"Diabetes is not caused by something that we've eaten."
Intuitive eating for diabetes starts by taking the blame off the table, and if a diagnosis has ever left you feeling like you did this to yourself, today’s episode was made to help remove that shame and blame. Somewhere between the lab results and the list of foods to avoid, many people walk out of the doctor’s office carrying shame they never agreed to pick up.
Chrissy knows that feeling well. Last year she received a type 2 diabetes diagnosis, and the shame and embarrassment were heavy. Then she found Janice Dada’s book, Intuitive Eating for Diabetes, and moved from shame to acceptance and agency. Since November is Diabetes Awareness Month, it felt like the right time to bring Janice onto the Old School Food Freedom Podcast and talk about intuitive eating and diabetes together.
Janice is a dietitian with almost two decades of experience, and she offers a holistic approach to diabetes that looks at the whole picture, including lab numbers. She is warm, practical, and refreshingly free of food rules, and she’s convinced that the person in the body is the wisest one in the room.
Here's what we cover:
The numbers: 537 million adults worldwide have diabetes, and nearly half of Americans (about 135 million people) have diabetes or prediabetes, so you are far from alone if you’re one of them
Why myths about prediabetes send people into panic, including the story of a varsity basketball player whose doctor told him to stop eating carbs
The real causes of diabetes, from night shift sleep patterns and social determinants of health to stress, endocrine-disrupting chemicals, genetics, certain medications, and weight cycling, and why eating too much sugar is not the cause
What Janice says to the listener who looks at her yo-yo dieting history and believes it’s all her fault
Whether you can eat sugar with diabetes, and how the brownie-and-garlic comparison makes the whole question feel lighter
A walk through the ten intuitive eating principles and what each one looks like with a diabetes diagnosis
How to talk back to the diabetes police at the next family gathering, with options for every energy level
Why satisfaction is the hub of intuitive eating, and what SnackWell’s cookies have to do with it
Ten-minute “exercise snacks,” and why movement is allowed to be roller skates
Why gentle nutrition comes last
If you’ve ever been told that diabetes means saying goodbye to your favorite foods, Janice has good news. No foods are off-limits with diabetes. Janice invites you to get curious about what your body does with a food, make a small adjustment if you want one, and drop the shame entirely. She asks, “Can we be a neutral observer of what our body needs?” The way she asks it, the answer feels like a breath of fresh air.
"We have to sort of think about the whole scenario, not just the number." - Janice Dada
Come back in two weeks, when we take on diabetes and eating disorders and talk about what happens when treatment becomes the trigger. Know someone who is newly diagnosed and buried in shame? Send them this episode.
We’d love to hear your thoughts, so please drop us an email at admin@findingbalance.com, send us a voice message via SpeakPipe, or you can also subscribe for more practical episodes coming your way.
More About Janice Dada
Janice is a weight-inclusive registered dietitian with a private practice in Newport Beach, CA. She is a certified intuitive eating counselor, certified diabetes care and education specialist (CDCES), and certified eating disorders specialist (CEDS). She is passionate about simplifying and destigmatizing the nutrition- and weight-based discourse around diabetes.
Hello Freedom Community
Our Hello Freedom community is open! This Christ-centered space offers connection, encouragement, and gentle steps toward freedom from food and body-image struggles. No pretending, no fixing yourself first, come just as you are. If you want in, your next step is to join us at findingbalance.com/community.
You were not meant to walk this alone. We're saving a seat for you!
Mentioned Resources
Book: Intuitive Eating for Diabetes by Janice Dada
Connect with Janice Dada
Facebook
Instagram
SpeakPipe – Send us a voice message!
CHRIST-CENTERED RESOURCES TO HELP YOU FIND FREEDOM
The Daily Vitamin eDevo: A free devotional with bite-sized truth emailed 5 days a week
Community Groups: Find connection with prayer groups and our Hello, Freedom! community.
Christian Treatment Finder: Connecting you with Christian providers experienced in treating eating issues.
Lasting Freedom Online Course: A Christ-centered, non-diet course to work through false beliefs about food and weight so you can live free from disordered eating and body image issues.
CREDITS
Interlude music by “Hotham” – Morning Thoughts
Intro music by “MokkaMusic” – Old Jeans (Funk)
Wrap-up music by Jesse Quinn – Christian Instrumental
Production & Editing by Leah Bryant Co
The content in this podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prescribe a particular course of action. If you have, or suspect you may have, an eating disorder, please consult your healthcare provider. If you desire to receive faith-based care, visit ChristianTreatmentFinder.com to browse professionals with a Kingdom campaign against eating disorders.
The unedited transcript for this episode of Old School Food Freedom
Chrissy Kirkman [00:00:31 - 00:01:09]: Glad that you are here. I love your book. I cannot wait for my friends here to just dive into this episode because your book changed my life in so many ways. It was so profound right at the right time. But first, let me tell them about you. Janice Dada is a weight-inclusive registered dietitian with a private practice in Newport Beach, California. She is a certified intuitive eating counselor, certified diabetes care and educational specialist, and certified eating disorders specialist. She is passionate about simplifying and destigmatizing the nutrition and weight-based discourse around diabetes.
