Intuitive eating to lose weight?????

Sparkle097

Does this work?

I watched people on YouTube and they were saying you can lose weight while eating mindfully??? I always heard like it’s all calories when it comes to losing weight. But now I’m like confused?! It makes sense to eat when you are hungry but sometimes you can u can under eat or over eat from doing this???

Wat if u eat when you are hungry but you are under eating. For example eating like 1200 calories or below but you don’t know that because you are intuitive eating????

Wat do u think?

manderson27

I can't do it. Eating that way is how I gained the weight in the first place. Of course it works for some people. But I don't have very good portion control unless I am counting calories.

FlyingMolly

Eating what I thought I should when I thought I should was how I gained weight. I’m learning a lot about my body’s functioning and hunger patterns now that I’ve lost it again, and at times I override MFP based on those. But I’ve demonstrated over the course of years that I need more structure than “listen to your body,” so I don’t think that would suddenly magically work for me now.

lin_be

It’s still all about calories to lose weight...those people you’re watching are still in a calorie deficit.

sardelsa

It works for some people, not for others. I don't track my food but I have guidelines I follow to keep my calorie amount suited to my goals (lose, maintain, gain)

In order to know I am eating the right amount I track my weight. My trend weight over time tells me how much I am consuming and I adjust my intake accordingly.

Redordeadhead

It's still about calories. People who lose weight while eating intuitively do so because they intuitively eat less calories than they burn.

RoxieDawn

For me this works until it doesn't.

urloved33

does not work for me

snickerscharlie

I intuitively eat all the things, so, no.

kimny72

Intuitive eating works for some people because they end up naturally eating the right amount of calories. Some people overeat due to boredom eating, or just shoveling food in while working or watching tv or playing with their phone. Paying attention and listening to their hunger signals helps them eat the right amount. Intuitive eating doesn't work despite calories, it works (for some) because of them, like everything else.

I wasn't really a mindless eater, and I'm really not intuitively good at anything . I'm numbers oriented so counting is comforting to me, I like to see the data and make it work.

You have to figure out how your brain works, and what "system" will get you into a calorie deficit with the least amount of stress and effort. For some it's calorie counting, for some it's following a specific diet or macro distribution, for some it's intuitive or mindful eating.

Whey125

snickerscharlie wrote: »

I intuitively eat all the things, so, no.

This! I dont have this discipline so I have resumed mindful logging to lose those 12lbs

snickerscharlie

Whey116 wrote: »

snickerscharlie wrote: »

I intuitively eat all the things, so, no.

This! I dont have this discipline so I have resumed mindful logging to lose those 12lbs

Sometimes acknowledging your shortcomings and making adjustments accordingly is all that's required to affect the changes needed to succeed.

leanjogreen18

Try it for a couple of weeks or a month to give you a better idea and see. If you don’t see the scale move then you’ll know.

I’m sure some days you’ll eat over 1200 and some days you’ll eat less. Calories are king however some are able to lose not counting by eating mindfully most can’t though.

yirara

I'm eating mindfully but calorie or portion control? No way! I can't estimate distances, times or sizes of objects. And I can't estimate portion size either. Sometimes a portion feels too big for me, but usually it's bigger than I thought.

lorrpb

If losing weight was intuitive, not many of us would be overweight, right?

shaumom

intuitive eating relies on the premise that the body will naturally tend towards an equilibrium, in terms of weight, AND that this equilibrium is 'healthy by how we define it currently.'

This ignores reality. Because intuitively, the body acts in the ways that will keep you alive long enough to breed, and unfortunately, the body developed in a world where you had to gain weight to survive times when food wasn't so plentiful. So staying the same size all year round is NOT what the body is trying to help us achieve. Which is why intuitive eating isn't workable, for most - our intuition is not geared for what we're currently trying to achieve.

From what I've read...
1. The body tends to make people hungry to maintain a minimum level of weight...so if you are the perfect weight, not eating unless you're body seems hungry might work. If you are trying to lose weight, however, your body will make you hungry until you stop losing weight and get back to the weight you originally were, if it can. It's a good survival trait, but not so great when people have food readily available all year round.

2. And many things can alter when your body gives hunger impulses. Gut bacteria, for example, have been shown to influence when the body gives hunger signals, in ways that can make you lose or gain weight if you listen to them, and whether your body is urging you to lose or gain weight depends on which bacteria your gut has.

3. There is little survival benefit for the human body to try to restrict weight gain. Because typically, weight gained during part of the year was needed to survive lean times during the winter, you know? It's a GOOD survival trait to be able to gain weight quickly when needed - until you live in a civilization where you get food consistently, where you aren't HAVING any lean times to take that weight off. Then, not so helpful.

4. Human beings also have a lot of instinctive behaviors that increase the likelihood that you will gain weight unless you are aware of them and going AGAINST your instincts, or at least heading them off at the pass. Like, for example, people will tend to eat the food in front of them, so the more food there is, the more we tend to eat. This can make it tricky to eat out without a little weight gain, if portion sizes are large. People are drawn to sugars and fats instinctively, because we're built that way - theories as to why are simply because these two things indicate more calories, and for a species trying to eat enough to survive, it's good to be drawn to calories sources so you don't starve to death.


So basically - our instincts/intuition is built to keep us alive in times when we needed to be able to hold onto whatever calories we came across, so we could survive the times when there are few calories to be found. And that's not a set of instincts that are going to be as useful when we're not in that situation.

CarvedTones

in·tu·i·tive
adjective
using or based on what one feels to be true even without conscious reasoning; instinctive.

