How to Know if You’re ACTUALLY Hungry PLUS is a Intuitive Eating Just for Thin People?
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- Опубликовано: 24 июл 2024
- Welcome back to our series: Enlightened by Intuitive Eating. In our last video, we discussed Principle 1 of Intuitive Eating: Ditch the Diet Mentality. If you haven’t watch that video, go check it out by clicking here: • How to Reject the Diet... and then come back to watch this one! Todays video has been reviewed and edited by my amazing colleague Alissa Rumsey who is an intuitive eating dietitian. Here’s how you can contact her:
Alissa Rumsey Contact Information:
Website: alissarumsey.com/
IG: / alissarumseyrd
In today’s video, we’ll be discussing Principle 2: Honour Your Hunger.
Blog Links:
alissarumsey.com/intuitive-ea...
www.rachaelhartleynutrition.com/
Research Links:
www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2...
Check out my blog for healthy recipes, parenting tips and tricks and busting nutrition myths and diets: www.abbeyskitchen.com
Video Content By: Katey Davidson, MScFN, RD, tasteofnutrition.com/
I'm forever thankful that I found this channel in the midst of ED recovery.
Rayne B 🙏🏼💜
Rayne Baker, me too!!! So many channels that are incredibly toxic to someone struggling with or recovering from an E.D. Abbey's channel is such a breath of fresh air and actually helps (rather than hinders) my road to wellness and recovery!
Same!!
Im so thankful i found this channel on the brink of developing an ed
You go girl!!!! 💚👏🏽👏🏽
This video may have just changed my life. Nothing else spoke to me the way these tips did so far. And I am a long time struggler.
I highly recommend the book. I am about halfway through it. Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole and Elyse Resch.
After seven months has your life changed in any way?
Yeah, one of the wildest things I've been finding in ED recovery is how much my hunger varies from day to day. Before I was always trying to eat as little as possible and calorie counting to make sure I stayed at or under a set amount. Now that I'm not counting anymore and finally got my hunger cues back to where I can hear them, some days I need a lot of food/am really hungry, and other days I just want less. Same with meal to meal. It varies so much depending on how I feel, what I did that day, etc. After living through this part of the process over the last year it feels wild to me that I used to think I needed only a very specific amount of food day in and day out in a never-changing formula.
Annie Bellet so glad you’re finding your hunger cues again!
Did you find that when you stopped counting calories you ate less in your ed recovery? Ik am weight restored for 2 years but keep on getting fat maybe because wim still counting restricting if i binged yesterday and working out but im eating way too much.
I am struggling so badly with this. I’ve been eating somewhat normally for a year now, but I can’t stop counting calories and relapsed a few months ago. I’m down to 1400 or so calories and I hate that I know that number. I hate that I’m terrified to go over it. I hate that intuitive eating isn’t helping me because I also have hypoglycemia from being anorexic for so long that I don’t know what my hunger feels like anymore.
"alcohol quiets the hunger cues." whoo, not on my nights out girl. When I'm drunk it's "PIZZA, PIZZA, PIZZA."
Jill Kealling alcohol is funny like that. it loosen inhibitions but also can quiet legit hunger cues
I usually OVEREAT when I’m drunk 😂. Then I feel sick next day 💀
@@catalinaunda7337 Same. I doubt it dampens hunger cues honestly but haven't read the data, so.
The day after I'm always so freaking hungry!
Right?! I always get the drunchies and feel like I'm starving when I'm drinking lol
hmm what about if you can acknowledge your body is physically hungry: growling stomach, haven't eaten in a while, etc..... but you mentally don't feel like eating. Not sure if this makes sense, but it happens occasionally to me. I will still try to eat something but typically nothing sounds good and it feels more like a bother and I'm not enjoying the food.
Alexis B totally makes sense to me! I still struggle with that even after having learned to recognize my hunger cues like Abby talked about.
Sounds like me when I'm depressed or struggling with executive dysfunction.
That’s so me!!!!:(
I feel the same way, and when I do I typically can't stand the smell of food and whenever I try to eat it feels so un enjoyable to me that I just can't do it and I will go 3 to 5 days eating sometimes nothing or just enough to get by. Then it will suddenly go away and I will get hungry and eat regularly again, and my mom is exactly the same way
This is me alot lately! I find the only thing that sounds edible, not fantastic but somewhat appetizing is fast food....
Can I mention again how glad I am that you're doing this series? I watch a video a week and work on the homework and is SO much easier with my ADD than reading the book. When something resonates with me, I dig into the book and I can stay focused but for initial learning, this is wonderful. Thank you.
When I struggle with hunger the most is the week or two leading up to my period. I become RAVENOUS. Are there adjustments I can make during that time that might help so that I’m not just out of control stuffing myself all day? Hormones are a beast.
great question! i may do a whole vid on this
Same, I just end up gaining the weight I just burned off. :(
I crave carbs and chocolates or just sugar in general and eat waaaay more than I normally do when I'm close to my period
i also happened to suffer this but not so much, what i do is cooking healthy desserts, and believe me they are as delicious as the normal ones or even more, also i try to eat a lot of veggies since they make you feel full for longer, and i drink a lot of green tea cuz i like and its also calm my hunger.
I call this a 'bottomless pit' day! Its mostly a craving for Bread or Ice Cream.
question: how to eat intuitively if you’re on a budget or have little time to think about preparing food?
