"Intuitive Eating" for maintenance?
 

I lost 35 lbs between October 2009 and April 2010. My summers are really busy, so when I hit a plateau in April, I decided to stop dieting for a few months and pick it up again. I wanted to give maintenance a spin, too.

I'm happy to report that, without counting calories or doing any planning or tracking, I stayed between 229 and 232 for five months. I was still practicing all the stuff I learned about myself, about portions, about hunger, nutrition, etc. that I used to lose the first 35 lbs.

Now, I'm back in the saddle, going for my next goal of being a size 16. I bought the book "Intuitive Eating" and tried to lose with it for a couple of weeks, and realized that if I eat when I'm hungry and stop when I'm full, I'm maintaining, not losing, so I started calorie counting and meal planning in advance again.

I felt like the Intuitive Eating was very much what I did all summer to maintain my weight loss. But the number of people here who count calories and plan meals forevermore makes me wonder if I'm just fooling myself? Would I eventually lose control? I did tell myself I'd weigh in every week, and if I went out of a 5 lb range, I'd count calories again until it was back down and under control.

Anybody else doing the Intuitive thing for a long time, successfully?

I wish I could say that I did. I tried to not count calories or track in any way other than in my head for some months. Unfortunately for me, I did regain weight. So, either I need more practice at how to "intuitively eat," or I'm just going to have to use a tracking method.

I'm not sure that people who have become overweight or obese can successfully do intuitive eating. For some, the meter seems to be broken or set on the wrong number! :lol: In any case, if intuitive eating worked, I don't think we'd see so many people here... But, maybe they just don't post here and are off in the world happily leading their lives at goal. :)

I'm hoping that once I get to my stated goal weight again, I'll be able to institute some more flexible way to maintain--but I think I'm always going to have to track in some way, just so I don't "forget" how often I've had ice cream or how many of those nuts I really ate.

Good luck!
Jay

Yes and no. I find that with intuitive eating I can maintain my weight for an extended time period, but not forever. I get gradual portion creep and my weight starts to go up. It's so slow that I don't notice it happening until I get to my red line weight (which is why I have a red line in the first place).

I find it absolutely impossible to *lose* weight without tracking calories. Typically for me the difference between loss and maintenance is whether I track my calories or not. I log my food either way, just not the quantities and calories. This means that when I'm maintaining, for example for dinner I'll take my bowl and scoop in food until it looks like a good amount to eat. When I'm losing, I put the bowl on my kitchen scale and weigh out one serving. Sometimes in maintenance, if I'm hungry, I'll have seconds. I can't do that when I'm losing.

The problem is that gradually a "full" bowl of food gets a little bit bigger. A "serving" of raisin bran gets incrementally bigger over time. I start having seconds at dinner most nights, instead of just occasionally. Since the increase is so small over time, I don't notice the creep. I don't feel any fuller than I did before, I don't feel like I ate too much. It just gradually becomes more and more food and my weight starts going up.

That said, my general maintenance strategy has been to go for intuitive eating (at least, in terms of quantity -- I still have to consciously think about WHAT I'm eating) until my weight starts to go up, at which point I count calories until it goes back down, lather, rinse, repeat. Who was it who said maintenance was yo-yo dieting on a very short string?

That's great! I hope to get to that point someday :)

Quite honestly, I think that I could use my knowledge of portion sizing, eating at appropriate times, eating the right foods, etc and maintain without calorie counting. My "full" response is flat out broken, I'll never be able to depend on it, but without counting calories I know what, when, and how much I can eat for the most part. Partly because I have been calorie counting long enough to have a good feel for how much of what foods I can fit in to maintain my weight.

BUT, I don't want to. I need the stability, accountability, and control that calorie counting gives me. It takes the guesswork out of it all. It gives me a reality check. I know that if I were to quit calorie counting, it would be so much easier for me to start sneaking foods in. I nearly ate a bag of gummy candies last night. That tiny bag, just a couple bites of candy, it couldn't be THAT bad. If I wasn't a calorie counter, I probably would have snarfed them and not had a second thought about it. Well, looking at the calories, it was 150cal for that little bag of candy! What a worthless unsatisfying waste of calories! So I lost any desire to eat them and found a more filling (and actually lower calorie) snack that I didn't feel guilty about logging.

