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"No calorie-counting needed, just "eat intuitively" folks!"
Replies
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Aaron_K123 wrote: »BishopWankapin wrote: »Aaron_K123 wrote: »concordancia wrote: »PiperGirl08 wrote: »I don’t have a problem with the statements. But a lot of people who wind up dieting don’t know how to eat instinctively so it won’t work absent a tool that helps them learn. She is also correct in that a mostly plant based diet allows for increased volumes with far fewer calories. For example, a plateful of spinach vs a couple of crackers.
You do know that grains are plants, right?
Maybe they were animal crackers.
You people....arguing with scientists and what not. *disapproving head shake* If you keep that up...
Speaking as a professional scientist one should never rest on the letters behind their name. You either present a cogent, rational, objective evidence based argument...or you have an uninformed opinion. Like the seven stages of grief there's a similar process one's mind goes through when proven wrong.
The only mail I get with "Dr." in front of my name is junk mail. Anyone who actually wants to talk to me doesn't bother with that shite.
I always use the formal title when meeting someone new (...and typically immediately asked to call them by their first name), but have never had anyone worthy of respect actually refer to themselves as "Doctor".6 -
I don’t disagree with those statements and i do think logging calories is tedious and I don’t like the idea of keeping a food diary for the rest of my life. But when I try to eat “intuitively” I eat like everything in the house. I would love to be able to eat reasonably and sensibly without tracking. Maybe I will get there some day.
I have been food logging in maintenance for almost 5 years and have it down to where it only takes10-15 minutes per day - it is such a minimal time investment that provides a high return in terms of my health and fitness that I can't rationalize dropping it or imagine what I could do with that 10-15 minutes that would be more beneficial.12 -
Bry_Fitness70 wrote: »I don’t disagree with those statements and i do think logging calories is tedious and I don’t like the idea of keeping a food diary for the rest of my life. But when I try to eat “intuitively” I eat like everything in the house. I would love to be able to eat reasonably and sensibly without tracking. Maybe I will get there some day.
I have been food logging in maintenance for almost 5 years and have it down to where it only takes10-15 minutes per day - it is such a minimal time investment that provides a high return in terms of my health and fitness that I can't rationalize dropping it or imagine what I could do with that 10-15 minutes that would be more beneficial.
Same here.
It's now just a tool that I'm used to using daily. I don't think of it any differently than keeping track of my appointments using a calendar (I don't show up to things intuitively!).13 -
I think that most of the people on MFP wouldn't be here if "just eating intuitively" worked for us or was easy to learn/maintain.11
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janejellyroll wrote: »Bry_Fitness70 wrote: »I don’t disagree with those statements and i do think logging calories is tedious and I don’t like the idea of keeping a food diary for the rest of my life. But when I try to eat “intuitively” I eat like everything in the house. I would love to be able to eat reasonably and sensibly without tracking. Maybe I will get there some day.
I have been food logging in maintenance for almost 5 years and have it down to where it only takes10-15 minutes per day - it is such a minimal time investment that provides a high return in terms of my health and fitness that I can't rationalize dropping it or imagine what I could do with that 10-15 minutes that would be more beneficial.
Same here.
It's now just a tool that I'm used to using daily. I don't think of it any differently than keeping track of my appointments using a calendar (I don't show up to things intuitively!).
This works well, if you're a creature of habit and eat the same thing regularly.. but lately I've been trying different foods, different recipes, and it's become a pain in the butt again. I'm trying to manage my weight by eating based on what I know (and not logging), but as a result, I'm up about ten. Haven't gained more than that (and am seeing it drop slightly)
I'm just not ready to jump back into full calorie tracking again. I don't want to log forever.
So, rather than intuitive eating... maybe I'll try "aware" eating... aka... be aware of all the crap I'm eating and eat less of it2 -
KickassAmazon76 wrote: »janejellyroll wrote: »Bry_Fitness70 wrote: »I don’t disagree with those statements and i do think logging calories is tedious and I don’t like the idea of keeping a food diary for the rest of my life. But when I try to eat “intuitively” I eat like everything in the house. I would love to be able to eat reasonably and sensibly without tracking. Maybe I will get there some day.
