Intuitive Eating in School

[Guest guest]

Hello, all. I'd like to start by introducing myself. My name is

, and I have been struggling with eating disorders for over 15

years. I first stumbled on the Intuitive Eating book while working

at a bookstore a couple years ago and was thrilled with the

prospect. I never got far with the book, because I was trying

to " master " one stage at a time, and I couldn't get past the first

stag of rejecting the diet mentality. Thanks to situations in my

life, including a wonderful therapist, I have been able to deal with

many of the issues underlying my eating difficulties, and I finally

feel that I'm ready to try this for real. A couple weeks ago, I

joined this group, ordered a few recommended books, and started

reading IE in earnest. I've been journaling while reading, which has

produced over 25 pages of thoughts and realizations. It's exciting

and scary at the same time.

I teach 9th grade English in a economically-stressed, rural area, and

was working over vacation to prepare our next unit, an independent

research project. The idea is that the kids get to choose any topic,

research it, and present it to the class in some fashion for their

midterm. I do all the assignments I give my kids, to show that I

believe in them and to model what I'm looking for. (And hopefully

inspire a bit!) When I was scheming about this in the summer, my

plan was to learn how to play the saxophone and play a song for

them. But with all the time I was investing in reading and writing

about Intuitive Eating, I was worried that I wouldn't have time to

learn to play the saxophone.

Then it occured to me that I was doing research about Intuitive

Eating, and that would be a great model to show the kids how people

research naturally, in their normal lives. So, I'm preparing to give

a little presentation about Intuitive Eating to 100+ 9th graders, and

I'm so excited. My students range from girls with diagnosed eating

disorders to boys who lost weight/are trying to lose weight for

sports to typical American teenagers, terrified of being overweight.

They need to hear about Intuitive Eating.

Of course, I plan on making it a bit personal, because that always

catches their attention, but I was also wondering if anyone had

suggestions/messages that I should incorporate in my presentation.

I'd like to make a brouchure to give the kids, so that they have the

information to take with them.

I've really appreciated reading everyone's posts and stories, and I

will gladly welcome any advice you have.

Thank you so much!