Weighing myself everyday (or as close to everyday as I can) and continuing to count calories are absolutely vital to my personal success at maintaining. I NEED the accountability.

Intuitive Eating is merely Wishful Thinking.
 

Speaking from the never-obese category - I think BrightAngel may (again) be right on the money. I've held 25 pounds at bay for almost a year now - but I gained them exactly the way Paperclippy described, with portion control creep and needing "just a little more" to be satisfied. My "full" sensors aren't broken, but they sure aren't on automatic pilot. I've been here a long time, and it just doesn't seem like those who've come down from the higher weights can trust "intuition" - be it with calories, or types of foods. There must be a multitude of different mechanisms involved (the "full" switch, the drive for sugars, for grains, for fats), but I don't think that getting healthy "fixes" those things - we just create work-arounds with knowledge and discipline.

On the other hand, you very well might be the outlier ... five months is a decent test. I never fail to be surprised by what's working for folks!

Intuitive eating can be a wonderful way to make peace with eating issues and take the good/bad and black/white thinking out of food choices. But I haven't seen any evidence that it's an effective strategy for weight loss or maintenance, unfortunately.

I could have maintained 257 pounds with intuitive eating -- and did for years, in fact -- but that would have meant remaining morbidly obese. In order to achieve a healthy body weight, I had to count calories, weigh portions -- all the usual stuff -- and I have no doubt that I will continue to need to do so for the rest of my life. It's completely the opposite of IE -- I guess we could call it Non-Intuitive Eating. :lol: But at this point, more than nine years into the process, it's effortless. And a very small price to pay for health and fitness!

If you've read about setpoints, you know that there's a lot of research out there about our body weight being controlled by 400+ hormones and biochemicals designed to maintain our current weight (even if it's obese). Once we lose 10% or so of our body weight, a physical process kicks in to defend our weight and return it to previous levels. The thinking is that it's relatively easy to manipulate weight within a 20 - 30 pound range, but once we get out of that range, we're fighting Mother Nature. At that point, intuitive eating will return us to our previously high weights because that's what our bodies are signaling us to do.

The problem with IE is that its fundamental premise is that when we listen to our bodies, we'll achieve and maintain a normal weight. The past fifty years of obesity research has shown that notion to be dead wrong for overweight and obese people. If we listen to our bodies, we'll stay fat. Instead, we need to be constantly aware of our food choices and make thoughtful decisions based on our rational brains, not our intuitive stomachs.

Having spent more than two decades being 100+ pounds overweight, it would be naïve to expect my body to self-regulate at a normal weight. I know never-overweight people who can do it, but me, with all my empty fat cells just waiting to be filled up again? Not happening, though I sure wish it would. But as Bright Angel said, it's just wishful thinking.

I don't mean to be a bummer about IE and it certainly is an enticing idea, but it just doesn't seem to work for most of us.

Argh, I wrote a post and then I lost it!

I was going to say that it would be interesting if the NWCR did a study comparing maintainers who were formerly obese/morbidly obese versus maintainers who were only overweight at their highest weight. Also it would be interesting to see what effect the amount of time spent at high weight has.

Originally Posted by paperclippy:
Who was it who said maintenance was yo-yo dieting on a very short string?

That would be me. But I didn't mean it in a good way at the time. :D

Jay

Originally Posted by :
I was going to say that it would be interesting if the NWCR did a study comparing maintainers who were formerly obese/morbidly obese versus maintainers who were only overweight at their highest weight.

Yes! I would love that. I never got to the "obese" level, but I was close, and when I first started reading this forum I was surprised by the differences in the effort to maintain between these 2 groups.