Celebrating Janice's Work
Chrissy Kirkman [00:01:09 - 00:01:24]: Yay for you! Cheering you on so big. Intuitive Eating for Diabetes: The No Shame, No Blame, Non-Diet Approach to Managing Your Blood Sugar is her first book. And if that's your first book, Jana's like— You nailed it.Janice Dada [00:01:24 - 00:01:25]: Oh, thank you so much.
Chrissy Kirkman [00:01:25 - 00:02:08]: It's so good. Of course. So friends, November is Diabetes Awareness Month, and some of you may be familiar. I've shared it in an episode or two, but last year I received a type 2 diabetes diagnosis. In the middle of it, I discovered Janice's book, Intuitive Eating for Diabetes, and it genuinely shifted my experience and it helped me move from shame. I felt so much shame and embarrassment. And it helped me move from that place to acceptance and agency. And that journey brought me straight here because as it turns out, the intersection of diabetes, intuitive eating, and eating disorders is something I haven't covered on the podcast yet.
Chrissy Kirkman [00:02:08 - 00:02:15]: So I just knew I needed the right voice to do it justice. And that is Janice. So, girl, I'm so grateful for your work.
Janice Dada [00:02:15 - 00:02:15]: Thank you.
Chrissy Kirkman [00:02:16 - 00:02:23]: Before we get into today's episode, will you share with us what old school item or experience you miss from back in the day?
Old School Nostalgia
Janice Dada [00:02:25 - 00:02:43]: Yeah, so I was thinking about this and a couple things popped to mind. One is just roaming the halls of Blockbuster Video. Yes, we can like go online and find whatever we want now, but there's so many options that sometimes we can't even make a decision in my house.Chrissy Kirkman [00:02:43 - 00:02:45]: And so decision fatigue, it's real.
Janice Dada [00:02:46 - 00:03:16]: Yes. And then there's arguing and yeah. So, you know, I loved in the past being able to just go and see everything in front of you and you might leave with, you know, 5 videos, but that you'd watch them over a course of time. So that's something I miss. And the other thing I was thinking about that I miss from the '90s is just like people making mixtapes, you know, like giving them to a friend or giving them to a crush or whatever. And that they, you know, were hand selected. Like, yeah, you can make a mixtape. a sort of mixtape on a streaming device now.
Janice Dada [00:03:17 - 00:03:23]: But in the past, you know, it was like there was no AI, there was no algorithm leading you to the next song. You had to come up with it all on your own.
Chrissy Kirkman [00:03:24 - 00:03:25]: You went deep too.
Janice Dada [00:03:26 - 00:03:26]: Yeah.
Chrissy Kirkman [00:03:26 - 00:03:34]: It's especially if it was a, a guy, like you were thinking about what if the lyrics mean, is he gonna take this wrong? Or maybe he needs to take it the way I want him to take it.
Janice Dada [00:03:35 - 00:03:35]: Yeah.
Chrissy Kirkman [00:03:35 - 00:03:56]: Oh my gosh. I love that so much. And both of those I just like, take me back. And the whole point of like, like there's no AI. I had to use my brain and my heart. I'm writing, like I had to pause at the right time and, and record at the right time. And I'm writing in my handwriting, you know, Chrissy's Mixtape or whatever it was. I don't know.
Chrissy Kirkman [00:03:56 - 00:03:58]: This is how we do it. Jams.
Janice Dada [00:03:58 - 00:04:04]: Couldn't Google the lyrics, right? You had to listen intently to figure out what are the lyrics actually saying?
Chrissy Kirkman [00:04:05 - 00:04:32]: Yeah, listen intently. Or remember when like the CDs and the tapes had the, they had the covers and you would open them and you would read the lyrics? That's the other thing that drives me crazy with AI is so many artists have lyrics out there that aren't even correct because AI just listens and picks up what it thinks they're saying. That drives me crazy with worship music too, because I'm like, this makes no sense at all. It's just an AI thing. But anyway.
Janice Dada [00:04:32 - 00:04:32]: Yeah.
Chrissy Kirkman [00:04:32 - 00:04:41]: Oh, I love those. Those are so good. And the smell of Blockbuster, going in and it smells like popcorn and just a Friday night jam with your friends, right?
Janice Dada [00:04:41 - 00:04:41]: Right.
Chrissy Kirkman [00:04:41 - 00:04:44]: It's just, I miss that. Oh, so good.
Janice Dada [00:04:44 - 00:04:45]: Yeah. RIP Blockbuster.
Chrissy Kirkman [00:04:46 - 00:05:05]: Rest in peace. And there was a final one that lasted so long. I don't know if it finally closed or if it's still there, but like recently it was still active. Yeah. Super cool. All right. Well, Janice, can you just give like, um, It's a high-level overview about kind of your story. How'd you get here today in this work?
