Intuitive Eating

[Night Elf]

So my eating disorder is back. Through my research, I found out about intuitive eating. I found a book and an online support community. I can see me eating this way as I am already doing some of the principles of this theory. My goals are to stop tracking my food and weighing myself completely. I've got some work to do. I've asked my doctor for another referral so I can go back to my nutritionist who talked to me about mindful eating. Research into that was what led me to intuitive eating. The only problem is she was trying to get me to have 3 big meals and 2 small snacks a day. That didn't work for me. I don't do well eating on a schedule. It didn't make me lose focus of food at all. I'm going to talk to her about intuitive eating and see if she's familiar with it. She's the only Kaiser nutritionist within a decent driving range from my house.

Anyway, do you eat this way? Did you have a hard time overcoming the obstacles such as the food police and losing the diet mentality? Care to share your story?

[regentrude]

I pretty much do eat like this and have for most of my life, but I never had a diet mentality or believed in food police. I would imagine it to be extremely difficult to transition from disordered eating to intuitive eating. Little kids eat intuitively -  until their metabolism and eating behaviors are screwed up by parenting and societal expectations. I rather think intuitive eating can be the end result once you have overcome your issues with food, but I have a hard time imagining that one can decide to "eat intuitively" coming from disordered eating. I don't think trying to do so makes the underlying psychological issues that drive eating disorders go away.

[Pawz4me]

I had an eating disorder years ago and now I would say that I'm (mostly) an intuitive eater. I do keep a running estimate of calories consumed in my head, but I'm nowhere near obsessive about it and I do it because I have a health issue for which unexplained weight gain (or loss) is a symptom. So it's reasonable for me to keep an idea of what my weight should be doing in my head. It was NOT a quick or easy road for me to transition from borderline anorexia to being an intuitive eater. It was a many years long process.

Got to run now. Will post more later if you have any questions.

[HomeAgain]

I just looked up the 10 principles of intuitive eating.  Yes, I eat this way.  My main problem was restaurants - it is customary to order a set meal, whether it's with a number at a fast food place or at a sit down restaurant to order from the specific entree section.  So I would do that whether I wanted to or not.  I think as I got older all care of what others thought flew out the window and I realized I'm just too old to give a darn about what other people think of my plate....especially in relation to my 95lb body. 
My big thing was to surround myself with healthy food and really think about what I wanted to eat.  Not the taste, but what my body was really craving.  I learned that when I wanted a Ho-Ho, I was really craving fat.  So I put healthy fats in the house: nuts, avocados, nut butters..  I don't stick firmly to set meals or what other people think I should eat.  I keep healthy snacks in my car for times when I'm out and about.  LOL, on special trips dh and I have a 'snack budget' because it's easier for me than sitting down for all the meals. I cook from scratch to know what's in my food, but I'm not going to police myself over how much butter is in it.

I think going from an eating disorder to this on the other end of the spectrum might be a hard thing to do.  It goes from thinking a LOT about food to thinking of food as merely a bookmark in the day.  That's a hard shift.  But I do think it is a good goal to have.

[Night Elf]

5 minutes ago, regentrude said:

I pretty much do eat like this and have for most of my life, but I never had a diet mentality or believed in food police. I would imagine it to be extremely difficult to transition from disordered eating to intuitive eating. Little kids eat intuitively -  until their metabolism and eating behaviors are screwed up by parenting and societal expectations. I rather think intuitive eating can be the end result once you have overcome your issues with food, but I have a hard time imagining that one can decide to "eat intuitively" coming from disordered eating. I don't think trying to do so makes the underlying psychological issues that drive eating disorders go away.

I worked with a counselor for a while and I couldn't find an underlying cause of my disordered eating. Growing up, we ate intuitively. Even my mom. The first time I ever paid attention to my weight was when I had my first baby and held onto a lot of baby weight for quite some time. Right now I simply don't want to gain my weight back that I lost with Weight Watchers first and then carb counting later to lower my A1C. I stopped carb counting but went on tracking my food and staying within WW points plan. My weight set point kept lowering because I'd lose weight and decide this is where I want to be. Late last year, I worked with a counselor and a nutritionist and started doing much better. I was eating more calories and gaining weight. I was fine until I hit a scary number and then instead of backing off just enough to get down a little, I started restricting my calories and have lost all of my gained weight. I am now increasing my calories again to gain weight back but I'm trying to learn to be okay with where I'll end up. In fact, that's why I want to stop weighing. I don't want to know the number. 

My psychiatrist wants me to go to an eating disorder clinic but if they decide I need a long program and some of them run 8 to 12 weeks of daily classes, I'll have to put aside my volunteering time and I can't do that for at least another 6 weeks. My supervisor is having surgery and I've been put in charge of the department and my hours have quadrupled. I thought if I could work on Intuitive Eating during this time I might be able to change my mentality and the food police statements. But if I haven't made any progress, I'll consider the clinic.

[milovany]

I hadn't really read about intuitive eating before, but I googled the 10 principles mentioned above and it sounds like what the lifestyle/thinking program I use (thinwithin.com) calls being a "thin eater."  While I sort of agree with what was stated above that unless you deal with the underlying issues of overeating you won't be able to just force yourself to be an intuitive eater, I think there's a lot within the 10 principles that you can use to work on those underlying issues.  For example, you can come up with some tools for eating only when you start to begin to feel hungry (like acknowledging the two-year-old temper tantrum fake hunger voice in your head and not giving in to it).

