Eating According to Your Body Rather Than Counting Cals?

MysticRealm · January 2014

Last year I lost 30 pounds by counting cals and working out probably around 4 of the 7 months it took me. I averaged a 1800 cal a day diet (usually ate around 1500 during the week so I had some extra calories for the weekends to go out to eat and munch with friends a bit (as well those days were days I often sat at home more which encouraged more eating so it allowed for that somewhat).
However, when I started to horse show during the summer last year I fell off track. Horse shows really throw off your schedule and you feel exhausted every day when you go home. It's harder to pack lunches with no fridge or microwave like I would have at work so you'd eat horse show food which often wasn't terribly healthy/low cal.
I don't generally eat breakfast (especially before work) then usually had a light lunch so I could save the majority of my cals for when I got home in the evening as that is normally when I want to and can stuff my face. Being left with a lot of cals in the evening meant I could almost eat non stop in the evening and still be under my cals.
Though this worked extremely well for me in that that's how my MIND WANTED to eat (eat more in the evenings and weekends when I am bored or tired), it didn't train my mind to listen to my body (and my body didn't know how to feel). For years I have very rarely ever felt hungry, and very rarely ever felt full. I almost always felt like I could eat more at any given time but rarely was I famished. I just felt like my stomach was a glass that always stayed half full no matter what.

This time around I'd like to teach my mind to listen to my body and have my body readjust to feeling what it should feel. I know this will be a very hard thing to do as I have messed it up for so long. I have read up a touch on intuitive eating, but that's now exactly what I want to do. I want to teach myself to like healthy foods and actually eat healthy, not 'eat what you want, when you want'. However I like some ideas they wrote about like when you eat don't do anything else. I'm usually watching TV or on the computer as I eat so my mind is not focusing on whether or not I'm getting full or on really enjoying what I am eating. And also on putting down your utensils in between bites and waiting before taking another portion to give you body time to realize if it's full or not (instead of wolfing down 2 big portions then 10 mins later feeling like you might barf it all up you are so full)
My problem is is that I'm not a huge fan of healthy foods. I'm very picky. I like very few veggies and even though I might like the taste of something (onions, tomatoes) I can't take their texture. So sometimes in soup onions are ok as they become a really soft non crunchy consistency, but to have onion chunks in a burger is just gross.
I've been looking up easy healthy recipes but they all call for 30 ingredients, 18 of which I've never even heard of, and I don't want to go out and buy all these weird things only to discover I don't like that recipe. I'm on a very tight grocery budget with no real room to spare.

So I guess my 3 questions are
Have any of you been able to make the change from your body and mind not recognizing hunger/full signals, to having a better understanding of them? What have you done to change this? Any articles or links you recommend (preferably not books as money is tight)?
And have any of you really taught yourself to like healthy foods that you really never used to? If so, how have you gone about doing that?
And lastly, any healthy recipes anyone can recommend that has closer to 5 ingredients and doesn't take crazy long to make (or you can make a big portion of a freeze it)?

Thanks!

_rozamu · January 2014

You should check out whole9life.com
You can learn to listen to your body!

Fithealthyforlife · January 2014

Hunger is a strange thing. I've learned not to trust it, since my goal is gaining weight. If I eat just enough to feel full, I'll eat maintenance or even a bit less. So no, in my case I find weighing food to be the most helpful thing to make sure I get enough. And I have a hard time differentiating different levels of full, too. Satisfied doesn't feel much different from stuffed in a biochemical sense, even though it does in a physical sense.

MoreBean13 · January 2014

Oddly, I think the way to learn to understand your body's needs and hunger signals is to lose weight by counting calories, get to maintenance and continue counting calories for a few months, and let your body learn to adjust to the correct amount of food, and finally you start getting appropriate hunger signals. Frankly I think it's almost impossible to do it without being stable at your desired weight. If you're overweight they're obviously messed up, or you wouldn't have gotten that way and if you're losing weight you by definition have to eat less than what your body needs to maintain so you're hijacking your body's regulation.

To answer your first question yes I've been in maintenance for about 8 months and I primarily eat intuitively now, but I check back in every couple months and count again when I feel like I am losing grasp or I'm feeling "off". Usually the "off" feeling is that my macros are becoming unbalanced not that I am eating the wrong amount.

