giving up on mindful eating?

Shora1234
Shora1234 Posts: 13 Member
edited November 15 in Health and Weight Loss
I used to eat when hungry and stop when full. I didn't count calories and ate whatever I felt my body needed. (no Junk Food). My weight was fine and I was satisfied.
Then (don't know what happened) I gain wheight and since I can't lose it!
Now I'm trying to CC but it feels like I'm giving up on a big ability to listen to my body needs.
should I keep trying and practicing on mindful eating or continue to count and eat planned meals?

Replies

  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    Do whatever helps you reach your goal.
  • Shora1234
    Shora1234 Posts: 13 Member
    I want to lose weight, but I want to do it according to mindful eating and I just fail repeatedly.
  • arditarose
    arditarose Posts: 15,573 Member
    Shora1234 wrote: »
    I want to lose weight, but I want to do it according to mindful eating and I just fail repeatedly.

    Then "mindful" eating is not helping you reach your goal. You have to decide how important it is to you. Obviously you have to make a change if you're not getting the results you want.
  • Camo_xxx
    Camo_xxx Posts: 1,082 Member
    Think about that for a minute. What were the results of not "being mindful".
    Thats right, you gained weight. Why ?
    Simple, you ate more calories then you burned.
    To lose that weight you need to eat less then you burn.
    The best way to ensure that happens is by being mindful, or as we call it. Count and track your calories.
  • girlviernes
    girlviernes Posts: 2,402 Member
    What is your height, weight, and goal weight?
  • Shora1234
    Shora1234 Posts: 13 Member
    thank you, you're right.
    losing weight is more important to me right now. it's not easy to my to change that habit but hopefully it will worth it! :)
    Thank you all!
  • Shora1234
    Shora1234 Posts: 13 Member
    1.60 cm
    65-66 kg
    my goal about 60-62 kg
  • Camo_xxx
    Camo_xxx Posts: 1,082 Member
    It is not easy for most people to change habits, it takes determination and commitment. And yes of course it is worth it.
    You will feel better and be healthier
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    edited April 2015
    There's no reason you can't do both, in fact it's a pretty good idea to do both.

    Some days you may stay under your calorie goal and feel great. Other days you may eat the same amount of calories but feel hungry or worn out all day. Recognizing the difference will cause you to look closer at what you ate and start to see a pattern of foods that fill you up and make you feel better, and foods that leave you feeling not so great and needing to eat more food than you should. That helps you refine your diet so eating the correct calories is easier.
  • Shora1234
    Shora1234 Posts: 13 Member

    kimny72 wrote: »
    There's no reason you can't do both, in fact it's a pretty good idea to do both.

    Some days you may stay under your calorie goal and feel great. Other days you may eat the same amount of calories but feel hungry or worn out all day. Recognizing the difference will cause you to look closer at what you ate and start to see a pattern of foods that fill you up and make you feel better, and foods that leave you feeling not so great and needing to eat more food than you should. That helps you refine your diet so eating the correct calories is easier.

    So I should CC but try to find the foods that fill me the best? For me it's the same as counting becasuse it's eating according to planned meals. or I didn't understand you correctly?
  • meganjcallaghan
    meganjcallaghan Posts: 949 Member
    I'm not sure why counting calories and mindful eating can't go hand in hand. You can still be "mindful" and only eat when you're hungry, stopping when you're full. You obviously just need to make lower calorie choices for your eating. if you're digging in to a jar of peanut butter and only stopping when you're full that's going to make a bigger dent in your day's calories than eating vegetables until you're full. So be mindful of how many calories are in what you consume, not just how it makes you feel.
  • kimny72
    kimny72 Posts: 16,011 Member
    edited April 2015
    I'm just saying that there is no reason you can't eat mindfully while counting calories. Use
    listening to your body to determine which foods fill you up when you eat them within your calorie goal and which don't. Obviously it's not exactly "Mindful Eating" but you said you didn't want to give up on your ability to listen to what your body needs. You can still do that, but you need to count calories to ensure you lose the weight you want to.

    ETA: This board is full of people struggling to stay within a reasonable calorie goal, and this is at least some of the time because they don't know how to tell the difference between foods that make them feel satisfied and foods that don't. Just my 2 cents at least.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    herrspoons wrote: »
    kimny72 wrote: »
    There's no reason you can't do both.

    Apart from the repeated failures.

    She did one of them and failed, doing both may produce different results.

    I sort of do both. The intuitive eating part helps with building habits, the calorie counting part helps with guaranteeing success.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,423 Member
    Shora1234 wrote: »
    I want to lose weight, but I want to do it according to mindful eating and I just fail repeatedly.

    You can't properly judge your body's signals right now or you would be able to lose weight without counting calories.
    Track what you eat and re-learn the amounts that you can eat that fit your calorie goal. If you see that you have eaten the proper number of calories but feel "hunger" then drink water or chew gum and wait 20 minutes to an hour to see if the feeling goes away. Get back in tune with your body by doing this. You will probably find after a time that your full and hungry signal adjust to smaller amounts of food and you might be able to try not calorie counting again.
  • amusedmonkey
    amusedmonkey Posts: 10,330 Member
    edited April 2015
    herrspoons wrote: »
    amusedmonkey wrote: »
    herrspoons wrote: »
    kimny72 wrote: »
    There's no reason you can't do both.

    Apart from the repeated failures.

    She did one of them and failed, doing both may produce different results.

    I sort of do both. The intuitive eating part helps with building habits, the calorie counting part helps with guaranteeing success.

    What if you're hungry, which given you're in a calorie deficit you will be from time to time, but at your calorie limit?

    I eat, and I know from experience there will be another day in the week where I'm not hungry so it all evens out, and if it doesn't I throw in a quick fast day. I count my calories weekly and fast days are not a frequent occurrence. Sometimes I go months without needing one.

    The trick is to figure out which foods are the most filling for you and eat them on hungry days.

    Edit: Let me explain my system better. I eat at will when hungry until full. Note the amount and log it. If at the end of the day my calories are less than my budget I "put them in the bank". If they are more than the budget, I spend some or all of the calories in the "bank", exercise to correct, or put calories in debt. If my debt reaches 1000, I throw in a fast day.
  • 999tigger
    999tigger Posts: 5,235 Member
    Theres no reason you cnat run the two side by side. You arent making the connection of why your original mindful eating isnt working. Although I log i say i could be classed as a mindful eater, but I have the adjusting fallback of exercise. That gives me more flexibility.
  • HeySwoleSister
    HeySwoleSister Posts: 1,938 Member
    Part of making calorie counting work is being mindful when you eat!

    Count your calories. Hit your targets and goals. But, if you eat slowly and mindfully, I promise you that you will be far more likely to succeed, because you will feel more satisfied and less deprived. Feeling deprived is what leads to giving up and self-sabotage.

    Being mindful is a great skill to build for your health going forward. Count calories to measure your success, use mindfulness as a tool to make this process a joyful and fulfilling one.
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