I remember when I was raising my three children. At times I would place food in front of them when the clock struck 12:00, and was very worried when they didn't eat or they just ate a bite or two. Then during checkups I would mention it to the doctor, and she said, kids eat when they are hungry. How did we get on the band wagon of eating during certain times? Maybe because that's what our parents did, and their parents etc? Seems like it's a culture thing. The American diet has taken a turn, that I'm not sure will ever get rectified.
When I started this lifestyle, I still went along with 3 meals a day, and 2 snacks. I often still, when I'm not at work eat 3 meals a day. This is a hard habit to break.
Okay, but I still haven't answered the question of what is intuitive eating. Intuitive eating is eating only when you are hungry, and stopping when you are full or satisfied. Intuitive eating is listing to your body, feeling those hunger pains in your stomach. I have noticed that some days I'm hungrier than others. Some days I eat when I'm bored. With all my children far away in college, I often find myself in the pantry trying to see what there is to munch on. I need to find a hobby, and now that the weather is nice I need to venture outside.
On days that I work at the hospital, I wake up at 4:50, and hurry to get ready. I have to leave at 6:10. At that time in the morning I'm not hungry at all. I drink a liter of warm water with 1/2 of a fresh lemon squeezed into it. I still have to take my Celebrex for my knee, so I generally eat a cracker of sorts so my tummy doesn't get upset. Later on in the morning when things have quieted down at the hospital, I feel my tummy start to rumble, and I take a quick break to go eat some oatmeal that I prepared the night before. That seems to help, and off I go for another few hours.
Our lunches don't start until after our patients have eaten. Generally around 1-2. Some days, I don't get hungry again until 3 in the afternoon, and depending on what is going on, or who has had lunch I can get away with eating that late. Then when I get off at 7:00 pm, I'm not hungry at all, or I have a light snack when I return home. Sometimes just a good drink of water is all I need. Then I'm off to bed so I can get up for another long 12 hours shift at the hospital. Generally I can go 16 hours without eating again. This is intuitive eating. I just struggle with it at home, and probably because I'm home with my hubby, or just don't have enough to do to keep me out of the pantry.
Benefits of eating this way are you really become in tune with your body. You don't over eat, and you lose weight. I am still hanging on to weight, but I know if I just eat intuitively that the weight will come off. I have over eaten when I go out of town, and then when I come home I eat this way, and the weight comes off again.
Here is a video from High Carb Hannah. She makes a lot of great points for intuitive eating.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6nar9BXTBK0 I do know that if we fall off the wagon, we just need to pick ourselves up and keep trying. It will all be worth it in the end!
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