Opinions on the "intuitive eating" trend?

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Hausisse1
Hausisse1 Posts: 165 Member
in Food and Nutrition
I've been seeing a lot of stuff about this lately- basically the opposite of counting calories. Just paying attention to your body and what it needs. As I understand it, people don't lose weight, but they're still happy and healthy. I dunno- I'm not sure there have been too many long-term studies. Just wondered if anybody else had read anything about it, and if so, what your opinions might be.
https://www.intuitiveeating.com/
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  • Hausisse1
    Hausisse1 Posts: 165 Member
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    Honestly, it reminds me of the way folks who live in Europe and South American countries eat. They don't worry about their caloric intake so much, they just eat what they feel like- the thing is, though, they (usually) eat a well-balanced national cuisine and are walking like 5+ miles a day. When I lived in Russia I ate so much more, yet I lost 5 lbs (that I frankly didn't need to lose)
  • zyxst
    zyxst Posts: 9,134 Member
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    I haven't tried it, so I'm just going on what I've read. It seems that it wouldn't work for me. Feeling full and satisfied is great and I love that, but it make me eat more than my body can use.
  • melimomTARDIS
    melimomTARDIS Posts: 1,941 Member
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    i think intuitive eating is great for lots of people. as a binge eater, I dont think this approach will help me keep my pounds off. Because I intuitively want to eat a whole pie sometimes.
  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
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    I didnt read the link because it looked to be selling books, but it is possible to eat "intuitively" and lose or maintain weight. I haven't tracked calories in years and pretty much only did track for a few months to understand how much I was eating and where my calorie pitfalls were. For me, not stressing, just eating makes the most sense. I do feel that eating mostly whole foods and avoiding processed stuff helps.
  • lynndot1
    lynndot1 Posts: 114 Member
    edited April 2015
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    "Intuitive eating" is something millions of people do every day - it's how those people never become overweight. One of the many reasons people become overweight is they don't listen to hunger/full signals or "intuitively" they think it's okay to eat much more than they need to. Improper portion sizes, usually.

    I've never been overweight, but I am this way with certain foods. Intuitively my body says half a bag of potato chips is totally okay, haha, even though they're a delicious way to go way over your caloric limit, esp if you eat them with other stuff.

    I guess this is my way of saying intuitive eating probably is easiest for people who don't "need" it in the first place.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    There don't have to be any studies...there are millions and millions of healthy and fit people who eat intuitively...most of those people also eat very healthfully and live active lifestyles as well.

    I used calorie counting to lose weight, but I've maintained that for 2 years without logging...so I guess I would be eating intuitively then.

    Problem is that there are also a lot of people who don't have very good "intuition" when it comes to diet and nutrition.
  • Hausisse1
    Hausisse1 Posts: 165 Member
    edited April 2015
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    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    There don't have to be any studies...there are millions and millions of healthy and fit people who eat intuitively...most of those people also eat very healthfully and live active lifestyles as well.

    I used calorie counting to lose weight, but I've maintained that for 2 years without logging...so I guess I would be eating intuitively then.

    Problem is that there are also a lot of people who don't have very good "intuition" when it comes to diet and nutrition.

    I agree! I guess I just find it odd because most of the places where I run across folks discussing "intuitive eating" are people who consider themselves overweight and have decided to no longer attempt to lose weight, but to eat intuitively with the understanding that they will probably not lose weight... it seems as though it's popularly interpreted as being part of the fat acceptance movement. (which is fine if they are comfortable with who they are and healthy, I'm all for body positivity)
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
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    Hausisse1 wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    There don't have to be any studies...there are millions and millions of healthy and fit people who eat intuitively...most of those people also eat very healthfully and live active lifestyles as well.

    I used calorie counting to lose weight, but I've maintained that for 2 years without logging...so I guess I would be eating intuitively then.

    Problem is that there are also a lot of people who don't have very good "intuition" when it comes to diet and nutrition.

    I agree! I guess I just find it odd because most of the places where I run across folks discussing "intuitive eating" are people who consider themselves overweight and have decided to no longer attempt to lose weight, but to eat intuitively with the understanding that they will probably not lose weight... it seems as though it's popularly interpreted as being part of the fat acceptance movement. (which is fine if they are comfortable with who they are and healthy, I'm all for body positivity)

    This is not how I understand it at all.
    Either the co-opted "movement" nor the original concept.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,874 Member
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    Hausisse1 wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    There don't have to be any studies...there are millions and millions of healthy and fit people who eat intuitively...most of those people also eat very healthfully and live active lifestyles as well.

    I used calorie counting to lose weight, but I've maintained that for 2 years without logging...so I guess I would be eating intuitively then.

    Problem is that there are also a lot of people who don't have very good "intuition" when it comes to diet and nutrition.