I have been food logging in maintenance for almost 5 years and have it down to where it only takes10-15 minutes per day - it is such a minimal time investment that provides a high return in terms of my health and fitness that I can't rationalize dropping it or imagine what I could do with that 10-15 minutes that would be more beneficial.
Same here.
It's now just a tool that I'm used to using daily. I don't think of it any differently than keeping track of my appointments using a calendar (I don't show up to things intuitively!).
This works well, if you're a creature of habit and eat the same thing regularly.. but lately I've been trying different foods, different recipes, and it's become a pain in the butt again. I'm trying to manage my weight by eating based on what I know (and not logging), but as a result, I'm up about ten. Haven't gained more than that (and am seeing it drop slightly)
I'm just not ready to jump back into full calorie tracking again. I don't want to log forever.
So, rather than intuitive eating... maybe I'll try "aware" eating... aka... be aware of all the crap I'm eating and eat less of it
I eat different things just about every day, I'm always buying new cookbooks. I'm not trying to minimize the difficulty -- it isn't effortless and some people do find it to be more irksome than others do. It takes me about 5-10 minutes a day to enter the new recipes I plan on trying and pre-log my meals for the next day.
I'm not saying everyone will find it a good investment of time, it's just that I find it to be an excellent investment of time. I trade 10 minutes for reliably staying within a certain weight range, something I was never able to do before.12 -
janejellyroll wrote: »Bry_Fitness70 wrote: »I don’t disagree with those statements and i do think logging calories is tedious and I don’t like the idea of keeping a food diary for the rest of my life. But when I try to eat “intuitively” I eat like everything in the house. I would love to be able to eat reasonably and sensibly without tracking. Maybe I will get there some day.
I have been food logging in maintenance for almost 5 years and have it down to where it only takes10-15 minutes per day - it is such a minimal time investment that provides a high return in terms of my health and fitness that I can't rationalize dropping it or imagine what I could do with that 10-15 minutes that would be more beneficial.
Same here.
It's now just a tool that I'm used to using daily. I don't think of it any differently than keeping track of my appointments using a calendar (I don't show up to things intuitively!).
What you and most successful people do is develop a positive feedback mechanism. This process is more about developing habits so that one does not have to log as closely. I know that my lifestyle makes it possible that I can eat certain foods. Calorie counting made me aware of the budget that I have to work with. I've been in maintenance for 2.5 years now basically between bulking/cutting cycles and while I do not weigh as closely, I'm still careful around certain calorie dense foods.3 -
When I was younger (into my very early 30's), more active, and didn't have the dreaded desk job, I didn't have to count calories or restrict myself. I generally made what I consider healthy choices, and ate what I felt I needed to. If my weight started to creep up a few pounds, I'd just cut back on the junk food and it would right itself.
Under the right circumstances, sure this might work for some people.
That way of living does NOT work for me now, and is why I've got weight to lose (and more than just 5 pounds - more like 15-20). That weight isn't going to just come off because I'm only eating when I'm hungry - because, while I can maintain my current weight fairly well (as long as I'm getting in my workouts) without tracking too closely, I sure as *kitten* am not losing anything without a closer watch on my intake.
Just because something works for some people doesn't mean it will work for most, and I feel like this kind of falls into that category. It may work for a small percentage of people, but most of us need to do a little more work (aka count and track) in order to see progress. THAT is a method that will work for pretty much everyone if they adhere to it.0 -
My body’s signals are impossible to tell apart from my brain’s signals. My brain’s signals override ‘em every time. And my brain is really, really fond of chocolate.
‘Intuitive eating’ never had a chance with that setup. For me, calorie counting is how I tell my brain what hunger signals it should be sending
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Meh. One person's "indefinitely tethered to tedious habits and inflexible rules" is another person's liberating habit.
A health and fitness blogger's got to preach something, though . . . and if they don't say their way is the one true way, they're not going to draw as many acolytes. Acolytes = eyeballs = ad revenue = income.
"Do what works for you; here are 10 options." doesn't sell nearly as well.
^This. Anything that's condensed into a one-size-fits all approach for an issue as complex and varied as obesity is laughable.
The problem is easily understandable when you look at the responses in this thread that state "it might work for some people, but it would never work for me".