Judy C great question! This may be a reader question coming soon
Buy the cheapest price fruits/veg and grains you can find around your area and prepare for the week, snack on fruits or vege sticks if your body feels the need to eat.
I love frozen vegetables, i steam a bunch for the week. Some are really good i don't even need any seasoning.
Meal prep and freeze! Have room in your grocery budget to get a little extra of the ingredients you need so you can make extra servings of whatever you plan to eat that week. After a month or two, you'll build up several freezer meals that you can grab and reheat easily. If you store a serving in a quart freezer bag, you can put the entire bag in a pot of simmering water to thaw and reheat in about 10 minutes
the frozen, canned, and bulk sections are your friends.
I've struggled with following the idea of 'listening to my hunger' because it seems to appear and disappear at random times. I'll eat a meal, feel satiated, and when I try to gauge my hunger shortly after I find that thinking about food and hunger just gives me actual hunger pangs. Not stomach growling, but a very similar sensation. If I don't give in to them I might feel fine a little later, but thinking so actively about hunger just makes me...well, hungry.
I definitely have experienced that! I'm not an expert but I think maybe having a diary that uses that scale she talked about. Write down the number and put it away? I'm not sure if that would be helpful for you, but this is something I might try soon..
Maybe think about your "check-in" times throughout the day. For example, I've been checking in with my hunger at breakfast, lunch, and dinner (and I normally want a snack in the afternoon, so I check in again around 2:30-3:00) or whatever suits your schedule. How hungry I am at the check in decides how much/what I eat. That way, I can focus on something else outside of meal times because I know a "check-in" time is coming up, and I have options available.
You are the first expert I've come across that makes me feel informed vs ashamed. I am starting to feel like health is possible and not an insurmountable task. Thank you ❤️.
Thank you so much for all your educational content. I had anorexia/binge eating when I was a teenager. Im 24 now and I struggled to have an healthy relationship with food. Your videos really helped me to stop feeling guilty and insane around food. Now, even my husband tell me : what Abbey would say about that, when I fat shame myself. I hope you know how much of a difference you are making in some people life. (Sorry for my english im a Quebecer 😂)
myriam L I’m so glad this is helping 🙏🏼
She is helping me a lot too - she is amazing! - Love these videos Abbey - cant wait for more to come. :)
Wear an awesome husband!
Intuitive eating seems to have many of the central tenets of meditation, which is mindfulness, recognising and becoming aware of your thoughts (or hunger signs), and moving on. It's an interesting philosophy of eating and living. Our bodies can be pretty amazing machines when we let it do what it wants
I would love to see you look at some content from say prior to 1945 to see some of the ways eating has changed and what things we can learn from eaters in the past, what we’ve changed for the better or worse
*also PS thank you thank you for mentioning pcos!! My hunger and fullness have definitely evened out since I’ve started treating my pcos
Leah Sauter I am sooooo glad!
Very good idea
I love that idea!
My mother (born 1954) told me that her grandmother (born 1890) would make a big breakfast every day - oatmeal with milk and prunes, toast and butter, eggs, sausages, coffee, and a small juice. My mother thought it was miraculous that she wasn't overweight. Now that I reflect on it, she probably was hungriest in the morning and just gave herself permission to eat naturally. And being so satiated in the morning likely meant some natural balance at lunch and dinner. For contrast, my mother would eat half a slice of dry toast, be hungry, and eat a lot later. In fact, I was also encouraged to shrink all my meals because it was all about low fat and low calories.
I wish I had grown up intuitively eating. I doubt I'd have so many problems with over- and undereating today. I struggle so much with tapping into my hunger. I don't eat when I'm stressed. I eat too much when I'm bored. My portions run from too big to too small. I've improved over the years, but damn, it's a struggle.
abcw that’s incredibly insightful! If you look at Sears catalogs from the era your great-grandmother grew up on you see much less weight stigma. The women’s dresses were categorized as “petite” or “stout” as well as what we would now call “straight sizes” and the category of “stout” wasn’t hidden or visually stigmatized.
But also prior to 1945 they had the great depression era, also army rations in WWII time and after, where they ate canned goods with high sodium, it depends on a whole bunch of stuff that isn't even tied to eating but also economical factors and availability.
I am so glad I found your channel. I thought my relationship with food was really healthy but in reality I had a lot of disordered eating patterns. You’ve already helped me sooo much. 💓
I am so happy you're doing this series!!!!! You cover things so well and completely. I have been on this journey for two years now. The first year I spent about two months eating whatever I wanted and my only rules were to not feel guilty and to not eat in secret. From there I heard about intuitive eating and began practicing checking in on my hunger and fullness. It wasn't until the second year that I have begun to shed some excess weight and feel a lot more natural with food and eating. I feel like I still have much to learn, and I need more practice to fully employ this new way of relating with food, and to avoid slipping into my old patterns of thinking and behaving. Best wishes to everyone else on your journeys!
I absolutely love your videos, i think it’s amazing how you spread such positive body image messages and give helpful tips to anyone struggling with food related issues!
I've recently realized how much sugar I was eating. Between my coffee, yogurt, and granola bar I'd had over 3 times the daily recommended amount of added sugar. How do you cut back on added sugar without feeling the issues around food scarcity? I'm full, but can't stop thinking about candy.
I’m not an expert, but anecdotally I was pretty addicted to sweets. In order to get over that I replaced added sugar with fruit. In the begging I ate a lot of fruit haha but eventually my body kicked the habit and now I can eat intuitively without those cravings. Sometimes you have create healthy habits before the intuitive eating kicks in. It may not work for you but it’s just a suggestion.