    I agree! I guess I just find it odd because most of the places where I run across folks discussing "intuitive eating" are people who consider themselves overweight and have decided to no longer attempt to lose weight, but to eat intuitively with the understanding that they will probably not lose weight... it seems as though it's popularly interpreted as being part of the fat acceptance movement. (which is fine if they are comfortable with who they are and healthy, I'm all for body positivity)

    So basically, they're just saying, "*kitten* it...gonna do what I want." To me, that's not intuitive eating. Intuitive eating would to me imply that someone knows how to properly fuel their bodies and know how to listen to their bodies to know what their bodies need...if people can do that, they don't generally end up being overweight.
  • fivelongmiles
    fivelongmiles Posts: 54 Member
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    If I do what I suppose you could call "intuitive eating" I gain at least a pound a week. Sometimes, your body really doesn't know best... :p
  • Lrdoflamancha
    Lrdoflamancha Posts: 1,280 Member
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    Eating that way....is why I am here... Learning how not to eat that way.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,526 Member
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    It can work, but until someone who's overweight understands how much they have to eat to stay leaner, they may end up staying at maintenance or more and not in calorie deficit.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
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  • TheVirgoddess
    TheVirgoddess Posts: 4,535 Member
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    I've tested this for myself - stopped logging and just ate normally. I lost weight. This is my plan once I switch to maintenance. I've spent a lot of the past year learning how to listen to my body. I'm not referring to the book, btw. Just the concept of eating reasonably when you're hungry and stopped when you're full.
  • GoPerfectHealth
    GoPerfectHealth Posts: 254 Member
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    When people say, "I'm going to eat intuitively," it seems to me that they are making a choice to pay attention to their food in a particular way. You can pay attention to food in many ways. You can log it on MFP. You can mentally calculate your portions as you eat. You can eat to satiety. You can eat "intuitively" by listening to body signals. For people with problematic eating patterns It is probably possible to learn to differentiate hunger from cravings and to become a normal eater, but many people do not seem to be able to accomplish this.



  • isulo_kura
    isulo_kura Posts: 818 Member
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    Most people are on this site because they were unable to eat intuitively and control their/weight health.
  • avskk
    avskk Posts: 1,789 Member
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    I think it's a useful and healthy way to eat, but it doesn't work for me -- my relationship to food is too messed up, my intuition is completely faulty. If I could eat intuitively, I wouldn't need MFP. I wish it were otherwise, but that's the plain truth.
  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    lynndot1 wrote: »
    "Intuitive eating" is something millions of people do every day - it's how those people never become overweight.

    Even for people without weight issues, I suspect many don't really intuitive eat. Most people eat based on schedule and a cultural understanding of what proper eating is. The idea that humans ever just naturally ate to satisfaction and stopped when full isn't really consistent with human biology, which evolved during a period in which food was scarce and we probably ate when it was available and dealt with periods when it was less so.
    One of the many reasons people become overweight is they don't listen to hunger/full signals or "intuitively" they think it's okay to eat much more than they need to. Improper portion sizes, usually.

    Agreed. Whatever the case with people who don't become overweight, people who do are likely to have difficulties with intuitive eating.

    I do think getting better at focusing on genuine hunger/need to eat can be helpful, but that trying to replace other ways to monitor eating (like time, portion size, food choice) wholly by intuitive seems unlikely to work for many of us, even if it were possible (because my mind is always going to affect what I "intuitively" want).

  • lemurcat12
    lemurcat12 Posts: 30,886 Member
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    Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »
    Hausisse1 wrote: »
    cwolfman13 wrote: »
    There don't have to be any studies...there are millions and millions of healthy and fit people who eat intuitively...most of those people also eat very healthfully and live active lifestyles as well.

    I used calorie counting to lose weight, but I've maintained that for 2 years without logging...so I guess I would be eating intuitively then.

    Problem is that there are also a lot of people who don't have very good "intuition" when it comes to diet and nutrition.

    I agree! I guess I just find it odd because most of the places where I run across folks discussing "intuitive eating" are people who consider themselves overweight and have decided to no longer attempt to lose weight, but to eat intuitively with the understanding that they will probably not lose weight... it seems as though it's popularly interpreted as being part of the fat acceptance movement. (which is fine if they are comfortable with who they are and healthy, I'm all for body positivity)

    This is not how I understand it at all.
    Either the co-opted "movement" nor the original concept.

    I've seen that association. The idea is that people screw themselves up by trying to be thinner than they naturally are, mess up their relationships with food by dieting, and so get into binge/purge cycles. Usually the idea IS that they will lose some if they normalize the relationship with food through intuitive eating.
  • Whittedo
    Whittedo Posts: 352 Member
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    I've decided to drop my Ice Cream Fitness regime and instead of lifting progressively heavier at the gym I will just buy all the latest diet/nutrition/weight-loss books on the market and lift them. When a new one comes out I will add it to the pile. In no time I will be lifting well in excess of my body weight and since I will be doing this at home rather than the gym I will no longer have to listen to the grunts of the other people. A win/win!! Of course I won't read any of them because the contradictions among the gurus will make my head explode.

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