Intuitive Eating Overview

"Seek feedback from those in the arena. Not the ones booing from the cheap seats."

Intuitive Eating Overview

I'm a huge proponent of tracking your food. However, today's deep dive is about NOT tracking your food.

When I'm in the middle of a calm schedule without travel, I track my food using the MacroFactor app. However, there are definitely people out there who have done it without tracking. And we've still experienced incredible results with clients:

Client 1 down ~35 pounds in ~6 months

Client 2 down ~20 pounds in 3 months

Client 3 down ~20 pounds in 3 months and kept it off for another 3

When I'm not in full control of my environment and the schedule is busier, I follow an intuitive eating approach. Below are some of the principles of intuitive eating:

Only eat in response to hunger, not due to an emotional or visual response, or out of boredom or habit

Learn to eat when hungry, and stop when full

Stop eating when satiated but not stuffed

Physical hunger should be the primary reason we eat. Do you want to force down the extra slices of pizza and cheeseballs and be fat? Or just eat a normal amount and not be fat? I'll take the reasonable portion sizes. Overeating really doesn't feel good anyway.

There are many other reasons people eat besides hunger:

Visual cues (cooking shows, food advertisements)

Emotional cues (feeling sad, lonely, stressed or bored)

Olfactory cues (smelling freshly baked bread)

Social cues (Sunday family dinners, sharing restaurant meals with friends)

It's of course nearly impossible to eliminate these entirely, but limiting their influence can make a big difference.

By the way, applying these same concepts to alcohol could be life changing too. I used to drink primarily out of social pressures, boredom, habit, and insecurities. Now I drink primarily to enrich experiences with awesome people. It doesn't mean I don't drink here and there for the old reasons, but it's now the exception to the rule.

Here are other strategies I utilize to control my eating:

Make a conscious effort to eat slower

Eating fast is one of the most counterproductive habits to weight management. It often takes your body 10-20 minutes to release the satiety signal. Wait at least 10 minutes before going back for seconds. You'll see a lot of the time you don't actually need it.

Put your fork down here and there in between bites

Before you freak out, I don't actually do this every bite. But I keep the concept floating around my head, and as a result I find myself doing it here and there.

Chew 10-20x per bite

Again, I'm not a psychopath - I don't actually do this all the time and count every single chew. But I keep the concept in mind.

Drink water before and during every meal

I never sit down for a meal without a glass of water, and I try to drink one before my meals as well. A lot of the time people mistake thirst cues for that of hunger, contributing to overeating.

Commit to implementing a few of these strategies this week, and watch the body fat start to melt. Let me know how it goes.

Stay well,

Hal the Health Coach