Anyone lost weight with intuitive eating?

KM0692
KM0692 Posts: 178 Member
edited November 18 in Health and Weight Loss
I'd like to try this once I reach my goal weight. I tend to be an emotional eater (and a boredom eater) though, so I'm not sure it will work for me (?).
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Replies

  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,432 MFP Moderator
    I dont' follow intuitive eating (largely because I don't adhere to a diet or protocol) but I have used MFP in a manor to allow me to maintain my weight without issues and without logging calories. I do it by modifying the number of snacks, size of my meals, types of meals, and portions.
  • KM0692
    KM0692 Posts: 178 Member
    psuLemon wrote: »
    I dont' follow intuitive eating (largely because I don't adhere to a diet or protocol) but I have used MFP in a manor to allow me to maintain my weight without issues and without logging calories. I do it by modifying the number of snacks, size of my meals, types of meals, and portions.

    Thanks for your reply! I'm curious as to how or why you use MFP if you don't track calories. Sorry for my confusion. :-/
  • KM0692
    KM0692 Posts: 178 Member
    psuLemon wrote: »
    KM0692 wrote: »
    psuLemon wrote: »
    I dont' follow intuitive eating (largely because I don't adhere to a diet or protocol) but I have used MFP in a manor to allow me to maintain my weight without issues and without logging calories. I do it by modifying the number of snacks, size of my meals, types of meals, and portions.

    Thanks for your reply! I'm curious as to how or why you use MFP if you don't track calories. Sorry for my confusion. :-/

    I use MFP for a variety of reasons:

    1. I am a moderator, so I am here to help the community
    2. I want to further my education
    3. My goals keep changing as I reach other ones and so I can keep getting better, fitter, and stronger
    4. Right now I am logging again as I am working to get a six pack. Prior to that, I maintained for about 3 years without really logging. I occasionally log to double check.

    Those are definitely great reasons! Thanks! :)
  • TimothyFish
    TimothyFish Posts: 4,925 Member
    I don't log my intake most of the time. I go back to logging calories if I weigh in above my maintenance range, but right now I have the opposite problem. My weight has fallen to the lower side of the range.
  • lynn_glenmont
    lynn_glenmont Posts: 10,097 Member
    KM0692 wrote: »
    I'd like to try this once I reach my goal weight. I tend to be an emotional eater (and a boredom eater) though, so I'm not sure it will work for me (?).

    Shouldn't your question be "Has anyone maintained weight with intuitive eating?" You're not planning on continuing to lose weight after you've reached your goal weight, are you?
  • KM0692
    KM0692 Posts: 178 Member
    lynn_glenmont wrote: »
    KM0692 wrote: »
    I'd like to try this once I reach my goal weight. I tend to be an emotional eater (and a boredom eater) though, so I'm not sure it will work for me (?).

    Shouldn't your question be "Has anyone maintained weight with intuitive eating?" You're not planning on continuing to lose weight after you've reached your goal weight, are you?

    You're right. But I am also interested to see if anyone has actually lost while eating intuitively. :)
  • MoiAussi93
    MoiAussi93 Posts: 1,948 Member
    edited May 2017
    I lost about half of the weight I lost doing it that way. It is certainly very doable.

    I only started counting calories because I wanted to find out how many calories I was actually eating and what the macros were and experiment with low carb.

  • KM0692
    KM0692 Posts: 178 Member
    MoiAussi93 wrote: »
    I lost about half of the weight I lost doing it that way. It is certainly very doable.

    I only started counting calories because I wanted to find out how many calories I was actually eating and what the macros were and experiment with low carb.

    Awesome...congrats!! Any helpful advice for those of us wanting to try this? :)
  • Ironandwine69
    Ironandwine69 Posts: 2,432 Member
    Yes. I didn't count for 4 years. I lost, I gained, I maintained during those 4 years. I just started logging again .
  • Ironandwine69
    Ironandwine69 Posts: 2,432 Member
    geneticsteacher wrote: »
    I intuitively eat too much :'(

    Yeah it's not easy. For some people it might be even more difficult than logging
  • JPotamus
    JPotamus Posts: 33 Member
    Intuitive eating mostly works for me. I do come back to MFP when I need to count calories and macros to drop a few pounds.

    I'm reluctant to call it 'intuitive eating' because my MFP experience educated me on macros, calories, lifting, cardio, etc. For me, it's not entirely intuitive. I gained knowledge here, and I think I employ that knowledge pretty well.

