Intuitive Eating, anyone?

healthynotthin

Has anyone read this book? My mom read it and it's had some very good advice regarding dieting, exercise, and listening to your body? Thoughts? Suggestions? What did you take from it? Do you agree/disagree with any parts?

heartofviolet

Bump, cause I'd like to know too.

mindfulrossy

I use the book Intuitive Eating all of the time in the classes that I teach at the University of Missouri on mindful eating. It is a wonderful approach based on listening to your own bodies signals for how, what, when, and why you eat. Research I conducted shows it works to have a better relationship to your food and your body. If you want more information about mindful and intuitive eating skills, check out my blog at TastingMindfulness.com, tasting mindfulness facebook page, or twitter at DrLynnRossy

IntuitiveEater

It is what I am aiming to do! I still fall into old habits now and then, and end up tracking my food on here. But I am mostly an intuitive eater right now.

I'm still in the first part, where I'm learning to listen to my hunger signals and giving myself unlimitted permission to eat. It's harder than it sounds, for someone who has been a yo-yo dieter for years.

So far I have not weighed in since going from full time calorie-counting to IE, but my clothes feel the same, 2 weeks in. I don't think I've lost OR gained any weight so far, but that can't be your number one goal with this.

According to the book, eventually I will go back to my "normal" weight, whatever that is!

softwind

I just started reading it and I'm looking to tie the concepts together. I figure I will still log for a while just to be aware of what I'm doing, but hopefully I can stop eventually.

LouiseRose92

I did Paul McKenna which is intuitive eating and I did lose a lot of weight! This was 2 years ago. But then I got back to my old habits. Good luck but you have to keep mindful eating going even when you're done losing weight, and it's easy to slip.

rlw77

I am bought the new edition so I am reading through again. My goal is to be an intuitive eater. I know the book says to throw away all dieting materials. I just have a hard time doing that. I keep coming back to this site because I have met so many great people here. I am going to follow the principles and still track for awhile. Hopefully, I won't have to do it forever. I have no trouble waiting until I'm hungry to eat. It's just when I start and the food is good, I don't want to stop when I am satisfied. I really need to work on that one.

fiberartist219

I don't remember what all the book says. I think I skimmed it a year ago.

Anyway, this is what I do. I haven't logged food in about a year. Sometimes I will look up the calorie content of something if it's new to me, but for the most part, I can figure out what is good for me without scrutinizing my food.

I try to eat healthy foods first. If I want something sweet, I try to eat fruit before I really go for a brownie, but hey, sometimes I really do want the brownie.... or just half of one.

I try to eat slowly and really taste what I'm eating. It's more fun if you enjoy it.

I also try not to eat if I'm not hungry. If I'm not hungry, and I'm just bored, a walk to the water cooler usually does the trick. If food is being offered to me and I am not hungry, I won't eat more than a bite, and sometimes I just change the subject. Eating out of guilt for someone else's feelings is a silly idea, and I don't subscribe to it.

I also try to get some exercise in, regardless of the food situation.

I highly recommend the intuitive eating and mindful eating books, even if I can't remember exactly what they say. I just know that I took some of those concepts, and they generally work for me.