What are your thoughts on intuitive eating?

KeshiaBeard

I’m currently trying to embrace a more relaxed ‘yogic’ lifestyle, part of this involves breaking down all my obsessive tendencies, including stressing about every morsel I eat and every step I take (e.g. my current thought patterns have tended towards the negative and I think things like: “am I doing enough?” “I shouldn’t eat this it’s bad/wrong/not good for me” “I feel disgusting because I ate something bad for me” "what's the point" "I'm fat and useless and will never be strong/fit/thin/healthy").

Anyway, aside from introducing more natural foods (I’m not ready to go entirely into a yogic diet which includes mainly raw food, no meat, nothing pre-packaged, no coffee, no alcohol) I’m looking into embracing intuitive eating rather than having a set in stone eating plan to follow every single day. I feel when I have a eating schedule and don't stick to it, it just encourages my negative thought patterns and I end up telling myself I'm a failure...

I would also like to get the point where I exercise out of habit, our bodies are made to move, I know this, but at this point I’m struggling so I’m taking things slow and focusing on my eating first. My mantra at the moment is: drop the drama, keep it simple, one day at a time, start small and give it my all.

Anyway, what are your thoughts on / experiences with intuitive eating? Does it work? Is there a good guide somewhere on where to start? Any tips on how to introduce it into your life? Can you still lose weight eating this way?

Share your thoughts!

glassgallm

That's how I ended up here in the first place! I cannot rely on feeling full because I never do! Being accountable for all my food and calories burned works for me!

Docbanana2002

My intuition is broken!

Lindzpnc

That's how I ended up here in the first place! I cannot rely on feeling full because I never do! Being accountable for all my food and calories burned works for me!

^^^

yup what she said if i was doing intuitive eating i would intuitively get back to 358 lbs soon enough

Anonycatgirl

Completely intuitive eating didn't work so well for me. Now that I have more of an idea of portioning and calories in common foods, it might work better. But if you find yourself getting obsessive and rigid, a more relaxed approach, still keeping loose track but not pre-planning and measuring every last bite, might work better for you. You might not lose weight as fast, but you might feel healthier for it, and that's important too.

Edited to add: It looks like you don't have a lot of weight to lose and are more concerned with establishing healthier habits and lowering stress--so maybe it will be a good fit, as long as you pay some attention to portions..

KeshiaBeard

That's how I ended up here in the first place! I cannot rely on feeling full because I never do! Being accountable for all my food and calories burned works for me!

^^^

yup what she said if i was doing intuitive eating i would intuitively get back to 358 lbs soon enough

That's interesting because I find the minute I stop thinking about how much I eat, I find I stop eating as much. Sometimes my balance is a litle off and I might eat too much salt/sugar/carbs/drink too much alcohol one day, but overall I'm generally eating healthy foods. Exercise is another story but I'm working on that...

LucasEVille

That's how I ended up here in the first place! I cannot rely on feeling full because I never do! Being accountable for all my food and calories burned works for me!

This ^

Calories in calories out. Its as simple as you want to make it. This app allows me to get on and eat the food while it does the grunt work for me nutritionally.

emtjmac

tl;dr

Intuitive eating made me fat.

MSeel1984

I'm learning to do this...and finding that when I don't have a strict schedule (work), I tend to graze instead of having full meals. I also sense more when I'm hungry or satisfied. I know better WHAT I am wanting to eat and have wound up eating more wholesome foods (hard boiled eggs, fruit, veggies, etc). Now if only I could get the water thing figured out.

BlueButterfly94

I feel like if I moved into intuitive eating, I would probably end up being underweight... I don't normally get feelings of hunger, and when I do I tend to ignore them because I'm busy with other things.

BrainyBurro

logging calories and exercise is just obtaining data to make informed decisions.

once you stop logging, odds are you will gain weight. not sure what the % is, but i wouldn't bat an eyelash if somebody said 95% of people start re-gaining weight when they stop logging.

weightliftingdiva

For me, intuitive eating is eating the whole plate (or bowl or sandwich), regardless of if I'm full or not.

I would not be able to lose if I wasn't logging.

JaimieAG

It's good to have a balance. I switch gears every once in a blue moon when the calorie counting drives my husband up the wall or I get burnt out and decide to eat whole/vegetarian foods rather than calorie restricting. Typically when I'm eating whole foods I lose weight in the beginning, maintain a weight for a few months +/- 2lbs and then over time I gain. It's not the food's fault, obviously. It's mine. Where does my nieces birthday cake fit? One slice every once in a while wont hurt. Then there's pizza at the office for someone's going away party. One slice once in a while wont hurt. Or I eat a whole bag of pistachios... it's whole, eh? LOL With myfitnesspal I can plug that in and make up for it elsewhere. When I"m not calorie counting sometimes I forget to make it up elsewhere.

