Don't Diet: Just Eat Intuitively

For me, intuitive eating is a an excellent measure of how much to eat, but some thought still needs to be put into what to eat.
Since our tastes change depending on how we eat, for someone already eating a balanced diet (whether heavily scrutinised, measured and counted down to the last calorie or dictated by mum's serving sizes, or in any way not intuitive) switching to the intuitive method, they will probably continue okay, but for someone eating poorly, they will not.
The idea that 'intuition' can tell us exactly what to eat is not sound, since people cannot desire things they can't remember the taste of. ie Our body can't 'signal' spinach if we only eat cake.

This is based on my personal experiences with food, going from a high-fat diet to a moderate-fat one, and the changes in desires that I experienced. (although I believe there is also quite a bit of scientific evidence of the adaptive nature of our palettes)

I like the idea of being an intuitive eater, but definitely see that years of programming has led me far from that path. I think the most intriguing part of the post was, "The nature of modern processed foods makes it very difficult for the body to determine when we've had enough." I've found that the less processed the foods are that I eat, the easier it is for me to determine when I'm satiated and not stuffed. I find I can eat high quality, non-diet foods in moderation- and know when to stop- alot easier than highly processed junk. I definitely agree that one of the keys to healthy eating is "not to eat for emotional, environmental or social reasons"- at least not UNCONSCIOUSLY. I think this is where I most part ways the intuitive approach- I think especially for a lot of of already overweight people, becoming conscious of the food we eat and WHY is key to healthy eating. I think part of what I see left out here is eating for pleasure- food is not just fuel, but it is pleasurable. Learning that a couple of bites of a high quality cheese is much more fufilling, and joyful, than more of less quality fat-free processed yuck, has been key for me.

The idea of intuitive eating is a really good one, because honestly, no real person has time to count calories down to the exact number or grams of fat or fiber (beyond a rough estimate).
The problem is, stressed out people in America barely have time to sit down and read a book, let alone listen to their bodies. Intuitive eating requires that a person be in tune with their body, which a lot of us are not.

I was going to say something similar to Nicole's comments. Intuitive eating is great--if you're leading a relatively calm and structured life, with a set schedule and enough downtime. Unfortunately the 24/7 drive of American society, working more, and endless distractions pouring from the media outlets make it hard to find the down time we need to be in tune with our thoughts and bodies.

I think this is a bit of a chicken-and-egg problem.

Generally, those of us who are fat didn't start out that way, and didn't stop eating intuitively and start dieting until we found ourselves with a weight problem.

So the sample of intuitive eaters in the study may well be eating intuitively because they didn't get fat, rather than not getting fat because of intuitive eating.

I totally agree with tulip and Christi Nielsen. Definitely I am the hour glass figure, although my hips are a little bigger than my bust. It's pretty hard for me to find clothes that fit because of the same reason mentioned above.

That's why I prefer custom tailored clothes and especially coats and skirts.

I've tried intuitive eating, and it works if you can sit down and think "What do I want to eat/ what do I need to eat?"
However, most days I have class for 2-3 hours and work for 5-6 hours, so it's all I can do to grab a yogurt to bring to work!
We need to calm down as a nation before intuitive eating will help much.

It sounds like a swell idea in theory... but I DO eat for emotional reasons. And i'm sure many others do as well. So the real key is to find out how to stop doing that. Until the emotional eating is in check; unstructured eating and listening to one's body signals will be extremelly difficult.

I have noticed from being a new grandparent that babies eat this way. When they are done they shut their mouth and won't take any more. Maybe we are born with this instinct and gradually get taught otherwise. The parents thought my grand daughter needed a piece of her first birthday cake. This was her first offering of such a thing. She made a face and threw it on the floor.

I found intuitive eating to be something that is possible only after a period of stabilization. I had to detoxify from simple carbohydrates and lower my fasting insulin level enough to get beyond the cravings for sugar and other high glycemic index carbohydrates. Until this happened I felt way too hungry all the time.

For me high glycemic carbohydrates do not send a satiety signal until it is too late. I could eat a thousand calories or more in ten minutes and not feel full if they were from cake or ice cream. This may sound odd but I also realized that it is a normal part of the human condition to feel hungry from time to time during the day. My previous way of eating never allowed my to feel this. I was also 70 pounds over weight.

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I have to agree with most of these comments. Soda and soft drinks are a perfect example. How easy is it to gulp down a huge amount of sugar/energy/calories from these sources?

Changing a habit like this is something that is learnt, it is not intuition. On the other hand, proteins and low-GI carbs are far easier to instinctively decide "I've had enough". Then of course there is fibrous foods, that just take a long time to eat...

I agree with Prufrax. This study proves nothing. The fact that these people are intuitive eaters may have nothing to do with their weight. They are genetically programmed to be at the weight they are. If someone who is genetically programmed to be at a higher weight started eating this way, they would gain until they reached their "natural" weight. This might be quite heavy and considered to be unhealthy. This study was a total waste of time and money.

I think our society's focal point on food un-programs us to be intuitive eaters very early. Most people associate food with happiness, so they assume that children do too. In fact, many babies may just be tired or crabby or need to be changed...but parents try to feed them instead. After a while, kids think they're hungry when they may just be bored or stressed or tired. Not to mention that a lot of parents use food as a motivator/reward for kids, which helps foster unhealthy eating habits early.

I've lost weight after each of my first 2 pregnancies with great success using this method (without really knowing I used this method).

I lost 45 pounds and 50 pounds respectively. I didn't exercise, but was breastfeeding and burning 500 calories per day doing so.

It took about 7 months the first time and 5-6 months the second time to lose the extra weight.

I ate when I was hungry; I only ate as much as it took to make me feel slightly full; I ate a well balanced meal 3 times a day with very little snacking in between.

If I wanted to snack, I would eat only half of what the serving size was if the food was decadent like cookies or ice cream. Otherwise, I'd snack on a piece of fruit.

It isn't something you do without thinking. I was always conscious of what I was eating and CHOOSING to eat something healthy instead of junk.

It takes determination to eat this way, but it does work if you stick with this way of eating.

I think this is how people should eat rather than following a prescribed way.

By the way, I worked full time during my pregnancies and afterwards as well. My life was plenty busy, so there's no excuse for not eating well. It's just as easy to pop a grape in your mouth as it is to pop a chicken nugget from McD's.