The Limits of Intuitive Eating

Jruzer

A little tidbit from the NYT Well blog:

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/11/19/mind-what-you-eat/

Teaser:

The intuitive eaters began well, according to Anglin, losing slightly more weight during the first three weeks, on average, than the calorie cutters. But then their discipline, luck or bodily self-awareness apparently deserted them, and most began regaining weight. At the end of the six weeks, few had lost much weight and some had a net gain of nearly two pounds.

Personally I have no patience for, or interest in, intuitive eating, but I know that many here do.

juggernaut1974

I'm of the firm belief that "intuitive eating" is what got me to the point of needing to lose weight in the first place.

Kalikel

If you don't want to weigh and log all your food for the rest of your life, learning to eat without all of that is important. It can be done.

There is nothing wrong with logging all your food for the rest of your life if you manage to stick to that, but there is nothing wrong with learning to eat without it.

I wonder what the studies would show about people who plan to weigh and log all of their food for the rest of their lives. Twenty years later, how many did it? I'm guessing a lot of them wouldn't have. I know for sure that I won't, so I plan to learn to eat in a healthy way without requiring scales and computers.

But I totally support the choice to continue weighing and logging, if that's what someone else feels will work for them!!

To each, his own.

kristen6350

If I ate intuitively, I'd be a good 300lbs. My intuition says "eat all the food".

janejellyroll

Kalikel wrote: »

If you don't want to weigh and log all your food for the rest of your life, learning to eat without all of that is important. It can be done.

There is nothing wrong with logging all your food for the rest of your life if you manage to stick to that, but there is nothing wrong with learning to eat without it.

I wonder what the studies would show about people who plan to weigh and log all of their food for the rest of their lives. Twenty years later, how many did it? I'm guessing a lot of them wouldn't have. I know for sure that I won't, so I plan to learn to eat in a healthy way without requiring scales and computers.

But I totally support the choice to continue weighing and logging, if that's what someone else feels will work for them!!

To each, his own.

Intuitive eating isn't the only alternative to weighing and logging though. Lots of people transition from weighing and logging to having a general idea of how many calories they want to eat each day and choosing foods that they understand to fall within that range. That isn't intuitive eating.

I think intuitive eating can be a useful technique for people recovering from eating disorders, but I am not aware of much evidence to show that it will help people lose weight.

Eating without scales or computers isn't the same thing as intuitive eating.

cwolfman13

I lost half of my weight just "cleaning up" my diet and the other half on MFP. I've been in maintenance for over 2.5 years now and don't log and suppose I would be eating intuitively. I did do a bulk cycle last winter and I cut this spring and didn't log for that cut either...I knew roughly what I needed to pull back on to drop those 10 Lbs.

I think it's like anything...any diet...calorie counting, etc...most people are going to fail long term because they fail to make an actual, meaningful change to their lifestyles.

I would say that counting calories helped teach me how to be more mindful and essentially guided me towards intuitive eating...if that's what I'm actually doing...IDK

lemurcat12

I can't eat intuitively, but I can maintain without logging so long as I eat based on a sensible understanding of serving size, when I should eat, and of course nutrition. That's not intuitive eating, in my mind, because it's not based on simply eating when hungry and assuming my body wouldn't naturally overeat (of course I would).

I don't think humans have historically "intuitively eaten" much because eating habits have been so driven by availability and cultural restrictions. Our time and society is weird because people see food and have the opportunity to eat all the time and basically no cultural restrictions on doing so.

rainbowbow

The only way I could "intuitive"ly eat is if I ate the AMOUNT i wanted, but not the food i wanted. For example, if i ate a few pounds of greens, veggies, and other low calorie foods I can see it being difficult for me to over eat calorie wise.


However, eating what i do like, "intuitively" is what made me fat. Therefore i must calorie count.

juggernaut1974

cwolfman13 wrote: »

I lost half of my weight just "cleaning up" my diet and the other half on MFP. I've been in maintenance for over 2.5 years now and don't log and suppose I would be eating intuitively. I did do a bulk cycle last winter and I cut this spring and didn't log for that cut either...I knew roughly what I needed to pull back on to drop those 10 Lbs.

