Do you have a hard time eating without worrying about "good" and "bad" food labels? Do you feel like food is your enemy? Do you feel overwhelmed by all the nutrition info out there? Join Julie and fellow dietitian Fiona Southerland to start unpacking this issue! Subscribe and leave a review here in just seconds! Key Points: Our bodies have lots of different methods, including our brains and our intuition, to help them figure out what they needs in terms of food in order to feel satisfied and full. Healthy eating includes PLEASURE! Fiona Southerland joins to help answer this week’s letter! Self-compassion and kindness is super important when we confront our beliefs related to food rules. We are not alone… so many of us feel this way. It’s impossible to follow every single food rule! The more we try to follow rules and live in our heads (intellectualizing!), the less we listen to our body and intuition (innate wisdom!). There are so many crazy things going on in the world… why are we focused on whether or not something has gluten in it?! Even the professionals don’t know everything about nutrition… it’s confusing! When we try to control things that weren’t supposed to be controlled (like our food intake) we go haywire. Our culture is confusing health with our appearance (like our body shape). Our expectations about the female body inform our opinions of health. Fiona’s "Build up and let go model:" build up our skills of inner awareness, which will allow us to let go of rigidity. We need skills related to our intuition in order to drop the food rules and stick to it! How do we find a stable place outside of food when we feel out of control with our body? The wise parts of us are not perfect! Intuitive eating can become another set of diet rules… don’t let it! The foundation of intuitive eating is unconditional permission to eat. We must help people build long-term resilience against the cultural crap! Self-care and personal connection are super helpful for our wellbeing, and we have to return to our well of wisdom and call upon a stable place of self-compassion to take care or ourselves and move past cultural expectations. Intuitive eating is s different way of BEING with food. It’s peace. But it’s scary, and that’s okay! Perfectionism and the all-or-nothing approach can get in the way of healing around food. Fiona says, “Reassurance without assurance”… we will support you through the confusion! HEALING YOUR RELATIONSHIP TO FOOD IS MESSY!! (Cultivate the mess!) Although knowledge is important, it can take us away from living. It’s time to slow down and hone in on our intuition. Show Notes: Link to subscribe to the weekly FREE Food Peace Newsletter. It is sent out every Tuesday morning and no spam EVER. By signing up, I will also send you Love Food's Season 1's Food Peace Syllabus. Work by Ellyn Satter Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Trioble and Elyse Resch Embody by Connie Sobczak The Diet Survivor's Handbook by Judith Matz and Ellen Frankel Find Fiona Southerland at Body Positive Australia! Find her professional development, resources, and workshops about mindfulness and intuitive eating for dietitians at The Mindful Dietitian Eating Disorder Dietitians Julie Dillon RD blog Do you have a complicated relationship with food? I want to help! Send your Dear Food letter to LoveFoodPodcast@gmail.com.  Click here to leave me a review in iTunes and subscribe. This type of kindness helps the show continue! Thank you for listening to the Love, Food series. Give me feedback via Twitter @EatingPermitRD. This episode was sponsored by my friends at Green Mountain at Fox Run. A special promotion for Love Food listeners: VIP Upgrades at Green Mountain at Fox Run On stays November 6 - December 17, 2016 Green Mountain at Fox Run is offering special upgrades for one+ week reservations through the end of the year. Receive a free room upgrade and $250 credit towards amenities and professional services. See Details