I've kept 25-30 pounds off for 14 years now (and I'm working on losing some at the moment, because I haven't been at goal for 9 years, though I never left the "normal weight" level) and I'd say what I do when I'm maintaining is half way between intuitive eating and keeping track of everything I eat. I DO count calories, always have, since I got to my goal in 1996 (funnily enough, I didn't count when I was losing, I just ate as little as I could, which turned out to be 1000-1200 cals). But I only count in my head. I have tried to write it down sometimes, but it drives me insane. I also don't weigh anything, so I'm sure I'm guesstimating a lot, but since it has worked all this time, I guess I must be doing something right. For me, it DOES feel too obsessive to weigh everything and write everything down. But I don't mind guesstimating and counting in my head. I'm so used to it that I don't think I could stop even if I wanted to. I also can't deal with super clean eating. I totally rebel and start binging. I *have* to eat whatever I want to keep my sanity, but I can do moderation (well, usually :smug:). I couldn't in the beginning, but I've trained myself. Some things I still can't keep in the house (like some kinds of cookies), but others I'm fine with.

Well first of all, it would be *easier*, with more leeway that is, to maintain a 225 pound person, than a 135 person, I would think.

So I do think it would be more difficult, with less leeway and less *room for error* to maintain a "normal" weight, than an obese or overweight one.

That aside, and this is coming from not only an obese person, but a super morbidly obese person, which is the only perspective I know of - IE scares the living you know what out of me.

YEs, I have learned a ton about portions, nutrition, not eating my emotions, yada, yada, yada - but I can't/won't rely on IE. I'm not taking any chances!!

I also don't see the need or purpose to not count calories and have to rely solely IE. At this point, and it's been this way for years for me already, it is no hardship or burden to count my calories. None at all. It's easy shmeazy. Zero effort. Zero. And it's freed me up to have the life of my dreams.

I think you are OK to take this approach as long as you make a commitment to a few "golden rules" that will help you to stay healthy & aware. Things such as X servings of veggies every day, Y amount of water every day, weigh-in every day (or every week if you prefer), etc. That way it isn't so rigid, but you have some guidelines so you can inform your food choices.

For me, I think I'll have to count calories forever, & daily weigh-ins are a must. I have the most amazing ability to completely ignore my clothes (even make up excuses for why they don't fit anymore!) and the mirror, and just blissfully go about eating junk or ridiculous portions & gaining weight. I'm not wired to have any intuition around food. I don't know how to stop when I'm full or only eat when I'm hungry. But that is me - and I'm happy to report lots of people can & do live a healthy life by following their intuition.

Continued success to you! You are doing AWESOME!

Originally Posted by cherylmn:
I'm happy to report lots of people can & do live a healthy life by following their intuition.

!

I do wonder though, how many of these people were once super morbidly obese, morbidly obese, obese or significantly overweight....

I would think not so many. :dunno:

I've lost anywhere from 20 to 100 pounds *multiple times* only to return to morbid obesity *multiple times* by eating mostly healthy foods in reasonable portions (or at least that was what I told myself I was eating) after I finished "dieting." While I'd always heard "don't do anything to lose weight that you aren't willing to do to maintain it," I thought that somehow the fat fairy was going to smile upon me and give me a special dispensation.

I've been calorie counting, monitoring intake and burn, for just over a year and I'm still not even close to figuring out when I am truly hungry in need of food or just feel like I am without checking my food and burn logs.

I have no reason to believe that my "I've had just the right amount of fuel today" button (which is broken in both directions, btw) will ever work. I'll never run a 4 minute mile or sing at the Met, either. That's just life.

Originally Posted by :
The thinking is that it's relatively easy to manipulate weight within a 20 - 30 pound range, but once we get out of that range, we're fighting Mother Nature.

I had never heard that but this is exactly my case. I have never been overweight just at the upper level of the normal range. I maintained my weight in the 120's until I moved to the UK for two years. I maintained my weight there in the 140's. During the last 4 years I have been losing really slowly to the 120's again.

