An educational handout for those who have the "Determined Dieter" nutrition personality.

1. Determined Dieter
Your Goals:
 Get off the diet rollercoaster by paying attention to hunger cues
Diet programs teach you to eat according to a plan or a set of rules. A
better way to decide how much you need to eat is to pay attention to
feelings of hunger and fullness. Instead of tracking calories or fat grams or
carbohydrate counts, try using a hunger scale instead. Before each meal
or snack write down how hungry you feel. 20 minutes after eating, rate
how full you feel. Aim to start eating in the 3-4 range and stop in the 6-7
range.
Hunger Scale
1 You can’t concentrate, feel dizzy, lack coordination, feel sick
2 You feel irritable, cranky and low energy
3 Urge to eat is strong. Your stomach feels empty. If you smell food, you drool
4 Thoughts of food become frequent. You’re a little hungry
5 You feel satisfied. Neutral
6 You’re fully satisfied. You could go 2-3 hrs without eating and be ok
7 You’re past satisfied, but not overly full. You could go 4-6 hrs without eating
8 Start to feel your stomach stretching. You get the idea you ate too much
9 You feel uncomfortable, heavy, tired bloated
10 You are physically miserable, you need to loosen your belt
 Embrace all foods
It’s easy to get the idea that some foods are “good” and others are
“bad”. From there it’s a short jump to “I’m bad because I ate XYZ food”.
In truth, all foods can be enjoyed in moderation.
The following principles of intuitive eating come from an excellent book by
Evelyn Tribole & Elyse Resch called “Intuitive Eating”.

2. 10 Principles of Intuitive Eating
1 Reject the Diet Mentality
Throw out the diet books that offer you false hope of losing weight quickly or effortlessly
2 Honor Your Hunger
Keep your body fed with adequate calories
3 Make Peace with Food
No foods are forbidden
4 Challenge the Food Police
Avoid thinking you're "good" for eating few calories or "bad" because you indulged
5 Respect Your Fullness
Listen for the body signals that tell you that you are no longer hungry
6 Discover the Satisfaction Factor
Take pleasure in your food
7 Honor Your Feelings Without Using Food
Find ways to comfort, nurture, distract, and cope without using food
8 Respect Your Body
Accept your genetic blueprint
9 Exercise Gently Doing Something You Enjoy
Forget militant exercise
10 Honor Your Health
Make good choices most of the time, but you don't have to be perfect to be healthy
 Seek additional support if you need it
If you feel you need additional help with chronic dieting, there are several
good books as well as campus resources.
Recommended Books
• Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole & Elyse Resch
• Breaking Free from Emotional Eating by Geneen Roth
• The Food and Feelings Workbook by Karen Koening
Local Resources
Boynton Mental Health Clinic 612.624.1444. First appointment must be
made in person at 410 Church Street
Boynton Nutrition Services 612.625.3222. Services of registered dietitian
are free for all fee-paying students
University Counseling & Consulting Service 612.624.3323. First
appointment must be made in person at 109 Eddy Hall
The Emily Program – 651.645.5323
Online Resources
www.nationaleatingdisorders.org
www.somethingfishy.org
www.emilyprogram.com
www.mentalhealth.umn.edu/counseling/index.html
www.bhs.umn.edu