Intuitive Eating
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Thats how i started at first and lost a good 20lbs that way. its basically just portion control, eat when you are hungry but know how much you need to eat until you actually feel full. You dont need to eat until you feel full at the table, you can eat way less and usually feel full like 10 minutes after eating.
I only started using myfitnesspal because i find tracking stuff enjoyable but using this hasnt changed my habits at all.0 -
mrsgoodwine wrote: »Mycophilia wrote: »I can say this much, "intuitive eating" is the reason I'm now a member on this site.
Lol, yup. "intuitive eating" only worked for me when I "ate clean" because I was eating very low calorie without even realizing. Once I stopped eating clean but still ate the same volume, yeah... didn't work.
Yes, I've been there as well. Sometimes I have that "all or nothing" mentality and that does not really work with intuitive eating. Need to retrain my brain!
See and i don't even have that mentality anymore, since I eat everything. But because I eat everything, I no longer only eat low-calorie, nutrient-dense food. And so for me I just... don't do well eating intuitively when I eat things I love lol.
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The more you eat whole unprocessed foods the easier it is to not have to track calories. Trying to eat intuitively while consuming calorie dense low nutrient foods is very difficult0
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The more you eat whole unprocessed foods the easier it is to not have to track calories. Trying to eat intuitively while consuming calorie dense low nutrient foods is very difficult
Yup, exactly my experience. But I love all foods too much to restrict myself to just nutrient-dense foods
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I love food too and don't restrict myself either. There's a huge difference between eating "indulgent" foods guilt free on occasion and stuffing yourself with treats on a daily basis.0
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On the flip side, I aim to log for the rest of my life0
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I'm more of a mindful eater than an intuitive eater and that works very well for me.
I don't track calories / macros etc, weigh food or the like but I do try and consciously manage portion size, keep snacking to a minimum, ensure I eat plenty of fresh fruit, fibrous vegetables, fish, nuts, seeds, lean meat and so on.
If I eat at a restaurant I will choose whatever I like and if I have a piece of cake I will ensure it is the size of my face. That said if I feel my overall consumption is creeping up I will purposefully try to rein it in.
I keep active and do the things I enjoy in this regard.
It takes work but has many benefits. That said if I had a specific physique related goal (rather than fitness related goal) I would probably go with calorie counting.0 -
I love food too and don't restrict myself either. There's a huge difference between eating "indulgent" foods guilt free on occasion and stuffing yourself with treats on a daily basis.
Yeah, I agree with this. Even with high calorie low nutrient foods, I don't find it hard to know when I'm overeating. I find it hard to feel full on those foods without overeating, though. Which is why they are limited.0 -
I intuitively think I'm hungry all the time. This would not bode well for me.0
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I'm more of a mindful eater than an intuitive eater and that works very well for me.
I don't track calories / macros etc, weigh food or the like but I do try and consciously manage portion size, keep snacking to a minimum, ensure I eat plenty of fresh fruit, fibrous vegetables, fish, nuts, seeds, lean meat and so on.
Yeah, this is what successfully worked for me for several years and what I'd probably do if I decided I was tired of logging/wanted a break. As it is now I do this and log and generally just come in at my calories or below.
Right now playing around with macros and tracking more closely is kind of like focusing on body fat percentage, something that serves as an incentive to keep me interested. At some point that will probably shift (although if not, great!), so my strategy will change with it.0 -
chocolate and chips is a pretty natural selection.0
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mrsgoodwine wrote: »"Intuitive eating is a nutrition philosophy based on the premise that becoming more attuned to the body's natural hunger signals is a more effective way to attain a healthy weight, rather than keeping track of the amounts of energy and fats in foods."
Anyone doing this? If so, have you been successful? Lost weight, maintained weight? What has been your experience? I get tired of logging sometimes...
Really? a philosophy? I eat when my blood sugar drops or I get hungry. Like now, my stomach is growling because all I;ve had today was coffee and an apple at 5am. Im about to go find something to munch. I'll eat until im not hungry, then i'll stop eating.
I'mgenuinely confused. I was under the impression that's when you're SUPPOSED to eat...when you're hungry.
ETA-when I stopped having time to just eat whenever, and only stopped long enough to eat once my blood sugar ws low, I lost 13 lbs. So yeah, I guess it works.0 -
If I eliminate desserts from my diet, intuitive eating is awesome. I've lost and maintained that way before. The bulk of my preferred diet is low-to-moderate carb; meat, seafood, vegetables, fruit, oils & butter, and nuts make up the majority of my diet. I enjoy eating this way and it's very easy to eat intuitively when I do. I learned, a long time ago, the difference between true hunger and cravings. If I follow hunger, I naturally lose or stabilize because it's nearly impossible for me to chronically overeat on the foods I listed.
