Home Cooks: Does intuitive eating work for you?

I am not a raw tomatoes fan although I eat them because they're good for me. They need to be disguised with sausage or beef or hidden in a big salad or salsa with copious amounts of guacamole.

That image and my morning black coffee just made my stomach turn over.

pinuplove wrote: »

Sorry! I hated tomatoes when I was younger, raw or cooked. Now I eat them and sometimes actually enjoy them. Fresh pico is divine, and I've discovered grape tomatoes are much tastier than their big brothers.

I'm the opposite. grape tomatoes are too sweet for my taste. I eat raw tomatoes every single day.

I don't think intuitive eating works for me even when I am cooking almost all of my food. When I was younger and more active it was fine to do that but I really have to be more careful of portion sizes and conscious of calorie counts now. However, after logging for a couple of years I have a pretty good idea of what I can eat and have adjusted to smaller portions so strictly counting everything is not as necessary. That is not intuitive but learned behavior.

If you have a set of rules like only food cooked from scratch that help you moderate that does not sound like intuitive eating either but you knowing a good way to set limits for yourself.

My grandmother was very overweight and I am pretty sure she cooked everything from scratch. She worked as a cook in fact. I don't remember her snacking or being offered snacks at her house. I think she did eat a lot of calorie dense foods like bread, butter, mashed potatoes, gravy. She had medical problems. I am not sure if they came before her excess weight or from her weight. As she got older she was not able to be very active

pinuplove wrote: »

cmriverside wrote: »

pinuplove wrote: »

cmriverside wrote: »

pinuplove wrote: »

elisa123gal wrote: »

I cook all my food from scratch.. I have not been in the inside isle of a grocery store to buy anything..just to take a short cut to the other side of the store.

I don't use any bottled salty sodium laden dressings or sauces either.. I use vinegar, spices, wine, and no salt added canned tomatoes and tomato paste to flavor most of my dishes.

so.. with that said...I don't count calories or log my food. only once in a while out of interest. I believe that my whole foods diet is what finally made me successful at losing all my weight this year. It has been amazing and I weigh less than I ever have after counting calories for YEARS.

But to answer your question.. I eat intuitively... just because my diet is so clean.. I know what is what because I've made a real change in my nutrition and the way I eat and view food.

When you count calories and eat chips, cookies, coke and other junk and decide as long as it fits a calorie goal.... you never really change the habits that got you fat In that case, one needs the ball and chain of logging to keep in check.

Serious question - where (or do) you buy your dried legumes? Rice? Quinoa? Vinegar, spices, and canned tomatoes are all on the inside aisles of most grocery stores. It's not all cookies and chips. The doughnuts, cakes, and deli/fried chicken/prepared grab and go foods are on the outskirts of my local store, however.

haha.

At my monster Fred Meyer they have a bulk food section where I buy my beans and nuts and they also have flour, all other grains, nuts, spices, fresh ground peanut butter, chocolate covered pretzels and all manner of delicious bulk treats. It's essentially in the produce area, right on the edge. I know we're splitting hairs here, but it is MFP.

What fun is MFP if we can't split hairs? I've seen those, although that isn't how most stores where I live are arranged unless you visit the infamous Whole Foods. Do they also have canned tomatoes and vinegar on the outskirts?

I would bet that poster doesn't use canned tomatoes. She said "No salt added tomatoes" so I bet that meant "none." She probably makes her own vinegar.

She specifically said 'no salt added canned tomatoes.' I'll refrain from pointing out the irony if she adds any salt to her recipes...

I'm sure I'm about to be accused of attempting to lose weight on a diet of Twinkies and Spaghetti-ohs anyway. Nevermind the spinach and grilled chicken salad I had for dinner last night. The (perfectly calorie-appropriate though sodium-laden at a jaw dropping 180mg) Caesar dressing came from an inner aisle, so I'm still doomed.

I always find it annoying when people criticize me for buying canned goods because "it has so much salt". 9 times out of 10, it's going into stuff that most people (including the critical person) add a giant ton of salt to anyway. It also doesn't always have salt added.

I'm too afraid of botulism to try canning foods i'd probably end up killing myself lol

I am a home cook and eat 99% of meals at home. Intuitive eating leads to weight gain for me. Now that I weigh, measure, and track with MFP I am a lot calmer, happier, less depressed, like what I am making and eating, and heading toward my goal. To maintain, I plan to continue.

WinoGelato wrote: »

pinuplove wrote: »

elisa123gal wrote: »

I cook all my food from scratch.. I have not been in the inside isle of a grocery store to buy anything..just to take a short cut to the other side of the store.

I don't use any bottled salty sodium laden dressings or sauces either.. I use vinegar, spices, wine, and no salt added canned tomatoes and tomato paste to flavor most of my dishes.

so.. with that said...I don't count calories or log my food. only once in a while out of interest. I believe that my whole foods diet is what finally made me successful at losing all my weight this year. It has been amazing and I weigh less than I ever have after counting calories for YEARS.

But to answer your question.. I eat intuitively... just because my diet is so clean.. I know what is what because I've made a real change in my nutrition and the way I eat and view food.

When you count calories and eat chips, cookies, coke and other junk and decide as long as it fits a calorie goal.... you never really change the habits that got you fat In that case, one needs the ball and chain of logging to keep in check.

Serious question - where (or do) you buy your dried legumes? Rice? Quinoa? Vinegar, spices, and canned tomatoes are all on the inside aisles of most grocery stores. It's not all cookies and chips. The doughnuts, cakes, and deli/fried chicken/prepared grab and go foods are on the outskirts of my local store, however.

Same here - and I am suspicious of anyone who says they never have to go on interior aisles - yet refer to cooking with canned tomatoes, spices, even wine.... flour? Rice? Quinoa? Oats? These are all on the exterior? Is this a circular grocery store that only has an outer ring with all pristine clean foods and then an inner ring of doom where all the junk food is kept?

Oh you make me smile. please don't be suspicious of me.. I'm just sharing with the OP what I do. Do your own thing that works for you. God Speed.. lol.

After so many years of calorie counting I can't eat intuitively because I automatically know an estimate of everything I am eating. It doesn't work for me because my brain can't not tally up an estimate of my meals. And having that estimate, knowing how many calories I've had takes away the whole point of intuitive eating since it affects my choices.

Sometimes I wish I could go back to those days and that there was still an opportunity to go back to eating intuitively without counting.

We cook all our meals at home. Right now we live in an 'undeveloped country' so most of our food is very close to nature, unpackaged and, well, very good tasting, but some additional work in preparation.

I still log every day, it makes me successful at maintaining.