Counting Cals vs Body's Natural Instinct
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thank you for all the replies. I think I am with the majority of you guys..i am here for a reason..i need to count my cals!! feel free to add me!0
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rankinsect wrote: »I don't buy the premise that everyone has a functional hunger/satiety system. Yes, our bodies have evolved to regulate our weight by regulating our appetite, but our eyes also have evolved to correctly focus light, and yet how many people wear glasses or contacts?
Evolution is amazing but it's not perfect, particularly when circumstances have changed so much so quickly - we're far more sedentary and have access to far greater amounts of calories than ever before. A propensity to overeat would be an evolutionary advantage when famine and starvation were recurring threats, because those who stored excess fat in times of plenty would better weather the times of famine. Now we put the descendants of those people into a perpetual time of plenty.
^This^0 -
It actually reminds me of advice I was reading when I got my kids... that babies naturally stop drinking milk when they are full, but when moms add rice to their bottle to make them sleep longer, it messes it up and they will just learn to overeat.
Got to wonder if there's truth to it now. Of course all the moms I know who did that say it was BS, but who knows.
That's been debunked. Especially as it was more common to add cereal or thickeners to formula bottles in the 1950's through 80's but childhood obesity rates were much lower. My mom put all kinds of crap in my bottle but I have never over eaten ( if anything I struggle with eating enough at times). Plus thousands of babies every year are fed rice cereal in their formula on pediatrician's orders (as it's considered the best cure for reflux).0 -
i think it might be true for natural foods. I will never overeat on broccoli, but crisps..... I easily eat a family bag of those in one sitting.
I've actually binged on broccoli, lol. I seriously sat and ate an entire pound of broccoli florets in half an hour a few months ago. I ate until I was stuffed, so I know I overate. The 'damage', however, was only 160 calories. It's not about eating until your body's natural instinct tells you to stop. It's about making the right choices in what you eat.0 -
My body's natural instinct tells me I need ice cream... dammit body!0
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"Naturally thin people". That made me laugh. I was recently accused of having a fast metabolism and great genes because of my weight (almost at GW). Pu-leeze! Hard work and exercise and MFP for 2 1/2 years except when I stopped counting and gained.0
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I keep waiting for my satiety cues to kick in. I could spend all day eating. It's not always about the rigid calorie target, but expecting some magical cue to tell me to stop eating, it's not working0
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i think the "fullness" feeling is your brain responding to how much is in your stomach and not the nutrient content of what you eat. Foods today are so dense in calories, you could eat something that is the size of your fist and not be full but it would contain almost half your days worth of calories in it.
This! Your body can't tell while you're eating whether or not you've eaten too many calories.0 -
When I was bulking I remember it was hard for me to keep eating unless I was tracking because I felt very full. And when I did eat in surplus all my body wanted to do was fidget and move to burn off those extra cals, it's like it was trying to resist the gain.0
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I agree to a point. I know lots of people that can eat what they want, stop when their full and are slim, I think that is how our bodies should work. I have tried listening to my body and eating like this while tracking calories as well out of curiosity and always seem to consume around 1500kcals, which is maintenance cals for my ideal weight. I would follow the Paul McKenna rules of eating very slowly, eating what I want not what I think I should and only eating when hungry, stopping when full. The problem is you have to be very attentive and can easily slip back into old habits.0
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Blueseraphchaos wrote: »
I absolutely refused to put anything in my kids' bottles except for formula or milk. I always said If babies were ready to eat solid food, they could eat it from a spoon. With a sample size of 2 (lol) both my kids are at a great weight and stop eating when they are full. Who knows, they may have been this way even if i had put cereal in their bottles....but i look at all my friends who did that and all their kids are overweight, from the youngest, a 1 year old, to the oldest, to a 7 year old.
I did get a lot of nagging and forceful pressure to add stuff to my kids' bottles, though.
Another explanation or theory rather: It is not that the cereals messed up children's internal switches, but that parents who are likely to put cereals in baby bottles might also be the ones serving high calorie foods to their children? (add cheese to everything; top everything with butter; add sugar; fry, fry, fry etc.)If our bodies have a built in calorie counting instinct, why are we sll do overweight? Hmmm...,
I think I saw that on a TED talk or something: How much sugar cane do think you would need to eat in order to get the sugar in one can of soft drink? Maybe the internal switch exists, but doesn't work anymore because we have managed to concentrate so many calories in so small volumes. Ok end result: the switch doesn't work0 -
I guess I get it. But put some Oreos in front of me and tell me to eat only until my switch turns on? Not gonna happen.0
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tristen_leigh wrote: »I guess I get it. But put some Oreos in front of me and tell me to eat only until my switch turns on? Not gonna happen.
