Over the past four decades, I've read at least a dozen books on intuitive eating, and have tried countless intuitive eating techniques. Some of the strategies were helpful to a point (to a very limited degee), but intuitive eating as a whole doesn't work for me unless I absolutely eliminate certain foods (which is incompatible with most intuitive eating theories).
I probably would have better luck using crystal meth, crack, or heroin intuitively than sugar.
I can eat intuitive eating successfully only when two other conditions are in place: 1. It is not the 7-10 days of pms/tom, and 2. I'm eating an enrirely unprocessed, high-veggie, low-carb diet.
I cannot choose my foods intuitively, I can only (and only to a very limited degree and in limited situations) use some intuitive strategies.
Whenever I try to abandon tight calorie and carb control, in favor of mindful eating, I gain weight unless carbs are drastically limited.
On no-carb or super-low carb, I have virtually no hunger and must eat every few hours even though I'm not hungry at all. Otherwise, I would pass out without ever feeling actual hunger. I know this because I have. Now I luckily recognize sudden light-headedness as hunger, but I never feel that kind of hunger except on strict low-carb.
After reading David Kessler's book, The End of Overeating, I finally came to understand why I cannot eat intuitively. I have an addiction-like response to high glycemic carbs, especially when combined with fat and salt.
I do not believe I have an addictive personality, as I've never been drawn to drugs, alcohol, nicotine, or risk-taking behavior. Even when I've had to be on strong pain killers for long-term injury recovery (such as when I herniated a disc in my back) I've been able to quickly wean off the narcotics with no problem or desire to use the meds when I didn't need them. Even when I was in college, I drank about as much as the average great-grandmother (probably less, as for me a night of heavy drinking was three wine coolets in the span of six hours, with die colas in between so I wouldn't fall asleep from the first wine cooler).
I think intuitive eating strategies are worth a shot, but they're not effective for everyone, or in every situation, and there's no shame in needing an arsenal of food/weight management strategies.
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