Mindful Eating vice Calorie Counting

SideSteel wrote: »

The number of people who make the assumption that calorie counting is the only method of regulating calorie intake is baffling to me.

Well, we have an equally baffled inquirer. The only way to know for sure what is going on is if he records what he is doing. Otherwise it is all guesswork. If mindfulness was going to do it, it would be showing.

SideSteel wrote: »

The number of people who make the assumption that calorie counting is the only method of regulating calorie intake is baffling to me.

Calorie counting is a great awareness tool that works really for some people. Most people should do it for at least the short term while they also build on better food habits.

If you do not like calorie counting you should strive to develop habits around food that allow you to not have to track calories. But this is not the same thing as "just eating mindfully".

You may need to learn better food selection habits. You may need to keep to a specific meal distribution, you may need to limit snacking, you may need to spend time re-learning hunger signals, you may need to develop better environmental management about food, you may need to seek assistance with this.

But it is absolutely not true to claim that calorie counting is the only way and it's equally absurd to suggest that you must calorie count or you will fail.

You simply have not yet acquired the necessary habits you need to succeed.

This. Hunger is in part a conditioned response and in part your body's reaction to blood sugar changes. The conditioned response part is what trips people up with "just eating mindfully"

I mentioned it elsewhere, but there's a method called initial hunger training that seems to be effective in re-training us about what hunger and fullness signals are, using preprandial (before eating) blood glucose values.

You need a blood glucose meter (mine was ~$15, plus a giant pack of test strips for $10). The studies have used 7 weeks of blood sugar testing to train you, so you might need more test strips than that. http://www.hindawi.com/journals/jnme/2010/286952/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1702540/

I do not want to start a good calorie vs bad calorie debate, but is it possible that when you eat you're not putting proper nutrition into your body?

For example, I used to be hungry a lot - A LOT!! But I found out I wasn't getting enough protein. When I upped my protein (I now eat 100+ grams/day) I hardly ever have that craving.

There's nothing wrong with eating, but it has to be in moderation. You won't lose weight unless the amount of calories you consume is less than you burn.

Also - are you active in other areas of your life? Or when you get home, are you just hanging around at home? The busier I am, the less I am worried about food. Maybe keep your mind active in other things and it won't seem like an obsession any more?

SideSteel wrote: »

Well, we have an equally baffled inquirer. The only way to know for sure what is going on is if he records what he is doing. Otherwise it is all guesswork. If mindfulness was going to do it, it would be showing.

I disagree.

All we can say is that the OPs current set of habits does not work AND OP cannot stand tracking.

At best he/she may benefit from very short term tracking but it's probably a very bad idea long term.

I stand by my original statement that he/she just hasn't developed the habits necessary.

Right. If he/she doesn't, maintenance will be nearly impossible.


OP, I looked for easy stuff to cut out, things I knew put me over. I reduced alcohol consumption and stop snacking at work, for example. Now that I'm maintaining, I still keep snacking to a minimum and only drink once or twice a week on average.

chouflour wrote: »

You need a blood glucose meter (mine was ~$15, plus a giant pack of test strips for $10). The studies have used 7 weeks of blood sugar testing to train you, so you might need more test strips than that.

Hummmm... interesting comment. When you put it that way, I think I would rather log then stick myself with a sharp object several times a day. But that is just me.

As you mentioned you are emotional eater, there was a BBC program recently where they gave people a specific diet depending on what type of overeater they were. They suggested online support groups and attending weight loss meetings for emotional overeaters for the emotional support. Here's the link if you're interested:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-30709297

If you are finding yourself hungry, it is important to look at the macro-nutrient values of a meal, vs the straight calories. Yes, you will likely want to cap your caloric consumption at some point, however how you make up your calories is crucially important. For example, STOP eating bread and grains. Instead focus on low-glycemic fruits+veggies and lean protein sources. Make sure you have a small portion of fat with every meal, as fat will satiate you much more readily than carbohydrates. In fact, fat is what triggers your body to feel 'full'. That is why a low-fat diet leaves many feeling constantly hungry.

I would recommend changing the nutritional targets in MFP to 40% carbohydrates, 30% protein and 30% fat at minimum. Lowering the carbs and increasing the protein/fat, especially in the short term, will get you results faster. If you have a large amount of fat to burn, you may want to look into a keytogenic diet. A side benefit to keytosis is regulation of your blood sugar levels. Excessive carb consumption does cause your insulin and blood sugar levels to spike, which will leave you feeling more hungry afterwards, aside from the various other negative impacts on your body.

cwolfman13 wrote: »

...add that for some people...many people, tracking long term can most definitely have a negative impact on their relationship with food. I see this a lot with people who have EDs and people who have very emotional issues with food...tracking and keeping a diary often tends to make these things worse.

