Intuitive eating tips?

Ive been trying to learn to listen to my body better recently. I'm in recovery for an eating disorder and was able to start my weight loss using IF. It worked great but now I'm seeing that it worked because I was saving all of my calories for a big night binge just like when I was in my disorder. I don't think long term it is the right choice for me anymore.

I have only been doing this new intuitive eating the past week and then logging at night rather than as I go. I keep a snack with me and a water bottle. If I start to feel hungry I start by drinking water. For years I mistook thirst for hunger. If I am still hungry I eat the snack. I don't stress about it or the calories in it. I am feeding my body because it is hungry. I also am not trying to ignore my hunger anymore or wait until later. So far I have stayed within calories and been close to hitting my macros every day since switching my approach. I also am feeling better about my relationship with food and my body.

I just put a hold on the book "The Beck Diet Solution" at my local library. I am in exactly the same place as the OP, and this book was someone's suggestion. I don't know much about it but it may be worth a look.

The program I'm currently one, our nutritionist put this up in response to a similar question.

Try using the Hunger Scale to help keep track of your hunger levels and prevent situations like that from happening...

HUNGER SCALE: Use the numbers 1-6 to describe how hungry you are before and after each meal/snack. Hunger scales can help you control portions and keep your metabolism revved. Listen to your body! Aim to start eating when you're a 3 and stop eating when you're a 4 or 5.

1. Starving: You feel light-headed and irritable
2. Very Hungry: Your stomach acid is churning.
3. Mildly hungry: Your stomach is just starting to rumble
4. Satisfied: You’re no longer hungry
5. Full: Your stomach feels comfortably filled
6. Stuffed: You feel bloated & uncomfortable

Something I'm still working on after a couple of months, but it's getting better. I struggled at first, because my week day schedules are rigid enough that waiting until I felt hungry was hard to do. So it was something I would focus on during my weekends where I had a lot more flexibility around eating times. I would basically try and keep from eating anything until I noticed an actual physical manifestation of my hunger (rather then simply just the mental desire to eat something). What I discovered was that I was so out of tune with it, that I couldn't tell till I was already at a 1. Never really got the tummy rumble sensation, but I could sure feel the headache coming on. The first weekend was kind of a disaster, because by the time I realized I was hungry, I was SOOOO hungry, I was grabbing the quickest, easiest things to eat to avoid the full blown headache. So the second weekend, I went ahead a pre-made my meals at roughly 300-350 cals and well as a ton of pre made snacks at about 100 cals. When the headache started coming, I'd grab my meal and eat, then wait for about 15-20 mins. If I still felt hungry, I'd go grab a snack, eat and wait another 15-20 mins and repeat the process until I no longer felt hungry. Usually 1 or 2 snacks were enough, but I did notice if I was very active I sometimes needed a third.

It's been about a month since I started working on it and while I'm still terrible at noticing hunger ques at 2 or 3, I'm actually doing great at stopping eating at a happy 4 (I no longer have that "full" feeling after eating, just a very satisfied feeling). This past week, I also made some minor shifts to when I schedule my weekday meals and their size and managed to get through the whole week without once feeling a craving or desire to binge.

If you are asking for "tips" then you do not understand what the word "intuitive" means or how "intuitive eating" works.

"You Keep Using That Word, I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means" -- Inigo Montoya

You want tips?
Eat around 250 - 500 less calories per day than your body needs to maintain your current weight if you want to lose.
Eat around 250 - 500 more calories per day than your body needs to maintain your current weight if you want to gain.
Eat around your maintenance calories every day to stay the same.

You are not in the right state of mind or experienced enough to eat "intuitively" and you do not sound disciplined enough to manage it if you are an "emotional eater" or "binge eater."

This sounds more to me like you have some sort of fear of eating/eating disorder based on your picture.
Or maybe you have self-esteem issues and are just wanting attention? Dunno, I am not an psychologist.

Add discipline to your exercise routine and keep consistently counting calories via MFP.
Make sure it is a serious exercise routine that includes heavy (for you) compound weight lifting (with barbells) so you add some attractive muscle and help prevent osteoporosis, which is a serious threat to women.
Pink dumbbells are not "heavy" and running/jogging will not add the necessary muscle or bone density.
Almost always the opposite - especially since I will bet you are not eating enough protein to offset muscle loss.

Keep doing these things and you will eventually learn how much to eat for your goals and begin to make the right choices out of habit - "intuitively."

Need2Exerc1se wrote: »

toxikon wrote: »

I think you need a whole ton of will power. You need to be able to put a small portion of food on your plate, eat it, then stop. Even if your stomach still feels hungry. Then in a few hours, if you're hungry again, have a snack.

I personally find it very difficult and still need MFP's help to not overeat.

What? No. I mean that might work, but it's certainly not necessary.

Intuitive eating is just applying common sense to eating. If you've never eaten within your maintenance limits it's probably a good idea to log your meals for a while to get a general sense of how much and what type of foods you can fit into a day within your calorie limits. Once you've got that sense simply apply it daily. When you feel the urge to eat, ask yourself if you are really hungry if you or if you are just bored or stressed or whatever. Should you be hungry? How long since you last ate? How big was that meal, how high/low calorie was it.

Even with intuitive eating you'll have days where you want to eat when not hungry. Fatigue and hormones are notorious for sending false hunger signals. Getting enough sleep is important but it's a rare person that does it every single day.

But when you eat, how much you eat each meal, etc. doesn't really matter. It's being aware of what you eat, what you have eaten recently and what you plan to eat in the near future that really makes the difference in intuitive eating. Listen to your body, but also be aware of your lifestyle and schedule. Make it all workout so that you control your calories and thus, control your weight.

I think different people just experience hunger/satiety differently. Which means that some people have to work harder to eat intuitively and not gain weight.

Even though I'm not overweight, I have a big appetite and my body doesn't tell me "stop" as soon as it should. Sometimes I still feel hungry after a large meal even an hour after I've finished eating. My body is very delayed in sending those signals to my brain that say "hey, you're not hungry anymore."

And I think that's why eating intuitively is just difficult for some. And it doesn't really have anything to do with common sense.

Eat slowly, savoring each bite. Put your fork down between bites and your hands in your lap. Think about the flavors and textures. Turn off the TV, computer, and put away your phone. Eat without any distractions. Half way through the meal, pause and ask yourself if you are still hungry. If you aren't, stop eating!

This website may help: http://thecenterformindfuleating.org/Principles-Mindful-Eating