I think it's like anything...any diet...calorie counting, etc...most people are going to fail long term because they fail to make an actual, meaningful change to their lifestyles.

I would say that counting calories helped teach me how to be more mindful and essentially guided me towards intuitive eating.

I'd agree with janejellyroll above.

You just described me to a tee...I've logged only sporadically over the last 12 months or so (as in maybe 3 or 4 days a month)...but I guess I don't consider that 'intuitive eating'

As defined in the linked article, 'intuitive eating' refers to essentially paying no attention to the food, but to your body's signals (hunger, etc).

cwolfman13

juggernaut1974 wrote: »

cwolfman13 wrote: »

I lost half of my weight just "cleaning up" my diet and the other half on MFP. I've been in maintenance for over 2.5 years now and don't log and suppose I would be eating intuitively. I did do a bulk cycle last winter and I cut this spring and didn't log for that cut either...I knew roughly what I needed to pull back on to drop those 10 Lbs.

I think it's like anything...any diet...calorie counting, etc...most people are going to fail long term because they fail to make an actual, meaningful change to their lifestyles.

I would say that counting calories helped teach me how to be more mindful and essentially guided me towards intuitive eating.

I'd agree with janejellyroll above.

You just described me to a tee...I've logged only sporadically over the last 12 months or so (as in maybe 3 or 4 days a month)...but I guess I don't consider that 'intuitive eating'

As defined in the linked article, 'intuitive eating' refers to essentially paying no attention to the food, but to your body's signals (hunger, etc).

hmmm...yeah, so I guess I'm not intuitively eating then by that definition. i'm pretty mindful of what i'm eating and basically have a handful of basic tenants that i follow to keep me on track because i know from experience that those tenants work to keep my eating in check.

CoffeeNCardio

Intuitive eating...... I don't see what about calorie counting isn't at least partly intuitive. I eat when I feel hungry and I stop when I feel full. There are myriad posts on here of 1200's saying "chill out, I was under today because I just WASN'T HUNGRY" (just an example). Is that not using one's intuition? Isn't choosing to blow off breakfast intuitive? Isn't forcing yourself to eat breakfast because you know you'll binge later (know thyself) intuitive?

Intuitive eating sounds to me like regular eating, except people turn to calorie counting because their eating intuitions are messed up. Mine makes me say "Eat nothing til 4pm and then eat ALL THE THINGS possible to ingest before midnight". Clearly I need me some CICO. And I firmly disagree with anything saying CICO isn't, at least in part, teaching intuitive eating.

ETA: Or rather, fixing my flawed eating intuition

juliebowman4

juggernaut1974 wrote: »

I'm of the firm belief that "intuitive eating" is what got me to the point of needing to lose weight in the first place.

Me too friend....me too...

mlinci

My intuition is also to eat everything in sight

I currently weigh everything I can, but I'm also using weighing as an opportunity to learn about portion sizes, and that should eventually make portioning more intuitive.

For example, I usually add 10g of olive oil to the evening salad meal (shared between me and my husband). I will put the salad bowl with other ingredients on the scale, set it to zero, then LOOK AWAY and try and pour what I think is 10g of oil. Then I'll look at what the scale is displaying and log it. I am usually between 8-12g and often exactly right. Likewise, if I'm weighing my oatmeal in the morning, if I'm aiming for 70g, again I'll set the scale to zero and eyeball 70g, check what the actual weight was, and then either add more or put some back in the box.

I see this as a bit of a game I want to get better at . But then, I'm really a numbers geek!

glassyo

juggernaut1974 wrote: »

I'm of the firm belief that "intuitive eating" is what got me to the point of needing to lose weight in the first place.

True dat.

melonaulait

For the last 8-9 years or so, I've been "intuitively eating" and really I probably ate "cleaner" than I do now with my MFP membership... but my weight would yo-yo so badly over these years. It'd go up and down like 15kg in about 2 years every time, I'd say. I could also never get down to a slimmer size no matter how clean I ate.

melonaulait

mlinci wrote: »

Likewise, if I'm weighing my oatmeal in the morning, if I'm aiming for 70g, again I'll set the scale to zero and eyeball 70g, check what the actual weight was, and then either add more or put some back in the box.