On a related, but side, note:  I do feel like sugar is the major health issue in our country when it comes to diet and I'm coming to a place where I don't think I can eat it in moderation, but will have to give it up completely.  So that's different from one of the principles mentioned in intuitive eating. 

[Night Elf]

Even while on Weight Watchers, I ate almost everything I wanted. I just watched portions. I didn't eat until I was full. I ate the portion that fit into my points system. I also ate at only certain times of the day. I don't do that anymore either. I didn't like eating to the clock. I ate apple pie every day and went through a Starbucks phase where I had one every morning for weeks. Not just coffee but flavored sweetened espresso drink. I didn't cut out any food groups until after I reached my goal weight and my doctor told me to stop eating white foods to lower my A1C. I lost weight and finally decided it was silly to continue eating that way. I did lower my A1C though and it hasn't gone back up to pre-diabetic range again. I don't feel fat. I'm not wanting to lose weight to look a certain way. I just really got into watching the scale going down. I thought it was cool that I was losing with little effort on my part. I naturally eat small amounts throughout the day. Before WW, when I was at my heaviest, it was because of the types of food I was eating. I ate junk food and lots of processed food. No real veggies or fruits or lean meats. Transitioning to healthy foods was hard as I went cold turkey on the junk food. Then I started adding some of it back in in small portions, although I denied myself some stuff like certain fast food joints. Oh, and while on WW, I didn't restrict foods because they were fattening, I chose foods that fit in my points allotment. I ate just enough and not much more.

Do you think working with just a nutritionist will help me? My counselor was only able to take me so far. I'd need a new counselor and Kaiser doesn't have a good one within my driving range. I'd be paying out of pocket and some of these counselors charge over $100 a session. Honestly, we can't afford that. If I go the clinic affiliated with Kaiser, I pay Kaiser payments that we can afford.

[Annie G]

If you decide to eat intuitively without addressing your disordered eating, how will you know whether it’s your body’s or your disordered eating’s intuition making the calls?

It’s great that your volunteer job is fulfilling you, but if it’s time to really address your eating issues (and your psych seems to think it is, and you coming here to post kind of indicates you are ready), you might not want to wait the six weeks.

(Hugs).  

[Night Elf]

Okay. I just made an appointment with my former counselor who is knowledgeable about mindful eating. She's interested in learning more about intuitive eating since it's so close to mindful eating. Eating Disorders isn't a specialty of hers but she's worked with clients who have them, so she's familiar with some of the mindset. If she can't help me, I'll consider going to that eating disorder clinic. But now I have appointments with a counselor and a nutritionist, both of them knowledgeable about what I'm trying to do. It's a good first step.

[wintermom]

Just as "all calories are not equal," "all weight is not equal."  Body weight provides no information about the combination of body tissues added together. You can increase your body weight in a very healthy way by increasing muscle mass, which weighs more than adipose tissue (subcutaneous fat) or skin.  Instead of using the increase or decrease of food as your sole method of adjusting your body weight, look at adjusting types of exercise to build muscle mass or decrease fat. 

Another benefit to taking away body weight and food as your primary focus, and widening the range to other health indicators, is that you have a larger number of tools in your "health tool box" to access when striving to improve or maintain overall health. Physical activity is a great tool in improving health, but there are others, such as meditation, breathing, and other stress relieving methods. 

[Bluegoat]

I do think it's the case that counting calories and weighing can be bad for people who have eating disorders.  They work for some people who have weight issues, and that tends to make people recommend them.

I'd say it's actually a larger principle or effect.  For example, I've known people who were inclined to become somewhat obsessive or disordered with regard to their ethical behaviour.  They would become obsessed with minute daily transgressions, feel they had to "fix" the problem as soon as possible to make up the difference (say, by meditating or fasting or going to daily confession) and that sort of thing.  In general the advice given to such people was different than for others - where someone rather lax might be encouraged to daily reflection, or to taking time for regular fasting, that was considered very inappropriate for those who struggle with that kind of obsessive behaviour.  Their recommendations tended to involve letting go of keeping track while also making good choices each time.

I think it sounds like a good idea to talk to your counsellor, if it isn't helpful than see about the clinic.  And yes, try and find a pattern of eating that will fit in with your lifestyle and personality.

 

[ktgrok]

I eat this way now. But I can say it only works for me now because I have had bariatric surgery and because I am on my ADHD medication. Actually, I think the medication is the real thing that is helping. But Vivant is often used for binge eating disorder. I am no longer worried about every nutritional facts or calorie count. I eat what I want to eat and you can tell I am full and no more. But that never would’ve worked without the medication. I tried.I eat this way now. But I can say it only works for me now because I have had bariatric surgery and because I am on my ADHD medication. Actually, I think the medication is the real thing that is helping. But Vivant is often used for binge eating disorder. I am no longer worried about every nutritional facts or calorie count. I eat what I want to eat and you can tell I am full and no more. But that never would’ve worked without the medication. I tried