Anyone lost weight with intuitive eating?

Options
2»

Replies

  • sexymamadraeger
    sexymamadraeger Posts: 239 Member
    Options
    Some of us are here to try to find a nutritional balance and read community chats. I don't track calories much. But I do keep the diary.
  • ACSL3
    ACSL3 Posts: 623 Member
    Options
    MoiAussi93 wrote: »
    KM0692 wrote: »
    MoiAussi93 wrote: »
    I lost about half of the weight I lost doing it that way. It is certainly very doable.

    I only started counting calories because I wanted to find out how many calories I was actually eating and what the macros were and experiment with low carb.

    Awesome...congrats!! Any helpful advice for those of us wanting to try this? :)


    I have always known when I was really hungry vs just craving something or eating it because it was there or I was bored. The problem..for me...wasn't that I couldn't read my body's cues. I know when I'm actually hungry...even at my heaviest I knew. The issue was that I often just ignored the cues because I just really like food...whether I really need it or not.

    So in my case, it was just figuring out strategies to control that. Changing long established behaviors is difficult (for me at least.)

    I stopped snacking unless I was legitimately hungry (no longer eating just because I could). That was tough, but got easier as I went. What really helped was not bringing all the snack foods into my home. If ice cream isn't sitting in the freezer, I find it MUCH easier not to eat it. LOL! I also started eating everything from a plate...no more just grazing on a little of this and then a little of that because it adds up quickly and you don't even remember everything you ate. When I cook, I put what I plan to eat on the plate and immediately put the left overs away. THEN I ate. On the ...rare...occasion that I was actually still hungry when finished, I would get it out and eat more. But if the entire thing was sitting right in front of me, I knew I would be much more likely to have seconds I didn't need. Out of sight, out of mind works very well for me.

    I focused on eating very slowly. That helped a bit. If I really wasn't hungry, I would occasionally skip a meal...which I never deliberately did before. I accepted that nothing bad happens if you skip lunch or dinner on occasion. I also, for the first time in my life, started bringing leftovers home from the restaurant instead of stuffing myself to finish it all. I was always one of those "clean the plate/don't let it go to waste" people. But just taking the time to look at the plate, pausing when halfway done to actually evaluate whether or not I was actually still truly hungry, really helped.

    I didn't need to count calories. Obviously, because I was obese I knew I ate too much. It really didn't matter how many calories I was actually eating. Whatever the number, I just needed to eat less. It works and it's easy. The hard part is changing the habits...and for me it just took some trial and error to figure out what methods worked best for me.

    The bolded part is the issue for me as well. Thanks for the post - I've done those things previously and have gotten on this "but I want to eat" kick even when I know I'm not hungry. Got to get back to this mindset :)
  • spiffychick85
    spiffychick85 Posts: 311 Member
    Options
    I have not logged in maintenance before and have always maintained my weight years at a time (I've gained weight with pregnancies only) So for me I do eat intuitively at goal weight and always stop eating when satisfied (not overly full or stuffed, I hate that feeling honestly). This doesn't work for everyone so I'm not insisting you do it, but it works for me :)
  • laurenj915
    laurenj915 Posts: 38 Member
    Options
    RetiredAndLovingIt wrote: »
    What book?

    I think she was probably talking about Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch. It has become the textbook at most eating disorder recover programs although that was not the original purpose.
  • Machka9
    Machka9 Posts: 24,878 Member
    Options
    Ironandwine69 wrote: »
    geneticsteacher wrote: »
    I intuitively eat too much :'(

    Yeah it's not easy. For some people it might be even more difficult than logging

    If I want to lose weight, it is so much easier to log my food. While I eat a reasonably healthy diet and always have ... intuitively, I eat larger portions than I need.
  • Tacklewasher
    Tacklewasher Posts: 7,122 Member
    Options
    mrsnattybulking wrote: »
    Nope. I got to 240 eating intuitively lol

    *kitten*. I got to 240 with help from MFP. I got to 330 by intuitive eating.

    My wife intuitive eats and is a healthy weight.
  • Ironandwine69
    Ironandwine69 Posts: 2,432 Member
    Options
    Machka9 wrote: »
    Ironandwine69 wrote: »
    geneticsteacher wrote: »
    I intuitively eat too much :'(

    Yeah it's not easy. For some people it might be even more difficult than logging

    If I want to lose weight, it is so much easier to log my food. While I eat a reasonably healthy diet and always have ... intuitively, I eat larger portions than I need.

    I don't have a problem losing with intuitive eating, but I tend to undereat and lose more muscle mass than I like. To get it just right I need to log.
  • janjunie
    janjunie Posts: 1,200 Member
    Options
    KM0692 wrote: »
    I'd like to try this once I reach my goal weight. I tend to be an emotional eater (and a boredom eater) though, so I'm not sure it will work for me (?).

    I must have because before I discovered MFP I had already had two kids and was able to lose the baby weight after both without proper calorie counting.
  • setzerfan
    setzerfan Posts: 16 Member
    Options
    No. I gained when I tried that approach in the past.
  • PinkamenaD8
    PinkamenaD8 Posts: 99 Member
    Options
    For me was easy losing weight intuitively since I developed my eating habits when I was under controled log of calories, so I just used about the same portions but didn't log and lost weight. If you're happy with your diet you don't easily binge, you don't have much cravings and can develop these habits.
  • mengqiz86
    mengqiz86 Posts: 176 Member
    Options
    I have, but only after I've honed my "intuition" to be calorie-aware, through a full year of tracking on MFP. It helps me make the right choice when hungry - to reach for the "right" food, not the one I crave. I still log but only very roughly; been maintaining/losing slowly for 4 months.
  • celestestar
    celestestar Posts: 41 Member
    Options
    I have, but only to gain it back again due to boredom eating
  • Geocitiesuser
    Geocitiesuser Posts: 1,429 Member
    Options
    I sure did get FAT with intuitive eating :) If intuitive eating was a thing, 60% of western society wouldn't be overweight or obese.
  • JaydedMiss
    JaydedMiss Posts: 4,286 Member
    edited May 2017
    Options
    Geocitiesuser wrote: »
    I sure did get FAT with intuitive eating :) If intuitive eating was a thing, 60% of western society wouldn't be overweight or obese.

    Alot of us sit back in our chair saying "god im stuffed" but that pizza looks so good...wiggle a bit to "get it down" and reach for the last piece because yummy. And then go for dessert. Thats why were obese.
  • galley0730
    galley0730 Posts: 7 Member
    Options
    I maintained my weight for 4 years by eating intuitively, and it was a huge help in overcoming the binge/restrict stuff I was doing prior to that. I'm now tracking calories again to lose weight I gained in a 2 year overseas posting, but I still use many of the principles of IE while I'm losing.
  • memickee
    memickee Posts: 250 Member
    Options
    My intuitive switch is broken. That's why I am here.
  • KM0692
    KM0692 Posts: 178 Member
    Options
    Thank you everyone for your replies!

Categories