I say try it. And then if you start to see yourself drift up 5+lbs use myfitenesspal to put portions back in check.

Don't be a slave to anything. Apps & calories are merely tools. Food, ultimately, is the best medicine. A Yogi approach might be really stinkin good for your body and mind. Go for it!

*edit* One downside of calorie counting is often the dependence on packaged foods in a time crunch. Calorie counting becomes tedious when you're plugging in something complex like a homemade flatbread with an assortment of veggies or homemade granola. It's so easy to grab something prepackaged that's just a scan, beep, done. That's another reason I think your yogi approach might be a nice break from the norm.

missh1967

That's how I ended up here in the first place! I cannot rely on feeling full because I never do! Being accountable for all my food and calories burned works for me!

x2. Intuitively, I'd like to eat 3/4 of a half gallon of ice cream, and I could damn well do it and not blink an eye or feel sick to my stomach. But I must discipline myself and eat what fits into my calorie limits. IIFYM! If that means only 1/2 cup of ice cream, so be it. My diet can't be too pristine or any slip-up will drive me insane.

DebTavares

Skinny people have two things going for them: physiology and habits.

Physiologically, their bodies are very good at telling them when they're full and when they're hungry. They know when they're full and stop eating. Eating too much makes them uncomfortable.

As far as habits go, they only eat one slice of pizza instead of the entire pizza because that's what they've always eaten. They don't upsize their fries because they've always ordered a small.


My hunger-fullness cues are broken. I can never get too full and as a result can just keep on eating. Habits I can change. I now know it's perfectly fine to have a slice of pizza. I also know it's dumb to eat the entire pizza. In my weight loss journey I've focussed on making long lasting habits that eventually became second nature. I don't count calories but I am cognizant of the calories in various foods and also can visualize what a decent portion size is. This can work, but you have to be really honest with yourself.

hookilau

My intuition is broken!

:laugh: So was mine, but now that my BG is under control, I'm finding intuitive eating surprisingly easy.

I changed my weight training program & a put on 4#'s. I wasn't sure if it was water weight or not because I don't normally log my calories.

So I didn't restrain my eating, just logged everything I ate. I ate whenever I felt hungry & stopped when I wasn't anymore. If it makes any sense, the feeling to stop eating came from my head & it was always before I felt physically full. It could also be the type of diet I'm on (ketogenic).

Anyway, what I found was to maintain my current weight, I could continue to eat at my current level. After logging, I found that to be about 2000-2200. I'm 5' tall CW 123-127#'s and 45 yrs old.

I've still got some work to do, so I'm going to cut a wee bit & eat at 1800 cal/day for a while & see if I maintain or lose. Ideally, I'd like to lose about 10-15#'s.

Anyhow, depending on your goals, you can easily find out if intuitive eating is for you or not. :drinker:

KeshiaBeard

It's great to see this can work for some people. I agree that it will only work if your physical signals and mental relationship with food are in sync. I'm keen to give this a try, the worst that could happen is that I gain a couple of kilos, if it does I'll stop and go back to planning meals. However I won't stop logging what I eat, I find MFP a great tool and it helps me keep track of which food agree with my digestive system.

wonderwoman234

I think it is something to aspire to over time. I think many of us have confused emotional/mental hunger for physical hunger for so long, it's hard to tell the difference. I also think the overabundance of food selection/availability, junk food advertising, and gluttony shows (almost everything on the Food Network) make it hard to intuit eating.

As a kid I knew how to eat intuitively and I was skinny as a rail. If I wasn't hungry, I didn't eat. If I was famished, I ate until I was satisfied but not stuffed. I think I am doing that now but definitely use calorie counting to figure out whether to eat more or not. I probably should be using my body cues!

girlongoing

Before starting my ketogenic diet, I had bad overeating and binge eating issues. I don't know how to eat intuitively. My intuition to was eat whatever and whenever I wanted. Thats how I ended up overweight. It might work for people who already have healthy eating habits.