The reason for that? Well, the reason person x is overweight is different than the reason person y is overweight and the solution (habits, methods, process) that will effectively create a calorie deficit in a sustainable way for each of them is different.7 -
GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »Meh. One person's "indefinitely tethered to tedious habits and inflexible rules" is another person's liberating habit.
A health and fitness blogger's got to preach something, though . . . and if they don't say their way is the one true way, they're not going to draw as many acolytes. Acolytes = eyeballs = ad revenue = income.
"Do what works for you; here are 10 options." doesn't sell nearly as well.
^This. Anything that's condensed into a one-size-fits all approach for an issue as complex and varied as obesity is laughable.
The problem is easily understandable when you look at the responses in this thread that state "it might work for some people, but it would never work for me".
The reason for that? Well, the reason person x is overweight is different than the reason person y is overweight and the solution (habits, methods, process) that will effectively create a calorie deficit in a sustainable way for each of them is different.
Yet there are some elements of a framework that simply work.
One must create a calorie deficit to lose weight. Now we can argue about how best to do that, and I believe that is where the "one size fits all" doesn't work. Some are diabetic, some have allergies, some have faith constraints that shape their dietary requirements.
But the constant is that one must burn more calories than they consume in order to lose weight.
And as I and others have indicated, if it were intuitive, would we have obese people? If it were intuitive, would you or I or anyone need to lose weight?
Applications like MFP are a framework for people to track what they are eating and their exercise. They are only as good or bad as the data entered. If someone eats half a box of Thin Mints and logs it as one serving, it's not going to work. If the person is weighing things out with a food scale so they know they really did put 28g of cheese in their 3 egg omelette, they will have a more accurate picture of what they eat.
The old computer phrase GIGO, or Garbage In, Garbage Out applies to the data we use to make choices.
Intuition only works if you are not putting Garbage In. If you tell yourself that the half box of Thin Mints was a 160 calorie serving (4 cookies) instead of the three to four servings 480-640 calories that constitutes the entire sleeve, then your intuition will steer you wrong because you don't accurately see what you ate for what it really is.0 -
Logging my food up until dinner I have no problems with. I am at a computer anyway at work so I just spend a few minutes logging my food. But when I cook dinner it tends to be really annoying. I have to create recipes in mfp and weigh everything. And when dinner is ready I can’t just plop stuff on my plate like everyone else I have to get the damn scale out and weigh everything then log each thing on my diary. It is tedious.Bry_Fitness70 wrote: »I don’t disagree with those statements and i do think logging calories is tedious and I don’t like the idea of keeping a food diary for the rest of my life. But when I try to eat “intuitively” I eat like everything in the house. I would love to be able to eat reasonably and sensibly without tracking. Maybe I will get there some day.
I have been food logging in maintenance for almost 5 years and have it down to where it only takes10-15 minutes per day - it is such a minimal time investment that provides a high return in terms of my health and fitness that I can't rationalize dropping it or imagine what I could do with that 10-15 minutes that would be more beneficial.
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Aaron_K123 wrote: »BishopWankapin wrote: »Aaron_K123 wrote: »concordancia wrote: »PiperGirl08 wrote: »I don’t have a problem with the statements. But a lot of people who wind up dieting don’t know how to eat instinctively so it won’t work absent a tool that helps them learn. She is also correct in that a mostly plant based diet allows for increased volumes with far fewer calories. For example, a plateful of spinach vs a couple of crackers.
You do know that grains are plants, right?
Maybe they were animal crackers.
You people....arguing with scientists and what not. *disapproving head shake* If you keep that up...
Speaking as a professional scientist one should never rest on the letters behind their name. You either present a cogent, rational, objective evidence based argument...or you have an uninformed opinion. Like the seven stages of grief there's a similar process one's mind goes through when proven wrong.
The only mail I get with "Dr." in front of my name is junk mail. Anyone who actually wants to talk to me doesn't bother with that shite.
I always use the formal title when meeting someone new (...and typically immediately asked to call them by their first name), but have never had anyone worthy of respect actually refer to themselves as "Doctor".
