Anti-Diet mentality

TheAmbitionist · June 2014

I know it may go against everything that MFP and the community stands for but is there anyone who "does" intuitive eating or AVRT (from the books Brain Over Binge and Rational Recovery)? Basically meaning, no counting, no weighing food, planning meals, simply no more dieting. But also no bingeing, overeating by ignoring the urge to eat 20 cookies instead of 2. Simply eating what you want, when you want in normal portions - like the "normal, healthy" people do it? The ones you see that eat what they want, they'll have cookies but never gain weight?

That is what I have been doing. I read the books and my eyes have been opened. I've been a binge eater for about 18 years and I only know understand the neurological part of it and the natural responses of the brain. I have been binge-free for about a week, which doesn't seem like a lot, and isn't compared to a life time but for someone who has been bingeing-dieting-bingeing-dieting for the past 18 years, this is a huge accomplishment and the freedom feels great!

I joined the gym also and go 3 times a week. I am looking for people who are doing the same as me so we can motivate each other and share success stories - no counting calories, no weighing food, just listening to your body.

mfp2014mfp · June 2014

To be honest I have never heard of it, Im glad you found something that is working for you though, best of luck :flowerforyou:

Carley · June 2014

I know it may go against everything that MFP and the community stands for but is there anyone who "does" intuitive eating or AVRT (from the books Brain Over Binge and Rational Recovery)? Basically meaning, no counting, no weighing food, planning meals, simply no more dieting. But also no bingeing, overeating by ignoring the urge to eat 20 cookies instead of 2. Simply eating what you want, when you want in normal portions - like the "normal, healthy" people do it? The ones you see that eat what they want, they'll have cookies but never gain weight?

That is what I have been doing. I read the books and my eyes have been opened. I've been a binge eater for about 18 years and I only know understand the neurological part of it and the natural responses of the brain. I have been binge-free for about a week, which doesn't seem like a lot, and isn't compared to a life time but for someone who has been bingeing-dieting-bingeing-dieting for the past 18 years, this is a huge accomplishment and the freedom feels great!

I joined the gym also and go 3 times a week. I am looking for people who are doing the same as me so we can motivate each other and share success stories - no counting calories, no weighing food, just listening to your body.

I have started doing this about 8 days ago. Let's support each other. I want this to be a lifestyle not about counting calories, weighing food, labelling food goor or bad. We should enjoy this.

dakotababy · June 2014

I believe intuitive eating has some good qualities, and I would recommend anyone to read up about it...HOWEVER, Most people on MFP have a problem with eating - so I think their "intuition" is already skewed, thus making it really a difficult thing to follow, and possibly ineffective.

I think when it comes to maintenance, this is a good thing to know about.

TheAmbitionist · June 2014

I believe intuitive eating has some good qualities, and I would recommend anyone to read up about it...HOWEVER, Most people on MFP have a problem with eating - so I think their "intuition" is already skewed, thus making it really a difficult thing to follow, and possibly ineffective.

I think when it comes to maintenance, this is a good thing to know about.

Very true. I was on MFP in 2012-2013 and when people talked about intuitive eating I could not believe and actually got annoyed when they would make it seem so easy. Although, now I have to admit that they were right... My intuition is also still skewed and it is hard to separate the urge to binge and hunger, but with the Addictive Voice Recognition Technique it becomes actually quite easy to follow. If I can do it, anyone can (as long as you really want it). I've binged for 18 years and tried every diet on this planet and my weight has had 50 lbs fluctuations over the past years, but nothing came close to how I feel now. I am hoping this is it.

Obsessing over food is not an option for me anymore, and counting calories, weighing food, restriction, etc does just that - makes me obsess over food. Think about food all day long. I am trying to heal myself from that.

btw: you're booking great progress! 64 lbs lost! Congrats

TheAmbitionist · June 2014

I know it may go against everything that MFP and the community stands for but is there anyone who "does" intuitive eating or AVRT (from the books Brain Over Binge and Rational Recovery)? Basically meaning, no counting, no weighing food, planning meals, simply no more dieting. But also no bingeing, overeating by ignoring the urge to eat 20 cookies instead of 2. Simply eating what you want, when you want in normal portions - like the "normal, healthy" people do it? The ones you see that eat what they want, they'll have cookies but never gain weight?

That is what I have been doing. I read the books and my eyes have been opened. I've been a binge eater for about 18 years and I only know understand the neurological part of it and the natural responses of the brain. I have been binge-free for about a week, which doesn't seem like a lot, and isn't compared to a life time but for someone who has been bingeing-dieting-bingeing-dieting for the past 18 years, this is a huge accomplishment and the freedom feels great!

I joined the gym also and go 3 times a week. I am looking for people who are doing the same as me so we can motivate each other and share success stories - no counting calories, no weighing food, just listening to your body.

I have started doing this about 8 days ago. Let's support each other. I want this to be a lifestyle not about counting calories, weighing food, labelling food goor or bad. We should enjoy this.

I added you as a friend

I try to stay away from the threads on here that discuss what is good or bad, because to me, those discussions are useless. There are studies out there that "prove" that apples and broccoli will give you cancer... I just think that no one will ever know what is REALLY good. Maybe there is no good or bad...

poodlenoodlemuffin · June 2014

I believe intuitive eating has some good qualities, and I would recommend anyone to read up about it...HOWEVER, Most people on MFP have a problem with eating - so I think their "intuition" is already skewed, thus making it really a difficult thing to follow, and possibly ineffective.