6ftamazon

I've been thinking about this a lot recently. I've noticed since I've changed my eating habits, I'm pretty good at listening to my body. I'm going to try next week to see if I can get away with not logging...it just seems like a lot of work to me some days.

elizabethberchtoldvolpe

I used to diet on an extremely strict schedule. 8am nuts and yogurt, 11am salad, 2pm apple 5pm dinner and so on. I was constantly looking at the clock to make sure I was eating when I was supposed to, every 3-4 hours. It was supposed to be fool proof- eat on time, count calories, have balanced veggies/protein and exercise. I never lost weight. It was that frustration that led me to say screw it and binge. Then when I took other approaches like eliminating gluten, dairy, soy, or sugar, I found that depriving myself would again lead me to failure. I am doing my best right now at losing and that is simply by going with the flow. I'll eat when I'm hungry, but eat half of what I normally would have. I keep a lot of fresh fruit in the house so if a hunger strikes, I reach for an apple and a glass of water. Different methods will work for different people. You have to find what works for you.

SomeNights246

I think a lot of people are confusing intuitive eating with emotional eating or overeating out of boredom. Intuitive eating involves learning true hunger signals. Many people mistake boredom or emotional hunger signals for true hunger signals, and therein lies the problem.

Mgypsygirl

Yes-mine is broken too!

FoxyLifter

Hunger signals can get screwed up. I'll stick to counting calories.

Having said that, I think that you need to change how you think about food. There are no "good" or "bad" foods, but there are "good and "bad" regimens. I can fit treats into my regimen and not feel guilty at all because I meet my calories, macro, and micro goals. Context is important.

seltzermint555

That's how I ended up here in the first place! I cannot rely on feeling full because I never do! Being accountable for all my food and calories burned works for me!

This.

I rarely feel hungry or full. Aside from really obvious situations like not eating for 7-8 hours and feeling cranky, or scarfing 3 plates at a buffet and being uncomfortably full...I just feel kind of okay all of the time, or like "yeah I could eat a cookie...not hungry really...but maybe"

I need some kind of guide to know how many calories to eat. I used to go off other people for cues on how to eat and that did not work well at all, as it was usually men larger than myself (ex husband or my dad for example) or women who were eating 1-2 meals to my 3. So nope.

KeshiaBeard

Hunger signals can get screwed up. I'll stick to counting calories.

Having said that, I think that you need to change how you think about food. There are no "good" or "bad" foods, but there are "good and "bad" regimens. I can fit treats into my regimen and not feel guilty at all because I meet my calories, macro, and micro goals. Context is important.

+1 this.

I totally agree that there are no good or bad foods, I have learned this recently and that's part of my reason for wanting to give intuitive eating a go.

Also agree that many people are confusing intuitive eating with emotional eating. A quick definition of intutive eating is:

"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. ..."

Animals and children know how to do this. As we grow our natural signals become skewed by people around us / media / "health professionals" telling how, when, what, how much to eat. It's about learning to get back to those natural insticts we ignore because we are too busy listening to other people that "know best".

It won't work for everyone, it will be distasterous for some, but I guess I won't know how it will work for me until I try!

dbmata

they'll name anything these days.

astronomicals

logging calories is a mindtrap for a LOT of people. If you control it, and dont let it control you, then it becomes valuable data to reach your goal. If you let it control you and stress you out it can become an obsessive eating disorder or worse

"intuitively eating" can be a mindtrap that leads to "overexercising" more to burn calories and undereating after days of overeating. If you do too much to compensate than you're at too big of a deficit.


Logging leads to weird OCD tendencies. "intuitive eating" leads to binge purge cycles. Any weight loss program can have severe psychological side effects. Do what works for you.

I choose logging because it allows me more freedom since I know I can "balance the week". Not knowing would annoy me and probably cause me to lose more lean mass while on a cut due to cutting too fast (Ive actually done this years ago).

SherryTeach

Intuitive eating works about as well for me as intuiting how much money is in my checking account without logging in to the bank website to check my balance. What works for me is to pre-log most of my day in the time the coffee brews in the morning. Eating mostly off of my memory of the list, since I have that food with me, and making minor corrections later. I also look up my bank balance from time to time to avoid overdrawing my account.

One can log without becoming an obsessive maniac.

KeshiaBeard

Intuitive eating works about as well for me as intuiting how much money is in my checking account without logging in to the bank website to check my balance. What works for me is to pre-log most of my day in the time the coffee brews in the morning. Eating mostly off of my memory of the list, since I have that food with me, and making minor corrections later. I also look up my bank balance from time to time to avoid overdrawing my account.

One can log without becoming an obsessive maniac.

Good comparison. However, SOME can log without becoming obsessive maniacs... personally I find counting every calorie, macro/micro nutrient, weighing every portion and planning every meal for a the week to be completely and utterly draining after a short while. Glad it works for you though!

shmerek

OP It is bollocks.