Besides actual email or mail spam I get called Doctor from people from India who seem to be a lot more formal about using titles but other than that no one bothers, even in a first meet or a first email. If someone came up and shook my hand and called me Dr. I'd be a bit thrown off by that honestly. I think it is different in medical fields where there is almost like a officer vs enlisted person thing going on there between those with MDs and everyone else. I don't know though, medicine is the only field where people run around calling each other Doctor and honestly now that I think about it I'm not sure why. I've certainly never self-applied it. Well maybe with my wife as a joke but yeah.2 -
tbright1965 wrote: »GottaBurnEmAll wrote: »Meh. One person's "indefinitely tethered to tedious habits and inflexible rules" is another person's liberating habit.
A health and fitness blogger's got to preach something, though . . . and if they don't say their way is the one true way, they're not going to draw as many acolytes. Acolytes = eyeballs = ad revenue = income.
"Do what works for you; here are 10 options." doesn't sell nearly as well.
^This. Anything that's condensed into a one-size-fits all approach for an issue as complex and varied as obesity is laughable.
The problem is easily understandable when you look at the responses in this thread that state "it might work for some people, but it would never work for me".
The reason for that? Well, the reason person x is overweight is different than the reason person y is overweight and the solution (habits, methods, process) that will effectively create a calorie deficit in a sustainable way for each of them is different.
Yet there are some elements of a framework that simply work.
One must create a calorie deficit to lose weight. Now we can argue about how best to do that, and I believe that is where the "one size fits all" doesn't work. Some are diabetic, some have allergies, some have faith constraints that shape their dietary requirements.
But the constant is that one must burn more calories than they consume in order to lose weight.
And as I and others have indicated, if it were intuitive, would we have obese people? If it were intuitive, would you or I or anyone need to lose weight?
Applications like MFP are a framework for people to track what they are eating and their exercise. They are only as good or bad as the data entered. If someone eats half a box of Thin Mints and logs it as one serving, it's not going to work. If the person is weighing things out with a food scale so they know they really did put 28g of cheese in their 3 egg omelette, they will have a more accurate picture of what they eat.
The old computer phrase GIGO, or Garbage In, Garbage Out applies to the data we use to make choices.
Intuition only works if you are not putting Garbage In. If you tell yourself that the half box of Thin Mints was a 160 calorie serving (4 cookies) instead of the three to four servings 480-640 calories that constitutes the entire sleeve, then your intuition will steer you wrong because you don't accurately see what you ate for what it really is.
Well, this isn't quite in opposition to anything I was getting at. I'm trying to remember the circumstances under which I made my original response, but I had this in mind when making it:
shiftn.com/obesity/Full-Map.html
While yes, the bottom line is always a calorie deficit, getting to the point where someone is able to put that into effect isn't always a linear process due to the complex nature of obesity. Depending on why someone has a problem, there might be other issues to unpack that make a solution like eating intuitively a no-starter for many individuals. For others with less complex situations who are simply obese due to poor food choice? Well, that's something else.
I was addressing the idea behind the original article, which seemed to be predicated on the premise that people are overweight because they make poor food choices and ignore their hunger cues. That's a flawed premise. If you look at the link I've provided, obesity is a much more complex issue with many more factors potentially involved. A scenario that only addresses one or two issues isn't going to be anyone's golden ticket to the lean life, and that's what I meant by nothing being a one-size fits all solution.
Of course there will be frame works and commonalities. But every individual will have their own unique issues involved to make nuanced adjustments necessary to those frameworks so that they work for their particular situation.2 -
Crafty_camper123 wrote: »I was counting calories for the last 3 months on this leg of my weight loss. I was weighing & logging every single morsel that went into my mouth. And, even though I'm a toss a bit of this and a bit of that into a pot type of cook, I was weighing and counting that too. But it got to a point recently where I was constantly thinking about calories and getting borderline obsessive with it. I actually had a dream that I was entering calories into MFP all night long. It was getting to be too tedious and kind of was getting to me. I just can't picture that being my life forever. Maybe it's just because I'm not a huge numbers person, but it kind of stresses me out. I was also finding myself eating extra calories because they were available, and not because I was hungry or felt I needed them. Which did not help me out on days where my appetite spiked and I ate over goal. Enter intuitive eating. I have lost successfully before using a "hunger scale" to rate my hunger or satiety levels when I eat something. Usually when I'm not successful it's because I'm paying more attention to my what my mind wants, and not what my body actually needs. Like eating because I want it or finishing my meal because it's in front of me & not because I'm full. I can post what I use if anyone is interested. But, you can find some different variations of the hunger scale online. For weight loss, you want to eat until you are slightly satisfied instead of full. And rarely (or never) eat until you're sickly full. Try not to eat if you're not very hungry, but don't wait until you're starving either. I'm trying this out for a while to see how I do. If the weight creeps back up, or I find I'm not holding myself accountable and just eating food because I want to I'll be back to calorie counting. It does bother me that calorie counting is often made out to be some fad diet made to guarantee failure though. It is an invaluable tool to find out what exactly you are eating, where you're macros are at, and what proper portions should look like.