Kathryn Kleiner find the thing that’s satisfying, but that is not too high in sugar. For example I almost always have a couple squares of my favorite dark chocolate after dinner or as an afternoon snack. Having a sweet thing that’s already portioned out into something that I know is satisfying for me is really helpful. For example I know that I’ll almost always feel satisfied on a couple pieces of chocolate or (I know I’m an old lady) boiled sweets or licorice. I also definitely make sure to keep a mental tally of how much sugar I’ve eaten (though to be fair I keep a much closer watch on sugar than some people need to because I have pcos) it’s often really easy to get way more sugar than you’d ever serve yourself through some processed foods, even ones that are otherwise pretty nutrient dense.
I've been there. What works for me might not work for you, but I wish you luck on your journey 🙂.
I love all these ideas! Sometimes those foods you mentioned, we don’t even realize are sweet so psychologically they don’t fill that void and we don’t feel like we had our treat. I would maybe slowly try to cut back on sweetener in your coffee and yogurt and instead allow yourself a planned treat (actual piece of candy or chocolate as some
Ppl suggested). The treat will fill the desire and cutting back in the coffee will reset your sugar sensitization. When I stopped using Splenda in my coffee, all of a sudden a lot of my desires for sweet things went away.
@@AbbeysKitchen I had a starbucks latte and never realized how much sugar they crammed in! Since then I've been avoiding them and making my own and noticed if I avoid the massive sugar spike in the morning I don't crave it as much in the evening. Thanks for responding!
Honestly love these videos. They are really helping me with realising that how im eating is okay and there is nothing wrong with me as a person. Hope you know you are helping young girls and boys with their view on food
Athena I’m so happy to hear this
The scarcity thing is so so true. My body freaks out if I think I'm going to be stuck somewhere without food even though I'm largely overweight.
Abbey! You would create an amazing podcast that I would most definitely listen to.
I can't thank you enough for this series! Writing down notes after my breakfast as we speak :)
Caroline ❤️🙏🏼
This tips were amazing . I’m on the end part of my weight loss journey and im finding that listening to my body is working fine at the moment .
feebeci glad to hear that!
that sweater is so cute, seriously all colors look good on you!
Kx thanks!
This series is so so so helpful and informative! It really helps me a lot on dealing with my relationship with food step by step. Thanks for the efforts you put into these videos Abbey. Please keep nourishing us with knowledge and quality contents. 😍
This is SO well done! Thank you for leading me out of the diet culture trap! Please keep these videos up forever!! ❤️👏🏻
Only in the first 3 minutes and you’re speaking right to me girl! You have no idea how much this helps me and probably helps so many others even MORE. Lovin’ it per usual. 💜
im so so glad
cant tel you how much i love both your channel and these series! thank you abbey! seriously
Chelsea Louise thank you 🙏🏼❤️
This is a great, easy to understand, and very informative video, Abbey. I read IE over the summer and have been trying to relearn behaviors since. It was very eye-opening when I realized I was still bingeing/overeating because I was mentally restricting by still labeling and condemning my food choices. Thanks you!
Jennifer 🙏🏼❤️
My favorite thing that intuitive eating gave me was permission to say no. I didnt have to eat the whole meal. I could put it down and come back to it later if i want more. I'm allowed to throw away leftovers if I'm not going to enjoy eating them. Also I was on vacation and my mom made this delicious dessert called "apple salad" and its really not that bad for you. But my mom (who is constantly dieting) had multiple servings every day because "shes on vacation and the diet startd in monday" but i had the freedom to say no and decide if i really wanted it or not because i can eat like I'm on vacation any time. And as a result i ate dessert significantly less. The freedom to say no was so important for me.
I love this Intuitive Eating series! Thanks for all the hard work you put into it!
I love that you are going through the principles!! I love intuitive eating and I’m actually taking Evelyn’s teleseminar on Intuitive Eating in the spring and I’m so excited!
Vanessa Servellon 🙌🏼🙌🏼
I've been feeling hungry because I had an early light dinner. I was considering eating some chips, but realized that I would just feel hungry again in a half hour. Used the advice in another video to put together a soft taco. Loaded it with shredded pork, pinto beans, spanish rice, guac, sourcream, cheese, salsa, and lettuce. I feel so much more satisfied than if I'd just had carbs.
Over time, I've learned to suppress anxiety physiological signs replacing them with hunger cues. I now tend to overeat when stressed so to numb the feeling. Trying to re-learn how to listen to my body whether it be comfortable or not. This series is helping me address that, thank you 🙏
I'm new to your channel and I love your content, it's so comprehensive and informational. I have maintained a 50 lb weight loss for over 20 years, I am always looking for common-sense strategies for a healthy lifestyle. Learning when I'm actually hungry and when I'm satisfied was one of the most difficult parts of my journey, in addition to dealing with cultural and family expectations at holiday meals. I love to bake and cook, revising my recipes was easy.
Add to that I have Celiac and Crohn's and my situation is a bit complex (being in the throes of Menopause doesn't help either....). I am very happy to have found your channel.
You were singing my life with your words! I was the person who chronically overate while feeling like I was constantly monitoring my intake and never eating as much as I wanted. Switching to high protein, low sugar snacks fixed this for me. So liberating to get past my food fixation!