    I do hop back on here to keep things in check.
  • MoiAussi93
    MoiAussi93 Posts: 1,948 Member
    KM0692 wrote: »
    MoiAussi93 wrote: »
    I lost about half of the weight I lost doing it that way. It is certainly very doable.

    I only started counting calories because I wanted to find out how many calories I was actually eating and what the macros were and experiment with low carb.

    Awesome...congrats!! Any helpful advice for those of us wanting to try this? :)


    I have always known when I was really hungry vs just craving something or eating it because it was there or I was bored. The problem..for me...wasn't that I couldn't read my body's cues. I know when I'm actually hungry...even at my heaviest I knew. The issue was that I often just ignored the cues because I just really like food...whether I really need it or not.

    So in my case, it was just figuring out strategies to control that. Changing long established behaviors is difficult (for me at least.)

    I stopped snacking unless I was legitimately hungry (no longer eating just because I could). That was tough, but got easier as I went. What really helped was not bringing all the snack foods into my home. If ice cream isn't sitting in the freezer, I find it MUCH easier not to eat it. LOL! I also started eating everything from a plate...no more just grazing on a little of this and then a little of that because it adds up quickly and you don't even remember everything you ate. When I cook, I put what I plan to eat on the plate and immediately put the left overs away. THEN I ate. On the ...rare...occasion that I was actually still hungry when finished, I would get it out and eat more. But if the entire thing was sitting right in front of me, I knew I would be much more likely to have seconds I didn't need. Out of sight, out of mind works very well for me.

    I focused on eating very slowly. That helped a bit. If I really wasn't hungry, I would occasionally skip a meal...which I never deliberately did before. I accepted that nothing bad happens if you skip lunch or dinner on occasion. I also, for the first time in my life, started bringing leftovers home from the restaurant instead of stuffing myself to finish it all. I was always one of those "clean the plate/don't let it go to waste" people. But just taking the time to look at the plate, pausing when halfway done to actually evaluate whether or not I was actually still truly hungry, really helped.

    I didn't need to count calories. Obviously, because I was obese I knew I ate too much. It really didn't matter how many calories I was actually eating. Whatever the number, I just needed to eat less. It works and it's easy. The hard part is changing the habits...and for me it just took some trial and error to figure out what methods worked best for me.
  • Mistywolf3000
    Mistywolf3000 Posts: 18 Member
    KM0692 wrote: »
    I'd like to try this once I reach my goal weight. I tend to be an emotional eater (and a boredom eater) though, so I'm not sure it will work for me (?).

    I haven't had success with it. It usually only works for people lightly overweight (10lbs or so), because after that you're brain hormone levels change every 15lbs you go up, and your ability to eyeball calories goes down accordingly.
  • Sandoremi
    Sandoremi Posts: 8 Member
    To KM0692: It was the most intelligent book ever written about eating. After all, "weight problems" is a misnomer. The correct term is "eating problems." I followed it and found it helped me change some bad habits like being able to stop drinking soda, diet and caffeine-free. I replaced it with water and herbal tea until I began to drink decaf coffee again. It also helped me learn more about what I was actually doing when I over-ate. I am finding now that it is a useful gauge and reference point for my eating and exercise regimen now. If I plateau or gain a bit, I do not worry because I understand what is most important: that success is never accomplished with a straight line, but rather by tacking back and forth always ahead.
  • RetiredAndLovingIt
    RetiredAndLovingIt Posts: 1,395 Member
    What book?
  • sexymamadraeger
    sexymamadraeger Posts: 239 Member
    I've lost 92 lbs eating intuitively! I tried all the diet plans and would sabotage myself every time. I READ Dr Phil's weight loss book way back when it was popular and it helped me tremendously. It's stuck with me ever since. Basically he said weight loss is about changing your habits so your brain isn't thinking about food so much. Counting calories makes weight loss harder because all we are thinking about is food all the time. So try to relax about the tracking and start changing your habits.For example, picking up my crocheting when I was craving food worked for me. If ,you hands were busy and my mind was busy the craving went away eventually. I learned really quickly that if my stomach actually rumbles I am hungry. If it doesn't I could wait it out. I know this is kind of extreme. But I had to figure out the difference in hunger and craving and I did. Hunger goes away with a piece of turkey. Craving does not and drives you nuts. So if In doubt I always just wait to eat and it works great for me.
  • sexymamadraeger
    sexymamadraeger Posts: 239 Member
    Some of us are here to try to find a nutritional balance and read community chats. I don't track calories much. But I do keep the diary.
  • ACSL3
    ACSL3 Posts: 623 Member
    MoiAussi93 wrote: »
    KM0692 wrote: »
    MoiAussi93 wrote: »
    I lost about half of the weight I lost doing it that way. It is certainly very doable.