I really hope to get to this point. Ive been tracking macros for nearly three years. No old timer, but enough that it’s become obsessive. I can totally relate on the eating because calories are available vs. eating to my true hunger. I know you can carry over macros as long as your week averages out, but for me I need to see my macros zeroed out daily. It’s become a mental fixation. I’d like to lose another 10 pounds but don’t feel confident I can do so while eating intuitively. I mean it’s possible, but not as guaranteed at tracking my macros. I’m reading the book call intuitive eating and I’m hoping when I transition to maintenance (after tracking a few weeks to get a general idea of portions) I’m hoping I can learn to eat intuitively and listen to my body. I know it’s a very subjective behavior and it works for some and not for others. I’m praying it works for me, because the obsessiveness that tracking brings me is not something i can handle for much longer. I wish I wasn’t this way but it’s hard to focus on balance when i’m so fixated on hitting my macros perfectly everyday. Thank you for sharing and giving me hope!1 -
Isn't Kelly from FitnessBlender in recovery from an eating disorder? It makes sense for her to focus on eating mindfully and avoid anything which would lead to obsessive behavior. That doesn't mean her approach is right for everyone. Also, she does FitnessBlender videos for a living - she's very active and can afford to take in quite a few calories because she expends a lot. Someone sedentary might "mindfully" eat half again as much as they expend.
Speaking for myself, I'm a diabetic and my blood glucose control depends on knowing how many carbs I am eating at each meal. I have no intention of putting my health at risk because some rando on the internet thinks I should guess how many carbs are in different foods instead of looking it up.7 -
laurenbastug wrote: »Crafty_camper123 wrote: »I was counting calories for the last 3 months on this leg of my weight loss. I was weighing & logging every single morsel that went into my mouth. And, even though I'm a toss a bit of this and a bit of that into a pot type of cook, I was weighing and counting that too. But it got to a point recently where I was constantly thinking about calories and getting borderline obsessive with it. I actually had a dream that I was entering calories into MFP all night long. It was getting to be too tedious and kind of was getting to me. I just can't picture that being my life forever. Maybe it's just because I'm not a huge numbers person, but it kind of stresses me out. I was also finding myself eating extra calories because they were available, and not because I was hungry or felt I needed them. Which did not help me out on days where my appetite spiked and I ate over goal. Enter intuitive eating. I have lost successfully before using a "hunger scale" to rate my hunger or satiety levels when I eat something. Usually when I'm not successful it's because I'm paying more attention to my what my mind wants, and not what my body actually needs. Like eating because I want it or finishing my meal because it's in front of me & not because I'm full. I can post what I use if anyone is interested. But, you can find some different variations of the hunger scale online. For weight loss, you want to eat until you are slightly satisfied instead of full. And rarely (or never) eat until you're sickly full. Try not to eat if you're not very hungry, but don't wait until you're starving either. I'm trying this out for a while to see how I do. If the weight creeps back up, or I find I'm not holding myself accountable and just eating food because I want to I'll be back to calorie counting. It does bother me that calorie counting is often made out to be some fad diet made to guarantee failure though. It is an invaluable tool to find out what exactly you are eating, where you're macros are at, and what proper portions should look like.