Janice's Journey as a Dietitian
Janice Dada [00:05:06 - 00:05:41]: Yeah. So I've been a dietitian for almost 2 decades, which blows my mind to say. So I started out at the VA and that was where I had also done my dietetic internship. And so I was working with patients at the VA in the outpatient clinic, many of which had diabetes diagnoses. You know, I sort of knew I wasn't going to stay there long-term. I Had a million ideas of my own of what I wanted to do. I was also teaching college classes. And so I worked there for about 2 years and then I went into private practice and I saw a lot of disordered eating in my private practice.Janice Dada [00:05:41 - 00:06:41]: I also saw that at the VA too, but just sort of expressed differently. And from my experience at the VA, I became a certified diabetes educator is what it was called then. Now it's certified diabetes care and education specialist. And, you know, over the years of working in private practice, I sort of merged the two, right? Like it doesn't have to be separate. You're not either you have an eating disorder or you have diabetes. There were many that had overlapping symptoms and I'd have people come in in tears and dripping in shame and telling me, you know, that their doctors had said that they had this diagnosis and that, you know, essentially kind of the way that they had wrapped it all up was like that it was their fault and They'd been told they can't eat all their favorite foods. And, you know, I just knew that that actually wasn't the case. And so I had worked with people over and over again to help them find a path towards intuitive eating and managing diabetes or whatever other medical condition they might've had.
Janice Dada [00:06:42 - 00:07:07]: And, you know, eventually I was like, other people need this information too, not just the people that are sitting in my office. And so that's where idea for the book came from. I worked with Evelyn and Elise, the co-authors of Intuitive Eating, as mentors for many years. Um, I share office space with Evelyn. And so, you know, I sort of broached the topic to them and they were like, well, we're not going to write that book, so you should write it. And so—
Chrissy Kirkman [00:07:07 - 00:07:07]: Someone should.
Janice Dada [00:07:07 - 00:07:36]: Yeah. So, you know, it felt good to know that they wanted me to apply the principles to diabetes. And Elise actually wrote the foreword, which was really lovely. Yeah. So that's kind of where the book came from and kind of the concepts came from just individuals in my office that I'd worked with over time, knowing that there was more and more research actually supporting the work of both intuitive eating and the non-diet approach for diabetes. So that of course makes it even more deliverable.
Shifting Shame to Agency
Chrissy Kirkman [00:07:38 - 00:08:10]: And how you described patients coming into your office, 100%, you were describing me. I hate that anyone has ever been made to feel that way. And there's something in that that helps me feel like, okay, I'm not alone in it. Other people have dealt with this too, and the hope that it doesn't have to be that way at all. So before we get into busting all these myths, I would love for you to kind of set the stage with some of the key statistics from your book. So what do my friends here need to know about where we are with diabetes right now?
Diabetes Statistics and Stigma
Janice Dada [00:08:10 - 00:08:32]: Yeah. Yeah. So in the beginning of my book, I do describe some of the numbers. And so, you know, 537 million adults globally are affected with diabetes and the rates are climbing. Nearly half of all Americans, which is about 135 million people, have either diabetes or prediabetes.Chrissy Kirkman [00:08:32 - 00:08:50]: Pause. I'm sorry. Nearly half of all Americans. are pre-diabetic or have diabetes. You are not alone, friend. If this is you, okay, over half of the American citizens have this struggle. Okay.
Janice Dada [00:08:50 - 00:09:40]: So anyway, it's pretty mind-boggling. Yeah. And many don't know that they have the condition also. So, you know, diagnosis and testing and the communication of those results, those are areas that are problematic too. And so, you know, I think when I started to think about the numbers and the way that diabetes is approached, it sort of doesn't make sense, right? Like we have, the numbers are rising and rising and rising, and yet the approach hasn't really changed. Like, yeah, we have new medications, but people are still getting a lot of the same messages when they go to their providers. In addition, I feel like we also have to think about like, why are the rates rising, right? It's, it's not just sort of personal responsibility on the individual. There are also many environmental factors that contribute to why we might have these increasing diabetes rates.
Janice Dada [00:09:41 - 00:10:08]: In my book, I talk about the root causes of diabetes, and this is something that I think is helpful for a bit of the shame reduction, because when people think I've done this to myself, or I could have avoided this, yeah, they're going to feel pretty bad about the diagnosis, but understanding that there are many factors that all come together potentially to contribute to a diagnosis, I think, is really helps people make sense of what's going on in their body.
Chrissy Kirkman [00:10:09 - 00:10:26]: Yeah. And there's so much misinformation out there about diabetes, and I think it creates a lot of unnecessary fear and shame, just like you've talked about. And I know it has in my life. So can you walk us through some of the most common myths that you hear and that we have heard and what is actually true?
Busting Common Diabetes Myths
Janice Dada [00:10:27 - 00:11:20]: Yeah. So one of the myths is centering around prediabetes. I think many people are fearful that prediabetes is an inevitable diabetes diagnosis. And also I think people are treated differently in their healthcare settings. Some physicians may treat prediabetes with medication and like very aggressive interventions, and some don't even mention it to the patient, right? And so we have a lot of Different ways that people are really even getting information about it. One of the things I think that is helpful to know about prediabetes, which I also discuss in the book, is something that investigative journalist Charles Pillar described in a paper. And something that he kind of dug up was essentially how the prediabetes diagnosis came to be. Like we used to have different benchmarks for what we would call prediabetes.Janice Dada [00:11:20 - 00:12:49]: And I guess I should back up and lay the listeners know that in order to diagnose diabetes, essentially somebody could have a variety of different lab test results being used for that, but a fasting blood sugar of over 126 on 2 different occasions or a hemoglobin A1C of over 6.5 is usually sort of the, the main lab options to diagnose diabetes. So prediabetes is essentially somewhere in between what they'd call like normal or typical blood sugar and those diabetes diagnosis numbers. So somebody with prediabetes would have a fasting blood sugar between 100 and 125 or a hemoglobin A1C between like 5.6 and 6.4. So sort of like hanging out in the middle, not quite what we expect blood sugar to be, but also not high enough to be a diabetes diagnosis. And so I think the myth that we need to be extremely scared about prediabetes can cause people to create some disordered patterns. Yes, I think it's a great red flag to sort of be curious, like, hmm, I wonder why my blood sugar was up on this lab result and maybe make some changes based on that. But that, I think what I see a lot of times is that people get extremely anxious and they fear that like diabetes is around the corner when they've had a blood sugar in this prediabetes range. And they feel panicked.