For me I think it’s a deep rooted issue from the past that we always HAD to empty our plate because we should be grateful we have food, as there are starving people in the world. Now I’m a little more educated and I’m trying to learn to listen to my body, my brain is telling me that not finishing food and wasting food is bad.
Note: I do know reducing initial portion size counts. When I’m making food at home I do this, but I’m talking about when I go for dinner at someone else’s, or when eating at a restaurant.
ItsonlyNatalie totally!!
I'm with you! I've been giving myself slightly smaller portions. It's still so difficult to leave anything on my plate. I recently have been doing what Abbey says about noticing how my body feels after eating and filing the info for the next time I serve myself. I've slightly reduced my starting portions again which is a huge step for me to not instantly feel deprived when I look at a "small" (aka normal) portion. I remind myself how full and satisfied I was the day before with that amount and give myself permission to get seconds if I decide I'm truly still hungry after I finish.
Yess. It's so hard for me to not finish the last couple of bites even when I'm no longer hungry.
I got fed up of feeling guilty about wasting food because I don’t want to make too little and still be hungry either... so I’ve started eating until I’m full, and then if I have a small amount of food left on my plate (even if it’s just a couple of bites), I put it in a tiny pot in the fridge and have it as a snack! That way I don’t have the guilt of wasting food, and I have some super satisfying snacks in the fridge. It works really well for me :)
I always had to finish my plate because my parents would push on me that other people are starving and whenever others couldn’t finish their plates they just gave the food to me. Now I can’t feel satisfied from a meal unless my plate is clean without thinking of the food that I didn’t eat.
Glad I am going into 2021 with your channel, this year will be my year for true growth
I absolutely love your channel so much!! Thank you for teaching me about intuitive eating❤️🥘🥙
Thank you so much for answering my question Abbey!
Love you abbey!!!! Always such informative videos. You help me so much go through my recovery:)
Debbie Garces I’m so glad to hear 🙏🏼
The problem with a dieting mindset is that when I feel hungry, I am less likely to eat because I have obtained the hungry feeling and it feels like an accomplishment...
Yes that’s like what an eating disorder is
TW: eating disorders
I'm recovering from anorexia with bulimia (all my life I was binge eating, but then depression took a turn and made me not eat and then I'd "fail" and binge which then turned into bulimia (at worst times I'd purge everything I eat and would only have a massive meal a day or week))
Your videos have helped me so much to stop seeing food as bad. In fact I've just had a Mexican rice bowl with chicken (rice, oil, chicken used to be big no no's) and a snickers simply because my body needed some sugar and I wanted the emotional satisfaction of having a snickers
I check in with my body about six times a day (I plan to eat 300 calories at a time as it seems the perfect amount at most times. But sometimes I just go by feeling. Counting is just to monitor because I had no concept of how much people are supposed to eat) and make sure I'm fine and neither feel sick in terms of too full not sick in terms of too hungry. So far it has been the best option for me and I'm glad that I no longer freak out whenever I eat more than 500-800 kcal a day (and then say 'fuck it' and binge/purge)
My diet isn't anywhere near "perfect" or super duper healthy but I do make sure to eat what I need and what I want and it left me feeling better than ever in my life. Obviously it took me years to even listen because I used my disordered eating as a coping mechanism to a point where I felt it was a huge part of who I am and didn't want to get better.
But hey, better late than never (I'm 19)
I don't have an eating disorder, but my roommate does and it's starting to affect me. I feel guilty for eating certain foods, and she's so skinny but calls herself fat all the time (when I'm bigger than she is). Thanks for your help and support Abbey!
I'm glad to see you speak against mindless and distracted eating! I'm seeing more and more people (on IG mostly) defend eating for any reason.
I relate to this. I use to have anorexia and completely ignored when I was hungry---eventually, I just lost my hunger and im trying to get it back by eating consistently throughout the day
I read Intuitive Eating for the first time about 10 years ago, and I do often turn it into the honor your hunger diet. So hard to break those diet thoughts!
I love this series. Thank you. I've struggled with disordered eating my whole life and rough digestive problems as well as food scarcity due to economic reasons. I'm starting to heal my food trauma. Right now I'm alone but these videos help. One day I will have access to professionals who can help me sort through.
I'm glad you specified that this is not for everyone. But also good quality is important - this is easier to do with whole foods and really difficult with processed foods.
Hoodaman Joodaman it can be! And we will get yo that when we get to gentle nutrition
I’m looking forward to this series. My relationship with food has gotten quite strained because I suffer from constant stomach aches and bathroom problems. I don’t really trust my regular dr to help, and I know a lot of foods that my system doesn’t seem to digest well. I just get down about it because it can be so easy be stressed about eating.
The fullness/satisfaction thing makes so much sense to me... one of my favorite breakfasts is oatmeal made mashed banana, a teaspoon of peanut butter, some cocoa powder and a scoop of protein powder mixed in. It's filling because of the fiber, protein and fat and it's also so satisfying because it's sweet and chocolatey and delicious. And the fact that it's filling makes it even more satisfying. Definitely sets me up for a great day.
Long-winded comment on it’s way:
*trigger warning* ED and weight talk
I have a history of calorie-restriction and obsessive over-eating. After having my second baby, weight loss had become next to impossible. Calorie-restriction was no longer providing the results I was used to, and I really am tired of it anyway. It seems unhealthy. Now you’ve come into my life, and I’m realizing there might be a different way to feel healthier and lose my obsession over calories and restriction.