I think a troubleshooting approach where there is at least initial tracking to understand where the OP might be getting derailed, followed by mindful eating to increase his pleasure and awareness while eating.

I disagree that tracking and logging "often makes things worse". Logging of food is recognized as a keystone habit of successful dieters.

....Behavioral measures (e.g., diet records and physical activity) accounted for most of the weight-loss variation...url="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18617080"]1[/url

I empathize about the fixation on "how many calories are left" - a friend has that issue as well.

Unfortunately, the maxim "you can't exercise your way past a bad diet" is generally true. Do you know how much time you have to spend walking/running to burn, for example, 450 calories? 45 minutes, at a 5mph pace. 27 minutes at an 8mph pace.

For a week or two, can you simply food log without caring about the calorie count?
When I started food logging (albeit with calorie counting) I had to face some hard truths about what and how much I was eating. After that, it actually became pretty easy for me to count the calories and find a plan that worked for me.

First and foremost, I accepted going in that I was making a lifestyle change. I had to change the way I ate, forever. If I didn't change the way I ate, I was going to go back to the habits that put me 90 pounds over a healthy weight. That's the part the whole diet industry likes to pretend isn't a factor.

I also came to terms with some basic math: taking in 3500 calories more than you burn leads to one excess pound. Taking in just 50 calories more than you burn *every day* adds 5 pounds a year. My food diary showed me that I was taking in anywhere from 200-1000 calories per day more than I needed. It didn't help that for some part of that I *was* going to the gym, so was able to get away with taking in more calories, then stopped going to the gym but continued to eat the way I had been.

The tips that have really worked for me:
1- find a few produce foods you really like. My daily lunch is 3-4 servings of snap peas, a serving of cherry tomatoes, and an apple. Incredibly filling. For added protein, I add some deli turkey, or a wasa cracker with some hummus, or just some hummus as the mood strikes me.

2- identify what "treat" foods are really important to you. I love ice cream; one small serving of Breyer's strawberry (which generally satisfies me) is less than 200 calories. Trader Joe's eggnog ice cream is 250 calories for 1/2 cup. A serving of graham cracker (4 squares, or 2 crackers have about 130 calories) with a single serve cream cheese packet (70 calories) and they make a pretty credible 200 calorie substitute for a few bites of cheesecake. But a bowl of blueberries (half cup) or 3.4 cup of raspberries with 2 T half and half is only about 80 calories and - for me - almost as indulgent. It's hard to say "dieting sucks" when you have fresh berries for dessert. So if I can leave 100-200 calories, I know that I can have berries, or not-cheesecake, or ice cream. It helps a great deal, and I find I don't actually need desserts as often as I think I want them.

3 - portion control My portions were way out of control before I started food logging. Even without the calorie counting, just becoming aware of how much I was eating was a real eye-opener. I also don't eat out very often. Think about how much food is on the plate at the restaurants where you eat. Now consider - does that food really taste that good? For me, the answer (most of the time) was no.

4 - the calories that just add up. Hot chocolate, a piece of bread, a glass of orange juice, a banana - they all have about 75-150 calories per serving. Do they carry enough satiety or pleasure experience to be worth the calorie cost? Strictly curtailing especially my liquid calories and my empty bread/grain calories helped a lot. I still have bread and grains, but I'm choosy about when I have them. I have steel cut oatmeal for breakfast, and limit my bread to when I'm eating out at a restaurant with really good bread or when I have tea in a fancy shop with friends.

Also, I define "mindful eating" somewhat differently. For me, mindful eating includes (to the extent practical) not multi-tasking my eating, especially of calorie dense foods. Stop and taste the snap peas/steel cut oatmeal/blueberries/etc. Eat slowly enough to really savor every bite you do get. If you have the donut/ice cream/piece of cheesecake, enjoy every bite. Give yourself a few minutes to really taste the indulgence.

Finally - the calorie guidelines are only guidelines. The limits are truly self-imposed. Focus on trends, not days. If you have a day where you want something badly enough, even though it will make you go over the calorie "limit", have it, enjoy every single bite, and go back to sticking within the guidelines the next day.

That's the flip side of the 3500 calories I mentioned above. One day going 500 calories over the number of calories you burn (to say nothing of the recommended limit for that day) is no big deal, as a one day one-off. For me, unfortunately, it was more of a two or three days a week thing for a couple of years. :-/

I just did the math. I gained 50 pounds in three years (and I was already 40 pounds overweight). That 50 pounds was just 150 calories a day more than I was burning. For me, calorie counting is my new way of life, because for the first time I understand how I had actually gained the weight, and that I have to change my behavior to keep it off.