last bullet point is perhaps the most crucial one, since having the regular support of a dietitian can help significantly in your mechanical eating practice. Registered dietitians not only provide eating structure and guidelines, but also help clients navigate the inevitable barriers to getting nutritional needs met, and offer safe spaces to share about physical or emotional discomfort.

“I help clients with mechanical eating first by meeting clients where they are and explaining the support and structure mechanical eating can offer, including helping them restore their internal cues and working to trust their body and those cues,” Davenport says. “I want them to know it’s a tool that is tailored to their individual needs and that the tool will be in their back pocket anytime and in whatever form they need it, whether that’s a very structured meal plan with amounts and times to eat, or using the clock to plan to eat when they know there’s a long day ahead and lunch won’t be at the usual time.”

If you need help establishing or maintaining a mechanical eating practice, reach out to an eating disorder-informed registered dietitian. You can also 

 with an Equip team member if you think you could benefit from more comprehensive eating disorder support alongside mechanical eating.

Brown, T. A., Vanzhula, I. A., Reilly, E. E., Levinson, C. A., Berner, L. A., Krueger, A., Lavender, J. M., Kaye, W. H., & Wierenga, C. E. (2020). Body mistrust bridges interoceptive awareness and eating disorder symptoms. 

Pagano, N., Glasofer, D. R., Attia, E., Ruggiero, J., Eziri, K., Goldstein, C. M., & Steinglass, J. E. (2023). Perspectives on relapse prevention following intensive treatment of anorexia nervosa: A focus group study. 

The International Journal of Eating Disorders

MacDonald, D. E., Trottier, K., Cao, L., Crosby, R. D., Wonderlich, S. A., Engel, S. G., & Olmsted, M. P. (2024). Momentary skills use predicts decreased binge eating and purging early in day treatment: An ecological momentary assessment study. 

the International Journal of Eating Disorders/International Journal of Eating Disorders

Ashinoff, B. K., & Abu-Akel, A. (2019). Hyperfocus: the Forgotten Frontier of Attention. 

(1), 1–19. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00426-019-01245-8

What doctors wish patients knew about decision fatigue

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jkandel@allianceforeatingdisorders.com. (2019, April 29). 

Mechanical vs. Intuitive Eating | National Alliance for Eating Disorders

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https://www.allianceforeatingdisorders.com/mechanical-intutive-eating/

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Richards, P. S., Crowton, S., Berrett, M. E., Smith, M. H., & Passmore, K. (2017). Can patients with eating disorders learn to eat intuitively? A 2-year pilot study. 

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Mechanical Eating vs. Intuitive Eating: ADHD Struggles - MyLife Counselling Guelph

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What Is Mechanical Eating, and Why Is It Helpful in Eating Disorder Recovery?

Diet culture is omnipresent in our lives, but it’s always shape-shifting (for instance, people talking about “wellness” rather than weight loss). One of the more recent ways that 

 has shown up is in the trend of intermittent fasting, or not eating for certain hours of the day. Over the past few years, countless people have jumped on the intermittent fasting bandwagon, usually out of a genuine desire to improve their health. But the reality is, intermittent fasting itself can be a 

 behavior, and can lead to other problematic and unhealthy habits. Read on to learn more about the risks and benefits of this practice, the relationship between intermittent fasting and eating disorders, whether it’s safe for those in recovery, and more.

Intermittent fasting is an eating approach that 

 the ketogenic (keto) diet in popularity among Americans. Instead of setting rules about what types of foods you can and can’t consume (like forbidding carbs with keto), intermittent fasting involves rigid rules about when—rather than what—you eat.

“There’s a length of time in the day when a person chooses to eat, and a length of time they choose to fast,” explains dietitian 

. “There are several methods with varying time ranges, such as a 16-hour fast with eight hours of eating, or fasting days, in which a person may cut way back on their caloric intake for five days, and then eat in a surplus for the remaining two days of the week.” According to Equip dietitian Rui Tanimura, RD, other intermittent fasters may have one large meal per day and avoid all meals and snacks otherwise. Exactly how it looks will vary from person to person, but the basic principle is the same: limiting food intake during set periods of time, and allowing unrestricted access to food during other periods of time.

The supposed benefits of intermittent fasting

Proponents claim that intermittent fasting has several significant health benefits, such as increasing lifespan, improving conditions associated with inflammation (like Alzheimer’s), preventing cancer, and improving heart health. Weight loss, it should probably go without saying, is also high on the list of touted benefits. “Supporters claim that it’s an effective approach to control or change weight, improve metabolism, and to prevent overeating,” says Tanimura.

While there are some studies supporting the benefits of intermittent fasting, it’s not the type of research that shows direct causation—in other words, the studies might show that intermittent fasting is associated with lower blood pressure, but don’t prove or claim that intermittent fasting itself caused this change. The existing research also lacks data from which we can make any evidence-based recommendations about intermittent fasting.

“Intermittent fasting, just like any other fad diet, has far-reaching claims attached to it,” says Chaffin. “The problem is, 

 on intermittent fasting has been done almost exclusively in a lab on animals.” For example, 

 showing a link between intermittent fasting and longevity was conducted with fruit flies, and 

. Research that associated intermittent fasting with improving inflammation-linked diseases like Alzheimer’s and that 

“Intermittent fasting, just like any other fad diet, has far-reaching claims attached to it,” says Chaffin. “The problem is, the 