To lose those 20 pounds I started cleaning my diet and practicing healthier habits. I now remember that those habits were the ones I had when I was at high school and first years of uni. I always make breakfast at home: freshly squeezed orange juice, toasts with tomato and ham and coffee and I do not eat anything else until lunch. I try to eat fruit between meals. I eat a lot of veggies, legumes, fish, I follow what you call a mediterranean diet. I drink my water, love to exercise, walk a lot. Some weekends I indulge with my friends but always come back to the way I normally eat. I have notions of calorie counting but don't measure strictly anything. I know what foods I can eat to maintain my weight, I look at calorie counts of food I don't eat normally, and I eyeball the rest. Probably with time and aging or if I see that my weight is higher I will have to start calorie counting.

I like the way I eat and what I eat, but I don't think I eat intuitively. I feel hunger. Some days I'd prefer eating fried eggs and fried fish instead of legumes, but I don't do it because I know that I can't eat what I want everyday, that would make me fat. If I follow the desire of eating because I'm hungry I would be back to the 140's in no time. So I don't know if IE works, I think I have to eat in a responsible way if I want to keep this low weight, but this is my experience as a never obese person, I'm sure for a person who's lost a lot of weight some other factors must be implied, as the chemicals inside each body must work in a different way.

Originally Posted by :
I'm sure for a person who's lost a lot of weight some other factors must be implied, as the chemicals inside each body must work in a different way

Not only chemicals, but a history; a history of behaviors that led us to being obese, morbidly obese and super morbidly obese.

I have lost weight previously with Intuitive Eating but then I always gained it back for some reason or another. This time I've done Weight Watchers which is a bit more structured.

I can certainly see myself maintaining or even losing a little if I gain in maintenance with intuitive eating.

But here's how I would define intuitive eating - I would have to eat nutritious, filling foods. I cannot intuitively eat sweets, fresh bread, pizza, foods with high fat, etc. As long as I kept away from such things, I would be fine. Either a mediterranean diet as mentioned above or following the food pyramid guidelines would work fine.

And on a side note, my highest weight was right below the line between overweight and obese. I was overweight when I followed the food pyramid and lost ten pounds (still overweight, but lost the weight without "trying") and kept them off for quite a while.

I also think the definition of "intuitive eating" is a little vague.

True intuitive eating, in my opinion, would be naturally and automatically eating the perfect amount of food. To naturally eat a small treat once in awhile but never feel compelled to overdo it. Intuitive eating should be effortless, even if the process to achieve true intuitive eating would take lots of practice, will power, and learning to listen to the body's cues. But the final product would be automatic; eating the perfect amount of food to maintain one's weight without making an aware effort to do so. The concept of "I'll just eat what I want, how much I want, whenever I want" and to have that system maintain weight.

If I quit calorie counting (not that I want to), and ate intuitively, I would balloon quickly. If I depended ONLY on the factors of "I will eat what, how much I want, whenever I want," man, I'd chow down. BUT, if I quit calorie counting, I could probably still maintain my weight just by being very aware of what, how much, and when I was eating...just without logging it. I could maintain my weight by making a conscious effort to choose low cal whole foods, reasonable portion sizes and no seconds or snacking, and eating at regular times. But that would not be true intuitive eating, it would still be a conscious effort to control my food...I just wouldn't be logging it.

I simply don't think I could ever achieve true intuitive eating and maintain my weight. It's not worth it to me to find out if I can or not, really, it's not a goal that I feel compelled to achieve. I'd rather just take 5 min out of my day and count calories, lol.

Wow, so glad I came upon this thread. I have been maintaining now for nearly nine years. Tried all kinds of diets, but the one thing that remained pretty constant was my calories. I always counted them. Whether I was vegetarian, low fat etc. I was feeling down lately thinking jeez what's wrong with me, why can't I just eat when I'm hungry stop when full eat whatever I want. Seeing what other maintainers said here makes me feel a lot better about myself and that it's not a bad thing. Like Meg said, a small price to pay. I have to keep reminding myself of that and not caring what works for other people.

I agree with everyone who's said that "intuitive eating" only works for people who have not been overweight or obese for any period of time in the past.

