Too much thinking?

laurae

As I am still making my way through the book, I keep thinking that there is too much "thinking" involved to eat intuitively. Perhaps it is because I read it at night before bed, and I am tired and trying to process all the questions to ask yourself just seems like a lot late at night. Maybe after it becomes ingrained in you, you don't need to "think" about all the questions to ask yourself before eating anything. All the analyzing of "why" you want the ice cream and deciding if it is really hunger and all those other questions. I just want a bowl of ice cream! For me, just counting calories seems to be a lot easier and less stressful than "thinking" through everything I eat. Perhaps I'm just in a funk right now.

AprilRenewed

I don't know. I think it's really hard to think through every thing you eat. Sometimes, at least for me, I'm not even sure why I'm eating what I'm eating and when I'm eating it. Sometimes, I just really want it - like yesterday and my spoonful of peanut butter. Other times, I recognize the signs my body gives for needing something specific. But it IS a lot of thinking, and sometimes, coming up with the answers is difficult. I haven't read the book and don't have it yet, but I imagine that it's all stuff that's hard at the beginning but become more intuitive later. I mean, when you first started logging, wasn't it more difficult than it is now? Didn't you think about it more than you do now? I think...if I can remember that far back...that that was me. It was much different then and has become much easier now. Most things are that way.

VeganTrish

In the book it's referred to as being in a state of " hyperfocusing". it's temporary and normal as we begin the process of intuitive eating. The authors liken it to learning how to drive- initially you are super aware of the things you need to do to get out of the driveway, such as bucking up, checking mirrors, turning on ignition, etc. etc., until you become a seasoned driver and those things don't ever register as something you think about- it becomes automatic. The over thinking will stop as we learn to listen to our bodies again. I tried "letting go" yesterday for the first time and it was a revelation. Just keep reading and hang in there!

mommamuscles

As I am still making my way through the book, I keep thinking that there is too much "thinking" involved to eat intuitively. Perhaps it is because I read it at night before bed, and I am tired and trying to process all the questions to ask yourself just seems like a lot late at night. Maybe after it becomes ingrained in you, you don't need to "think" about all the questions to ask yourself before eating anything. All the analyzing of "why" you want the ice cream and deciding if it is really hunger and all those other questions. I just want a bowl of ice cream! For me, just counting calories seems to be a lot easier and less stressful than "thinking" through everything I eat. Perhaps I'm just in a funk right now.

Yes. I feel the same way and it was really stressing me out. So I kind of went back to logging but am still challenging myself and stopping with all the restricting. It's hard now but I don't think it will be forever.

BuffyEat2Live

I think that the point of IE is to one day not to have to think about it. But in the beginning, we do need to think about it, because it's a new way of eating. I hope that in the end, when I am an intuitive eater, these critical thinking parts will be worth it. I think that they will be. :flowerforyou:

kkzmom11

for me, it's a lot of thinking and paying attention right now. but as i practice intuitive eating and it becomes more 2nd nature, i believe it will be a lot less "thinking" and more "feeling".