I really hope to get to this point. Ive been tracking macros for nearly three years. No old timer, but enough that it’s become obsessive. I can totally relate on the eating because calories are available vs. eating to my true hunger. I know you can carry over macros as long as your week averages out, but for me I need to see my macros zeroed out daily. It’s become a mental fixation. I’d like to lose another 10 pounds but don’t feel confident I can do so while eating intuitively. I mean it’s possible, but not as guaranteed at tracking my macros. I’m reading the book call intuitive eating and I’m hoping when I transition to maintenance (after tracking a few weeks to get a general idea of portions) I’m hoping I can learn to eat intuitively and listen to my body. I know it’s a very subjective behavior and it works for some and not for others. I’m praying it works for me, because the obsessiveness that tracking brings me is not something i can handle for much longer. I wish I wasn’t this way but it’s hard to focus on balance when i’m so fixated on hitting my macros perfectly everyday. Thank you for sharing and giving me hope!
Perhaps try it out for just two weeks? If you go nuts and eat too many calories or your macros are off, two weeks wont be enough to derail much progress. TBH I'm back to tracking again, but with a different approach. A break Is exactly what I needed. This time I'm eating intuitively but tracking what I eat instead of simply tracking and then eating because I have calories available. I'm hoping that on days when I'm less hungry I'll probably under eat a little, but then it will be offset by days when I'm more hungry and I'll over eat. We'll see. My first month I was eating intuitively without tracking and dropped 10lbs in about 4 weeks. Which is a little too fast. I'm not sure if I was undereating, or if It was water weight from cutting out Christmas cookies. lol. I'm aiming to find out. I really think it can be done. If you're not ready to take a break logging, perhaps just pay really close attention to how you're feeling while logging and eating as you normally do? Here's the scale I'm using if it's helpful. I took the one off of the MFP blog post from a while back and modified it to be a bit more specific for me.
0 EMPTY = I’m feeling physical symptoms of hunger that are unpleasant. Low energy levels, poor concentration, poor mood, shakiness, light headedness, weakness. I feel like I am running on empty & may be Hangry. I want to eat anything and everything that was put in front of me. If I eat, I may not stop until I’m too full. Overeating risk is very high.
1 ALMOST EMPTY= Energy level is dropping. Shakiness is setting in. Concentration is getting bad. I want to eat whatever I can get my hands on & I want it fast. Food is dominating my thoughts. If I wait any longer I will not be feeling good. If I eat now, I may have a hard time stopping before getting too full. Overeating risk is moderately high.
2 REALLY HUNGRY= Hunger pangs in the stomach are setting in & increasing with frequency My stomach may be growling.. Energy levels experience first drop. Food is beginning to dominate my thoughts. I can likely stop before getting too full. Overeating risk= Moderate
3 HUNGRY= I am beginning to feel the first signs of hunger. My stomach may beginning to have pangs and growl. Energy levels are still good. I can probably wait an hour or so before feeling the more unpleasant hunger symptoms. If I eat now, I can stop before feeling over full. Overeating risk= Mild.
4 SLIGHTLY HUNGRY= Food is beginning to enter my thoughts, but I can definitely wait a few hours to eat. I may start craving specific things at this point. Chew some gum and/or drink a glass of water to rule out thirst or boredom. If I eat now, it won’t take much to fill me up. Overeating risk= low.
5 NEUTRAL= I’m not thinking about food. I’m neither hungry nor full. I may still accept food if offered. Try to resist until actually hungry. Overeating risk= low.
6 SLIGHTLY SATISFIED= I have eaten some of my meal, and feel like I could eat a little more. If I stop now, I may be hungry again a short while later. I could save the rest of my food for later if needed.
7 SATISFIED= I’m no longer hungry. I could eat more because my food tastes good, or there’s simply more food in front of me. But if I stop now, I will feel content or satisfied with the amount I have eaten.
8 FULL= I ate my fill, and my stomach feels physically full. I may experience symptoms like heartburn & gas later if I stop here. I have overeaten slightly.
9 UNCOMFORTABLE= My stomach feels too full, bloated and I may need to unbutton my pants. I will be feeling uncomfortable physical symptoms like heartburn, bloating, and gas after this meal. I do not want to do anything other then sit and let it digest. I have overeaten by a lot.
10 STUFFED= Ugh, Why did I eat this much? My stomach is distended, and almost hurts it’s so full. It almost feels like it’s coming back up my esophagus. I feel like I could throw up to relieve the pressure and discomfort. Time to just zone out and watch TV and wait for that nauseous feeling to go away. I may be taking Pepto or Pepcid to relieve my discomfort. I overate by a ton!
