Intuitive eating

TigerLily100
TigerLily100 Posts: 81 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi all,

So I have recently heard about intuitive eating and googled as you do.
So it sounds good in theory, but I would like to know if anyone has had success and does it take a little time to get into the swing of it?
I did trial the theory past few days and surprisingly I am below calorie maintenance each day,
The only thing I have consciously stopped myself from doing is gorging......prone to gorging on anything with chocolate or cheese.
Other than that I ate when hungry and stopped when full.

I am so fed up calorie counting and logging, and am prepared to lose very slowly.
In fact I am not really concerned about how I look, at 46 it’s more about health.

I am quite active, I get about 90k steps a week, weight train and horse ride....active and chubby :)

When it comes to good choices, I could write a book. I cannot blame lack of knowledge or experience for not loosing weight. I know exactly how to lose weight but it’s the constant thinking that’s getting me down.

I do need a break but I do not want to go up in weight again.
Thanks for reading :)

Replies

  • OhMsDiva
    OhMsDiva Posts: 1,073 Member
    I have not done extensive research on intuitive eating, but is it not basically eating when you are hungry and not eating when you are not hungry.
  • TigerLily100
    TigerLily100 Posts: 81 Member
    OhMsDiva wrote: »
    I have not done extensive research on intuitive eating, but is it not basically eating when you are hungry and not eating when you are not hungry.

    If you remove all the spiel, then yeah that’s pretty much it. Having researched it, it’s very much how most of the UK ate back at n the 70’s, and I remember growing up very rarely seeing someone overweight. I also don’t remember ever going hungry. Just clean unprocessed food and 3 square meals a day.
  • sardelsa
    sardelsa Posts: 9,812 Member
    It works for some people, and not others. As mentioned intuitive eating can be more work sometimes because you don't really know how much you are eating. Plus hunger cues may not be reliable for many and it can lead them to weight gain, maintenance or in some cases continued loss when they don't need to lose any more.

    I spent a year tracking my intake which helped me become more comfortable eating intuitively. However I still have some days where I really don't know if I have room for dessert or a treat, so I either risk it or don't eat it at all. There are also some days where I have to log my protein to know I am getting enough, or I will log a meal to get an idea where it stands calorie wise.

    In the end it works out fine for me, but it is not for everyone. For me it's not only about hunger... I rarely eat every time I am hungry.. but it's about getting the right amount of calories to fuel my body and lose at the right rate.
  • katiahi
    katiahi Posts: 1 Member
    edited June 2018
    Hi. I tried intuitive eating for over a year and this is my experience.
    I was struggling with eating disorders, which meant counting calories was making my disorder worse. I turned to intuitive eating and it helped me immensely. I stopped binge eating, I started understanding my body better and appreciate not eating for eating sake but simply to fuel my body. In that sense, intuitive eating is a great tool to use when one forgets how to appreciate being hungry, satiated, full, and all the states in between.

    However, I also gained 10% of my weight. People in intuitive community call this rebound weight. Meaning you have cut calories for so long that your body starts pilling on pounds as soon as it feels like it can eat however much it wants. This was true in my case as well. The weight gain eventually stopped and plateaued at my heaviest. I didn't gain anymore weight for about 6 months.

    But I also didn't lose any. I've been eating better portion sizes, better food and my disorder has been kept in check.

    But I was also at an unhealthy weight. I couldn't wait for another year of my life to see if intuitive eating worked in terms of weight loss. Because I don't believe it does. Not for most people anyway. It's an attractive idea, that you could eat what you want, however much you want, and somehow lose weight. I strongly believe intuitive eating has lots of principles everyone should include in their everyday lives, especially when it comes to our relationship with food, as well as understanding one's own body. But I wouldn't recommend it as a way to lose weight. As people that follow it would tell you, that's not the point. The point is accepting who you are at any weight and have a healty relationship with food.

