Intuitive Eating

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BuffyEat2Live
BuffyEat2Live Posts: 327 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'm just curious how everyone feels about intuitive eating?

This is something that I'm doing right now, and it feels pretty great.

For those who don't know, the basic concept is this: Eat when hungry, stop eating when satisfied.

There are no other rules!

It's definately something that's tough for the chronic dieter (ME!!!!) to master, but I'm working on it. I also don't think that I could have done this if I was still wanting to lose significant amounts of weight. I'm almost to my goal weight now, so I thought it would be a good time to try this, since it's how I would like to eat forever.

I know that many people swear this is the best way to eat ever, and many people feel the exact opposite.

So... what are your thoughts on Intuitive Eating?

Replies

  • tiptoeketo
    tiptoeketo Posts: 271 Member
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    Sounds about right to me!

    When you're hungry, eat.
    When you're not hungry, don't eat.
  • VeganGal84
    VeganGal84 Posts: 938 Member
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    I love it! I'm working on it right now as well. The important thing for me is to not think about it as another diet, so I don't call it "Intuitive Eating" I just call it listening to my hunger signals.

    It's refreshing to not worry about calories. I have tried and FAILED at intuitive eating in the past (gained 9 pounds in 6 weeks) but I have a good feeling about it this time around.
  • bhalter
    bhalter Posts: 582 Member
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    Even though I'm counting cals on MFP right now, I'm trying to do that. It's amazing the difference I feel when I don't eat until I'm "stuffed" or when I can recognize that if I wasn't counting calories, I would be eating because I was bored...but I don't actually feel hungry or NEED to eat. It's kind of amazing once you hit that point with yourself, but it's still very difficult to just listen to your body instead of listening to your brain tell you that you should chow down on chips while you watch TV or something.
  • BuffyEat2Live
    BuffyEat2Live Posts: 327 Member
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    it's still very difficult to just listen to your body instead of listening to your brain tell you that you should chow down on chips while you watch TV or something.

    This is the hardest part for me! I still eat while watching TV, because that behavior is just so ingrained in me plus my table is in my living room.
  • brendajbentley
    brendajbentley Posts: 12 Member
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    It only seems difficult because you have a habit in place. Intuitive eating is the most natural thing you've UNLEARNED how to do. I've seen a lot of posts from people saying that they find it hard - when it is so natural. It really is about understanding it is a process to unlearn all the conditioning you've learned along the way and rid yourself of the diet mentality once and for all.

    Diets do not work - well, they work in the short term, but you cannot diet for life and you cannot out wit your biology. Your autonomy will exert itself and your efforts will be sabotaged. This basically means your body will make it impossible for you with cravings that override your desire to lose weight.

    If you return to eating intuitively and train yourself to understand how hunger and satiety speaks to you, you will return to your healthy,default natural weight that is right for you. This could mean it's not the fashionable size 4 you were hoping for, but it will be healthy and sustainable.

    If you struggle with this approach, there is probably more going on with your relationship with food or yourself... An underlying issue which needs to be addressed before you can move forward.

    I've been IE for 8 years now and have lost over 70 lbs. I teach others this approach and address underlying issues clients face with therapy. I'm not selling you my services, but I know what works for me and my clients.

    It only takes a bit of time to learn, patience and openness to be consistent. Good luck with whatever you try :-)
  • mcarter99
    mcarter99 Posts: 1,666 Member
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    It's my holy grail. I get better at it all the time but I'm still trying to master it. I've read a lot of books on it. There are exercises you can do to get more in touch with your body's true hunger signals. It's like tuning into a radio station you've been tuning out.

    I look at my Fitbit charts of calories in and out (not net, but both lines on one chart) and I find it motivating to see that the peaks and valleys tend to coincide with each other in the two lines. I've been tracking food but just aiming for a range and if I'm hungry I do eat over my range, and I eat under it if I feel like. So the days I moved less (without realizing it) and the days I've eaten less (without forcing it) and vice versa tend to line up or be maybe a day apart. Very cool to see some hard evidence that my body DOES know what it needs!
  • redscylla
    redscylla Posts: 211 Member
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    Yep, I dream of it, someday. After I've unlearned a lifetime of bad habits and taught myself what actual portions are and what a human body needs.
  • spazgirl123
    spazgirl123 Posts: 28
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    I definitely want to get to the point where I can stop counting calories and just eat intuitively, but right now I am trying to up my calories and get back on track after being on very low cal diets and restricting for so long. My body is all out of whack and doesn't really trust me just yet. Right now I am trying to listen more to my body and hunger signals although after restricting for a while my hunger signals aren't always a physical hunger, sometimes it is in the form of dizziness, fatigue, lightheadedness, etc.
  • carld256
    carld256 Posts: 855 Member
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    I really like the idea, but I've proven in the past that my intuition is fat and loves to eat just as much as I do. If you can get it to work then that's great. I don't expect that it would ever work for me.
  • almostatgoalweight
    almostatgoalweight Posts: 234 Member
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    It would not work for me. The reason is that I'm frequently hungry, and the cause is I'm tired all of the time. When someone is tired, they are more likely to be hungry.

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