I’ve made my way through a ton of your videos, and this video was my subscription point. Intuitive eating didn’t seem possible for me, but I’ve heard you mention your struggles in the past, and I want to get away from negative self talk. Intuitive Eating seemed too ‘out there’ and impossible before now. What if my intuition is to overeat? If left to my own devices, I gain weight! However... This video comforted me. I need to listen to my body’s cravings. Find out what it’s asking for. We eat generally very nutritious at home. Maybe if I’m craving sweet, I need to consider getting more rest and enjoy a little treat combined with something with fiber and protein?
I’m sure my language around food is still a little self-judgy, and I’m hoping to replace it with neutral language.
I love food, and I want my relationship with food to be based around that.
Anyway. Long paragraph to thank you for your content. It’s helping a lot of people, even if we don’t all comment.
I can never tell if I'm hungry before or after eating, I only feel it when I'm either sick full (10) or starving (1). Do you have any advice for the cueless?
Have regular meal times (breakfast, lunch, dinner ++) so you know you eat enough at least! It can also «train» the body to be hungry at those times!
When i’m so hungry i’m sick I drink water and have something dry or a snack before i prepare an actual meal so that i’m not sick while eating! When I eat the meal, to avoid being too full and sick I eat a bit slower and fill my plate as I go. Snacking throughout the day also helps to avoid overeating when dinner time comes. She says a few of these things in her video, but noticed them myself too!
@@wronglayerbutok I have the 1/ 10 issue as well, unfortunately I don’t noticed when I’m hitting 3,2,1 and just don’t eat and then at the end of the day or the next day I have a head ache and think crap I need to eat so I start eating and can’t stop, like I will stop, but keep ending up eating something else feeling unsatisfied even though now I’m on the opposite end of the scale and feel sick from filling myself with way too much.
I know having regular meal times is important and often will nail one meal and then forget about the rest because that one meal made me feel full enough especially if it’s a good abbey approved meal then you can count on me forgetting to eat the rest of the day 😫I can’t seem to keep it consistent enough which it the key 😂
I love that series so much!
currently.blossoming thank you 🙏🏼
When you talked about "moving from a place of scarcity to a place of abundance" that hit a different sort of note with me, because I've been in a place where it's "this pack of frozen burritos is what there is until payday - if I'm still hungry after I've eaten, that's just how it'll have to be."
And to add to your 5 reasons you may not feel hunger, I'll propose #6:
You forget you have a body that has physical needs 😆
I've got ADHD, and when you get into that hyperfocus ... 8 hours go by and you suddenly realize "wait, I have to pee!" and all of the sudden your brain notices your leg is too asleep to stand up, you've been leaning over at an awkward angle and you don't know if you can straighten your back, and you're *STARVING*!
Mindless eating is my downfall ahahaha. Thank you for discussing this! You are helping me to get out of a place of disordered eating!
For someone that struggles to physically feel hungry, this was so helpful. Thank you, I never usually have breakfast because it makes me feel off but will be trying from now on 💖
Eden Smith give it a try w something light like fruit and yogurt or a piece of toast
Really resonate with the fullness and satisfaction distinctions. Yes to both! I've finally got a handle on bingeing and restricting and have stabilized my weight and really enjoy exercise for the way it feels. The other day I woke up genuinely tired. Instead of getting my work out clothes, I slept. The next day I felt great and worked out. It was a watershed experience. I now check in. Most of the time I want to move IF I got a good night's sleep and ate enough.
As someone who competitively ate before; dont do it, or you'll be watching this video again one day.
Austin Shown 👌🏼👌🏼
Thank you for the warning. Best wishes to you.
Yes bingeing and restricting is indeed also prevalent in a lot of *competitive* sports or sports where there are weight categories; boxing, horse racing (jockeys), bodybuilding, sumo wrestling (mostly bingeing), ...
@Abbey Sharp, I need to THANK YOU for this series. I had no idea that I was subconsciously holding the belief that “hunger is bad!” This video helped me realize it, and I recently started implementing the tips you provide about actually being present with my food, by sitting at a table as much as possible. I also realized that my body actually prefers to eat smaller meals every 3ish hours, rather than large, spaced-out meals. This has been a game changer, as I was constantly experiencing sharp drops in energy in the afternoon everyday around 2pm. Now that I am eating more frequently, I actually feel steady energy throughout the day, am more motivated to be consistent with my workouts, AND my body is actually craving whole food, balanced meals! I'm amazed at how effective these principles are. Thank you for taking the time to share them, and to help us all heal our relationship with food.
I struggled a lot with anorexia and binge eating growing up. When I met my now husband, he didn't really understand why I'd eat triple the amount he ate at dinner. I didn't either. It made me feel so ugly to eat more than my then boyfriend (which is a problem in itself). When we went to college, he started noticing my eating habits more and then implemented a rule that I had to eat at least two meals a day. What counted as a meal was based on his palette (meat and potatoes) and we had to work on me eating what I wanted to. It's because of him that I now eat when I hungry, that I can actually recognize when I'm hungry. As I started to miss those two meals, I realized that I was hungry ALL THE TIME. I'd eat anything I could get my hands on. Thankfully, I've sort of balanced out after two years. Some days I only eat once (pretty normal for a college kids) and some days I eat three or four times. But I am back in control of my body and know what to do when I'm hungry. Now, I am trying to get myself to eat when it's not what I'm craving.