My aim to eat when I get to 3, and stop when I get to 6 or 7.
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L1zardQueen wrote: »I wish. I got fat by eating intuitively.
This!0 -
bmeadows380 wrote: »And don't get me started on using nuts as a snack food! I had to warn my sister on that one when she started counting calories and trying to find healthier snacks than her usual doritoes. I warned her to weigh any type of nut that she wanted to snack on to make sure she had a serving size because they are so calorie dense. She was shocked to see that less than 1/4 cup of nuts was a serving size with 170 calories in that! I can say from ample personal experience that I could easily down 1500 calories a day in nuts by myself - I could polish off half a can of mixed nuts !
This. Nuts. Nut butter. All the avocados. Even beans and fish. I could easily eat a can of beans or 8-10 oz of salmon with my veggies and not feel at all uncomfortable or even “full”. Whenever I detour into the “more produce! Down with processed foods and calorie counting!” Territory I gain weight. Probably bc I can’t get enough filling non-meat protein without a dang protein bar, so I’m a ravenous beast that eats a whole cantaloupe.
It also makes me *less* mindful of how much I eat. I forget the handfuls of nuts, etc that are pushing me into a small but meaningful surplus. Then my portions start getting incrementally larger, and bam, I’m up 8 lbs. mostly that was April. Still fighting my way back from that.
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This doesn't work for me. I dont often feel full/satisfied. The amount and type of food that makes me comfortable has led to me gaining weight.1
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gradchica27 wrote: »bmeadows380 wrote: »And don't get me started on using nuts as a snack food! I had to warn my sister on that one when she started counting calories and trying to find healthier snacks than her usual doritoes. I warned her to weigh any type of nut that she wanted to snack on to make sure she had a serving size because they are so calorie dense. She was shocked to see that less than 1/4 cup of nuts was a serving size with 170 calories in that! I can say from ample personal experience that I could easily down 1500 calories a day in nuts by myself - I could polish off half a can of mixed nuts !
This. Nuts. Nut butter. All the avocados. Even beans and fish. I could easily eat a can of beans or 8-10 oz of salmon with my veggies and not feel at all uncomfortable or even “full”. Whenever I detour into the “more produce! Down with processed foods and calorie counting!” Territory I gain weight. Probably bc I can’t get enough filling non-meat protein without a dang protein bar, so I’m a ravenous beast that eats a whole cantaloupe.
It also makes me *less* mindful of how much I eat. I forget the handfuls of nuts, etc that are pushing me into a small but meaningful surplus. Then my portions start getting incrementally larger, and bam, I’m up 8 lbs. mostly that was April. Still fighting my way back from that.
But nuts are natural? How is this the possible?!?!?
Curse you nature!!!7 -
gradchica27 wrote: »bmeadows380 wrote: »And don't get me started on using nuts as a snack food! I had to warn my sister on that one when she started counting calories and trying to find healthier snacks than her usual doritoes. I warned her to weigh any type of nut that she wanted to snack on to make sure she had a serving size because they are so calorie dense. She was shocked to see that less than 1/4 cup of nuts was a serving size with 170 calories in that! I can say from ample personal experience that I could easily down 1500 calories a day in nuts by myself - I could polish off half a can of mixed nuts !
This. Nuts. Nut butter. All the avocados. Even beans and fish. I could easily eat a can of beans or 8-10 oz of salmon with my veggies and not feel at all uncomfortable or even “full”. Whenever I detour into the “more produce! Down with processed foods and calorie counting!” Territory I gain weight. Probably bc I can’t get enough filling non-meat protein without a dang protein bar, so I’m a ravenous beast that eats a whole cantaloupe.
It also makes me *less* mindful of how much I eat. I forget the handfuls of nuts, etc that are pushing me into a small but meaningful surplus. Then my portions start getting incrementally larger, and bam, I’m up 8 lbs. mostly that was April. Still fighting my way back from that.
But nuts are natural? How is this the possible?!?!?
Curse you nature!!!
