This is more of a personal story than a list of facts, but here it is anyway:

From the standpoint of metabolism and adrenal recovery, caffeine is not the most helpful. It can tax the adrenals and spike cortisol making it difficult to completely restore the metabolism.

It is also used as a “diet aid”, as it can suppress the appetite and artificially speed up the system. This can only work for so long, eventually causing burnout, crashing and probably a slower system altogether in the long run.

I have been very addicted to coffee in the past. It was a crutch to my “intuitive eating”, and I would use it to stretch the time and hunger in between my “intuitive meals”. This was at a time when I was not eating very many carbs, and coffee was not only my appetite suppression, but my energy. I would always drink coffee with cream and no sugar. It was always the thing that I would go for if I was hungry but it wasn’t mealtime and I needed something to tie me over- it was very much my “happy” little vice.

It got to the point where no matter how much caffeine I drank, I didn’t feel a thing, yet I always craved it.

And while I don’t think that a life without coffee is anything that needs to be remedied, (if you don’t drink coffee, I am not telling you to start) my attempts at cutting out coffee completely made me sad! I really like coffee. I like the taste and I like the morning ritual. I didn’t want to be addicted to it, but I didn’t want to live without it completely either.

Adding It Back In

Of course we know that anything can be used and abused, coffee being a prime example of that, and caffeine is also addictive (they tell me). But after a few months without coffee at all (and upping my carbs) I decided to add it back in, thanks to reading Ray Peat.

He is a fan of coffee and claims that it supports the thyroid. How does that information compete with the evidence that it depletes your adrenals? No clue. One is wrong, both are wrong, one is right, one is wrong. Both are right. I don’t care. However, he always suggests it be consumed with food, or at least sugar. so it doesn’t spike and crash your blood sugar, which I have taken to heart.

So, I started back in with one in the morning with my breakfast….

and guess what?…

Having more carbs in general in my diet, makes me crave coffee way less as the day goes on. My body isn’t crying out for energy and stimulation as much as its used to be. And when I think I want a coffee in the afternoon like I used to have (due to boredom, or thirst, or hunger) imagining myself actually drinking a coffee -I realize I do not actually want it at all.

I happened to get my blood tested one morning after my coffee in that first week that I had added coffee back in, and the results came back without any elevated cortisol, so…. booya!

One cup (often a STRONG one) in the morning seems to end up being enough.

And I am very thrilled by the moderation…

Note: This is not a very scientific post…. obviously, but I figure some of you would like to know that a small to moderate amount of coffee isn’t going to senselessly ravage your adrenals.

Still, don’t forget about sleeping, working on stress, and eating food over drinking coffee, and you can probably indulge moderately.

So Fuck It! And drink a little coffee if you want.

Successful Intuitive Eating employs trusting & listening & letting go.

Because of that, part of Intuitive Eating’s success also rests on accepting where you are now and where your body is now.

Here is the thing: If you are attempting to eat intuitively, but still horrified and upset by your body, there will be a subconscious fight with your own intuition. It will be pushing and wishing to speed up the learning process. This can undermine your work. Because if you are secretly wishing you were craving less, or craving different foods, then you are not allowing the whole healing and nourishing process to take place. And you will wonder why you still feel like you aren’t allowed to eat some foods! Its because your subconscious is fighting your honest efforts: wishing you were at the end while you are still on the journey.

Allowing your body to be where it is for as long as it needs to be there is so helpful for supporting your Intuitive Eating Journey.

I know it is hard, but accepting where you are now is the only way to get where you want to go.

A real paradox.

The idea of intuitive eating is to listen to your internal cues, rather than external rules, to guide what and how much you eat. The hope is that you will listen to your cravings and hunger to determine when to stop eating.

As I said in my previous post, I believe the only way to easily and naturally stop when you are satisfied (as opposed to nervously eating more than is comfortable), is to truly allow all foods and commit to never restricting again.

Don’t Stress Out Over New Rules

One of the rules or ‘guidelines’ that you will often hear about intuitive eating is “stop when you are full”. While I agree that this is a tenet of intuitive eating, sometimes coming from that angle can be stressful.

During previous intuitive eating attempts, I’d get truly stressed over “when I was full”. I was very concerned that I was going to overshoot and “not learn how to do it correctly”. Please note that THIS fear stems also from a deep fear of gaining weight, which is why body positivity is so important.

I have heard from other intuitive eating teachers and books things like: pay close attention to your hunger. Rate your hunger every few bites. Pay attention, satisfaction can happen mid-bite… While I think it is helpful to pay attention to how you feel during your eating, the way that way they focused on stopping points was stressful and unhelpful. It made me believe that there was one perfect stopping point that I should always be finding. And there is not!

There are many bites on a scale of good stopping points. And any point is ok!

You body can handle an extra few bites! Or like way more. You may be slightly fuller, but as long as you are listening and feeling and enjoying, you are doing well. And your body makes up for it in slightly longer satiation. Or slightly less hunger for your next meal or snack. Or revved metabolism.

There is no virtue in stopping just at the perfect point. Or just before you get full. There is no problem being that in-tune, but expecting there to even be a “perfect point” every time you eat is going to leave you frustrated. Especially in the beginning of your Intuitive Eating journey. There is no perfect point. Trying to find it will just stress you out.

and just for the hell of it…

In Defense of Overeating

(My definition is: eating til you are uncomfortably full.)

• teaches your body there is no famine
• teaches your mind there is no restriction
• activates your your metabolism
• teaches you how it feels to stop at different points of fullness
• proves to you that eating past fullness can’t destroy you
• focuses on nourishing, instead of restricting

Don’t get caught up in Intuitive Eating Perfectionism!