If my husband has food, I'll eat what he has. But if I don't want it, then I just won't eat at all. Everyone likes to call me picky, but it's because I view my eating times as precious. If I get to choose what I eat, I want something specific. Otherwise, I feel like eating is a waste of time. I am able to eat if I'm so hungry that I'm sick, but if I'm not then I just won't eat. Also, since I used to ignore my hunger cues, it's super easy to get back into that mentality and use really bad coping mechanisms to ignore the hunger. I'm proud of myself for being able to eat now, I'm definitely overweight and don't exercise, but I'm working on step at a time.
If someone is reading this and struggles to recover from disordered eating, try setting a meal count. Your body will get used to eating regularly and eventually you will too. I had to eat two meals a day that had a carb and fat at least. Protein was optional because that wasn't what I wanted. I had to explain to my husband that a salad bigger than my head is a meal with all the stuff I put on it. Eat enough of what you are craving for it to be a meal. If you get stressed and suddenly lose the ability to eat (I would get physically ill from consuming food when my stress levels were high), try light foods. Chicken soup is a great option, I'd eat a stupid amount of Cheerios too. Those would be the only thing I could stomach for days. I once went a month only eating various soups, but I was EATING. As long as you're eating an it's a meal for you (you should feel mentally AND physically satisfied). Also, don't feel shame for eating more than other people. Your body is hungry and you deserve to eat until you are full. :)
thank you so much for your thoughts
Looooove this series! Thank you 😊
TheAnielak yayy thanks
Been waiting for this one!
SaraSmilesandCreates 🙌🏼🙌🏼
counting calories actually helped me restore my hunger cues. i used to just eat the whole thing of whatever even if i was already full, like the "finishing the plate" mentality. i didn't enjoy food anymore. but counting calories (just making sure i eat a more or less portion sized plate) made me realise how little i actually felt hungry, so i stopped overeating. i became conscious of food and enjoyed the act of eating more. i didn't count macros or anything else, nor was i strict with calorie limits
Your videos are very informative and you broadcast the message very clearly. I feel like a real prof is talking (which is the case, btw), so I love your videos and love the science behind it! Really inspiring, and a great service to the community health
so glad!
Love this series sooo much ❤️❤️❤️
Just watched your restoring an adapted metabolism vid and am here now. I've been intermittently undereating the past 6+ years from severe stress and put my body in starvation mode so whenever I eat normally, my body grabs onto the excess calories, making me gain so much weight. As a result, I lost my appetite, had so little energy, and felt sick a lot with no "cause". I've really been focusing on increasing my calories, adding satiating foods to all of my meals and snacks, and listening as my hunger starts to come back (and my energy, too!)
Wow!! Thank you so much Abbey! I am new to this but I’m so inspired to go into dietetics as I find it fascinating. I’m not sure if you’ve already covered this but what about eating for emotional reasons/binge eating? I would be interested to learn about these topics in relation to eating. Perhaps why we eat if we’re not hungry and what we can do instead to help. Thanks again!! Keep up the great content :)
Mandy Song thanks! Stay tuned for more on this
So happy for this video! I sometimes wait until I am starving or getting dizzy until I eat. Also, not sure when I'm full. It often takes awhile, maybe an hour, to tell if I'm full.
I am definitely one of those people with a more nuanced experience with this! I have a lot of disordered eating thoughts, but work really hard to fight them. But at the same time, this results in kind of... overeating as kind of a rebellion against those thoughts and it's really frustrating. Whenever I try to eat healthier or become healthier through exercise, those thoughts just take over every aspect of those attempts - sometimes to the point of consuming every aspect of my life in which I attempt to care for my body! I feel like I'm constantly on the edge of an ED.
Your videos are amazing! Thank you so much for your help❤️
Such a helpful and insightful video x thank you ❤️
Very helpful. I absolutely love your channel, thank you! 🙏
Just a point that might help some with hearing your physical hunger cues: For me, I find that I'm not able to feel more subtle hunger in my stomach unless I drink a little water first. This allows me to physically feel if my stomach is empty or if there is something in it. Hope this helps! :)
Thank you for this. As a night shift nurse hunger cues and when/what to eat can be a challenge.
So helpful & informative thanks Abbey!!!!! 👏
Chrissy J ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
I think I wait till I'm irritated to eat sometimes because I don't trust myself this has really opened my eyes.
Then there's pregnancy fullness where I just stop eating because i'm nauseous and can't tell my fullness level!
Freckle Finance totally can relate
Lol. The worse was when I felt hungry but had no physical space in my body to put said food...
I was like that while I was breastfeeding.
Hails A Same! And now, when I breastfeed in the middle of the night, if I don’t eat, I can’t sleep I’m that hungry.
Hi Abbey 👋🏻 I recently found your channel and I love it. I've been vegan for 9.5 years and I really enjoy watching all of your videos and how positive you are about plant-based eating. And I love how food-positive you are in general. I'm not sure if you've been asked about this before, but can you do a video on Alyse Parker? She was "plant-based" on crazy restrictive diets for years and has recently started posting about switching to a "carnivore" diet. I was wondering what you had to say about her.
When I felt sick as a kid, my parents forced me to eat and also the doctor would recommend to eat to strenghten up.
Lately I've been trying to figure out why I'm so hungry. I always feel this weird sense of hunger even after I've eaten something. Then you mentioned the hypo thyroid problems, I didn't realize this could effect my hunger at all and this totally made sense. I fixed the problem by drinking a glass of water everytime I felt this weird hunger feeling, this really helped me figure out if I was starving or not.