Janice Dada [00:12:49 - 00:13:45]: And one individual I discussed in my book was actually a high school varsity basketball player. And his parents brought him in because his blood sugar was like 1 point into the prediabetes range. And his doctor had completely scared the family. They have diabetes diagnoses in their family, so they are fearful of the diagnosis. And at the same time, this was a varsity basketball athlete whose doctor told him to stop eating Carbs, right? So like very mismatched recommendations. In addition, this is a kid who's going through puberty, so hormones can elevate blood sugar. There's just all these different things that we have to consider, right? So we have to sort of think about the whole scenario, not just the number, is essentially, I think, what is really important to think about with regards to prediabetes. It's not just tomorrow I'm going to have diabetes if I don't do something right now.
Chrissy Kirkman [00:13:46 - 00:14:08]: Yeah. You know, a myth that I have heard and I fully believed, because I've heard it all my life, is diabetes is caused by eating too much sugar. I believed that when I first got the diagnosis. I took the blame. It was all my fault. If I had just not had a sweet tooth or liked sweets so much. What are the actual root causes of that? Like, is it actually true?
Janice Dada [00:14:09 - 00:14:54]: No. Yeah. Diabetes is not caused by something that we've eaten. The root causes of diabetes that can contribute to potentially a diabetes diagnosis include a variety of things. So it can even include things like sleep patterns. So some studies looked at night shift workers like nurses, and they did find some correlation between this pattern of night shift working and diabetes. In addition, a huge one is social determinants of health. And social determinants of health include things like our economic status, our education level, where we live, our access to walking spaces and unpolluted airspaces and grocery stores that carry fresh fruits and vegetables.
Janice Dada [00:14:55 - 00:15:57]: You know, if we sort of just mapped out the country, we can clearly see that diabetes rates are higher in places that have lower education and more poverty and less access to fruits and vegetables and less safe places to play. So that's not just a coincidence. There are factors in there that can contribute to increased risk in addition to the stress of all of that, right? The stress of being in poverty, of not having enough to eat. That is a huge factor. In addition, endocrine disrupting chemicals, which can be in our air and can be exposed in other people who work in agriculture and who are spraying pesticides, or one thing that we also know is Vietnam veterans are often service-connected for their diabetes diagnosis because if they were exposed to Agent Orange, which was an endocrine disruptor. So, you know, those are additional factors. Certain micronutrients, genetics is a big factor. We can see diabetes running in families, certain medications.
Janice Dada [00:15:57 - 00:16:41]: So if somebody has had to take steroids long-term, even some blood pressure medications and some cholesterol medications may contribute to an increased risk. Especially in somebody who's already maybe vulnerable from some of the other root causes. And then one that I think that really gets me is weight cycling, because often the prescription when somebody is diagnosed with diabetes is to go on a diet, which is something that leads to weight cycling. Weight cycling, meaning like the decrease and then increase and sort of back and forth again of somebody's body weight. Dieting or restricting food is a contributing factor to weight cycling. And that can be a contributing factor to diabetes, right? It impacts our metabolic health.
Breaking the Shame Cycle
Chrissy Kirkman [00:16:42 - 00:17:06]: So for the listener right now who is thinking what I thought and even still had the thought, as you were describing that, well, see, it is my fault because I've been on so many diets and I've lost a bunch of weight and then I gained it all back and then some, and then lost more in the same, just cycle that yo-yo dieting. So it really is my fault. What would you say to that person?Janice Dada [00:17:07 - 00:17:11]: I would say you were doing the best you could with the information you had.
Chrissy Kirkman [00:17:11 - 00:17:11]: Yeah.
Janice Dada [00:17:11 - 00:17:24]: Right. If you thought, and you'd been told by professionals, right, this is the way to health. This is what you need to do. You know, then you were just doing what you knew how to do with the information that you were given.
Chrissy Kirkman [00:17:25 - 00:17:26]: Yeah. You don't know what you don't know.
Janice Dada [00:17:27 - 00:17:27]: Exactly.
Chrissy Kirkman [00:17:28 - 00:17:46]: It's okay. And again, No shame. And that's what I love about, love about your book is that you keep reinforcing. And what I'm so big on here is that shame can keep us so stuck in, in a bad place. And there's no need for shame here. Like you did the best you could with what you knew. Yeah.
