Intuitive Eating and calories, logging, etc.
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mommamuscles
Posts: 584 Member
So I just wanted to offer a little clarification because I've been thinking some things over today. I know that alot of people who are members of this group have come from a history of very low calorie dieting and in severe cases, eating disorders. The desire to see a healed relationship with food comes from this perspective. However, I also know that we are in various stages of our recovery from the diet mentality, effects of long term very low calorie eating, and eating disorders. Some of us are very aware of the need to fuel our bodies and have effectively repaired our metabolism. Others of us are very new to this whole journey and may still be struggling with the concept of eating enough to fuel our bodies.
For that reason, I wanted to provide a little clarification, and alot of this comes from a conversation I had earlier today with Kiki (I'm sure most of you know her, prvrbs31 and cofounder of EM2WL).
I assumed that most of this was common sense, however, I just wanted to point this out so there is no question.
As women, particularly those who have been dieting for a long time, we may not be in tune with our hunger/fullness signals. The body is very good at adapting. I'm sure some of you have experienced this. You go on some weight loss plan that is 1200 calories or so. For the first couple days to a week it is pure hell. Pretty soon though it gets easier and easier. What has happened? Well, most likely your body's metabolism has slowed down, knowing that this is the new normal. You no longer feel hungry and you may even feel "perfectly satisfied" on this small amount of food.
For this reason it is really important to restore your body to being properly nourished. You cannot neccessarily trust your body at this time. You must give your body the proper number of calories to fuel your current activity level. During this phase, it is important to log food, not for any kind of restrictive dieting purposes, but because you need to make sure you are eating ENOUGH. If you've been dieting restrictively for a lengthy period of time, usually a metabolism reset (eating at TDEE) is recommended for a period of 8-12 weeks. During this time, you will likely become more in tune with your hunger and fullness signals. Eating on some kind of a schedule is usually recommended so that you do not become so hungry that you have lost your ability to eat intuitively. It is common during this time to experience the return of the feeling of hunger as you begin to feed your body.
After you have successfully gone through this process (not necessary for everyone) and understand what you must eat in order to keep yourself nourished and fed, then a focus away from tracking can be a good idea, because after some time the constant day in, day out logging of every morsel of food becomes monotonous and can even feel obsessive, even like dieting, even if you are no longer eating restrictively.
It is important that you really evaluate where you are in this process. Because if you havent healed your mind and body from the effects of VLCD, you may "intuitively" eat 800 calories or even less.Obviously this is incredibly unhealthy and not a sign of a restored relationship with food and eating, regardless if you "feel" satisfied.
Hope this clears things up so there is no confusion!
For that reason, I wanted to provide a little clarification, and alot of this comes from a conversation I had earlier today with Kiki (I'm sure most of you know her, prvrbs31 and cofounder of EM2WL).
I assumed that most of this was common sense, however, I just wanted to point this out so there is no question.
As women, particularly those who have been dieting for a long time, we may not be in tune with our hunger/fullness signals. The body is very good at adapting. I'm sure some of you have experienced this. You go on some weight loss plan that is 1200 calories or so. For the first couple days to a week it is pure hell. Pretty soon though it gets easier and easier. What has happened? Well, most likely your body's metabolism has slowed down, knowing that this is the new normal. You no longer feel hungry and you may even feel "perfectly satisfied" on this small amount of food.
For this reason it is really important to restore your body to being properly nourished. You cannot neccessarily trust your body at this time. You must give your body the proper number of calories to fuel your current activity level. During this phase, it is important to log food, not for any kind of restrictive dieting purposes, but because you need to make sure you are eating ENOUGH. If you've been dieting restrictively for a lengthy period of time, usually a metabolism reset (eating at TDEE) is recommended for a period of 8-12 weeks. During this time, you will likely become more in tune with your hunger and fullness signals. Eating on some kind of a schedule is usually recommended so that you do not become so hungry that you have lost your ability to eat intuitively. It is common during this time to experience the return of the feeling of hunger as you begin to feed your body.
After you have successfully gone through this process (not necessary for everyone) and understand what you must eat in order to keep yourself nourished and fed, then a focus away from tracking can be a good idea, because after some time the constant day in, day out logging of every morsel of food becomes monotonous and can even feel obsessive, even like dieting, even if you are no longer eating restrictively.
It is important that you really evaluate where you are in this process. Because if you havent healed your mind and body from the effects of VLCD, you may "intuitively" eat 800 calories or even less.Obviously this is incredibly unhealthy and not a sign of a restored relationship with food and eating, regardless if you "feel" satisfied.
Hope this clears things up so there is no confusion!
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Replies
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Well said.0
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i still struggle with htis today eeryday it is a struggle to eat more food but i know it will be better for me in the long run0
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Very well said!! I started eating more towards my tdee about a month ago and it has been amazing the difference it has made. I used to be soooooo hangry ( hungry/angry) all the time that I was a miserable person to be around but now that I've been fueling my self with the proper amount of nutrition my husband has even comment on how much more pleasant I have been. I also had no PMS this time around which was amazing cuz I usually turn psycho around my time of the month, so to have no pms symptoms was amazing for me...eat the food people!!! Eat the Food!!!!
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TDEE? what does that mean? I am slowly learning to listen to my body's signals. I still track my food, but it IS mostly for just seeing what i am eating, not really "calorie restriction." I think i will probably continue to do tracking and meal planning, just because that is what would work best for me. I need to be able to preplan some of my meals (mostly if i am eating out at a restaurant). but knowing that i won't feel REQUIRED to track would be wonderful.0
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TDEE = Total Daily Energy Expenditure basically eating the amount your body is using for fuel.0
