Weird Question about "ideal" or "natural" body weight

Ok, so I don't know how to word this question at all. This probably won't make any sense, but I'll give it a shot anyhow. So I was wondering if it is possible to lose weight by not restricting calories? Like if I only eat when I'm truly hungry?? Let's say my natural (whatever that means) body weight is 5lbs less than my current weight. If I eat only when I'm hungry, will I eventually get down to my natural body weight? Or is it more likely that I would eat at maintenance and not lose or gain?

I'm just curious because I think that's happening with me. It doesn't make any sense to me, though. I do not restrict my calories at all. I eat when I want, what I want. However, I am still losing weight, albeit slowly. I probably lose 1-2lbs a month. If I listen to my body and eat when I'm hungry but abstain when I'm not hungry, wouldn't I just stay at the same weight? I don't get the science behind it. I feel like I should have to cut back at least a little bit, but I truly am stuffed every night.

I'm sorry that this is so wordy. I bet it doesn't make any sense, lol. Anyway, if anyone can make sense out of question and knows what I'm talking about, please give me your feedback! :)

Since I'm out of town almost every day this summer and have no way to control my calories, I've been eating intuitively. Initially, this made me gain 10 pounds, but since then I still haven't changed anything and am down 5, for a net gain of 5 pounds. But I am still losing, so... I would say that it is possible. Especially if you're eating healthily now and were not before. Or if your body was in starvation mode before you stopped counting calories and now your metabolism is speeding back up.

Anyway, congrats on your weight loss and good luck on losing those last 5 pounds!

i dont get it either but i know exactly what you mean. there is actually a series of books on this i forget what they are called someone on this site posted the link once, but basically the lady claims that if you do this, it will take awhile, as in maybe years to get back to "normal" but you will eventually get to your "natural" weight or whatever it is, and never have to diet again. she had an e.d. and then gained and tried all kinds of crazy diets before she did this. now she is on the lower end of her bmi and doesnt  diet.

truthfully, i think this is the key. its the ultimate weight loss plan, because you dont have to do anything out of the ordinary. you aren't overexercising, depriving, restricting or contantly thinking about food. i have had a binging problem for the past 2 years on and off, and i decided this summer to really put an effort to stopping it. i used to starve which lead to my binges. now i eat when im hungry, stop when im full. its been about a month, and i binge much less frequently and much less in quantity than i did before. food used to control my life, now i think about it probably about as much as a regular person. my pants are getting loose, im at a healthy weight, but i still think i'm losing a little as a result to my new lifestyle. the lady who wrote the books claims that dieting messing up your regular eating cycle and that "natually thin" people pretty much always eat when theyre hungry, and then later they are not starving and dont scarve down everything in sight. i think it works, im going to keep going with it! i think its the best way to lose weight and keep it off and live a very normal life!

Do you exercise a lot? Like an unusually high amount?  Last summer I was going to the gym for like 2 hours a night and doing a ton of cardio, and I felt the same way. (like I could just listen to my body and eat what it wanted and i was still slimming up). Once I had more going on and couldnt work out as much, I tried to keep doing the same (just eating when I was hungry) and I immediatly started gaining weight.

Otherwise, maybe you are just the luckiest person ever? :)

i don't think i buy the "natural" or "ideal" weight concepts, but i do think that eating when we're hungry (assuming that we know what hunger feels like) is a good idea.  that probably doesn't mean eating less often, though.

i think the biggest mistake that people make is eating too much in a sitting, and the second biggest mistake is believing that if we're very hungry, we need more food than if we're just a little hungry.  being very hungry might mean we've burned a lot of energy and haven't eaten in awhile, but it doesn't mean that we need more food than we would have needed an hour earlier, you know? 

that's something it's taken me time to learn: i don't need a lot of food just because i'm very hungry.  a small amount of food will satisfy me just as well.  and if i'm hungry again in two or three hours--okay--i'll eat again.  there's no food shortage here :)

Your post made perfect sense.  There is a book called "Intuitive Eating" that actually makes that argument - that by listening to your body's hunger/satisfaction cues, you can get to your "natural" weight.  Of course, this assumes that people are able to stop eating for reasons unrelated to hunger - or that we are actually able to identify our hunger/satisfaction cues...  Regardless, the book is an interesting read.  The authors set forth 10 intuitive eating principles the one I found most helpful was honoring your hunger and rebuilding trust between yourself and food. 

In any event, I don't know if I completely agree with the argument that by eating this way your body will reach its own "natural" weight, although it would seem to make sense biologically.... If you were to hypothetically take a body and place it in an artificial setting, and you were to feed it until it was no longer hungry, then perform a certain number of activities that burned a certain number of calories, assuming that this hypothetical body hadn't been ruined by habitually overeating or undereating, it would make sense that once a certain deficit is reached, the body would signal hunger, effectively attaining the balance between the fuel (calories in) and the expenditure (calories out)...  HOWEVER, so many other variables that play into eating and being human would have to be taken out of the equation, that I'm not really sure whether it is very likely or not...

I don't know if I'm making any sense, but that's my thought on it.

Regardless, it sounds like you have the right attitude around food - eat when hungry, stop when full.  I think if you feel well and you are able to perform the activities you enjoy, there shouldn't be a problem with your continued loss... that's just my two cents!  :) 

edited to add: oops! looks like some people beat me to  the whole "intuitive eating" thing :) sorry to be repetitive!

Let's see I tried weight watchers, calorie counting, controlling carbs. Did I lose weight? Sure. But I lost the most weight by just cutting back on food. For example if I want pizza I have pizza not 5-6 pieces like I used to, but maybe 2. If I want to eat out I get a kids meal. I lost 28 pounds by doing this, it works-at least for me=)

Oh wow, thanks for all the great responses!!! i'm glad it made sense!!! I really enjoyed reading each of your responses.

Kwalk22, I do exercise a lot. I wouldn't call it "an unusually high amount" though. I'm sure I eat more now than before I started exercising, though. I don't usually count my calories, but I estimate that I eat 3000+ calories a day. But yeah you're right - I'm sure my exercising has a lot to do with it.

pgeorgian, very good point! I admit, I'm one of those people who will eat more if I'm very hungry. But you're right - there's no reason for me to eat more food than normal. That's something I can work on.

Cc31, thanks for the link! I might want to get that book - it sounds interesting! I read the 10 principles, and this is the one I definitely still struggle with the most:

4. Challenge the Food Police .Scream a loud "NO" to thoughts in your head that declare you're "good" for eating under 1000 calories or "bad" because you ate a piece of chocolate cake. The Food Police monitor the unreasonable rules that dieting has created . The police station is housed deep in your psyche, and its loud speaker shouts negative barbs, hopeless phrases, and guilt-provoking indictments. Chasing the Food Police away is a critical step in returning to Intuitive Eating.

I definitely do still feel guilty when I eat a huge piece of cake or something, and I feel pleased with myself if I eat clean and healthy.

I'm no Jedi so the whole "follow your feelings, Luke" doesn't work for me. I'd rather back up my eating with hard data.