Janice Dada [00:17:46 - 00:17:48]: Yeah. We're always moving forward.
Chrissy Kirkman [00:17:48 - 00:17:56]: Yes. Yeah. And now you can do something different, make a different choice that's more helpful for you where you are, and you get to make that choice. No one else.
Janice Dada [00:17:57 - 00:17:57]: Absolutely.
Sweets and Diabetes: Myth vs. Fact
Chrissy Kirkman [00:17:57 - 00:18:07]: Yeah. So speaking of sweets, here's another, I think it's a myth. Another myth I think I've heard is you can't eat sweets if you have diabetes. True or false?Janice Dada [00:18:08 - 00:18:41]: That's false. There are no foods that are off limits with diabetes. People will manage their diabetes differently, right? Some people will take no medication. Some people will take an oral medication. Some people will take insulin. And so depending on how diabetes is managed, we might observe different effects from eating different foods. And so I always just encourage my patients, can you just be curious about that, right? If you know that, you know, eating a brownie raises your blood sugar, how will we adjust a meal so that you can eat the brownie, right?
Chrissy Kirkman [00:18:41 - 00:18:41]: Sure.
Janice Dada [00:18:41 - 00:19:07]: Like maybe you're gonna have a brownie, but you're gonna have a little bit less rice at that meal. Can we be a neutral observer of what our body needs? And I often like to give sort of the example of like, if you knew that like garlic really upset your stomach or gave you indigestion, You might look at that pretty neutrally, right? I don't know if many people have very strong views of shame when they think, gosh, I can't eat garlic, or like, oh, I ate garlic today. I was so bad.
Chrissy Kirkman [00:19:08 - 00:19:08]: Right.
Janice Dada [00:19:08 - 00:19:53]: But can we sort of look at it with some neutral observation of that the way we would if we just observed that this food kind of doesn't make me feel as good? And so we might still feel fine if we eat a brownie, but we might notice from the external data that we collect. If we're checking blood sugar, oh, my blood sugar is a little bit higher when I do that. If there's anything differently I want to do because of that, do I want to go for like a nice leisurely walk after I eat? Because I know that might help my body utilize the sugar a little bit better. Or do I want to, you know, eat more fat and protein with that meal? Because maybe that'll slow down the rise of my blood sugar. So essentially figuring out how can we incorporate it without shame. in sort of a neutral, just facts and information type of scenario.
Chrissy Kirkman [00:19:53 - 00:20:14]: Just how you said that was so beautiful. Just, it feels so much lighter. It is not heavy. Like even the way you said, maybe I want to go for a walk and because it will utilize the sugar better. Like I didn't feel anything intense in that. Like I, oh, I have to go out and I can choose to not do those things. It's my choice.
Janice Dada [00:20:15 - 00:20:19]: Yeah. Just like you might choose garlic and it might give you indigestion and you might be like, oh, well, it will go away.
Chrissy Kirkman [00:20:20 - 00:20:20]: Yeah.
Janice Dada [00:20:20 - 00:20:22]: I will feel better in a few hours.
Introduction to Intuitive Eating
Chrissy Kirkman [00:20:22 - 00:20:49]: Yes. Yes. Okay. I know there are so many more myths, but I want to kind of shift because of just for time's sake. Most of our listeners have heard of intuitive eating, especially if they've listened to Old School Food Freedom for a while. Um, but your book takes it into a specific place. So for anyone who isn't familiar, can you just give us a quick overview of what intuitive eating is and then show us what it actually looks like when you're applying it to a diabetes diagnosis.Janice Dada [00:20:50 - 00:21:30]: Sure. Yeah. So intuitive eating is a way of eating that's directed by a mind-body connection. So it integrates instinct, emotion, and rational thought. So essentially puts us, the individual, as the wisest person to make choices for ourselves, right? So meaning like the doctor, the health book, the influencer, They are not the bosses. They don't know enough about our bodies to know what we like or what is best for us, right? That we have that information within us that we can also, you know, utilize science to apply, like I was just describing with regards to like the brownie.
Chrissy Kirkman [00:21:31 - 00:21:31]: Yeah.
Janice Dada [00:21:31 - 00:21:59]: And so intuitive eating includes 10 different principles that are either aimed at improving bodily attunement. So the ability to listen to those signals that our body gives us. And also includes principles that are aimed at breaking down barriers to attunement. So things that just get in the way, such as the diet mentality gets in the way of us being able to listen to hunger cues or which foods are satisfying because we're so focused on, is this fitting the rule of the thing I think I'm supposed to be following?
Chrissy Kirkman [00:22:00 - 00:22:09]: Okay. So we have 10 principles of intuitive eating. Let's just talk about those and maybe how they connect with diabetes.
The 10 Principles of Intuitive Eating for Diabetes
Janice Dada [00:22:09 - 00:22:52]: Sure. Yeah. So the first principle is to reject the diet mentality. And so this essentially means, can we find what rules we're following within ourselves and reject those? Because we know that dieting leads to restriction and restriction leads to weight cycling. It also may lead to other unhelpful eating behaviors, such as binge eating. And so that's the first principle that really kind of helps us to get in the right frame of mind to continue with the rest of the principles. And then the second principle is all about honoring our hunger. Sometimes when we've been restricting or dieting has been a large part of the way we've been eating, it might be hard to even recognize what hunger feels like.Janice Dada [00:22:52 - 00:23:18]: And so that can take a little bit of work to get back to, how do I know I'm hungry? For some people that really are not feeling very in touch with their hunger cues, that might mean that we're eating by the clock for a little while until we can start to get those cues back. In addition, this principle helps us to understand that hunger is not just like a rumbling in our stomach. It may show up as a headache. It may show up as just thinking about food, right?
