I think I've been doing intuitive eating while also keeping track of calories on fitday. Prior to about 5 or 6 days ago, I was eating 3 times per day to satisfaction, only when hungry, and this was an average of 1200 calories per day. Now whether this happened because my computer was in the shop for a few days and I couldn't get online or because I just decided I wanted to increase my calorie intake, I started eating a couple of slices of whole wheat bread with dinner. I think it was probably a combination of both.
I'm not trying to lose weight, and just want to maintain, and I was basically maintaining or occasionally unintentionally losing very slowly on around 1200 a day. Since it seems like others eat more and maintain, I've been justifying to myself stuffing the extra bread down with dinner. The thing is, when I eat the bread, it's definitely not intuitive eating...when I wasn't eating the bread, I was perfectly satisfied with the dinner I was eating. I was full and didn't feel a need to eat more.
So, where do you draw the line with intuitive eating? I feel like I'm overeating a little when I eat the bread (and it does taste good), but is it necessary ignore the signals and overeat a little to take in more calories?
Any advice/suggestions would be appreciated! Thanks!
If you don't really want to eat the bread, perhaps you could pick up some other calories throughout the day, in a way that would be more healthy for you. Perhaps a couple of extra pieces of fruit, or some yogurt or something like that.
Yeah, maybe you should analyze what you might be nutritionally short on and eat that instead of *just* bread. Bread doesn't have a whole lot going for it, nutrition-wise.
1200 calories seems to be a very low number for maintenance. It seems if you are eating "intuitively" and only coming up with a measly 1200 calories a day, your intuition needs an overhaul. It's hard to tell if bread is the best option for you to get some extra healthy calories. Are you eating enough fruit, vegetables, protein, healthy fat? Are you eating whole grains any other time during the day? 2 pieces of whole grain bread is definitely a healthy snack option, especially if you aren't eating a lot of other whole grains during the day.
I think where it gets interesting is why are you eating it, if you are supposedly eating enough and satisfied. Sounds to me like you have a craving. If you are craving bread...why?
For comparison, I maintain at around 1800 calories a day. I eat at least 2 pieces of whole grain bread every day (with natural peanut butter as toast, for breakfast usually). If I snack in the afternoon, it's usually fruit or string cheese or trail mix or cut up veggies.
Huh, I just went through 4 days of your Fitday and you eat 6 pieces of bread a day, a serving of pasta, a serving of cream of wheat, sugar, jam, very limited sources of protein (no beans/tofu/lean meat) and 0 vegetables (besides processed pasta sauce) and 0 fruit. The only healthy fat you are getting is from the peanut butter.
It doesn't sound like another 2 pieces of bread a day is what your body needs. It makes sense that it's craving something (and you are giving it bread) but your body probably wants more well-rounded nutrition.
That might be a good point, Glory. I've been lazy the last week re: cooking and have gotten off my usual dinners of tilapia/rice/stir-fried veggies. I found a pasta sauce that was really delicious and really liked the multigrain pasta that I have, and since it was so easy, I just started eating it every day. Maybe that has something to do with why I suddenly added the bread in.
This is why intuitive eating doesn't work at all for me. Intuitive eating made me fat- careful, mindful eating, paying attention to nutrients and calories, is what helped me take off the weight and keep it off for 5 years.
Overall, I do think I need to increase my calories...I exercise and I don't want to be thrust into early menopause because I haven't been eating enough. People say not to eat less than 1200/day even for people who are actively trying to lose, so maybe even though I don't feel like I NEED to eat more, maybe I should make an effort to eat more with an emphasis on nutritious foods. (I haven't really gained over the last week as I've increased to ingesting 1400-1500 calories.)
That would just require me to get off my quick-food-loving lazy butt and be willing to shed a bit more cash in the grocery store. The hard thing is, I like the food I'm eating now, so it's going to take some effort.
Just switching up a little might help. It looks like you have 2 PB&J sandwiches for lunch everyday. That's great, I love peanut butter and jelly too, but what about a turkey sandwich and a bowl of bean-based soup? Tuna wrap? Omelette? Salad with chicken, slivered almonds and dried cranberries? Black bean quesadilla with avocado and salsa?
I remember when I decided to slowly up my calories from weight loss to maintenance, I added about 300 - 400 calories a day. At first I was hesitant, but later it felt unbelievably wonderful and decadent. It was amazing how much happier I was with 300 more calories to eat every day.
It's really very easy to add 300 healthy calories a day - full fat dressing (made with healthy oils), cook with a little more olive oil, eat a bigger baked sweet potato, add sliced avocado to a sandwich.
Had oven-broiled cajun-spiced tilapia, rice, and stir-fried veggies with a korean teriyaki sauce tonight for dinner...no desire for extra bread!
You're right, variety would probably be good for me nutritionally. Unfortunately, I love my peanut butter and jelly -- I hadn't eaten one for 10 years, and one day woke up wanting one. I've now eaten them for lunch almost every day for 2 months, and I'm not sure I'm ready to let go yet! I do have it on whole wheat whole grain bread with natural peanut butter and 100% fruit spread. They are so good! I have these addictive phases where I eat the same thing for a long time, and usually these end after a matter of months when I wake up one day and just don't want that food anymore.
Thanks for the push. I definitely try to put more effort into dinner again.
To eat or not to eat, that is the question
