To wonder why people don’t seem to know about intuitive eating?

[sunshineonmywindow20]

I keep reading the plentiful diet/weight loss threads on Mumsnet - a range of approaches come up - low carb, fasting, calorie counting, WW, slimming world etc

But no one ever mentions intuitive eating, and I wonder why? I’ve been on numerous diets and for me it’s BY FAR the best way I’ve found to reconnect with my body, improve my relationship with food and -yes - lose weight.

I guess it isn’t always explicitly directed/marketed as a diet/weight loss tool, but for me that’s why it’s so good! It’s about enjoying food more (!) and moving towards your natural set weight, which might not be skinny, but for many people will mean they lose weight by eating in tune with their bodies (eating when hungry, eating slowly/mindfully, stopping when full).

But there are no banned foods, no rules beyond the above, it’s a happy process that encourages self acceptance and a healthy, life long change. Books wise there is a wide range - Susie Orbach, Paul McKenna, Beyond Chocolate, many more.

Diets are scientifically proven not to work long term and trap people into a cycle of misery... AIBU to recommend this to others looking to change their relationship with food? I promise I am not connected to it commercially or otherwise in any way

I don't think there is anything intuitive about eating.

Eating has aways been (for millennia, for sure) a social and a ritualised practice. People do not eat food just for bodily sustenance. Eating is an activity that helps people build bonds, maintain social order and reaffirm life beliefs. It is highly ritualised and regulated - growing food in particular ways, cooking it in particular ways, allowed foods / forbidden foods, setting the table, seating, the order of courses, how much to eat, interacting with others, clearing up afterwards, etc, etc. There is nothing intuitive about any of this. It is a culturally learnt practice. Children are taught what to eat and how to eat it. Knowing and engaging in appropriate food-related practices makes one an insider to a particular culture.

Sticking to the appropriate rituals also helps regulate food consumption and ensure that nobody eats too much or too little, or too much of the wrong thing. I do encourage my children to clear their plates. I give them modest amounts of decent food and expect them to eat it as I am not faffing about finding them snacks when they are starving before the next mealtime comes round. I don't want to waste my energy thinking about and procuring healthy snacks in addition to making actual breakfast, lunch and dinner, and I am not having them fill up on junk.

I would be pretty annoyed if my husband or children declared at dinner time that they "were not hungry" because they snacked on oatcakes or bananas throughout the day. What's the point of actually cooking dinner if you never know who is going to eat it? It's like being on a zero-hour contract in your own kitchen. Food waste would be phenomenal. So everybody gets to eat at prescribed times. And there is nothing wrong with feeling hungry for a couple of hours while you are waiting for that time.

The problem is not with forcing people to stick to three meals a day (only a minority will have a genuine problem with this), but with the structure of our modern lives and work that breaks down the functioning food rituals. It's shit when people don't get enough time for lunch during the day or have to eat at their desks, or when people do not have the time, energy, money, space and skills to cook on a daily basis and also cannot access decent food in through communal food outlets. And of course on top of this we have corporations that are very motivated to addict as many people as possible to cheap processed fodder because it is highly profitable.

Food is political. Yes, we do have to do our best to take individual responsibility for what we eat, but we cannot discount the broader conditions of our lives. Get angry. Do your best to fight for a better life as opposed to constantly feeling guilty that your "intuition" is to fill up on crisps and biscuits.

YANBU to recommend it people when a related topic comes up, as long as you're willing to drop it when asked. I'd also recommend that in discussions, the learning period gets more attention than enjoying food more and no banned foods.

Part of the issue I find with a lot of talk around "intuitive" eating is that the body, including the brain, changes and responds to the environment all the time. Pattern recognition has as much to do with, maybe even more, than body signals. Someone who has had a lot of food insecurity and is used to being hungry can sometimes go all day or more without their hunger being enough to notice, it can takes a while to relearn that and not end up really ill from just winging it and on the flip side, it can also be important to learn that it is okay to be hungry for a bit, much like it's okay to be bored for bit.

Pretty much all the people I've heard - whether it's weight loss, weight gain, or calorie maintenance, is that there is time period where one should be documenting and finding out what you're eating, seeing what those foods are calorically worth and how it feels. Even in weight gain where this time popularly called "going all in", learning and trialing out new habits is part of is a big part of it and once comfortable then it's ""intuitive". It's also important to recognize that there are still times when may slip into old habits that can be watched for and many people find it emotionally pretty difficult to go through this. It doesn't help anyone to pretend that because there are no rules that it's somehow going to automatically be easier. For some, it's far more of a rollercoaster than any diet will ever be.