Wanting to start Intuitive Eating?

So I want to stop counting calories and start eating intuitively. Has anyone here done this transfer? The only problem with me if that I measure just about everything that I eat, I am sick of it. I constanly find my self trying to map out my day of what I am going to eat. I just want it off my mind, tommorow I am going to my local Barnes and Nobles and read the intuitive eating book there. Do you guys have any tips to start intuitive eating? It sounds simple, but I know its going to be alot harder then it looks. Any help is welcome

So first of all, are you at your maintenance calorie intake? I notice from a previous post you were not yet at 2100 and that was only a few days ago.

The problem with attempting intuitive eating at the moment for you is that your intuition may be off.

I don't know what your current weight and height are, but active teenage males need 2800-3500 calories a day to maintain weight, vital body functions and physical development functions too. Athletic teenage males should be even more than that. So 2100 is really not a maintenance level unless you are a blob on a couch 24/7 (no school, no sports, nothing beyond video games and having your food brought to you -- and even though a lot of moms may complain their sons are like this, they rarely are!).

Keep in mind that 1800 is an amount meant keep a teenage male alive, but does not allow him to develop good bone and muscle mass that protects him into old age.

So, take six weeks of eating at 2500-2800 and log it. If you are successful in maintaining the calorie intake for six weeks, you'll be in a position to stop logging everything and allow a correctly re-calibrated intuition to take over.

If you find you gain weight during the process, resist the urge to restrict calories and up the activity levels instead.

Again, this applies only if you are at a healthy BMI now -- if you are underweight, then you need to gain weight and you must resist the urge to restrict calories or exercise too. Best of luck

Original Post by hedgren:

So first of all, are you at your maintenance calorie intake? I notice from a previous post you were not yet at 2100 and that was only a few days ago.

The problem with attempting intuitive eating at the moment for you is that your intuition may be off.

I don't know what your current weight and height are, but active teenage males need 2800-3500 calories a day to maintain weight, vital body functions and physical development functions too. Athletic teenage males should be even more than that. So 2100 is really not a maintenance level unless you are a blob on a couch 24/7 (no school, no sports, nothing beyond video games and having your food brought to you -- and even though a lot of moms may complain their sons are like this, they rarely are!).

Keep in mind that 1800 is an amount meant keep a teenage male alive, but does not allow him to develop good bone and muscle mass that protects him into old age.

So, take six weeks of eating at 2500-2800 and log it. If you are successful in maintaining the calorie intake for six weeks, you'll be in a position to stop logging everything and allow a correctly re-calibrated intuition to take over.

If you find you gain weight during the process, resist the urge to restrict calories and up the activity levels instead.

Again, this applies only if you are at a healthy BMI now -- if you are underweight, then you need to gain weight and you must resist the urge to restrict calories or exercise too. Best of luck

Yeah I've been trying to up my calories a bit lately cause I know that they were low. I was hoping that eating intuitively would actually help this, therefore I wouldn't be planning my meals and measuring everything so it would actually boost my calories. I am a healthy BMI right now, and not underweight. Thats a very good suggestion you got going right there, but I want to start eating intuitively as soon as possible! I believe that overall eating intuitively will allow me to get the daily calorie intake. I think I might start eating intuitively for a couple weeks and then I will add up all the calories for one day in that week to make sure I am eating enough.

I understand wanting to step away from the logging because it can create an obsessiveness in and of itself.

The only way intuitive eating will get you to 2500-2800 is if you are very hungry at the 1800 you are at now (if indeed you have even been successful getting to that?)

In other words, if you are able to feel your hunger now (and honestly) and eat fully when you are hungry, you might be o.k.

But you say you have "tried to up my calories a bit" as opposed to "I am now beyond 2100 each day and still feel hungry" which leads me to believe you are not connected to your hunger and that will mean the intuition is skewed.

Another way to go at this is jot down everything you eat on a piece of paper throughout the day for three days. Beside each entry, indicate whether you ate until you were full, whether you became anxious and stopped eating, or whether you went away hungry because you didn't want to eat too much (or knew there were too many calories in it, etc.)

Be honest with each entry. You don't have to log calories, but you do have to be honest about the feeling attached to eating.

Then after those three days, tally up the calories for each day. You should find that if you ate until you were full (not over-full or bloated) at least 75% of the time, then your calorie totals should be 2500 or more each day. It that happens, then go ahead at that point and keep eating to fullness and you'll be fine.

I'm in recovery from an ED AND I'm a teen boy like you. Lately I too have been trying to ease off of the calorie counting, and beginning to eat intuitively. Though I don't think it would be right to suddenly stop counting while still at a relatively low amount. You might find yourself a little overwhelmed with your hunger...at least I did. I'd increase to about 2500 for a couple weeks to allow your body to make necessary changes and allow your hunger cues to become less skewed. Once you've reached that point, I think you'll find that you can easily reach your calorie goal without even thinking about it!

I think people who can intuitivly eat don't use there mind/self esteem/issues in life to determine what they eat. It is based on hunger/energy needs for the day for ex if they know they will be extra active,and if they crave something to allow it. When one uses food and weight for other things like to not cope with emotions/self esteem I could go on and when one has not been treating there body in a healthy way I think intuitive eating is not the right way to go. You have to train you body to have hunger cues. If you are a teen boy that 2100 is so not enough and even 2500 is not so you need to focus on that first. Many here use not wanting to count calories to restrict. That is way worse then counting. Have you thought of an exchange meal plan? It adds up to your caloric needs but is less rigid. That is what most ed programs use.

i suggest that you allow yourself to eat spontaneously, but just write down everything that you eat. this way you still feel in control of your calories, but you arent totally aware of how many calories you have eaten. by doing this, you'll learn to listen/trust your body to tell you what/how much to eat, because you'll know that you cant rely so much on the calorie number

* i emphasized the word "learn" because you wont quite get it at first. i've been trying to do this for a few months, and it's still difficult, but i feel 100% more in control of my eating and my life. it's made me a happier person and even increased my sex drive.

From someone who has been on the recovery bandwagon too many times now (even once is too many), I say with utter conviction that as a previous ED sufferer you will not be able to intuitively eat for quite some time. I think it's great that you are aiming for that goal - and it's certainly something attainable in the future - but I believe that getting there will take a series of smaller steps. As hedgren has stated - focus on continuing to up your cals so that you can maintain at a higher level for a while and see how your body and mind adjust. I thought specca's suggestion was also pretty awesome - and a good step in the right direction to your goal but more manageable at this point in time. From personal experience, I believe that if you try to do the intuitive thing right now, you will end up undercutting yourself and setting yourself up for more disordered behaviour. We all want the very best for you! Best of luck hon xoxoxox

This is an old thread, but I will post this regardless because other people reading this post may find it useful (even if the OP has forgotten about the post by now!)

I have been weight restored  and eating consistently enough calories every single day for a couple of years now, and I still cannot eat intuitively. Food has been associated with too many other things for us to only use it as a fuel source. At least for a long time.

I have to just eat as part of a routine. I am not always physically feeling hungry, but if it has been a few hours I know I need to eat, so I do. I enjoy eating so it is not difficult. Occasionally, it is possible to eat intuitively, such as when you feel hungry. I some times genuinely feel physical hunger. Although I seldom wait until I feel hungry to eat.