When I reach goal I can't possibly rely on "intuitive eating" because like a lot of people here, my "fullness" response is broken. If I truly ate until I was "satisfied," I'd probably be eating 10,000 calories a day. I imagine I will rely on staying below "red line" and approximating my calories.

During this weight loss journey I did count calories and I learned alot about what kinds of foods work for me and correct portion control. That said, I knew from the beginning that I would not be able to count for the rest of my life. I worked really hard to learn to "listen" to my hunger and fullness. I understand that this method is not popular here but it does work for me. My goal is to eat to 80% fullness only. I've trained myself to not like that stuffed feeling anymore. No foods are off limits to me, but I do limit portions. I am able to determine whether a food is good for me because I learned alot from calorie counting. I tend to eat a fairly light breakfast, a slightly bigger lunch, 2 small snacks and a big dinner every day. I've found that I prefer a high fiber, low fat diet. It's what makes my body feel the best. I'm not saying that this type of eating is for everyone. We each have to determine what works for ourselves. And I prefer to call it Mindful Eating rather than Intuitive Eating because I am really thinking about what I put into my body. There is nothing natural about it. It's more of a habit.

For those of us who have dealt with massive gains and held the weight for many years, IE is not something that can be suddenly entered into and "get it" after so many years of black and white thinking. It is just not going to happen. Until one is truly willing to take the time to practice a different way of being in tune with eating, it won't work.

It takes a lot of practice and willingness to be hyper aware of eating and our relationship to food. Strict dieting to goal does not prepare the shift in the mindset towards a more natural way of eating to nurture the body.

Personally I feel it is very important to combine the two and shift towards IE after the goal weight is obtained. It's not like only one thing can work at all times. I will always have to be aware of what I eat and how I feel in order to keep the weight off. I may find that I did not pay as much attention to my eating as I would like (30 years of dieting and bingeing has damaged my thinking and I am seeking to heal it) and find I have gained weight again. Perhaps at that time, I will go back to calorie counting until the gain is off and practice mindful eating again. I see it as a co-partnership, one is not exclusive of the other.

For those of us who have been 100+ pounds overweight, there may be a need for a permanent, accessible "toolbox" of methods that work and can be used according to the situation. A long as I keep thinking in black and white terms and assume there is only ONE WAY to do anything, I find I get stuck and lose the joy of the journey to self discovery.

elisaannh, I completely agree. If I find myself suddenly up 10 or 15, I'm totally back to calorie counting. I do weigh everyday and adjust my eating appropriately. I agree that we do need many tools in our arsenal.

Originally Posted by losermom:
And I prefer to call it Mindful Eating rather than Intuitive Eating because I am really thinking about what I put into my body. There is nothing natural about it. It's more of a habit.

I think that calling it "intuitive" is somewhat of a misnomer. In modern Western culture, many of us need to learn how to overwrite the habits we learned socially (one might say "intuitively") from others at a young age in order to lose weight. Perhaps it is meant that infants and young children eat in this fashion before adult caregivers change their habits, but historically our less modern adult ancestors ate in feast or famine conditions which would not align with IE principles.

Yes, I think Mindful Eating is a much better term, especially in the early stages of learning this style of eating. One must learn to be very attuned to their body's cravings and signals, which requires practice and introspection. Much of IE is about slowing down and experiencing food in the moment. The word "intuitive" makes it sound easy or automatic to me. It does get easier with time and practice and I don't think about food quite as often anymore, but the initial learning curve was no cake walk for me (har har). ;)

Originally Posted by mkendrick:
I nearly ate a bag of gummy candies last night. That tiny bag, just a couple bites of candy, it couldn't be THAT bad. If I wasn't a calorie counter, I probably would have snarfed them and not had a second thought about it. Well, looking at the calories, it was 150cal for that little bag of candy! What a worthless unsatisfying waste of calories! So I lost any desire to eat them and found a more filling (and actually lower calorie) snack that I didn't feel guilty about logging.