Thanks for the intuitive eating videos, Abbey. I am training and want to build mussels. Now I have some stored fat that fuels the process, but later I would need to eat more calories that my weight maintaining rate. How intuitive eating works for those who wants to change their body shape. Yes, diet culture is evil to tell us that we need to want to lose weight. But body positivity is not better telling us that we cannot want to change our bodies and need to accept what we have no matter what. It feels less like acceptance and more like imprisonment. I am tired of society telling me what I should want to do with my body.
Людмила Левитина I totally understand. We all have the right to want to change our bodies and not feel judged about it.
I think a lot (not all) of my food relationship struggles comes from as a kid there was times there was not much food in the house due to poverty. I grew to love seeing full cabinets. I grew to love being miserably full. It gave me comfort when not always knowing when my next meal might be. Clearly im an adult now. My cabinets, fridge, pantry always has plenty of food. I really hope on retraining and learning.
Dear Abbey,
in which way can I deal with the craving for a food, that I can‘t eat out of health (auto-immune) reasons?
Greetings from Germany and thank you ❤️
are there ways to make it without the things that trigger your health issues? There's usually a lot of alternative recipes to be found online for a wide variety of foods :)
Great question! I think as we will see it often comes down to understanding how these foods make you feel. I’ll continue to cover this in upcoming eps
So good thank you. Data collection is where it's at.
Can I just say, you look so great in this video. I k ow totally random, but who doesn’t love. Compliment. There’s just something extra nice about this video.
I found the videos of Intuitive Eating today and I must say that it has come so naturally to me for the past years, I haven't even noticed. I remember talking to friends and telling them "wow, i'm craving tomatoes like crazy" (or any other vegetable, fruit or "healthy" food) and everyone looks at me as if I am crazy, because craving healthy things is not "cool" or what we are supposed to crave. We are supposed to crave "forbidden" things or "bad" things, because the binge-restrictive mentality of how we perceive food through capitalist market works that way.
Anywho, listen to your body and crave fucking lettuce (which I have been craving and eating for the past 3 days). Body is wise, body knows what's good.
I am on a long journey to eating intuitively and I haven't succeeded yet. Ever since I can remember having any perception of my body, I felt fat but I didn't get the need to do something about my weight until I was 20. Not that I would actively love or hate my body, I just didn't seem to care. But when I was 19 I rapidly gained weight due to stress and other psychological issues and that finally made me change my way of living. I didn't just want to quickly loose the weight, I actually aimed at changing my lifestyle, being more active, finding sports and activities I truly enjoyed and eating less sugary foods (I used to eat a LOT of chocolate...like 1 whole 100 gram package per day on average...). For about 8 months this worked well, I was slowly losing weight and overall I lost about 30kg and I felt way happier than ever. But I noticed at some point I started cutting back on food more and more to the point where I was eating barely anything. I basically starved myself without even noticing it. I would not eat breakfast, then at uni I would have something small for lunch (like cottage cheese with a tomato or just an apple...), and then I would eat nothing until I came home where I would usually grab a greek yoghurt with oats or some fruit. And to be honest I didn't even feel hunger anymore, it just disappeared. My "binge" days would mean that I actually had a full meal for lunch when I was out during lunchtime with friends, or eating at a family gathering. But I assume that even on those "binge days" I did not eat over the recommended amount of calories. When I noticed this I decided to start counting calories because I had trouble concentrating, which is bad when you're a double major university student and work at the same time :D, but I also didn't know how to nourish myself properly since I managed to absolutely destroy my hunger cues... Although I was really scared that I would gain all the lost weight back with eating more, it didn't really happen, I gained some weight but it seemed like mostly muscle mass since I was able to do sports and be more active overall once I had the energy to do so. So m life with calorie counting is nice, I can eat enjoyably yet I still have it under control. But whenever I am in a situation where I am not able to count calories, I always either overeat or I don't eat anything at all as I am so scared of it. When i do eat, I always binge so hard to the point where I am physically sick from the amount of food. I am absolutely unable to stop myself and I feel so out of control of my body. I actually once did the thing from Sex and the City where Miranda cannot stop eating a cake so she puts it in the garbage to finally stop herself, but then goes and takes some more from it....that was quite a breaking point :D So my point is that I just can't eat intuitively because I know it would ruin me but it is still a goal for me.
Thank you for being so informative and compassionate
I just found your channel and wow! I think all of your videos on honoring hunger cues and refraining from any sort of disordered eating (including dieting) are extremely helpful. I have been struggling with anorexia for 8 years now. I went and still go to a really large eating disorder program here in the states. I have been through the inpatient program 6 times and the most recent being in October/November and I have been to their residential program twice their partial program twice now and their intensive outpatient program once. None of which have been super helpful. But I think with having an option for on the go, accessible advice and tips from a dietitian could really benefit me. I am surrounded by diet culture. My step dad is on the WW diet and before he was on the Keto diet. Both of which do not work!! And it really brings my mental state down. Him and my mom are always talking about calorie intake and things like that. It makes the guilt set in a lot. The other day we were all sitting down to a meal. I was very anxious to eat with him especially because I knew that meant him pulling out his scale and weighing all his food before putting it into his phone. My mom asked me what was wrong and the whole meal i sat with my head down eating with these lingering thoughts. I really hope I continue watching you for more help on gaining a more positive relationship with food.
Keep coming here and to any anti-diet culture support you can!!! Best wishes with your living situation! It's actually sad that he hasn't realized yet that diets don't work, and they actually do more harm than good. Take care of yourself and best wishes!