So it is impossible to learn to eat intuitively. If you gained weight from BED, it is possible that if you successfully avoid further incidents that you can maintain using intuitive eating and if the maintenance weight is below your current weight, you will be at a slight deficit and slowly lose to your maintenance weight. But if eat too much if you don't consciously track, intuitive eating won't work Mindful eating, which is pretty much the opposite of intuitive, can be learned and works for some people who don't track explicitly.

kshama2001

Intuitive eating works for me when I'm not doing the shopping and the food available is higher bulk/lower calorie.

When I am doing the shopping and have access to the full array of higher calorie and hyper-palatable foods, it doesn't.

mbaker566

no that's how i gained weight

CarvedTones

kshama2001 wrote: »

Intuitive eating works for me when I'm not doing the shopping and the food available is higher bulk/lower calorie.

When I am doing the shopping and have access to the full array of higher calorie and hyper-palatable foods, it doesn't.

Interesting answer. I guess you can naturally be good at stopping when full enough and bad at picking what to fill up on.

kshama2001

CarvedTones wrote: »

kshama2001 wrote: »

Intuitive eating works for me when I'm not doing the shopping and the food available is higher bulk/lower calorie.

When I am doing the shopping and have access to the full array of higher calorie and hyper-palatable foods, it doesn't.

Interesting answer. I guess you can naturally be good at stopping when full enough and bad at picking what to fill up on.

Oh, I am terrible at stopping when full when eating foods like ice cream and it takes strategies and discipline to stop with pizza.

But when I only have access to lower-palatable foods, I have no problem stopping.

CSARdiver

Weight management is similar to financial management.

Do you know anyone successful who spends intuitively?

Intuitive eating only works in those situations where an individual's caloric output exceeds or meets their caloric input, but these situations are increasingly rare. It is a foolish "non-strategy" to take on, especially if you have been in caloric surplus for an extended period of time.

kshama2001

CSARdiver wrote: »

Weight management is similar to financial management.

Do you know anyone successful who spends intuitively?

Intuitive eating only works in those situations where an individual's caloric output exceeds or meets their caloric input, but these situations are increasingly rare. It is a foolish "non-strategy" to take on, especially if you have been in caloric surplus for an extended period of time.

I'm naturally pretty frugal, but I also had financial management in the USAF and several semesters of accounting as part of my business degree.

However, I agree that it would be foolish for someone who had been in debt for an extended period of time to switch to "intuitive financial management". That sure sounded foolish as I typed it.

MelanieCN77

The YT people who talk about how it's how they do are usually coming from extended periods of counting calories or macros and generally being hyper conscious of their intake, so to say they practice that like they have some zen connection to their stomach is a half useful piece of advice. They've honed their understanding of the kind of things they can eat in a day to be at a reasonable calorie intake, and it's not by "listening to their body" - there's plenty technical and academic knowledge there too informing them.

snickerscharlie

If I go to the grocery store hungry, it intuitively adds $50 to the bill...

estherdragonbat

CarvedTones wrote: »

kshama2001 wrote: »

Intuitive eating works for me when I'm not doing the shopping and the food available is higher bulk/lower calorie.

When I am doing the shopping and have access to the full array of higher calorie and hyper-palatable foods, it doesn't.

Interesting answer. I guess you can naturally be good at stopping when full enough and bad at picking what to fill up on.

I went to Marshalls to buy a pair of gloves. It's one of those stores where they herd you into a maze to wait for a free checkout clerk, with the sides of the maze lined with snacks and "stocking stuffer"-type gifts. I wasn't PLANNING on buying brownie brittle and sour cream-cheddar cheese-flavored popcorn. An individual portion, which I mean to weigh out, falls around 100 calories, which is what I generally budget for my snacks. But that's just it. I'm going to weigh it out. Because if I'd decided to open that bag of brownie brittle on the way home, since one serving is only around 100 calories (I think it's 120, but I'm not getting up to check the bag right now), I can just about guarantee you that 3 servings would be consumed before I got in the door.

I am BAD at eyeballing, especially when I'm pulling stuff out of a bag one piece at a time. Intuitive eating? With chocolate? I intuitively want more!!!!!

sijomial

Mindful eating and intuitive eating are not the same thing.

I can (and do) control my weight by mindful eating and monitoring my weight, it's what I've done the vast majority of my adult life. I consciously think about what I need as opposed to what I want, that's not intuition it's a deliberate thoughtful series of choices and actions.
I briefly tried intuitive eating but I very shortly reached my highest ever weight, it appears my intuitive intake level is a substantial caloric surplus.

My son is a genuine intuitive eater, eats to his hunger cues (very irregularly, very differently day to day in terms of number of meals and snacks as well as total volume) and naturally maintains his weight at a slim and heathy weight.

counting_kilojoules

I can maintain my weight by intuitive eating just fine but I can't lose weight by intuitive eating. Generally I maintain easily and without thought. I can't lose weight that way though. Losing weight requires some discomfort and rearrangement of my eating patterns or exercise patterns. I can't do that without thought, I have to think about it and plan it out.

I also think that generally, if you've had difficulty with your weight (especially if it's a long term difficulty) then intuitive eating is probably not for you. Mindful eating might be however.

whatalazyidiot

I don't think it's impossible for everyone, but it's impossible for me.

I have 2 modes: track my food to eat a moderate amount, or compulsively overeat and binge eat. I have absolutely NO sense of moderation. I HAVE to track what I am eating if I am going to eat even close to maintenance. Maybe in time it will get better, but right now I will absolutely gain more weight if I'm not aware of how much I'm eating.

nvmomketo

I can eat intuitively only when eating a very low carb macro. When my carbs are higher, my appetite and cravings increase so if I follow y appetite I will gain weight. For me, it's all about what foods I eat.

nowine4me

My experience;
Intuitive = 220#
CICO = 135#
Just Sayin