The switch turns on when the Oreos are gone0 -
That article is crap. Evolution tells our bodies to eat as much as we can when we can, because winter is coming and we have to survive on our stores (around our bellies or in the cave). It's why we crave fat, sugar and salt. Those are rare in nature, so your brain tells you to crave it, to seek it out.
If we were burning 5,000 calories a day hunting and gathering to survive like our ancestors, then I could take the natural appetite cut-off argument a little easier. But stopping when you're full (especially if you eat quickly) almost always results in consuming far too many calories than we need, unless we're on a diet of spinach.
The only time I lose weight is when I count calories. It's not a disorder. It's just a reminder that I tend to consume more than I burn and need to manage that somehow. Kinda like managing your money.0 -
I don't have a problem feeling full when I count calories. I think the problem is if we went by what you read is that people will eat a bunch of crap (loaded with calories) until the felt full. If one was eating something healthy, why not eat until you are satisfied? If you are eating unhealthy, processed foods, or high carbs, this is when calories should be monitored.
The one thing I didn't like about weight watchers is that the point system for each food was based on fat, protein, carbs, and dietary fiber. Since avocados have a lot of fat, it would drive the points up. Avocados are a good fat so even if I track an avocado on MFP, I see that my fats are sky high on the chart. I don't worry about it because I know it is good for me.0 -
It actually reminds me of advice I was reading when I got my kids... that babies naturally stop drinking milk when they are full, but when moms add rice to their bottle to make them sleep longer, it messes it up and they will just learn to overeat.
Got to wonder if there's truth to it now. Of course all the moms I know who did that say it was BS, but who knows.
I was talking about this with my 8 year old the other day. When we are little we are often allowed to eat on demand, but as we get older we force ourselves into set meal times. We were talking about how he only gets so much time to eat lunch at school, and he eats whether or not he is hungry. Also he eats faster than normal, because he has to be finished with his food in order to have enough time to play. He knows that will be his only opportunity in the day for food. I know that there are many times we have sat down to eat a meal with people, their kids said they weren't hungry, but the kids were coerced into eating anyway. It does make me wonder what the impact of these preset meal times are.0 -
It actually reminds me of advice I was reading when I got my kids... that babies naturally stop drinking milk when they are full, but when moms add rice to their bottle to make them sleep longer, it messes it up and they will just learn to overeat.
Got to wonder if there's truth to it now. Of course all the moms I know who did that say it was BS, but who knows.
I was talking about this with my 8 year old the other day. When we are little we are often allowed to eat on demand, but as we get older we force ourselves into set meal times. We were talking about how he only gets so much time to eat lunch at school, and he eats whether or not he is hungry. Also he eats faster than normal, because he has to be finished with his food in order to have enough time to play. He knows that will be his only opportunity in the day for food. I know that there are many times we have sat down to eat a meal with people, their kids said they weren't hungry, but the kids were coerced into eating anyway. It does make me wonder what the impact of these preset meal times are.
excellent thought! great question!
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If it really worked like that, how come such a high percentage of people are struggling with being too fat? I don't buy it. Maybe that worked back in the day when people had to do physically intensive things to survive, but in today's world, I think not. I tried that "intuitive eating" thing once and I gained 30 lb in 3 months. X( Needless to say it took much longer than that to lose it back off.0
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quackers82 wrote: »Its very true, its what all the thin people you know do. The thin people i know have no problem starting a meal and leaving 2/3 of the food on the plate and saying I'm full. Me? I eat until the food has gone, engrained in me from a kid by parents.
I did try to kick the habit few years ago, and followed Paul Mckenna's i can make you thin, which teaches you how to re-sensatise yourself to this I'm full signal (and real hunger). It worked for me, i got down from 18 stone to 13 stone in about 8 months, just by feeling for this I'm full signal and not overriding it!
The issue was for 30 years of my life i had not been doing this, and had only corrected my self for 8 months, so when i had a few major things in life all hit me at once my old habits kicked in and i just could not tune into the full feeling properly, so i turned to MFP to stop me going back up and to get the final few stone off.
