For most of us “intuitive eating” doesn’t exist…
At least not initially.
It has to be learned.
With the distorted portion sizes at restaurants, misleading food labels, junk food masquerading as healthy, it’s hard to know what you should be eating.
Plus, stress, lack of sleep and boredom can all lead to mindless snacking and our body even sending us triggers we THINK mean we are hungry…when, in fact, we’re not!
It’s hard to really know when and IF we need food or if one of these other things is at play. Especially when we’ve created bad habits and those habits have been ingrained for years!
And to make intuitive eating even more impossible on top of all of that…
We live in a culture very centered around food.
Social gatherings are often centered around FOOD…I mean we even have a whole holiday centered around sitting down to eat an unreasonably large meal together where we know there is a chance the pants are going to need to be unbuttoned…
I mean…I can’t be alone in doing that at Thanksgiving!
That is why intuitive eating is something that has to be LEARNED.
It is why counting calories and tracking your food to start is key to success.
Starting out, most of us have no idea WHAT or HOW MUCH or even WHEN our bodies really need food. We’ve just become so out of tune that we need to relearn how to listen to our body’s cues.
We need to train ourselves to again respond to what our body needs.
It’s kind of like when you train for your first race or you want to improve your race time.
You don’t just say “Hey I’m going to intuitively run as far and as fast as I can whenever I want.”
NOPE!
You wouldn’t do that because then the first time you start to get tired or bored, you’d stop! You’d give yourself excuses to turn back and maybe not even run again that week.
So you write out a program.
You set out how far you’re going to run, when you’re going to run and you track your pace.
You track and measure and set goals so you know EXACTLY how you’re doing and what you’re doing to get you to that first race or improve your time.
So why would eating be any different?
The simple fact is…It isn’t.
We need to track and log especially to start because tracking allows us to know what we are actually eating.
It helps us understand how certain foods affect our body. It helps show us that quality calories matter and what portion sizes we should actually be eating.
It helps us learn when we are ACTUALLY HUNGRY or when we are actually bored or stressed or tired.
It gives us direction to reach our goal, just like that running program would.
You wouldn’t leave your race or that goal time up to “intuition” so why would you set yourself up for failure by doing the same to your weight loss goals?
If you want to LEARN to eat intuitively and respond to your bodies needs, you need to start by tracking and logging!
When I’m working out, I can eat intuitively; I’m hungry for protein, and genuinely don’t want much sugar.
But if I slack off on exercise, then my appetite changes, and I want all the sugars and carbs now!
Back on that working out then!
Like a lot your work. Always looking forward to your next video or post. Keep it up!
Hunger is the result of the hormones running in our body. We need to give them a chance to do their job. Sugars tell our body that we should save for meager times and they suppress the satiety sensors. To get it back, cut sugars, e.g. rice, pasta and fruits and use as energy sources the fats from butter or cold pressed oils.
It will take time to get used to it, but you will know when you are hungry and when to stop eating. No need to count, just relay on your own body. Just don’t feed it with distractions.
I’m glad you found something that worked for you. That is key. And as you mention “it takes time to get used to, but you will know…” But that knowing is LEARNED. In this post, you’ll notice I don’t say we SHOULDN’T learn to eat intuitively or that it wasn’t possible just that it had to be learned. And after working with as many people as I have, I’ve found the easiest way to LEARN how to listen to your body is through tracking. Tracking makes us conscious of what we are consuming which most of my clients weren’t aware of the makeup of their food. So tracking made them aware so they could eventually listen to their bodies. 🙂
My concern is we have a 14 year old with disordered eating. He was so obsessed with counting calories and training hard he became orthorexic and could have died. He still gets psychological help. He eats lots again but he is told not to track his food for good reasons. He wants to track his micros. We have been told to keep telling him to listen to his body and just eat!! So not sure what else to do in his case as he wants to train again and build muscle for his basketball etc.
Hi Ramona. I think a little education about macros, how food can be fuel and even helping him get involved in learning about proper fuel and healthy cooking could teach him to love and appreciate his body and enjoy food. But while your son also can’t eat intuitively it is important to know when tracking may not be right. I would listen to the people guiding him and keep him away from the tracking as it seems to lead him specifically down a not so healthy path.