Candy is actually kind of interesting for me with IE. Once I realized that I could eat anything, the novelty wore off and now I don't really crave it. I love gummy bears, but if I'm honest with myself, my body is usually telling me "I WANT FRESH GRAPES!" rather than "I WANT GUMMIES!" And grapes are not only more filling and satisfying, but they also make my body feel more energized. No icky aftertaste and no sugar crash.

When I was a teenager, I read an IE-type book where the author stated that she could stop eating a candy bar right in the middle and throw it away if her body didn't call for the rest. At the time, that seemed like either an insane amount of self discipline that I would never have, or just plain crazy talk! But now I realize that it is neither. It is simply a different relationship with food. That author could take it or leave it. The food had no power over her. And honestly, I have gotten to that point with many foods as well. Candy seems to have very rapid diminishing returns with my taste buds. The first few bites are satisfying and sweet, but the rest is unexciting and often begins to have an unpleasant aftertaste.

I don't know if it is like this for other IE-ers, but this is my experience FWIW.

Originally Posted by Katterina:
Candy is actually kind of interesting for me with IE. Once I realized that I could eat anything, the novelty wore off and now I don't really crave it. I love gummy bears, but if I'm honest with myself, my body is usually telling me "I WANT FRESH GRAPES!" rather than "I WANT GUMMIES!" And grapes are not only more filling and satisfying, but they also make my body feel more energized. No icky aftertaste and no sugar crash.

When I was a teenager, I read an IE-type book where the author stated that she could stop eating a candy bar right in the middle and throw it away if her body didn't call for the rest. At the time, that seemed like either an insane amount of self discipline that I would never have, or just plain crazy talk! But now I realize that it is neither. It is simply a different relationship with food. That author could take it or leave it. The food had no power over her. And honestly, I have gotten to that point with many foods as well. Candy seems to have very rapid diminishing returns with my taste buds. The first few bites are satisfying and sweet, but the rest is unexciting and often begins to have an unpleasant aftertaste.

I don't know if it is like this for other IE-ers, but this is my experience FWIW.

As a calorie counter, I believe a calorie is a calorie. That said, if I want a bag of gummies, I can have them. So nothing is off limits for me either, and, like you, the novelty of the "forbidden" items wears off and I would rather just eat foods that gave me the most bang for my caloric buck. If you and I were both given a bag of gummies, I think we'd both turn it down for the same reasons. Gummies are little blobs of processed junk and sugar that have no nutritional value nor are they filling. Instead, we would choose a different snack for the same reasons, that it would be healthier and more filling and satiating. So our reasoning is the exact same, we just go about it in a slightly different way. You rely on your intuition, I rely on my daily calorie limit.

In a way I envy the ability to eat completely intuitively, but as I said, it is not a goal that I am motivated to try and achieve. To try to learn intuitive eating would pose risks and challenges. My intuition still tells me I need a whole pizza even though logic tells me I do not, and I'm not ready to rely completely on that. I don't think I'll ever be, and I'm okay with that. Calorie counting works for me. It makes sense, it's not an inconvenience, I have maintained my plan practically effortlessly, and I think this is a good example of if it ain't broken, don't try n' fix it.

I'm certainly not poo-pooing on IE or saying calorie counting is better, btw. I know IE doesn't have the best rep around here, but I have 100% respect and admiration for somebody who can achieve and maintain on true IE.

Originally Posted by :
The first few bites are satisfying and sweet, but the rest is unexciting and often begins to have an unpleasant aftertaste.

This reminds me of something a nutritionist told me once, specifically for Oreo-kind cookies: "if you're desperately craving them, ok, have a few. But you really don't need the whole pack. The first 2 will taste wonderful, and also the last 2, because they will be almost gone. So instead of eating the whole thing, just allow yourself no more than 4". While 4 Oreos is still a ton of calories, it's way better than the whole pack!

I 'kinda' do intuitive eating. I've lost over 50 pounds and this is my seventh year maintaining it. I've NEVER regained more than a pound or two. I weigh several times a week and still weigh out some trouble foods like peanut butter, but I no longer track foods officially and just keep a rough count in my head. If the number on the scale starts creeping up a little, I just keep a little tighter count in my head. :P However, if I am REALLY hungry, I eat.