WalkingAlong · January 2014

I could recommend books but it sounds like that's not an option for you, or you've already done that. Though libraries are great if money's tight. It's not impossible to learn to intuitively eat the right amount and you don't have to be at goal weight. It's a skill like any other. You were born with this skill and along the way you unlearned it.

Learning to like more healthy foods is probably a whole different topic. That just comes with trying new things and adjusting your idea of 'healthy'. No one HAS TO eat salads or green beans or broccoli or anything in particular. Try some soup recipes that have some pureed veggies, or green smoothies, or if you ONLY like carrots and cukes, eat those. Get creative.

syrcaid · January 2014

Well, you're on a calorie counting forum, so keep in mind your answers will be skewed because of that. I decided to adopt the idea of intuitive eating after repeatedly feeling grossly full over the holidays. It's been two weeks so far and I am really enjoying it! Intuitive eating focuses on creating a healthier relationship with all food because it is just that...food. You are free to eat anything you would normally eat, but it helps you realize that a lot of things you might be satisfied with a lot less of it than you are use to eating. I am continually surprised by how little it actually takes for me to feel full when I'm actually paying attention to it.

I really liked the e-book "The Overfed Head" by Rob Stevens, I was able to find the ebook free in PDF format online, but it helped a lot.

gigglesinthesun · January 2014

the thing I realised through calorie counting that I actually overeat in certain situations and for me intuitive eating in those situations doesn't work (which is why I gained weight in the first place). I can eat intuitively at home without problems.

I eat more then I need to in social situations and I drink more calories then I should in the form of frozen coke, juices, smoothies, take away coffees and alcohol. By now I know in my head the calorie values of my favourites, so whilst my entire being is telling me to have it, I can make a conscious decision wether I have space for those in my calorie allowance.

Phrick · January 2014

I'm not at all into "listening to your body". I think it's a bunch of crap, for a lot of reasons. The history of people is eat as much food as you can while you have it because you may not have it tomorrow. That is how our bodies think about food. So, to listen to your body is to listen to a lie. Food is plentiful. So, we need to do something else. Counting calories works really well.

There are also many books written on the subject of intuitive eating and all that. They offer various tools and ways to think and feel about food. One I read said never eat where you do other things. Have a place where you eat, and do nothing else. No multi tasking. Do this at every meal, and no snacking. That's it. That's pretty much the whole book. They go into studies and why it works, but there are many books on this subject that might help.

By the way, eating healthy has no meaning, really. If I eat a bacon, whole fried eggs for breakfast. Then order a cheeseburger from McDonalds, but come home and make a fresh salad with a nice homemade vinaigrette to go on the salad...did I eat unhealthy that day? "Healthy" is a relative term in context of everything. It's not carrots and spinach. It's more about meeting you nutritional needs. Which, again, why tracking your calories is important. You can visually see when you're short on protein for the day, or whatever, and make corrections.

All of this. I can't imagine not ballooning if I "listened to my body" regarding eating; in fact, eating when I wanted to/felt hungry/whatever, even though I ate a lot of "healthy" foods (subjective definition) is how I got fat in the first place. You can eat only salad with no dressing and baked chicken breast for all it matters, it's HOW MUCH of it you eat that will determine if you lose, gain, or maintain. I can't trust my brain/body to stop at an appropriate time. What I CAN do is count calories and measure portions and, hopefully, learn some new behaviors.

alisonlynn1976 · January 2014

I am not counting calories, but I am weighing myself every morning and using that number as a gauge for how I'm doing. This is working well for me. I believe that I am slowly training my brain/body to want less food than I used to want, simply by building new habits over time.

Here is a trick I use to like healthy foods more: If I find myself having a craving for something like a pastry or French fries (two things I ate way too much of while I was putting on the weight), I switch it up and anticipate eating whichever healthy food I actually have waiting for me at home, imagining in detail how it will taste and how good it will feel to satisfy my hunger with that food. That might sound weird, but it helps.

bridgew24 · January 2014

I may be the odd one out here, but I found counting calories to be a hindrance.