    I only started counting calories because I wanted to find out how many calories I was actually eating and what the macros were and experiment with low carb.

    Awesome...congrats!! Any helpful advice for those of us wanting to try this? :)


    I have always known when I was really hungry vs just craving something or eating it because it was there or I was bored. The problem..for me...wasn't that I couldn't read my body's cues. I know when I'm actually hungry...even at my heaviest I knew. The issue was that I often just ignored the cues because I just really like food...whether I really need it or not.

    So in my case, it was just figuring out strategies to control that. Changing long established behaviors is difficult (for me at least.)

    I stopped snacking unless I was legitimately hungry (no longer eating just because I could). That was tough, but got easier as I went. What really helped was not bringing all the snack foods into my home. If ice cream isn't sitting in the freezer, I find it MUCH easier not to eat it. LOL! I also started eating everything from a plate...no more just grazing on a little of this and then a little of that because it adds up quickly and you don't even remember everything you ate. When I cook, I put what I plan to eat on the plate and immediately put the left overs away. THEN I ate. On the ...rare...occasion that I was actually still hungry when finished, I would get it out and eat more. But if the entire thing was sitting right in front of me, I knew I would be much more likely to have seconds I didn't need. Out of sight, out of mind works very well for me.

    I focused on eating very slowly. That helped a bit. If I really wasn't hungry, I would occasionally skip a meal...which I never deliberately did before. I accepted that nothing bad happens if you skip lunch or dinner on occasion. I also, for the first time in my life, started bringing leftovers home from the restaurant instead of stuffing myself to finish it all. I was always one of those "clean the plate/don't let it go to waste" people. But just taking the time to look at the plate, pausing when halfway done to actually evaluate whether or not I was actually still truly hungry, really helped.

    I didn't need to count calories. Obviously, because I was obese I knew I ate too much. It really didn't matter how many calories I was actually eating. Whatever the number, I just needed to eat less. It works and it's easy. The hard part is changing the habits...and for me it just took some trial and error to figure out what methods worked best for me.

    The bolded part is the issue for me as well. Thanks for the post - I've done those things previously and have gotten on this "but I want to eat" kick even when I know I'm not hungry. Got to get back to this mindset :)
  • spiffychick85
    spiffychick85 Posts: 311 Member
    I have not logged in maintenance before and have always maintained my weight years at a time (I've gained weight with pregnancies only) So for me I do eat intuitively at goal weight and always stop eating when satisfied (not overly full or stuffed, I hate that feeling honestly). This doesn't work for everyone so I'm not insisting you do it, but it works for me :)
  • laurenj915
    laurenj915 Posts: 38 Member
    RetiredAndLovingIt wrote: »
    What book?

    I think she was probably talking about Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch. It has become the textbook at most eating disorder recover programs although that was not the original purpose.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 25,699 Member
    Ironandwine69 wrote: »
    geneticsteacher wrote: »
    I intuitively eat too much :'(

    Yeah it's not easy. For some people it might be even more difficult than logging

    If I want to lose weight, it is so much easier to log my food. While I eat a reasonably healthy diet and always have ... intuitively, I eat larger portions than I need.
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    mrsnattybulking wrote: »
    Nope. I got to 240 eating intuitively lol

    *kitten*. I got to 240 with help from MFP. I got to 330 by intuitive eating.

    My wife intuitive eats and is a healthy weight.
  • Ironandwine69
    Ironandwine69 Posts: 2,432 Member
    Machka9 wrote: »
    Ironandwine69 wrote: »
    geneticsteacher wrote: »
    I intuitively eat too much :'(

    Yeah it's not easy. For some people it might be even more difficult than logging

    If I want to lose weight, it is so much easier to log my food. While I eat a reasonably healthy diet and always have ... intuitively, I eat larger portions than I need.

    I don't have a problem losing with intuitive eating, but I tend to undereat and lose more muscle mass than I like. To get it just right I need to log.
  • janjunie
    janjunie Posts: 1,200 Member
    KM0692 wrote: »
    I'd like to try this once I reach my goal weight. I tend to be an emotional eater (and a boredom eater) though, so I'm not sure it will work for me (?).

    I must have because before I discovered MFP I had already had two kids and was able to lose the baby weight after both without proper calorie counting.
  • setzerfan
    setzerfan Posts: 16 Member
    No. I gained when I tried that approach in the past.
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