At Hopewella Nutrition, I’m often considered the authority on intuitive eating. Intuitive eating is a concept I teach and personally value, but like all things in nutrition, it has its nuances and limitations—especially when it comes to overeating, undereating, and weight loss.
Before diving into the limitations, let’s take a moment to clarify what intuitive eating really means.
What Is (and Isn’t) Intuitive Eating?
At its core, intuitive eating is about listening to and honoring your body’s true needs—nutritionally, physically, emotionally, and mentally. It is about nourishing yourself in a way that supports balance and well-being rather than acting on surface-level cravings or habitual patterns.
Let’s debunk a few common intuitive eating myths:
- A strong desire for chocolate or ice cream after a long day? That’s not intuitive eating.
- A sudden urge for beef stew out of the blue? Also not intuitive eating.
Instead, intuitive eating might look like this:
- You notice dry skin, constipation, and mental fog. Rather than reaching for dry, crunchy snacks, you shift toward moist, grounding foods like oatmeal, stewed vegetables, and warm beverages with healthy fats.
- You’re feeling heavy, bloated, and with stagnant digestion. Instead of giving in to comfort foods, you choose a lighter, greens and fiber-heavy meal to support digestion and reduce inflammation.
These examples show the depth of true intuitive eating: observation, reflection, and action based on what your body needs, not what your taste buds crave in the moment or after a stressful day.
Where Intuitive Eating Falls Short
Despite its value, intuitive eating isn’t a flawless system. In fact, it has some important limitations—especially when it’s practiced without deeper nutritional knowledge or in the presence of unique metabolic or lifestyle demands.
1. Overeating While “Listening” to Hunger
One of the biggest misconceptions about intuitive eating is that it is simply about eating when you’re hungry and stopping when you’re full. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always work in real life. Why?
Because hunger and fullness are not always accurate indicators of what your body needs.
Some individuals are genetically wired to feel hungry more often or feel less satisfied after meals. If you happen to carry these genetic tendencies, you might overeat even when trying to “eat intuitively.”
Similarly, eating highly processed foods—even when you follow hunger and fullness cues—can lead to overconsumption. A study by Hall et al. (2019) showed that ultra-processed diets lead to significantly higher calorie intake, regardless of hunger levels. This study also demonstrated that part of the overeating with highly processed foods is that they are hyperpalatable and require less chewing and thus are eaten more quickly. When you slow down at meal time, this also allows hunger and fullness cues to catch up to your food ingestion.
2. Undereating, Especially in Active Lifestyles
The flip side of overeating is undereating—another common pitfall in intuitive eating, especially among those focused on eating “healthfully.” High-fiber, plant-forward diets can leave you feeling full before your body’s energy needs are met, especially if you’re very active.
Athletes and those with physically demanding jobs often require more calories and specific macronutrient ratios than they realize. When these individuals rely solely on hunger cues, they may fall into Relative Energy Deficiency in Sport (REDs)—a state where chronic under-fueling impacts hormones, metabolism, recovery, and long-term health.
Additionally, chronic undereating can suppress appetite over time, making hunger an unreliable signal altogether.
3. Weight Loss Goals and Misguided Intuition
Weight management is one area where intuitive eating can be especially tricky. Weight gain often occurs subtly—through slightly overeating, choosing nutrient-dense but calorie-rich foods too frequently, or not understanding one’s individual nutritional needs.
Intuitive eating can support weight loss, but only if the person has enough nutritional awareness to discern what their body truly needs.
For individuals with a genetic predisposition toward weight retention or metabolic challenges (such as insulin resistance or high cholesterol), intuitive eating without proper education might result in choosing foods that are technically “healthy,” but inappropriate for their unique makeup. For instance:
- Someone may thrive on a lower-fat, plant-centric diet.
- Another person may need a higher-protein, lower-glycemic approach.
In these cases, intuitive eating must be paired with nutrition proficiency to be effective.
The Role of Nutrition Proficiency
True intuitive eating is not just about listening to your body—it is about understanding what it’s telling you. That requires both self-awareness and knowledge.
For example, your body might show signs of imbalance like bloating, fatigue, skin dryness, or brain fog. These signs aren’t cravings—they’re messages. With the right guidance, you learn how to read them and make dietary choices that bring your body back to balance.
This level of proficiency often takes time to develop and is highly individualized. What works beautifully for one person might create imbalance in another—even if both are “eating intuitively.”
Final Thoughts
I’m a big proponent of intuitive eating, and believe in its power to transform relationships with food and self. But I also believe in nuance.
To make intuitive eating truly effective—especially when addressing overeating, undereating, or weight concerns—you need to go deeper. Slow down. Tune into the phenomena of what your body is telling you. Learn your body’s patterns. Understand your genetic tendencies. Understand your metabolic demands based on lifestyle. Pair mindfulness with knowledge.
Because at the end of the day, intuitive eating isn’t about doing what feels good in the moment. It’s about doing what brings your whole system into sustainable balance.
Want to Learn More?
Are you curious whether intuitive eating is working for you — or not? If you’d like to learn more, I’d love to speak with you in a quick phone conversation!