    To lose weight you need to watch how much eat, restrict it in a healthy way, keep positive about yourself, your body and the journey you're on, and above all - do not look for shortcuts!

    Good luck, K
  • BlessedMom70
    BlessedMom70 Posts: 124 Member
    TigerLily100 wrote: »
    Hi all,

    So I have recently heard about intuitive eating and googled as you do.
    So it sounds good in theory, but I would like to know if anyone has had success and does it take a little time to get into the swing of it?
    I did trial the theory past few days and surprisingly I am below calorie maintenance each day,
    The only thing I have consciously stopped myself from doing is gorging......prone to gorging on anything with chocolate or cheese.
    Other than that I ate when hungry and stopped when full.

    I am so fed up calorie counting and logging, and am prepared to lose very slowly.
    In fact I am not really concerned about how I look, at 46 it’s more about health.

    I am quite active, I get about 90k steps a week, weight train and horse ride....active and chubby :)

    When it comes to good choices, I could write a book. I cannot blame lack of knowledge or experience for not loosing weight. I know exactly how to lose weight but it’s the constant thinking that’s getting me down.

    I do need a break but I do not want to go up in weight again.
    Thanks for reading :)

    This is me too. I posted recently about this very topic. I am reading several different books right now on it, and would eventually like to get there. I have been dieting on and off since I was 14 years old (I'm 47 now)...I am tired of it! And like you, wanting to lose the weight is all about health for me too. I am willing to lose it slowly...I just don't want to gain (again, for health reasons).
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  • bikecheryl
    bikecheryl Posts: 1,432 Member
    This is something I'd like to eventually move to.
    I've been weighing, logging and tracking for a little over a year - it's helped me learn about portion sizes, macro balance and my body's daily calorie needs.
    In doing so, I've lost 115 lbs. :)
    I think I understand my hunger cues better now but am not quite ready to "fly solo".
    And I still have about 25 lbs to lose - I know I won't be able to do it without being diligent in my logging. :)
  • senorajoselina
    senorajoselina Posts: 19 Member
    For me intuitive eating is overeating. Sucks, but the proof was in the scale. I've got to stick to my calorie "budget."
  • allisonlane161
    allisonlane161 Posts: 269 Member
    I've been doing this nearly a month. It's been great. I usually track everything but dinner, the following day just to see the data. On average, I'm eating less. When I was tracking, I knew how many calories I had left to eat, and geez I just could not let them go to waste, so I'd have that yogurt and fruit or muesli after dinner, or fill-in-the-blank after dinner, since I had, you know, calories left. Now it isn't like that. My portions still get weighed when I meal prep for the day (everything but dinner I eat at work) and those portions satisfy me. The only place I'd say I have a bit of difficulty is between my afternoon snack and dinner. I get home and I want to go into the peanut butter jar--but that's more habit than hunger. So I can improve on that. But it is very free'ing and stress free to listen to your body and eat. I also make sure I don't get overly hungry because I'd be like a chainsaw going through a dead tree limb.
  • hesn92
    hesn92 Posts: 5,966 Member
    I feel like intuitive eating would only work, or work better if you are making certain food choices. Like if you cook with a lot of butter or oil, or eat a lot of high calorie things like peanut butter and avocado, Maybe intuitive eating won’t work very well. Whereas if you eat a lot of lean meats and vegetables, it would probably work better for you. I think it’s good to have an idea of calorie content in things before venturing off into trying to figure it out without tracking. I also hate counting my calories.
  • brendak76
    brendak76 Posts: 241 Member
    Frazdogg wrote: »
    Some people responding haven’t read the book. It’s about learning to listen to your hunger cues and pay attention to them. I don’t know if it works. But, for me, I think it will. I do find that I get full quickly. So, I may be a grazer rather than eating 3 meals a day. Not sure yet, still experimenting.

    Yes! Read the book!! It has been life changing for me. I’ve read it 3 times and been working on this for 3-4 years now. It is very freeing to be able to listen to my body tell me I need to eat more or stop eating rather than a calorie counter. I haven’t gained any weight either and am enjoying food and life much more now.