Once i get to the weight i want i intend to re-tune my self to the full feeling again and use that to maintain without calorie counting for the rest of my life.
i know plenty of lean and fit people, including myself...none of us leave 2/3 of our plate of food behind...
i do think we have an internal barometer or whatever...but for many, it either doesn't work or they simply don't know how to listen to those ques. counting calories taught me how to better listen to those ques so that i am now able to maintain without logging...but counting taught me how to listen better among many other nutritional awareness things.0 -
I think that is basically true when you are an infant. Small children do not eat when they are not hungry unless you make them. It's as we age that the "clean plate club" comes into play and we lose our ability to tell when we are really hungry, or chose to ignore our bodies signals. If this wasn't true, there wouldn't be so many overweight people!.0
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fat2fitaddict wrote: »What's your thoughts on this? Should we be "less conscience" on cals and MORE CONSCIENCE on our internal switch?
I think yes. It's not necessarily easy. Overeating can bring pleasure that stopping when full may not. But this is how I do it. Tracking calories is too much hassle for my lazy self.
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When my son was about 6 he was having pizza and said he didn't want anymore. He'd only eaten half a slice. I told him to finish the piece and he told me he'd puke if he did. I insisted and he took one more bite and vomited into his plate. He wasn't sick, and I never made my kids clean the plate after that. But if they didn't eat dinner, no dessert. They're both adults, rarely finish their meals, especially when eating out, and neither has ever had weight issues.0
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Sweets1954 wrote: »I think that is basically true when you are an infant. Small children do not eat when they are not hungry unless you make them. It's as we age that the "clean plate club" comes into play and we lose our ability to tell when we are really hungry, or chose to ignore our bodies signals.
I believe this.... After forcing myself not to eat until I am at the point of feeling weak I do feel like I have found my "internal off/on switch"
It takes a lot of willpower to reprogram your brain and your stomach... not easy at all but I truly believe when you get to the point you want to be healthy MORE than you want to eat another cookie you can do it and it won't even seem that hard.
I have to remind myself everyday of this with my 3 year old... I think good gosh has he eaten anything today?? I've even thought about tracking his food just to see what his "normal" is and how much it takes to get to that but really... he will eat when he knows he's hungry and I have to try to let that be... as much as I want him to eat more and know he is getting the right amount I have to trust him and allow him to start understanding his own body.
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If the "clean your plate" rule were to blame for people being obese, obesity would have been widespread ages ago.0
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Do the counting enough time and you start getting an idea on how much to eat, at least to maintain. Also you start learning your foods and how heavy they are in calories. But it's much easier to progress by just counting. Why leave it to chance0
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Need2Exerc1se wrote: »If the "clean your plate" rule were to blame for people being obese, obesity would have been widespread ages ago.
How so? Not everyone is encouraged to clean their plate. I didn't grow up this way.0 -
i think it might be true for natural foods. I will never overeat on broccoli, but crisps..... I easily eat a family bag of those in one sitting.
I've actually binged on broccoli, lol. I seriously sat and ate an entire pound of broccoli florets in half an hour a few months ago. I ate until I was stuffed, so I know I overate. The 'damage', however, was only 160 calories. It's not about eating until your body's natural instinct tells you to stop. It's about making the right choices in what you eat.
Yep, I've done the same with lettuce... after 9 lbs., I would have kept eating except I ran out and it was too late to make a run to the store.0 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »If the "clean your plate" rule were to blame for people being obese, obesity would have been widespread ages ago.
How so? Not everyone is encouraged to clean their plate. I didn't grow up this way.
Personal experience aside, people have been telling children for ages to clean their plates, yet widespread obesity is a fairly recent thing.
Naturally that doesn't mean every single child is told this. I assumed it went without saying that I was speaking generally.0 -
Need2Exerc1se wrote: »If the "clean your plate" rule were to blame for people being obese, obesity would have been widespread ages ago.
How so? Not everyone is encouraged to clean their plate. I didn't grow up this way.
as a general rule, "clean your plate" has been around for a long *kitten* time...just because you didn't grow up that way doesn't mean it hasn't been around forever. my guess was that it was even more prominent in the past given greater food scarcity and "waste not, want not."
also, the problem isn't with cleaning your plate...i always clean my plate...the problem is people pile their plates full of more food than they actually need and in many cases more than they can actually stomach without feeling like crap...but they eat it anyway.
the obesity epidemic is not a result of cleaning your plate...it is a result of easily accessible, abundant, cheap calorie dense foods eaten in excess.0
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