Intuitive eating vs planned eating schedule

powered85

Had no problem maintaining my weight or shaving down a few pounds the last two years. First couple months of this year I find I'm doing less activity and more stress has entered the scene. I'm 5lbs up since the start of February and need to stop this slide.

For the longest time I had a typical set food schedule of same foods each day at least from breakfast up till dinner. With less activity I need to reduce the calories here along with manage stress triggers.

But I'm wondering.....should I consider going more intuitive? Meaning be less regimented and eat when I'm actually hungry and also fuel around workouts? Wonder if the set schedule is working against me in some ways and could be better long term to learn to eat more intuitively? Provided that can be controlled.

AnnPT77

It's hard for anyone else to answer that: Some people do well switching to intuitive eating, while others don't.

Could you do an experiment for a month or two, maybe set some weight boundaries that would cause you to end the experiment if it wasn't working out, or something like that?

Nikion901

Hmm ... I'm not certain what intuitive eating is ... I only eat when I'm hungry and not by the clock. However, I usually get hungry about the same set of times each day ... like, about 2 hours after waking up, then about mid to late afternoon, and then again in the early to mid evening. ... so those are the times I eat, if I'm hungry.

Guess you'll need to try it and see how it goes after a few weeks. Good luck.

neldabg

One thing you can do is first get back to a routine and drop those five pounds. Then, work yourself up to maintenance. Slowly wean yourself from your food diary and try intuitive eating. Give yourself time to overcome a learning curve. If you try and still gain too much weight, then perhaps a routine is best for you.

Lillymoo01

One of the best ways to deal with the extra stress in your life is to increase your exercise. The release of endorphins can have a calming effect on your mood. Will also help you with your weight.

n622921

For me the only thing that works is intuitive eating with a level of self love and care that helps me to remain concious and mindful of what I am doing to my body with anything I consume.

Intuitive, mindful eating works - period.

powered85

Day 1 almost over and certainly have a lot more calories remaining. Trying to listen a bit more to hunger cues compared to eating the same thing at the same times. Will have to monitor as I also need to fuel for running so don't want any crashes throughout the day. Will give it a shot and see how I'm feeling after a few weeks!

cwolfman13

I eat when I'm hungry...which is generally meal time.

stroutman81

powered85 wrote: »

Had no problem maintaining my weight or shaving down a few pounds the last two years. First couple months of this year I find I'm doing less activity and more stress has entered the scene. I'm 5lbs up since the start of February and need to stop this slide.

For the longest time I had a typical set food schedule of same foods each day at least from breakfast up till dinner. With less activity I need to reduce the calories here along with manage stress triggers.

But I'm wondering.....should I consider going more intuitive? Meaning be less regimented and eat when I'm actually hungry and also fuel around workouts? Wonder if the set schedule is working against me in some ways and could be better long term to learn to eat more intuitively? Provided that can be controlled.

I think there are some really good questions in here.

Before sharing my thoughts... question or two for you.

1) What about a set schedule way of eating do you think might be hurting you?

2) It sounds like this set schedule worked for you previously. What about now has changed that?

3) What does a "set schedule" look like for you in terms of behaviors and how do you think intuitive eating differs?

powered85

stroutman81 wrote: »

Before sharing my thoughts... question or two for you.

1) What about a set schedule way of eating do you think might be hurting you?

I use the neat method. So eating the same thing each day I've gotten used to that and end up in a bit of a cycle of earning back the calories through exercise to balance that routine. This is one downfall of the NEAT method I find and haven't tried tdee.

2) It sounds like this set schedule worked for you previously. What about now has changed that?

Less activity and added stress which has made me move towards snacking more often. So change in life/routine.

3) What does a "set schedule" look like for you in terms of behaviors and how do you think intuitive eating differs?

Set schedule would be eating the same foods basically throughout the day and the dinner meals would vary. But typically in the same calorie range.

I think intuitive eating means more going by hunger feel rather than being on a set schedule of a certain amount of food at particular times regardless of hunger.

spinnerdell

n622921 wrote: »

For me the only thing that works is intuitive eating with a level of self love and care that helps me to remain concious and mindful of what I am doing to my body with anything I consume.

Intuitive, mindful eating works - period.

The idea of intuitive eating appeals to me, but after many years and many extra pounds, I realize that, for me, a carefully planned and monitored diet keeps my weight at a healthy level. My sense of appropriate food choices and portions requires constant reinforcement, even after five years of successful, if slow, weight loss.

stroutman81

powered85 wrote: »

stroutman81 wrote: »

Before sharing my thoughts... question or two for you.

1) What about a set schedule way of eating do you think might be hurting you?

I use the neat method. So eating the same thing each day I've gotten used to that and end up in a bit of a cycle of earning back the calories through exercise to balance that routine. This is one downfall of the NEAT method I find and haven't tried tdee.

2) It sounds like this set schedule worked for you previously. What about now has changed that?

Less activity and added stress which has made me move towards snacking more often. So change in life/routine.

3) What does a "set schedule" look like for you in terms of behaviors and how do you think intuitive eating differs?

Set schedule would be eating the same foods basically throughout the day and the dinner meals would vary. But typically in the same calorie range.

I think intuitive eating means more going by hunger feel rather than being on a set schedule of a certain amount of food at particular times regardless of hunger.

Thanks for the clarifications. A couple of random thoughts for you...

1) Our bodies are definitely equipped with truly remarkable systems that help to regulate food intake. I mean hunger, alone, and all of the complexities involved in it... from hormones and neurochemicals to stomach expansion and gut microbiome. Even with all of this sophisticated "hardware" that your body's naturally equipped with, though, in modern times we've really lost touch with speaking its language. Meaning our body's telling us very valuable information, but due to our food and stress environments... this information is overridden.

2) This doesn't imply that intuitive eating is impossible. I haven't counted calories for a couple of years now. And even back when I did two years ago, it was only for a couple of months to keep the skill of portion recognition and energy density alive. I also have plenty of clients who come to me as lifelong counters and we've been able to ween them off of the reliance of numbers. But in most cases, it's not a wholesale shift that's made in one fell swoop.

3) Instead of attempting a wholesale shift, what we generally do is continue down the path of numbers, but start layering in skills that reteach the art of speaking the body's language. Over time, and in incremental steps, we'll focus on skills such as eating meals with no snacking in between, waiting some time before feeding hunger in order to rule out emotional hunger and identify physical hunger, stopping a meal at satisfied rather than full, eating sufficient protein at every feeding, including fruits and/or veggies at every feeding, improving the food landscapes of your home and office, winning at eating out, etc. I could rattle off 10-15 more of the common skills that resonate with folks. The bottom line, though, is with enough skill acquisition, they eventually hit a point where there's no longer a need to count stuff if they don't want to.