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Weight loss chat

A space to talk openly about weight loss journeys and challenges. Mumsnet hasn't checked the qualifications of anyone posting here. You may wish to speak to a medical professional before starting any diet.

Has anyone lost weight doing intuitive eating?

13 replies

Namechange596 · 06/06/2023 22:37

So I need to lose a stone and half and am wanting to ditch the scales and counting calories as it's just soul destroying for me.
Problem is I love takeaways and cake, chocolate etc.
I'm considering intuitive eating, recognizing when I'm hungry, stopping when I'm full etc but still be able to eat what I want and when I want.
Can you actually lose any weight doing this?

OP posts:
Tiredanddistracted · 08/06/2023 07:00

Yes, I have but its a long old process. I gained weight at first because there's a kind of wall you have to break through before it clicks. The programme encourages you to eat whatever you feel you want on whatever quantities you want at the start, essentially to remove the power from foods you crave. So, if you crave doughnuts, you eat doughnuts whenever the craving arises and eventually they lose their power over you and a doughnut is just a doughnut. I put on around 8 lbs but then, magically, did stop craving foods in the mad bingey way I was before. I lost around half a lb to a lb a week in the end.

Then, my life went tits up and I stopped caring and started binging again. Put it all back on. I'm following a sort of relaxed SW now and it's coming off again.

I'm happy with what I'm doing at the mo, but will definitely adopt IE when I've reached a healthy weight, in order to maintain. I honestly felt great and all the internal food chatter just stopped.

bellac11 · 08/06/2023 07:05

I put on 10 stone with 'intuitive eating'!!!!

Just track what you eat for goodness sake, all these gimmicks, just make sure your intake is less than you burn off

BigButtons · 08/06/2023 07:06

I keep my weight steady by doing this. It’s how I have always eaten though. Sometimes this means I hardly eat because I am not hungry. Other days I seem to be hungry all day. If I get in from work early and am really hungry I will eat until I full. This might well mean I don’t want any dinner later and maybe just a snack.
however, I like healthy fresh food. Don’t like sweet stuff and hardly have takeaways.
also full for me means just enough. I hate the feeling of being ‘stuffed’ so will always stop and let my brain and body catch up with each other.

ScottishBeth · 08/06/2023 09:02

Corinne Crabtree teaches a form of intuitive eating. I've been mostly following what she says, and have lost 10kg since 31st December. I think the problem with intuitive eating, as with any other weight loss method, is that it's easy to put it all back on. But with Corinne's method you engage with the emotional stuff going on as well.

I'm not too many kg away from my goal now, and starting to think how I can take this forwards long term. I do recommend googling her to see what you think. (She has a paid for program, but she also has a free course and podcasts. I haven't given her any money.)

Dolphinnoises · 08/06/2023 09:05

How often do you have takeaways? To be honest you could probably just decide to knock those on the head and lose your stone and a half without doing anything else…

WeightInLine · 08/06/2023 09:08

Eating when you are hungry is not a diet. It’s how lots of us got fat in the first place.

I was hungry when cold, hungry when bored, hungry when studying etc. Real, actual, not made up, hunger.

Agree with a previous poster, track everything.

BigButtons · 08/06/2023 12:22

Yeah- it depends WHY you eat. I never eat anything when I a stressed etc. so I can eat just when I am hungry. If I am not hungry I can’t eat- I can’t make myself eat food that my body doesn’t want.
however, if you are a stress/ boredom eater then I doubt intuitive eating would work.

TheNyx · 08/06/2023 12:59

I didn't realise there was a name for this but it's pretty much how I've always eaten and I've always been a size 8.

If I don't feel hungry at 'lunch time' I just skip it until I do and if I feel like a couple of biscuits or some chocolate that's what I have

Like this morning all I've eaten is a couple of skittles and lots of water but I'm about to make myself a teriyaki rice bowl

I just don't think in terms of set meal times and trust that my body probably knows what it needs and when it needs it

Gonksmum · 08/06/2023 13:09

I have lost a stone to 1.5 stone on about 3 occasions this this method (I use Paul McKenna's I can make you thin). It does work but you must be 100% mindful and eat slowly, stop when you're full etc. It is quite difficult to get the right "zone" at first. Worth a try. I lost about 1/2 lb a week, so pretty slow going.

Gonksmum · 08/06/2023 13:12

Yes, @TheNyx above has hit the nail on the head. IE doesn't really work with strict, set mealtimes, so you need to have a bit of leeway there to wait until you're properly hungry.

Gettingbysomehow · 08/06/2023 13:16

That didn't do anything for me so I went on a no processed food diet, that's no processed food whatsoever. I don't eat any meat either, very occasional fish. All carbs must be wholemeal, no bread and no added salt at all plus no sugar. I've lost loads of weight on it because you can only eat so much before feeling full and bored. You just eat until you stop feeling hungry. It really works for me and I've been overweight for 40 years.

Gettingbysomehow · 08/06/2023 13:17

There are lots of interesting meal ideas on youtube.

maidmarianne · 08/06/2023 15:01

This is a large part of the Paul McKenna Thin programme. He encourages you never to get too hungry and to stop before you're too full. But the hypnotherapy bit also tries to convince you to eat more healthily!
My husband lost quite a lot of weight doing this, I found it harder but it was definitely better than when not trying to follow it

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