I know you are being funny, but I know the answer. Nature didn't package nuts in bags, roast them, put salt on them and then put them on a shelf at the market where we could drive, searching only for the closest parking spot to the door. Nor did nature develop Amazon Prime so that nuts, as described above, would just show up on our front porch.
Most of us in the Western World do not need to work to grow or gather our food.
The new "a nature intended" is pre-packaged and possibly delivered.7 -
tbright1965 wrote: »gradchica27 wrote: »bmeadows380 wrote: »And don't get me started on using nuts as a snack food! I had to warn my sister on that one when she started counting calories and trying to find healthier snacks than her usual doritoes. I warned her to weigh any type of nut that she wanted to snack on to make sure she had a serving size because they are so calorie dense. She was shocked to see that less than 1/4 cup of nuts was a serving size with 170 calories in that! I can say from ample personal experience that I could easily down 1500 calories a day in nuts by myself - I could polish off half a can of mixed nuts !
This. Nuts. Nut butter. All the avocados. Even beans and fish. I could easily eat a can of beans or 8-10 oz of salmon with my veggies and not feel at all uncomfortable or even “full”. Whenever I detour into the “more produce! Down with processed foods and calorie counting!” Territory I gain weight. Probably bc I can’t get enough filling non-meat protein without a dang protein bar, so I’m a ravenous beast that eats a whole cantaloupe.
It also makes me *less* mindful of how much I eat. I forget the handfuls of nuts, etc that are pushing me into a small but meaningful surplus. Then my portions start getting incrementally larger, and bam, I’m up 8 lbs. mostly that was April. Still fighting my way back from that.
But nuts are natural? How is this the possible?!?!?
Curse you nature!!!
I know you are being funny, but I know the answer. Nature didn't package nuts in bags, roast them, put salt on them and then put them on a shelf at the market where we could drive, searching only for the closest parking spot to the door. Nor did nature develop Amazon Prime so that nuts, as described above, would just show up on our front porch.
Most of us in the Western World do not need to work to grow or gather our food.
The new "a nature intended" is pre-packaged and possibly delivered.
Yeah? I like raw almonds even more than roasted. At one time, I could devour a Costco sized bag in about a month. I did this frequently until I realized how many calories I was eating. I didn’t do this to the roasted types, for whatever reason.1 -
Aaron_K123 wrote: »Honestly telling an overweight person that all they need to do to get to a healthy weight is to "eat intuitively" is like telling a person suffering from chronic depression that all they need to do is "cheer up". It is absurdly reductionist and not helpful.
Thank you! Especially when you look at scientific, academic articles on obesity and the hormones that regulate hunger/fullness in the brain. And then you have eating disorders, which are another thing entirely.
Intuitive eating is great for some. Not for me.2 -
But I do love their free, online videos. And of all the crappy diet advice out there, this is probably the least harmful.0
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Intuitive eating does work for some people.
i get that it is harder to lose weight that way because you are deliberately changing your eating habits.
But many people are healthy weight and do not get overweight and they do not count calories or do any other form of deliberate control to stay that way.2 -
JerSchmare wrote: »Different things work for different people. Preaching one method over another, no matter how rational or awesome it is,is looked down upon by someone else that has success doing something different. Remember that calorie counters.
+13 -
paperpudding wrote: »Intuitive eating does work for some people.
i get that it is harder to lose weight that way because you are deliberately changing your eating habits.
But many people are healthy weight and do not get overweight and they do not count calories or do any other form of deliberate control to stay that way.
Exactly. Intuitive eating works for people who have no weight issue - that's how they maintain their weight!
For people who have weight issues, it's NEVER going to work - the fact that we're underweight/overweight itself shows that we don't know how to eat intuitively.
I mean, sure, we can try and focus more on our hunger signals, but when people mistake hunger with cravings, well... that's not going to work either.
I can't lose weight without feeling hungry at least 3 hours a day, for example. If I eat intuitively, I'll just end up gaining weight back.5 -
What works for me is routine.
I eat basically the same things every-day & rarely switch things up. I eat foods that fill me up & keep my calories in check. I can pretty much stop logging but I do log during the week but the weekends I don't bother because I am so busy I actually forget to eat or only eat when my energy levels are depleted.2
This discussion has been closed.
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