But I have a massive, wicked sweet tooth. I'm never truly hungry for cake, cookies or ice cream, but I damn sure crave them. And I will eat them in excess regardless of whether I'm still hungry or not.
That's why I marry intermittent fasting with intuitive eating. IFing is a helpful catch when I over indulge in high calorie sweets. The is awesome for me. I much prefer it to calorie counting/logging/weighing, which I have up ages ago.0 -
The people who say that intuitive eating is what made them over weight don't understand the concept. Eating when your mind wants you to eat and eating when your BODY wants you to eat are 2 different things. When you start and really pay attention and eat when your BODY is hungry (when your stomach starts to growl) and stop when you are comfortably full, it is nearly impossible not to lose weight or to maintain a healthy weight if you are already there. Check out this book at Amazon (Getting Thin By Tuning In - ). She does a good job of explaining how we got overweight and what cues to look for to know when you are truly hungry. It is so freeing to eat exactly what I want and know, that the leftovers will still be there the next time I am hungry. (Toaster oven has saved me). I can stop eating something I really love when I am satisfied so much easier when I know that I can have it again the next time I am hungry. It takes retraining at first to remember to ONLY eat when you are hungry and not just whenever you don't have anything better to do. You do find yourself waiting for your stomach to growl at first. I know now, that I can put a much smaller portion of food on my plate and be satisfied. Before I discovered intuitive eating I would put a haphazard amount on the plate and eat it because it was there regardless of how my stomach felt. My mind was eating more than my body needed. If I am not comfortably full with the portion on my plate, I will go get a little more. The thing that helps with knowing you are comfortably full is chewing each bite 20 times (or at least a count of 20 if there is not enough in your mouth to chew that long). This helps your brain fullness catch up to your stomach fullness so that your brain tells you that you are comfortably full. I used to get way too full because I ate so fast my brain didn't get the cue. After about 15 or 20 minutes I would realize I was uncomfortably full. This is a really wonderful alternative to measuring and logging all the time. Try it you'll like it!0
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I think that there are plenty of people who really don't have a weight problem where something like intuitive eating works great just because it gets them focused. I think the people who really have a problem keeping the pounds off need a way to be fully accountable to themselves by logging eveything.0
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I'm aiming towards it. Basically I see it as making peace with food, and to be able to eat widely yet not in a way that leads to weight gain. I think a good way to go about it is from an IF dynamic like 14:10, 16:8, etc, as such a reduced eating window tends to moderate the volumes many people can eat, so it's kinda like training wheels if your goal is intuitive eating. Carb control is probably another equally effective option to come at it too, as many find controlling their range of daily carbs as an effective lever to manage their intake and natural appetite.
At least those are my thoughts. I'm not one that plans to log forever, and have taken forays into not logging already, but being honest with myself, there's still 5- 10 lbs I would like to lose, so may put any overarching intuitive eating goals on temporary hold for the moment, until I drop those lbs.
For what it's worth also, I think most people can probably figure out a few loose rules for themselves that would help them maintain their weight handily enough. Sometimes a little purposeful (and manageable) restriction in that way, can lead to a lot of freedom I've found.0 -
The people who say that intuitive eating is what made them over weight don't understand the concept. Eating when your mind wants you to eat and eating when your BODY wants you to eat are 2 different things. When you start and really pay attention and eat when your BODY is hungry (when your stomach starts to growl) and stop when you are comfortably full, it is nearly impossible not to lose weight or to maintain a healthy weight if you are already there. Check out this book at Amazon (Getting Thin By Tuning In - ). She does a good job of explaining how we got overweight and what cues to look for to know when you are truly hungry. It is so freeing to eat exactly what I want and know, that the leftovers will still be there the next time I am hungry. (Toaster oven has saved me). I can stop eating something I really love when I am satisfied so much easier when I know that I can have it again the next time I am hungry. It takes retraining at first to remember to ONLY eat when you are hungry and not just whenever you don't have anything better to do. You do find yourself waiting for your stomach to growl at first. I know now, that I can put a much smaller portion of food on my plate and be satisfied. Before I discovered intuitive eating I would put a haphazard amount on the plate and eat it because it was there regardless of how my stomach felt. My mind was eating more than my body needed. If I am not comfortably full with the portion on my plate, I will go get a little more. The thing that helps with knowing you are comfortably full is chewing each bite 20 times (or at least a count of 20 if there is not enough in your mouth to chew that long). This helps your brain fullness catch up to your stomach fullness so that your brain tells you that you are comfortably full. I used to get way too full because I ate so fast my brain didn't get the cue. After about 15 or 20 minutes I would realize I was uncomfortably full. This is a really wonderful alternative to measuring and logging all the time. Try it you'll like it!