While I enjoy food I've always been an erratic eater and generally too busy to think about it much. But I do mostly eat healthy.
Calorie counting caused me to always be planning food and what I could have within my allowance; basically I was obsessing! This made me feel 'hungry' more than I would usually.
I've stopped calorie counting and even though I don't keep tabs on it (obviously!) I am pretty sure I'm eating fewer.

MysticRealm · January 2014

Thanks for the replies.
Obviously everything has to be within reason, just like counting calories.
Obviously if my body is telling me I'm hungry every 5 mins and I eat a chocolate bar or other high cal thing I ain't gonna lose no weight.
But I eat for no real reason. I eat cause I want to eat yummy food, I eat cause I am bored, I eat cause I am tired, I eat cause I am emotional. I don't eat because I am hungry b/c I never allow myself to be hungry. I snack all day long. (when I have the opportunity too)

When I am on track trying to lose weight those snacks, mini meals are low calorie stuff and it works to lose weight. But when I fall off track, all those snacks and mini meals become high calorie and even more frequent!

Obviously I know that healthy eating isn't just Brussels sprouts and boiled chicken and that knowing all your macros are probably nice, but I also think you can eat relatively healthily by changing from mostly fast food type food/very little veggies or fruits, to switching to more whole foods that include veggies and fruit and meat and such.

I have counted cals in the past so I know what a lot of my 'staple' meals are calorie wise, and when looking for healthy meals I have always checked the cal count so I'm not eating something that seems lower cal yet ends up being 1200 cals. But I think I can learn to listen a bit more to my body, while being a little aware of my cals while not counting every one, and eating 'healthier' and more correctly sized portions and still have positive results.
Maybe when I get closer to my goal I will have to be more aware of my cals. But I have a lot of weight to lose and I think I can at least get off to a good start by trying to get my body working a little more properly.

I KNOW calorie counting works to lose weight. I did it for 7-8 months and lost 30 pounds. However I never taught myself to have a proper relationship for food and to eat for life, not just to eat. So I think it was easier for me to get off track quickly when I slipped.

WalkingAlong · January 2014

It's like most things... If you believe you can or you can't, you're right.

mamma_nee · January 2014

I am learning to listen to my body tell me when I am satisfied and its been working well for me .

breakfast I have a piece of toast with a protein , coffee/non fat dry milk

for lunch another piece of toast and I start with a nice large salad, a couple vegetables or a vegetable soup and then once I eat that i will eat all the protein till I feel satisfied .

Dinner = same as lunch but I skip the bread

for snacks i usually have fruits or vegetables like carrots/celery or some of my veggie soup more coffee with my non fat dry milk

I try to alternate my foods as much as I can so I get all the right nutrition

megsmom2 · January 2014

That's how I got fat. My body is a lying biotch.

bumblebreezy91 · January 2014

I'm not at all into "listening to your body". I think it's a bunch of crap, for a lot of reasons. The history of people is eat as much food as you can while you have it because you may not have it tomorrow. That is how our bodies think about food. So, to listen to your body is to listen to a lie. Food is plentiful. So, we need to do something else. Counting calories works really well.

There are also many books written on the subject of intuitive eating and all that. They offer various tools and ways to think and feel about food. One I read said never eat where you do other things. Have a place where you eat, and do nothing else. No multi tasking. Do this at every meal, and no snacking. That's it. That's pretty much the whole book. They go into studies and why it works, but there are many books on this subject that might help.

By the way, eating healthy has no meaning, really. If I eat a bacon, whole fried eggs for breakfast. Then order a cheeseburger from McDonalds, but come home and make a fresh salad with a nice homemade vinaigrette to go on the salad...did I eat unhealthy that day? "Healthy" is a relative term in context of everything. It's not carrots and spinach. It's more about meeting you nutritional needs. Which, again, why tracking your calories is important. You can visually see when you're short on protein for the day, or whatever, and make corrections.

this.

Also, I'm in a situation to require counting calories because I never became mindful enough to listen to my body. I can easily eat a 500 calorie snack and still want more food and not even realize it was 500 calories. If I eat according to my body, I would eat a 500 calorie snack and then find more food the next time I want to (hey, listening to my body, right?), even though I've been very mindful of my intake for awhile now. I can very easily eat when my body tells me to. That is not the problem. You can still eat according to your body signals (in fact, for a lifestyle change and not a diet, you should do this every day, all day), but you need to be eating at a deficit to lose weight and to do that, you need to log your food. Here, in a notebook, on any of the numerous sites like MFP, somewhere. Guessing is what got us here.