I'd start seriously tracking/weighing again if I start getting close to my redline.

I think my almost daily weighing really keeps me in line - I used to think it would make me more psycho, but if you KNOW your weight yesterday you can also be sure that the two pounds more you have today is NOT fat and that water will fall off in a day or two. :)

If I went full bore intuitive (eat what you want when you want and stop when full) I'd regain it all, I am sure. I don't have a very good 'full' sensor at all and I intuitively want chocolate ALL THE TIME. LOL.

Originally Posted by mkendrick:
Calorie counting works for me. It makes sense, it's not an inconvenience, I have maintained my plan practically effortlessly, and I think this is a good example of if it ain't broken, don't try n' fix it.

Oh, I agree 100%. If it works, run with it. I think 3FC is fantastic because there are so many different people trying different things. I love that we can all share from our experiences, learn new things, and cheer each other on.

I agree with Katterina that one of the best things about 3FC is that there are a large variety of different "models" of successful weight loss and maintenance. Everyone is different, so it makes sense that there isn't any "one size fits all" advice.

One thing I think is definitely true is that some people need to eliminate all trigger foods, while others can eat those kinds of foods in small amounts without going off the rails. I'm definitely in the second category--my plan allows me to use calories for treats, which (for me) don't lead to binges. Somehow, knowing that I can eat a mini-eclair or a piece of cheesecake if I *really* want to takes away some of the "forbidden fruit" aspect for me. Since we are creating plans that need to be sustainable over the long term, I think it's really important that each person figure out which category he or she is in.

I also tend to believe, though not with as much conviction, that some people are able to practice intuitive/mindful eating while some are not. I put myself in the second category here, too (with Megan, I think). I learned a few things while being somewhat naughty this week: (1) I have absolutely no trouble going 1000-1500 calories over maintenance level in a day, even without bingeing or becoming ridiculously full. (2) As I transition from weight loss into maintenance, there are going to be times when I want to eat more than my allocation. I can afford to do this occasionally as long as I don't go overboard or do it too often. (3) After three days of being noticeably over my calorie allocation, plus a travel day when I was just slightly over, I was firmly back on plan yesterday and am doing fine so far today.

This is an odd NSV for me. For the first 20 months or so of my new lifestyle, I doggedly paid back every calorie I went over, because I was afraid that not doing so would be the first step down the slippery slope of eating whatever, whenever. In September, I had a personal loss that led to some emotional eating and the first time I "wrote off" calories without paying them back. But I got right back on plan. Right now, I'm debating whether to pay back or write off my Thanksgiving excess, but, either way, I'm back on plan, and I have the valuable information that I can deviate but get right back on track.

This post is longer than I planned on. I guess what I'm trying to say is that, for someone like me who yo-yo dieted for years, who could gain or lose weight but could never maintain, part of the value of the journey has been to figure out "how I work".

I don't think I could ever truly intuitively eat, but I don't keep track strictly either. I eyeball calories, and try to keep it at no more than 1000 calories per meal (tending to eat 2 meals a day and a very small breakfast and no snacks, I usually end up around 2000 calories per day this way). I judge a small bowl of rice 200ish, etc., and just eat filling foods that are not too high in calories so I will feel a fullness when I'm done. I eat cafeteria food now, though, and most entrees and soups are marked for calories, which helps a LOT. Cooking on my own will be harder. I'll need a cookbook that lists calories for the recipe, or I'll have to manually count them up once for each recipe and write them in. I just don't think true intuitive eating would be an option for me. I need even a little guidance to keep myself in check. ;)

I just reached my goal weight and am starting to learn Intuitive Eating. This thread scared me a bit, but I'm going strong on day 4!

If I gain back 5 or more pounds, I will go back to Weight Watchers. But surprisingly, so far, I'm doing really well with IE and it's been great.

