Why Intuitive Eating is NOT a Thing
There's been a lot of hype lately about intuitive eating.
It is touted as the solution to quit dieting and to losing weight for good. To finally free yourself of restrictions and eat naturally in order to reach your ideal weight.
However, I have seen a big problem with this method of weight control that has gotten many women into a lot of trouble.
And I will tell you why.
The problem with intuitive eating is that if intuitive eating worked, the majority of people would be slim. The fact is, that a large percentage of North Americans are overweight. Many (but not all - disclaimer) women have tried to start intuitive eating only to find that they pack on the pounds, frustrated and feeling like they can never lose weight. But the problem is not them.
Intuitive eating is based on the premise that once you are in tune with your body and its hunger and fullness signals, you can effectively and easily maintain a healthy weight.
However, in this day and age, hunger signals are being disrupted left and right. We are barraged with advertisements on TV and the radio, in magazines and on the internet for delicious, high-calorie foods. Any time of the day we can drive to McDonalds or grab a donut from Tim Hortons. Coworkers bring goodies and the smell of soft, sweet, homemade cookies or bite-size chocolate bars waft over the cubicle. We are continuously being exposed to signals from our environment to EAT EAT EAT. Not only that, once we have a taste of the highly-processed, sugar, salt, fat and MSG-laden foods we can't just stop at one bite. Our brains are chemically wired to crave more. It is instinctual. If we listened to our natural hunger cues in these cases, we would overeat and end up at a weight higher than is natural for us, and likely at a higher weight than we truly desire.
An argument is often made that if we choose only to eat the healthiest, natural foods, such as fresh vegetables and lean meats etc. and avoid processed foods that we could potentially be able to maintain a healthy weight by eating until we feel full. But you can overeat on "healthy" and "natural" food. You can easily overeat on fruit calories even when you "feel" satisfied. And definitely on peanuts. You can overeat on anything, depending on the person and their individual metabolism and how calorically concentrated the food is and how your body responds hormonally.
And its more complicated than just satiation alone. Eating is not only physical, it is emotional as well. And it is mental too. Why do we eat cake or sweets? Chocolate? Not often to satisfy our body's nutrient needs. Eating is complex. We choose the foods we eat and the amounts of those foods that we eat not just from our physical signals of hunger and fullness, but from our mental satisfaction from a meal, and our mood and desires at the time. Trying to eliminate our emotions and mind from eating may not actually be beneficial, nor necessary.
In my opinion, it is better to combine your natural physical bodily sensations with your mind and your emotions. You may still be hungry after a meal but logically you KNOW that you have already eaten a lot of calories, so you wait for your next meal. You may be full, but you feel like a little treat after dinner, and you know you'll feel more satisfied if you have a little bite of chocolate. The closer to get to balancing all the parts of yourself and living in harmony with your mind, your body, and your soul, the more fulfilled and successful you have the potential to be in all areas of your life.
Don't feel ashamed if you eat for fun sometimes.Don't feel ashamed if you track your calories religiously. And don't feel ashamed if you do focus on only eating according to purely physical sensations, and use intuitive eating principles, if that works for you and you are happy. The purpose in life is to be happy, and whatever makes you happy is perfect.
My point here is not to bash intuitive eating, but instead to let you know that if you just can't seem to eat follow the intuitive eating principles and maintain your ideal weight - you don't need to keep trying and be heavy and miserable. Make a meal plan. Track your calories. Measure your portion sizes. Make a plan. It's perfectly okay. You are still healthy. You are not obsessive. You do not have disordered eating habits. You simply have a goal and are allowing yourself to achieve it in a way that works for you. Don't be caught up in feeling like you have to "eat whatever you feel like" in order to have a healthy mindset with food. You decide if your mindset is healthy or not. You decide what's healthy. It's your body. It's your life.
I hope you always make the choice that's best for you, inside and out, that will give you the life of your dreams!
Love,
Amanda
It is touted as the solution to quit dieting and to losing weight for good. To finally free yourself of restrictions and eat naturally in order to reach your ideal weight.
However, I have seen a big problem with this method of weight control that has gotten many women into a lot of trouble.
And I will tell you why.
The problem with intuitive eating is that if intuitive eating worked, the majority of people would be slim. The fact is, that a large percentage of North Americans are overweight. Many (but not all - disclaimer) women have tried to start intuitive eating only to find that they pack on the pounds, frustrated and feeling like they can never lose weight. But the problem is not them.
Intuitive eating is based on the premise that once you are in tune with your body and its hunger and fullness signals, you can effectively and easily maintain a healthy weight.
However, in this day and age, hunger signals are being disrupted left and right. We are barraged with advertisements on TV and the radio, in magazines and on the internet for delicious, high-calorie foods. Any time of the day we can drive to McDonalds or grab a donut from Tim Hortons. Coworkers bring goodies and the smell of soft, sweet, homemade cookies or bite-size chocolate bars waft over the cubicle. We are continuously being exposed to signals from our environment to EAT EAT EAT. Not only that, once we have a taste of the highly-processed, sugar, salt, fat and MSG-laden foods we can't just stop at one bite. Our brains are chemically wired to crave more. It is instinctual. If we listened to our natural hunger cues in these cases, we would overeat and end up at a weight higher than is natural for us, and likely at a higher weight than we truly desire.
An argument is often made that if we choose only to eat the healthiest, natural foods, such as fresh vegetables and lean meats etc. and avoid processed foods that we could potentially be able to maintain a healthy weight by eating until we feel full. But you can overeat on "healthy" and "natural" food. You can easily overeat on fruit calories even when you "feel" satisfied. And definitely on peanuts. You can overeat on anything, depending on the person and their individual metabolism and how calorically concentrated the food is and how your body responds hormonally.
And its more complicated than just satiation alone. Eating is not only physical, it is emotional as well. And it is mental too. Why do we eat cake or sweets? Chocolate? Not often to satisfy our body's nutrient needs. Eating is complex. We choose the foods we eat and the amounts of those foods that we eat not just from our physical signals of hunger and fullness, but from our mental satisfaction from a meal, and our mood and desires at the time. Trying to eliminate our emotions and mind from eating may not actually be beneficial, nor necessary.
In my opinion, it is better to combine your natural physical bodily sensations with your mind and your emotions. You may still be hungry after a meal but logically you KNOW that you have already eaten a lot of calories, so you wait for your next meal. You may be full, but you feel like a little treat after dinner, and you know you'll feel more satisfied if you have a little bite of chocolate. The closer to get to balancing all the parts of yourself and living in harmony with your mind, your body, and your soul, the more fulfilled and successful you have the potential to be in all areas of your life.
Don't feel ashamed if you eat for fun sometimes.Don't feel ashamed if you track your calories religiously. And don't feel ashamed if you do focus on only eating according to purely physical sensations, and use intuitive eating principles, if that works for you and you are happy. The purpose in life is to be happy, and whatever makes you happy is perfect.
My point here is not to bash intuitive eating, but instead to let you know that if you just can't seem to eat follow the intuitive eating principles and maintain your ideal weight - you don't need to keep trying and be heavy and miserable. Make a meal plan. Track your calories. Measure your portion sizes. Make a plan. It's perfectly okay. You are still healthy. You are not obsessive. You do not have disordered eating habits. You simply have a goal and are allowing yourself to achieve it in a way that works for you. Don't be caught up in feeling like you have to "eat whatever you feel like" in order to have a healthy mindset with food. You decide if your mindset is healthy or not. You decide what's healthy. It's your body. It's your life.
I hope you always make the choice that's best for you, inside and out, that will give you the life of your dreams!
Love,
Amanda
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