Goals. Transformation. Truth-seeking. Change.

January brings a palpable awareness to new beginnings. One place that this always shows up this time of year is in the world of weight loss, particularly through dieting. There is nothing wrong with making your health a priority, making some changes to your routine, or setting a goal around your wellness. However, dieting (i.e. restricting our food intake with the goal of weight loss) strips women of one of our greatest gifts: our intuition.

There’s a good chance that if you have been on one diet, you have been on another...and another. That’s because women have been conditioned to believe (and are still being sold on) that their worth is directly tied to the size, shape, and weight of their bodies. So, if we aren’t working on our bodies, there must be something wrong with us. Women know that most diets don’t work, and the ones that do, have temporary results and often do not last. Why do we continue to buy into this? Because the industry has led us to believe that we failed, could not finish, and did not have the willpower to stick with the diet. Somehow, it is our fault that their product failed to work! Our best defense in this cycle is the wise voice that lies in each of us that knows our truth, our intuition.

Women know that knowledge does not just come from the outside. In many cases, we do not need data or hard facts when it comes to knowing what to do, when something is wrong, or what decision to make. We have our own internal compass that helps us. Unfortunately, the world doesn’t see things through a woman’s eyes. So, women have been taught to ignore or even fear our intuition. We are taught to use our heads, not our heart, and to only trust what is rational or logical. Both the rational mind and intuitive mind are important and there should be a balance. But, many of us have been leaning way too far on the rational side, leaving the intuitive brain silenced.

Have you ever been told or have told yourself that you’re being too sensitive or emotional? Why do we tell ourselves this when sensitivity or emotional attunement are some of our greatest powers? How often do we tell female friends to listen to their gut, but push our own away? We have been told that it is wrong to live by this internal information and that there must be something wrong with us if we do. So, it is no wonder that we search for quantitative and tangible ways to live in the world. Insert: dieting.

Dieting gives you a plan, a measurable way to move forward and assess progress. The message is that women’s bodies are “out of control” and a diet shows that you are in control. If a woman’s body is larger than what society has deemed acceptable, the focus should be on making it small and less inconvenient for the world around her. So, what do we do to reclaim this intuition around diet culture? We start showing up like the women we are. We create an environment that allows us to authentically be women, we connect and talk and surround ourselves with women instead of pushing that away.

To get in touch with our intuition, we need to get back in touch with the feminine. We listen, we slow down, we rest, we find stillness when we can, we are receptive and emotional. We focus on how we actually feel instead of how we “should” be feeling, making decisions about what our individual bodies and minds need instead of relying on the outside world to tell us. We come to the size, shape, and weight of our bodies with curiosity, not judgement to invoke guidance against ridicule. We check in with ourselves to find answers, hunches, and insights. By acting upon your inner advice, you will strengthen your intuition even if it has been denied for decades.

Often women struggle with knowing if they are tuning into their intuition or not. However, they know exactly how it feels when they deny it: stuck, silenced, betrayed, powerless and helpless. Everything feels like a struggle, whether we are talking about our bodies or life in general. It feels like everything out there is working against us and we struggle to catch a break or do anything right. This can turn to shame and guilt quickly. When we use our intuitive mind, we feel powerful and full of life. We move through the world with trust and fearlessness. Self-compassion and wisdom lives in this intuitive space. We are more powerful WITH this tool than without it.

Trying using your intuition the next time you feel pulled to work on your body, to change your size, shape, or weight. Can you be still long enough to listen to your internal compass that is composed of compassion and truth and make a decision from that space? Is there an alternative way or reason behind that feeling that surfaces in that stillness that is more authentic to you? Women have long known many truths about the world around us, none more important than our own that lives within us.

Emily Betros

Emily is a licensed clinical social worker, certified health coach, and owner of Reclaiming Health, LLC. She specializes in body image support, eating disorders, anxiety, life transitions, mindfulness, and women's issues. More info: www.reclaiminghealth.net.