@@tammymasson2343 thank you so much! I very much appreciate that. I am always trying to improve upon my skills, and it is working a bit better. I am doing much better than i was and i am continuing to fight every day
Ive collected the data that I very often feel very lazy when I ignore my hunger cues... which you are right.. it leads to a bigger meal later! :)
I’ve been restricting since September 2021, till now January 2022. I realized that i have developed a restrict and binge disorder, and i decided that i am not going to let let an app indicate how much I’m supposed to eat and what time I’m supposed to eat. For the past 2 weeks i have been trying to feed myself more and ignore calories & restricting. i am kind of starting to get my hunger cues back and i pray my period is normal this month. Last month my period was three days and it was so light, usually my period lasts 7 days. Im glad that I acknowledged this unhealthy cycle before it could get any more worse. I know that i might gain some pounds & I’m okay with that, but I’m scared the weight gain is going to be a lot. But at the same time i feel like i am going to be fine.
Do you have any tips for someone trying to eat intuitively who lives in moderate food insecurity. (like not food stamps insecure, but just above the cutoff financially)
Alec I’m going to tackle this as a reader question soon
I feel like I have been really embracing intuitive eating in my life and I am loving it! The only issue that I have is when I have chocolate in the house, I give myself unconditional permission to eat it just like every other food, but it ends up being all I want to eat. I did an experiment where I had unlimited chocolate in my house for two weeks but my desire for it never decreased and I was eating it after every meal (still within my hunger). I have recently been keeping chocolate out of the house and only eating it when I go out, which has been working and I don’t feel deprived. But how do I get to a place where I can keep chocolate in the house again?
Mikayla Stern-Ellis it definitely takes time! But if that’s what works for you then keep it up 👍🏼
I like how you took time to run an experiment and also are within your hunger. That's awesome!
Mikayla Stern-Ellis I’ve the same with nuts. I’ve always eaten nuts in the past when I was naturally “thin” (intuitively ate) in normal portions and never had a problem. Then came diet life while trying to lose the baby weight, I’ve tried all diets under the sun which just led to yo yo effect and binge/restrict. Am currently into intuitive eating for 5 months and my weight has stabilized though not where I’d want to be but much better. My main problem is binging on nuts😭. I incorporate them in my meals as toppings but I always want to have them regardless of how full I am from a meal, and once I take a handful it ends up to massive binge till my belly hurts. I don’t want to completely cut them out because of their nutritional benefits but they are driving me crazy😭
I am progressively getting better at eating intuitively but for about 3 years I only followed my macros. I now know the nutritional info of almost every single thing I put in my mouth and I can not seem to forget the numbers that is a huge setback for me that I do not now how to fix or overcome :(
majo ad that’s a great question. Honestly I too know the calories of every food- part of being a RD, but the key has been to know - actually believe!!- that calories are not the end all be all of nutrition. Eventually even know I know the calories I just stopped tallying them up and was able to trust that my body would work out the math - and it does!
All true. I believe that when you stress about what to eat/what not to eat/calorie count etc, your body will hold on to more. Your “perfect diet and exercise plan” may be what’s holding you back. True for me. A year ago, my body plateaued despite exercising and “doing everything right”. Turned out that when I gave in and eased up on myself... (ate to satisfaction)... I looked and felt my best. I would wake up feeling light on my feet, my digestion improved, all good things.
Abby, thank you for making these videos. I have dealt with anerexia for 5 years. Are my hunger cues messed up from my ED? I also exercise daily and I eat healthy. But, I'm still usually not hungry, so I won't eat it I'm not hungry. But then I have no energy. Also, my ED started at age 10 and I'm now 15. How has this affected my body? Also is my metabolism, messed up?
Side note- I went to counceling for my ED and now I working on recovery, and my wieght is restored. I also have a support system now.
I wish I had found this information when I was in my late teens/early twenties. I can't help wonder how much damage--not to mention wasted time and energy--that I could've prevented.
Thank you so much for this content! I'm curious if you have shared info about listening to your hunger cues or respecting your fullness when it comes to folks experiencing bloat or IBS symptoms. It seems like the presence of gas in your gut seems to cause some confusion around these cues!
I am a diabetic and I am doing pretty well with intuitive eating. The only restiction i have is ensuring that I have sugar-free alternatives. But I do eat chocolates or sweets whenever I feel like it and have realised that I don't even need to eat a lot of it. The rest of my diet is actually quite healthy. However, lately, I realise that I am unable to notice my hunger cues. I often don't feel hungry and the only time I do realise this is when my blood sugar is so low that I am feeling the symptoms of hypoglycemia. Then, I just end up grabbing something sweet to raise my blood sugar or grab fast food. So this has been very helpful. Thank you!
I have been trying to make a better effort at meal prepping because of poor planning and distraction throughout the day. I sometimes won’t have food prepared or food I like. Or sometime I just forget to eat. I then get to the point where I am ravenous and only want the saltiest, high fat thing I can get my hands on. I’ll inhale it and then feel terrible. Need to honor my hunger by planning!!
Physically terrible I mean...like stomach ache.
Meal planning is very important. Sounds like we just need to prioritize our hunger a bit better!
I'm really enjoying these Intuitive Eating videos. Thank you! Also, I wish they let Content Creators have input on the ads that run on their videos. I got an ad for Lumen, which appears to be an orthorexia torture device. 😡
D MM 🙏🏼❤️