If we could do that, we would have no need to be here, right?
The problem is, we can't/don't/won't do that.
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Who is 'we'? Many of us do it, or constantly work on refining the skill.SergeantSausage wrote: »The people who say that intuitive eating is what made them over weight don't understand the concept. Eating when your mind wants you to eat and eating when your BODY wants you to eat are 2 different things. When you start and really pay attention and eat when your BODY is hungry (when your stomach starts to growl) and stop when you are comfortably full, it is nearly impossible not to lose weight or to maintain a healthy weight if you are already there. Check out this book at Amazon (Getting Thin By Tuning In - ). She does a good job of explaining how we got overweight and what cues to look for to know when you are truly hungry. It is so freeing to eat exactly what I want and know, that the leftovers will still be there the next time I am hungry. (Toaster oven has saved me). I can stop eating something I really love when I am satisfied so much easier when I know that I can have it again the next time I am hungry. It takes retraining at first to remember to ONLY eat when you are hungry and not just whenever you don't have anything better to do. You do find yourself waiting for your stomach to growl at first. I know now, that I can put a much smaller portion of food on my plate and be satisfied. Before I discovered intuitive eating I would put a haphazard amount on the plate and eat it because it was there regardless of how my stomach felt. My mind was eating more than my body needed. If I am not comfortably full with the portion on my plate, I will go get a little more. The thing that helps with knowing you are comfortably full is chewing each bite 20 times (or at least a count of 20 if there is not enough in your mouth to chew that long). This helps your brain fullness catch up to your stomach fullness so that your brain tells you that you are comfortably full. I used to get way too full because I ate so fast my brain didn't get the cue. After about 15 or 20 minutes I would realize I was uncomfortably full. This is a really wonderful alternative to measuring and logging all the time. Try it you'll like it!
If we could do that, we would have no need to be here, right?
The problem is, we can't/don't/won't do that.
But I totally agree that anyone who thinks they can't do it is right.0 -
Intuitively eating is what made me fat in the first place. I dont think the feeling of "hunger" is indicative of how much i need to be eating.0
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WalkingAlong wrote: »
Who is 'we'? Many of us do it, or constantly work on refining the skill.SergeantSausage wrote: »The people who say that intuitive eating is what made them over weight don't understand the concept. Eating when your mind wants you to eat and eating when your BODY wants you to eat are 2 different things. When you start and really pay attention and eat when your BODY is hungry (when your stomach starts to growl) and stop when you are comfortably full, it is nearly impossible not to lose weight or to maintain a healthy weight if you are already there. Check out this book at Amazon (Getting Thin By Tuning In - ). She does a good job of explaining how we got overweight and what cues to look for to know when you are truly hungry. It is so freeing to eat exactly what I want and know, that the leftovers will still be there the next time I am hungry. (Toaster oven has saved me). I can stop eating something I really love when I am satisfied so much easier when I know that I can have it again the next time I am hungry. It takes retraining at first to remember to ONLY eat when you are hungry and not just whenever you don't have anything better to do. You do find yourself waiting for your stomach to growl at first. I know now, that I can put a much smaller portion of food on my plate and be satisfied. Before I discovered intuitive eating I would put a haphazard amount on the plate and eat it because it was there regardless of how my stomach felt. My mind was eating more than my body needed. If I am not comfortably full with the portion on my plate, I will go get a little more. The thing that helps with knowing you are comfortably full is chewing each bite 20 times (or at least a count of 20 if there is not enough in your mouth to chew that long). This helps your brain fullness catch up to your stomach fullness so that your brain tells you that you are comfortably full. I used to get way too full because I ate so fast my brain didn't get the cue. After about 15 or 20 minutes I would realize I was uncomfortably full. This is a really wonderful alternative to measuring and logging all the time. Try it you'll like it!
If we could do that, we would have no need to be here, right?
The problem is, we can't/don't/won't do that.
But I totally agree that anyone who thinks they can't do it is right.
We ... Who can't/won't/don't do that ... *duh*?
We are legion.
Legion!
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