WalkingAlong · January 2014

Were you really listening to your body when you overate in the past? Or was it your mind's pleasure center and your boredom and your feelings of needing a reward and all the other reasons we eat that aren't physical hunger?

Skarlet13 · January 2014

I actually don't count calories, but I do count servings. This does not mean that I am not mindful of the calories in various foods that I eat. For instance, I found a low cal popcorn that I like, along with a low cal pudding. I also make sure to eat plenty of protein. I've been doing this since the end of November and so far have lost 9 lbs, so I'm doing okay. As I get closer to my goal weight I may have to re-evaluate and perhaps start counting calories. We'll see. I'm not against counting calories at all. I've just chosen to go an alternate route. I'm doing things like eating one slice of gluten free toast instead of two. One piece of fish instead of two, etc. Essentially, I am creating a calorie deficit by eating lighter and watching servings. I eat my 3 main meals and if I'm hungry I have a low cal snack. I understand that this way of eating is not for everyone though and can totally understand why people would want to count calories.

MysticRealm · January 2014

Were you really listening to your body when you overate in the past? Or was it your mind's pleasure center and your boredom and your feelings of needing a reward and all the other reasons we eat that aren't physical hunger?

Like I said. I was eating strictly for the pleasure of it during times of boredom, emotion, tiredness, or just because it tastes so gosh darn good.
I've eaten like this for so long my body hardly ever says anything at all.

I'm not really looking for 'don't do this' unless you have actually tried listening to your body (possibly retraining it), while still being mindful of servings and having an idea on rough calories, while not needing to track everything down to the last morsel and still had good results both for health, relationship with food, and weight loss.
It may not work out for me, and I understand why people are saying it may not work, but I want to try it and would like tips and tricks from people that have. I know this is a cal counting website so the opinions will probably be one sided on this, but this is the most active weight loss forum I have seen so the best place I felt to ask this. I know cal counting works, I am not suggesting it does not.

mungowungo · January 2014

If you Google "mindful eating" there are a few resources that might interest you.

With regard to vegetables - have you tried "hiding" them? For example Bolognese sauce - mince meat, tinned tomato (or bottled pasta/marinara sauce), garlic then grate in onion, carrot, zucchini (really almost any vegetable) and simmer away until the vegetable is basically unrecognizable. You can do this with stews, casseroles, curries etc. A slow cooker is good for this. I did this a lot when my kids were younger and foisting vegetables into their poor unsuspecting mouths.

LoggingForLife · January 2014

I've counted calories for practically my whole life. I can remember doing it as young as 8 years old in a little Hello Kitty diary. Yet, here I am, 30 pounds overweight. I recently decided to stop counting and intuitively eat, or mindfully eat. My weight has gone down slowly but there are other benefits. I just don't feel deprived and obsessed with counting every single calorie. I swear I eat more by measuring food. Maybe I would be satisfied with a half cup of pasta, but I measure and eat a full cup because that what's on the plan for the day.

When I feel hunger, I eat until I no longer feel hungry, instead of to fullness. I no longer look at any food and wish that I could eat it or feel undeserving of cake or cookies. I'm learning to really trust my body's signals. Ignoring my bodies signals is what led me to get fat. By restricting types and amounts of food, I'm giving my self a sense of being deprived and unworthy and only respond to feeling deprived by bingeing which, in turn, leads to feelings of guilt. Eating was my thing to do when feeling any unpleasent feelings. Now I have learned to manage emotions better (through therapy) and see myself as deserving to eat what I want when my body asks for it and to have the self control to stop when the hunger is gone.

I'm so much calmer and feel much more in control. I sit and enjoy my family at the dinner table instead of planning and preparing a different meal for myself, counting and measuring, longing to eat what they are eating. I deserve to eat whatever makes me happy knowing that my body will ask for exactly what it needs. It takes some mental energy and a whole lot of self awareness, but it's been worth it.

Eating According to Your Body Rather Than Counting Cals?

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