Chrissy Kirkman [00:23:18 - 00:23:19]: Being hangry.
Janice Dada [00:23:19 - 00:23:38]: Exactly. It might be grumpy. Yes. So variety of different ways that it can show up. And so this is intuitive eating and it means we're going to focus on what does that look like for me, right? It might not look like the person next to me. The third principle is make peace with food. So there are no foods that are off limits for diabetes. We just discussed that.
Janice Dada [00:23:38 - 00:24:49]: And so sometimes in this principle, there's like specific foods that we'll go through systematically. And I describe a patient in the book that one of the things that was really feeling off limits for him and was really riddled with shame was like just ordering Chinese food, right? That he would eat it all in one sitting. And this was because it was a temporary permission. It was sort of like, yeah, I'm going to order it, but then I won't let myself order it for, I don't know, another month or whatever. And so when we were approaching this principle, the idea was, I want you to order Chinese food on a regular repeating pattern, right? When it really became clear to him that this was not disappearing for a period of time, because this was his favorite thing to eat, he was able to— Eat it with more intention. And that also included putting it on a plate and like warming it up, not dousing it in hot sauce, which for this individual, it was sort of like a punishment that it would be doused in hot sauce. And so really eating it the way that you want to eat it, allowing yourself to enjoy it, and then really stopping and knowing, yeah, I can eat it tomorrow. I don't have to throw the leftovers away.
Janice Dada [00:24:49 - 00:24:58]: I don't have to tell myself I can't have it. So that's making peace with food. And for everybody that will look different too, because people have different foods in mind that they may have had as off limit.
Chrissy Kirkman [00:24:59 - 00:25:00]: So freeing. Yeah.
Janice Dada [00:25:01 - 00:25:32]: Yeah. And then the 4th principle is challenge the food police, which in my book is called Challenge the Diabetes Police. And so this can include our own internal food police or diabetes police. It can include others. So that's like, you go to a family gathering and so, you know, if An aunt is like, are you really allowed to eat that with your condition? And you're like, yeah, because I am in charge of my body. Um, so really figuring out where are these diabetes police? What do they say to me and how am I going to talk back to them?
Chrissy Kirkman [00:25:32 - 00:26:24]: Yeah, the talking back part is, well, for me as a snotty only child growing up, like I loved to talk back. And then at some point I feel like my voice was silenced and especially when it came to having agency about my body. my food, all of that. And so when you said talk back, I noticed that in eating disorder recovery over the last 6 years, it's been when I have verbalized, talked back to commercials, like in front of my husband or in front of other people or my bonus daughter, there is something so empowering about that of like, now I'm not talking back snotty anymore. Sometimes it is, but just, I don't know, there's something really empowering. And then it's like, it sinks down into a different level within me that makes it feel more real, like an actual fact. So I don't know if that helps anyone, but it helped me.
Janice Dada [00:26:25 - 00:26:59]: Yeah. Yeah. It doesn't have to be rude, right? It could be like, oh, thanks so much for your concern. Did you actually know that people with diabetes can eat all different types of foods? Like, I don't have to restrict anything. You know, when I'm working this through with individual clients, we'll sort of choose like, which route do we want? Do we want the like polite, um, you know, sort of make the conversation end type of response? Or do we want to educate? And it depends on our energy level, right? Yeah. So there can be a variety of different ways and sometimes people just feel better having a few different responses in their back pocket so that they can use them as needed.
Chrissy Kirkman [00:26:59 - 00:27:23]: Yeah. And I like the grace-filled approach because I'm always saying, you don't know what you don't know. And this person obviously doesn't know. And I didn't know until someone set me free of the shame. And so it's like, hey, do you know what I learned in working with a diabetes, probably just say educator specialist, but Then insert what I learned there. And they might be, well, that's a crock, but that's up to them. That's fine. They don't know either way.
Chrissy Kirkman [00:27:23 - 00:27:25]: So anyway, onto principle 5.
Janice Dada [00:27:26 - 00:28:01]: Yeah. Principle 5 is discover the satisfaction factor. This is considered the hub of intuitive eating because all other principles stem from this. So in this principle, there's lots of different places to explore. Um, I mentioned about putting food on a plate when I was describing the Chinese food, right? So that can be one element of satisfaction. It can be making sure your table is clear of junk, right? That it feels like a nice place for you to enjoy your meal. It could also be, are you getting enough on your plate to actually feel satisfied at the end of your meal?
Chrissy Kirkman [00:28:02 - 00:28:02]: Hmm.