  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    edited August 2018
    TigerLily100 wrote: »
    OhMsDiva wrote: »
    I have not done extensive research on intuitive eating, but is it not basically eating when you are hungry and not eating when you are not hungry.

    If you remove all the spiel, then yeah that’s pretty much it. Having researched it, it’s very much how most of the UK ate back at n the 70’s, and I remember growing up very rarely seeing someone overweight. I also don’t remember ever going hungry. Just clean unprocessed food and 3 square meals a day.
    I grew up in the 70's (born 1960).

    That's not intuitive eating at all - it's eating to a schedule whether you are hungry or not. My Mum didn't ask the family if they were hungry - she cooked and the family ate when the meals were ready at set times of the day.
    Three meals a day and few snacks plus a lot more general day to day activity meant far fewer people were in a calorie surplus. Fat children were indeed a rarity.

    My Dad worked for Birdseye/Walls - there was lots of processed food around but home cooking was far more common than now and takeaways were a treat and not routine. We also didn't have a a lot of snacks in the house - snacks were really the only intuitive part of our eating and got added when someone really was hungry between meals or as a special treat.

    As an adult intuitive eating to hunger signals has never worked for me but mindful eating has. I don't need to calorie count to maintain
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    TigerLily100 wrote: »
    OhMsDiva wrote: »
    I have not done extensive research on intuitive eating, but is it not basically eating when you are hungry and not eating when you are not hungry.

    If you remove all the spiel, then yeah that’s pretty much it. Having researched it, it’s very much how most of the UK ate back at n the 70’s, and I remember growing up very rarely seeing someone overweight. I also don’t remember ever going hungry. Just clean unprocessed food and 3 square meals a day.

    There was only one overweight girl in my grade in the 70s, but we were a LOT more active then. It was a long walk to the bus stop, we also bicycled places, and there was WAY less screen time.
  • moogie_fit
    moogie_fit Posts: 280 Member
    I would start slowly, like one meal at a time.

    You probably have meals that you repeat, and those would be good meals to begin to practice not logging.

  • Gisel2015
    Gisel2015 Posts: 4,186 Member
    Intuitive eating and mindful eating is what I practice when I go on vacation or when I eat out. For me, it's a reprieve from weighing and logging and so far it has worked just fine.
  • 33gail33
    33gail33 Posts: 1,155 Member
    sijomial wrote: »
    TigerLily100 wrote: »
    OhMsDiva wrote: »
    I have not done extensive research on intuitive eating, but is it not basically eating when you are hungry and not eating when you are not hungry.

    If you remove all the spiel, then yeah that’s pretty much it. Having researched it, it’s very much how most of the UK ate back at n the 70’s, and I remember growing up very rarely seeing someone overweight. I also don’t remember ever going hungry. Just clean unprocessed food and 3 square meals a day.
    I grew up in the 70's (born 1960).

    That's not intuitive eating at all - it's eating to a schedule whether you are hungry or not. My Mum didn't ask the family if they were hungry - she cooked and the family ate when the meals were ready at set times of the day.
    Three meals a day and few snacks plus a lot more general day to day activity meant far fewer people were in a calorie surplus. Fat children were indeed a rarity.

    My Dad worked for Birdseye/Walls - there was lots of processed food around but home cooking was far more common than now and takeaways were a treat and not routine. We also didn't have a a lot of snacks in the house - snacks were really the only intuitive part of our eating and got added when someone really was hungry between meals or as a special treat.

    As an adult intuitive eating to hunger signals has never worked for me but mindful eating has. I don't need to calorie count to maintain

    Interesting perspective but ...

    I also grew up in the 70's (born in 65) and was raised on hot dogs, Kraft dinner, and tang. I wasn't fat but it was awful.

    My kids ate far more whole, fresh, home cooked foods than I ever did. Depends on the parent really not the "era".

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