I think when it comes to maintenance, this is a good thing to know about.

Totally agree. Personally, I can just about judge calories, but for things like sodium, fat and sugar I'm pretty clueless. Four months in and I'm still putting food back on the shelf in the supermarket and backing away in shock.

I'm hoping that by the time I get to maintenance I'll have learnt to judge food intuitively, but tracking is the only thing working for me right now.

Good luck with your journey, OP. It sounds wonderfully liberating!

TheAmbitionist · June 2014

I believe intuitive eating has some good qualities, and I would recommend anyone to read up about it...HOWEVER, Most people on MFP have a problem with eating - so I think their "intuition" is already skewed, thus making it really a difficult thing to follow, and possibly ineffective.

I think when it comes to maintenance, this is a good thing to know about.

Totally agree. Personally, I can just about judge calories, but for things like sodium, fat and sugar I'm pretty clueless. Four months in and I'm still putting food back on the shelf in the supermarket and backing away in shock.

I'm hoping that by the time I get to maintenance I'll have learnt to judge food intuitively, but tracking is the only thing working for me right now.

Good luck with your journey, OP. It sounds wonderfully liberating!

But how about not judging food at all? I know healthy eating is a goal for a lot of people but I believe (for me, at least), not having to think about calories or judging food by how "good" or "bad" they are is what is helping me now. Being occupied with food all the time is what made me fail for 20 years. People who just eat normally have an easier time picking healthier foods to add into their diet than people who struggle with eating normal amounts of food in the first place (people with an ED for example). It is like trying to run a marathon when you have never exercised.

My first goal is to get away from the bingeing and diet mentality (for weight loss). If only I don't binge anymore and eat all the other things (including the unhealthy stuff), I will already be 100% healthier than I am with the binges.

Once I get to the point of eating normally, I will be able to make healthier choices here and there

And thanks so much! It really is liberating, it excites me. But I know there are not a lot of people on MFP that have this same mind set because people do come on here to track calories mainly...

Carley · June 2014

Food is just food. Neither good or bad.

fatcity66 · June 2014

I know it may go against everything that MFP and the community stands for but is there anyone who "does" intuitive eating or AVRT (from the books Brain Over Binge and Rational Recovery)? Basically meaning, no counting, no weighing food, planning meals, simply no more dieting. But also no bingeing, overeating by ignoring the urge to eat 20 cookies instead of 2. Simply eating what you want, when you want in normal portions - like the "normal, healthy" people do it? The ones you see that eat what they want, they'll have cookies but never gain weight?

That is what I have been doing. I read the books and my eyes have been opened. I've been a binge eater for about 18 years and I only know understand the neurological part of it and the natural responses of the brain. I have been binge-free for about a week, which doesn't seem like a lot, and isn't compared to a life time but for someone who has been bingeing-dieting-bingeing-dieting for the past 18 years, this is a huge accomplishment and the freedom feels great!

I joined the gym also and go 3 times a week. I am looking for people who are doing the same as me so we can motivate each other and share success stories - no counting calories, no weighing food, just listening to your body.

This is what I want to do. It's how I maintained my weight loss for a few years when I first met my goal, but I just sort of came about it naturally. Depression and medication caused me to slip, so now I'm back trying to lose the weight I regained. I'm going to do some research into it now that I have a name for it. Thanks!

derposaurus · June 2014

This appeals to me. I have a history of starving, binging, and purging. I am read to break the cycle and eat "normal" but the idea of tracking stuff and counting calories worries me. How is that going to be any different from when I restricted? Sure I will eat 1500 calories instead of 500 that I used to count, but is the mentality any different? Will I not gradually get obsessed again to the point where I eat freakishly low amounts of calories again? At what point do I exactly eat "normally"? when does the diet "stop".

I'm glad I came across this topic and am gonna look up the books you mentioned.

JoeyFrappuccino · June 2014

I believe intuitive eating has some good qualities, and I would recommend anyone to read up about it...HOWEVER, Most people on MFP have a problem with eating - so I think their "intuition" is already skewed, thus making it really a difficult thing to follow, and possibly ineffective.

I think when it comes to maintenance, this is a good thing to know about.

Totally agree. Personally, I can just about judge calories, but for things like sodium, fat and sugar I'm pretty clueless. Four months in and I'm still putting food back on the shelf in the supermarket and backing away in shock.

I'm hoping that by the time I get to maintenance I'll have learnt to judge food intuitively, but tracking is the only thing working for me right now.

Good luck with your journey, OP. It sounds wonderfully liberating!

This is why I think intuitive eating can be difficult to do healthfully. Unless you only eat whole foods, there's no way of knowing just what you're eating unless you check. Food isn't as simple as good or bad, but inadvertently consuming too much sodium or calories or whatever can still happen regardless of whether you checked the food beforehand. If someone wouldn't eat something, it doesn't necessarily mean it's "bad". It just means it's not something they want in their diet. Everyone has foods they don't eat for one reason or another. I'm glad you've found something that works for you, and it sounds like intuitive eating has made a big improvement in your diet, but to suggest that someone who decided not to buy a particular food because it wasn't to their liking should just ignore the nutritional profile and eat it anyway seems irresponsible to be honest. Your situation is unique and relaxing your views on food is working for you (and I'm genuinely happy that it is), but for someone with a more utilitarian view on food it could backfire.

Anti-Diet mentality

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