I think I'd like IE to work. I'm not sure it does, not for everyone, at least, but it'd be so nice if it was true. :D

I don't know where I stand exactly on that point. I think I do a mix of both. I don't count calories per se, but after a couple of years of counting, I 'remember' how much is what—and since I tend to eat the same kinds of foods, it's becoome easy to eyeball it/remember the appropriate amount of a given food I can eat. I.e. half that glass of brown rice, up until that little mark here, with my vegetables and a slice of lean meat, is OK; anything above is too much. I also exert portion control by choosing smaller packagings, even though this is unfortunately a little more expensive than the 'family packages': I'll buy that 180g pizza because I know I don't need the 350g one, and once that pizza is gone, well, I'm sure not going to heat a second one!

Unfortunately for me, I can't totally rely on calories counting, not anymore. It almost got me into disordered eating, because I started obssessing so much about how many calories were in an apple etc.; and then I became a real binger after I had starting counting, with all this obssessing turning into frustration. :( I doubt this would magically solve itself just because I wish it, so I know I have to be careful about that. Paying attention to how many calories are in a given food, and then deciding if thefood is worth buying or not: OK. Logging every tiny morsel, every bite: sends me into rollercoasters of obssession --> frustration --> bad stress --> overeating.

Anyway. I think I have managed to develop a sort of intuitive/mindful eating, up to a certain point, and concerning certain foods. As long as I keep aware of it, as long as I don't buy really triggering foods and don't put myself in triggering situations (my main triggers being watching TV and reading mangas on the computer—don't ask), I don't have to think much, and will most often make the right decisions.

But then, it's also true I've never been morbidly obese. Overweight, yes. About 25 kgs above my supposed "ideal weight", yes. However, was this enough to completely and forever destroy my body's ability to eat sensibly? Or was there room for hope and a reversal of habits? I have no idea.

Originally Posted by Oboegal:
I agree with Katterina that one of the best things about 3FC is that there are a large variety of different "models" of successful weight loss and maintenance. Everyone is different, so it makes sense that there isn't any "one size fits all" advice.

I also tend to believe, that some people are able to practice intuitive/mindful eating while some are not. I put myself in the second category here, too (with Megan, I think).

I agree as well that we're all different.
And, re Intuitive Eating, I am also in the second category.
My own past experience with IE proved disasterous for me,
and for the past 6 1/2 years...every day..I've been logging all my food
and counting calories to maintain my weight-loss.

Count me in with the ones who have tried to make intuitive eating work and failed. I thought I could use this method to maintain a 50 lb. weight loss that I was tired of maintaining. I didn't just dabble in IT, I bought all the books, joined discussion boards, etc. Results: slowly gained back at first, and then gained it back and more. I had kept off the loss for several years by continuing to weigh daily and monitoring my food. But I fell for the "normal" eating ploy. Now I admit that for some reason I can't be a normal thin eater, but I can lose weight and maintain that loss. I agree with Dr. Collins. Just make it a hobby and enjoy. I have now lost about 45 lbs. and have about 10 more to lose. I will not try to maintain by Intuitive Eating again!

I'm the first to admit that i don't have that "fullness" meter. I can easily eat 2000 calories worth of sugar in one sitting and not feel sick. At all.

But, i decided to give intuitive eating a try. And i realized if you REALLY listen to your body, you CAN feel what physical fullness feels like. But you have to ACTUALLY listen to your body, instead of thinking in your head "ok i've eaten x calories, and i can have x more." You have to turn off the mental calculations and the mental scheming. Food should not be mental at all. Food is a physical need. I found that if i just STOP thinking about it, i can actually pay attention to my PHYSICAL feelings. Of course this could easily go away any second...but you have to slow down and give your body a chance to speak to you. Sounds cheesy but it actually works. So far anyway.

week 1: gained .6
week 2: down 1.2

So far, pretty much maintaining, which is my goal. IE is working! :-)

Need information please
 

I’d like to know more about intuitive eating.
long story but I lost 170 pounds over 9 years. Still need to lose 4 more. Been at the same weight for over a year. I’m concerned about maintenance especially because I love to graze.
some great comments here and some great successes. Just don’t know enough about it.