IE: Unconscious Competence??

[Guest guest]

My minister recently described in his sermon the 4 stages of learning. That

description reminded me of how I learned to eat intuitively. Here's the stages

and how those related to my intuitive eating journey:

(1) UNCONSCIOUS INCOMPENTENCE: You don't know how to do something and you don't

even recognize that you don't know how. You just struggle. You may not even

admit to yourself that you struggle.

During my 20s and 30s I struggled with restricting certain foods, bingeing,

purging, but I didn't know how to change my disordered eating habits or fears

about food and eating. I didn't even know that my beliefs about food and eating

perpetuated my disordered habits.

(2) CONSCIOUS INCOMPETENCE: You know that you don't know how to do what you want

to do. At this stage you are teachable and open to new ideas and change.

I learned about eating intuitively, according to hunger cues, starting when

hungry and stopping when comfortably full. I learned that restricting according

to external indices like calories, rather than choosing foods that I enjoyed

eating, influenced my rebellious bingeing. I learned that people could actually

trust their bodies to tell them when, what and how much to eat. However, I

didn't know the exact skills I needed to eat intuitively.

(3) CONSCIOUS COMPENTENCE: You get instructions. By imitation or insights, you

consciously do something differently. You practice new skills over and over.

I allowed myself freedom to eat whatever I wanted to taste, but also considered

what my body wanted. I imagined how foods would feel in my body when I felt

hungry. I practiced waiting until I felt hungry before eating. I practiced

eating mindfully, slowly and without distractions, to sense my fullness cues so

that I could stop eating when I felt comfortably full. I paid attention to how

food felt in my body in order to choose foods that felt good after eating as

well as tasted good during eating.

(4) UNCONSCIOUS COMPENTENCE: You don't have to think about using the skills. You

just do whatever you learned without thinking.

I'm not completely to this point yet. However, I often forget about eating until

I feel hunger cues. I prefer eating without distractions and slowly tasting and

savoring each bite. I sense my point of 'enough' and then comfortable fullness.

Although I prefer stopping at comfortable fullness, I still overeat when I'm

distracted by conversation while eating with others. With 7 restrictions from 7

diagnosed food allergies, I still struggle with feeling free to eat anything. I

still occasionally eat to cope with emotions, rather than to satisfy hunger.

Nevertheless, I try to match the qualities I crave (sweet, sour, warm, cold,

chewy, creamy, dry, juicy, etc.) to the foods available within my allergy

restrictions. I'm somewhere between stages 3 and 4.

So where are all of you in your IE journey?

SUE