Janice Dada [00:28:03 - 00:28:47]: There's different sensory properties we can consider in terms of satisfaction. So, you know, really allowing ourselves to identify what is it that we want, like I know most people could probably identify with looking at a menu at a restaurant and sort of telling themselves, well, here's what you should order. At least I've heard that many times in my own office. But if you were to ask yourself, what do I want to order? What would that thing be? And can you challenge yourself to order it? Because oftentimes when we make ourselves eat something we think we're supposed to eat, we don't end up as satisfied at the end. And that sometimes will lead to just eating more of something else, looking for more satisfaction. It's kind of like, here's another '90s thing, which I don't miss, like SnackWell's cookies, right?
Chrissy Kirkman [00:28:47 - 00:28:49]: Oh Lord, yes. Lord help us.
Janice Dada [00:28:49 - 00:29:42]: Devil's food. So how many SnackWell's cookies does somebody need to actually feel satisfied? You know, if you really wanted like a delicious chocolate chip cookie, the SnackWell's cookie is not going to do it and you're going to keep searching and searching and searching, right? And then principle 6 is feel your fullness. So this is another attunement or interoceptive awareness is the, is the term often used, which is really the ability to sense, that are coming from within our own bodies. So, it can also take some time to really know, like, what does this feel like? What level of fullness is ideal for me? So, if we sort of rank it on a scale of 1 to 10, you know, where do I want to land? A 7 is, for many people, how they would describe feeling pleasantly full, where an 8 might be, yeah, I had a feel a little bit extra full, and then a 9 and 10 is starting to feel uncomfortable. And for somebody with diabetes, that also might mean higher blood sugar, right?
Chrissy Kirkman [00:29:42 - 00:29:43]: That's true.
Janice Dada [00:29:43 - 00:29:58]: Yeah. And so, getting to know our bodies. But also being able to say like, sometimes I will get too full. Sometimes that will happen. And I also know that my body will digest and it knows what to do and it will be fine. I can learn from that rather than beat myself up about it.
Chrissy Kirkman [00:29:59 - 00:30:13]: Right. Which also leads to maybe a loop that where it happens again. And rather than just saying, okay, this happened, you know, my body's going to digest it and I'll move to the next meal and it probably won't happen for a while. Or, I mean, it could, again, we have that choice.
Janice Dada [00:30:14 - 00:31:06]: Right, exactly. And then principle 7 is cope with your emotions with kindness. And so this is the principle that starts to sort of dig into a little bit of what we might refer to as emotional eating or emotion-based eating. But before we can really label something as emotional eating, we also need to really address whether our needs are being fully met. Are we getting enough food or is our eating beyond comfort level actually a result of undernourishment or of pseudo-restriction where maybe we're eating, but we're not eating what we want, or we're not eating adequately. So there's a little bit of evaluation that can go there. And so this principle aims to arm us with a bit more in our toolkit. So if we do feel like, well, when I feel sad, I want to eat as a result, but I'm not actually hungry.
Janice Dada [00:31:07 - 00:31:28]: Oh, okay. That happens from time to time. That's okay. But if it's the only tool we have, it would be probably great for us to add some more options to our toolkit so that I can, you know, get out an adult coloring book if I feel like that, or I can, you know, take a shower, I can call a friend or go for a walk or, right, that there is something else that we feel like we can also reach for.
Chrissy Kirkman [00:31:28 - 00:31:33]: So, so good. Yeah. A '90s trivia book or something like that.
Janice Dada [00:31:33 - 00:31:34]: There you go.
Chrissy Kirkman [00:31:34 - 00:31:34]: Yeah.
Janice Dada [00:31:34 - 00:32:25]: Yeah. And then principle 8 is respect your body. So this one is a tough one and might take some time for us to get there because it involves us accepting our bodies where they're going to land. And so, you know, many people will come to intuitive eating saying, well, I want to eat intuitively, but I also want to lose weight, or I also, you know, don't want to look like this. And so, you One of the things that we know is we don't know where bodies are going to land, right? We don't have the blueprints in front of us for that. And so this is really actually about trusting and allowing and accepting our own genetic blueprint. And also sometimes with medication, there might be weight gain as a result because we're getting blood sugar more regulated. That means we're actually absorbing more nutrition from our food.
Janice Dada [00:32:25 - 00:33:03]: And that's a good thing. So depends on where somebody is and which diabetes diagnosis they have in terms of whether that is going to be something that we would expect or not. Yeah, in the chapter I do talk about a variety of different ways that we can practice that respect for our body. And so one of the things that I ask of readers is like, can you accept the diagnosis without feeling that anyone is at fault and then just take care of your body regardless, wherever it lands, whatever it looks like? Can you take care of this body that you currently have? It doesn't mean that you're gonna, you know, say I love you to your body every day, but can you just treat it nicely? Right.
Chrissy Kirkman [00:33:03 - 00:33:11]: And that takes time, friends. It takes time. Be okay that it takes time. Just lean into it. Be curious about it.
Janice Dada [00:33:11 - 00:33:41]: Yeah. Principle 9 is movement. Feel the difference. And so I think this is a great time to, for people to explore and just consider what ways do I actually like to move my body? And if they're not sure, because maybe movement in the past has been tainted in a variety of ways, can we explore? And I have a list of different ideas that people can look at. You know, if we wanted to bring more '90s, could do like old-school roller skates, which I think are having a little comeback moment.
