The term itself was coined by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch in a 1995 book called “Intuitive Eating”. They fleshed out the concept, and came up with guidelines, however the movement began in the early 1970s.
In 1973, Thelma Wayler a Registered dietitian took over an empty dorm room at Green Mountain College in Vermont to help people understand that diets don’t work. She was way ahead of her time and knows now what we are all have come to realize: that diets and fads were not the key to ending struggles with food and our bodies. She started a self-care retreat for adult women that was based on science and freedom of choice: Green Mountain at Fox Run and aimed to help them make long-term lifestyle changes to improve their health.
In 1978, Susie Orbach’s “Fat Is a Feminist Issue” brought the concept of intuitive eating to the fat acceptance movement.
In 1982, Geneen Roth, a well known author, began writing about emotional eating, and she continues to do so. One of her pinoneering books were one of the first to link compulsive eating and perpetual dieting with issues that go far beyond food, weight and body image.