Intuitive eating, calories and Oprah

As an intuitive eater, I’m committed to knowing my body and its processes so well that I lose down to a natural weight and maintain without a fight. By “a fight” I mean dieting or strong restrictions or constant attention to weight, eating and activity.

In this month’s Oprah, there was an article in the Bodywise section titled “But I Don’t Eat That Much!” Too bad this article is not on her web page, but you can still get the magazine or check it out at the library. An old but related article is at the New York Times based on the original research by Dr. Steven Heymsfield. Even people who really want to lose weight can honestly underestimate their caloric intake. This points out one of the flaws in calorie counting as a weight loss technique for people who want to lose a lot of weight. It’s quite simply too great a burden to accurately measure every bite every day for months or years. Alternatively, of course, you can eat only pre-portioned foods, like cooking the same foods every day, or using a system like Nutrisystem. Eating the same food every day is extremely boring and can easily lead to calorie creep, in which you slowly start increasing the amount until it noticeably impacts your weight. Programs like Nutrisystem tend to be so restrictive that people cheat out of them.

The people in the research, all around 190 pounds, were committed to losing weight, but they underestimated their intake by 50%, about 1000 calories a day. And they overestimated their energy expenditure by 20%. Honest mistakes, but it makes the idea of tracking calories relatively inaccurate.

So I figure, there are some good ideas to take out of this information for me. First, if I want to keep rough track of my calories, it only makes sense to practice eyeballing portions and to be VERY honest with myself when I choose a portion larger than average. What I have noticed, but haven’t admitted to myself yet, is that I’m eating a lot more than I estimate. Granted, I’m not counting calories, but I don’t need to feel bad if I don’t lose weight, because I’m working with a normal metabolism and eating enough to lose slowly.

Secondly (and I haven’t mentioned this part of the article yet) every movement counts. If I can’t go for a 2 hour walk during a shopping spree, I can still take 10 minutes to walk to the post office. The article discusses the concept of “nonexercise activity thermogenesis,” abbreviated to NEAT. That’s all of the little movements you make every day, from tapping your foot while waiting to getting up off the sofa every time a commercial comes on. They add up too. A person can burn up to 350 calories a day in activities like this.

Finally, I recognize that as I lose weight, my energy needs will decrease as well, so my intuition will have to learn to adapt to these lower needs. I have also noticed so far (30+ pounds lost) that I am now stronger and I willingly expend more energy. That will mitigate the need somewhat, but not all.