Chrissy Kirkman [00:33:41 - 00:33:49]: For sure. They never left me. I still have my, my skates I got when I was 10 at Christmas, and that's what I wear. White with pink rollers. So fun.
Janice Dada [00:33:50 - 00:33:51]: Oh, that's awesome. Yeah.
Chrissy Kirkman [00:33:51 - 00:33:51]: Yeah.
Janice Dada [00:33:52 - 00:34:19]: So yeah, something that brings joy, right? Like it could be hula hooping, roller skating. It doesn't have to be like boot camp. It could be a nature walk. And you know, some of the questions people can ask themselves is like, do I like a group? Do I like solo? Do I want to be indoors or outdoors? Am I okay with sweating? If I'm not okay with sweating, do I like to be in the water? Right? Like there are so many ways we don't have to settle for a type of movement that doesn't leave us feeling good at the end of it.
Chrissy Kirkman [00:34:19 - 00:34:20]: Mm-hmm.
Janice Dada [00:34:20 - 00:35:07]: And the benefits to movement for diabetes are pretty immense. And so the other thing I like people to know about movement is that it doesn't have to be all at once. There's some research that has looked at something that they've called exercise snacks in the literature, and these are just 10-minute movement breaks, which essentially are ideal because they interrupt long periods of sitting. So, you know, if you're Somebody who sits at a desk for a lot of the day, even just getting 10 minutes of walking in can help to lower blood sugar, especially if it's before or after a meal, or, you know, it doesn't have to be walking. It's something that uses the large muscle groups. So somebody who works in an office, if they go take the stairs for, you know, 10 minutes, that can be a, a big game changer for blood sugar.
Chrissy Kirkman [00:35:07 - 00:35:09]: So helpful. Yes. Love it.
Janice Dada [00:35:10 - 00:35:46]: And then the last principle is honor your health with gentle nutrition. And so this principle that's all about nutrition is at the end, because if we talk about nutrition first, before we've really like unpacked all of the other ways that we're relating to food and understanding our body, kind of misses a lot of the message. And so, you know, it's sort of like, can we learn about our body and then learn about nutrition? And now that I know which foods I like and what foods are satisfying and how to identify my hunger and my fullness, Okay. You know, knowing now a little bit more about nutrition and what can be helpful, what will I want to put on my plate?
Chrissy Kirkman [00:35:47 - 00:36:29]: Oh, this was so good. And friends, if you are facing this diagnosis, like if you have related to any of this, or, you know, someone who has been in this struggle, I really encourage you to get Janice's book, Intuitive Eating for Diabetes. We will have it linked in the show notes. And I want you to come back in 2 weeks when our next episode We are talking about diabetes and eating disorders. So this is when that treatment becomes the trigger, like immediately might lead you to want to feel like you've got to control things. All of those things that you might feel, we're going to talk about it next time. So please come back. In the meantime, you can find links to connect with Janice in the show notes.
Chrissy Kirkman [00:36:29 - 00:37:07]: Thank you so much for being here. Can't wait to do this for our next episode. Thank you for listening to the Old School Food Freedom Podcast. For over 20 years, Finding Balance has been helping people walk in freedom by discovering where Jesus fits into their struggles with food and body image. If you want more biblical truth and encouragement, head on over to findingbalance.com and subscribe to our free daily vitamin devotional. While you're there, explore our Christ-centered Lasting Freedom online course and Small group tools. You can help keep this ministry going by donating today at findingbalance.com. See you next time.
Chrissy Kirkman [00:37:08 - 00:37:29]: The content in this podcast is for informational purposes only and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prescribe a particular course of action. If you have or suspect you may have an eating disorder, please consult your healthcare provider. If you desire to receive faith-based care, visit christiantreatmentfinder.com to browse professionals with the Kingdom Campaign Against Eating Disorders.
More about the Old School Food Freedom Podcast
In today’s diet-culture society, food issues and body hatred have become the norm. But you were created to be FREE. Welcome to Old School Food Freedom, where we go back to the basics, God’s basics, for how we view food, our bodies, and our worth.
Hosted by FINDINGbalance Executive Director Chrissy Kirkman, this podcast features Biblically sound experts, thought leaders, artists, and everyday people who will inspire you to interrupt negative cultural soundtracks and rediscover God’s original design for your relationship with food and your body.
This show will deliver practical, faith-filled insights on how to break free from diet culture and body shame through the lens of Scripture. If you’re looking for guidance on how to heal your relationship with food while deepening your faith, you're in the right place.
We’ll answer questions like
What does the Bible say about food freedom?
How can I overcome an eating disorder or disordered eating with Jesus?
What is the biblical perspective on diet culture?
How can I find peace with food as a Christian?
What does it mean to treat your body as a temple in relation to eating?
How can I break free from diet culture with Jesus?
How can I align my eating habits with biblical teachings?
What are the first steps to finding food freedom in Christ?
This podcast is for anyone ready to walk away from diet culture and into the freedom that Christ offers. Whether you’re recovering from an eating disorder, disordered eating, wrestling with body image, or simply craving a more peaceful relationship with food, this space was made for you.
If you want to experience true food freedom with Jesus, this podcast will give you the encouragement, truth, and tools to do just that.