I see this as a bit of a game I want to get better at . But then, I'm really a numbers geek!

Today I wanted to get 100g of pasta sauce, and I got it right on my first try! I'm also getting better at eyeballing portions. But of course if I have something oily/fatty I'll have to be extra careful with the amount.

pondee629

juggernaut1974 wrote: »

I'm of the firm belief that "intuitive eating" is what got me to the point of needing to lose weight in the first place.

It is how I got here.

VykkDraygoVPR

Eating intuitively didn't make me fat. I got fat because I didn't care about what I was eating, or how much. Bored snacking, and pigging out on pizza and Chinese.


When I actually pay attention, and just eat when hungry, and even then, just until I feel satisfied, not full, then I lose weight. It's easier while counting though.

kshama2001

While I like the sound of intuitive eating, my intuition says I need a pint of Ben & Jerry's after every dentist visit, and for a day or two premenstrually, and, well, you get the picture.

glassyo

My intuition said I couldn't eat half a bag of fun sized snickers without also eating half a bag of fun sized milky ways (I still have the snickers/milky way thing going on) along with two bricks of ramen noodles (a serving is half a brick) plus this reeeeeeeeeeally delicious crispy chicken sandwich from Carl's Jr that had swiss cheese and ranch dressing and a yummy bun and maybe a lettuce leaf. And, of course, fries.

There may or may not have been a medium sized cheese pizza on those days too.

The whole pizza (sans crust at times).

This was all in one day. Not all in one meal.

betuel75

Ive always been an intuitive eater and been skinny my whole adult life. Getting to the single digit body fat level did require me to weigh and log. Before knowing about calorie counting i could never figure out how to get to such low levels. I guess everyone is different in regards to the relationship with food. Mine was always eat when hungry and have time what ever was around or i craved and then not think about food again till the next time im hungry.

Unknown

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tomatoey

Hmm, well, I just spent the past month intuitively eating my way almost out of my size.

I think it totally can be done, though, if you stick to whole foods (lean meats, salads, etc. Probably not if you're consuming Hob Nobs, poutine, pasta with creamy sauces, alcohol, etc). And/or you're able to do regular intensive exercise. (I maintained this way, calories out part unfortunately had to change.)

mccindy72

the problem with intuitive eating is that it is not conscious eating. And it will succumb to instinctive eating, which tells you to consume more calories in the fall as the temperature drops, and add fat to insulate your body through the winter.

Orphia

cwolfman13 wrote: »

I lost half of my weight just "cleaning up" my diet and the other half on MFP. I've been in maintenance for over 2.5 years now and don't log and suppose I would be eating intuitively. I did do a bulk cycle last winter and I cut this spring and didn't log for that cut either...I knew roughly what I needed to pull back on to drop those 10 Lbs.

I think it's like anything...any diet...calorie counting, etc...most people are going to fail long term because they fail to make an actual, meaningful change to their lifestyles.

I would say that counting calories helped teach me how to be more mindful and essentially guided me towards intuitive eating...if that's what I'm actually doing...IDK

I don't think intuitive eating is the same as caloric awareness.

Most intuitive eaters have never learned the calorie content of food or weighed portions long-term.

You, I would say, have good caloric awareness.

I hope to be like you one day, but I expect it to take me at least a couple of years of logging, if not many more.

Jruzer

Good discussion, all. From my understanding of the article and the study, the claim is not that you have to count calories forever, but that you have to be aware in some way of the calories that you're eating. It sounds like they are preparing a much larger study that may clarify some of this.

mccindy72 wrote: »

the problem with intuitive eating is that it is not conscious eating. And it will succumb to instinctive eating, which tells you to consume more calories in the fall as the temperature drops, and add fat to insulate your body through the winter.

I like this distinction between "intuitive" and "instinctive".