"Intuitive Eating" or When A Donut is Just a Donut...

This morning, I caught a story on what they called "The No-Diet Diet." Kind of a misnomer, actually...esp. after its proponent, Dr Stephen Hawks of Brigham Young U. explained how it works.

Basically, we don't just eat whatever we feel like it, all the time, day or night. It's not about a giant pig-out. Rather, as Dr. Hawks explained on the Today Show, that it's intuitive or mindful eating. In other words, pay attention to what you're eating, and when you're eating it. Don't forbid foods because, when we forbid foods, we crave them even more--that's a human nature response to denial and is counter-productive.

Actually, I've found this works better for me than restricting everything and feeling guilty about it. The key, for me anyway, has been to pay attention not only to what I'm craving and when, but listening to my body and figuring out why. I know that when I'm stressed I crave sugar. Not that it's a forbidden food, but because I want the serotonin rush. Sex can usually stimulate that kind of rush and those feel-good chemicals (including oxytocin!), but sugar is, more often than not, far easier to get than sex (and less emotionally-entangled) So, when I'm in those kinds of situations where I'm craving something because I'm stressed, I allow myself to eat the sugar. I'm aware of how much of it I'm eating, but I don't get my knickers in a bunch over it and I don't beat myself up about it--nor do I exercise myself stupid as a result of it. I've learned to manage it by paying attention to it.

And, if a situation is that stressful that I have to have sugar all the time to alleviate it, then, perhaps, it's time to change the situation...

Essentially, I am learning to trust myself, my capacity to judge situations, and my body's desire to eat certain things. Which is pretty much what Dr. Hawks purports--He stopped feeling guilty about eating salt-and-vinegar potato chips. He also stopped eating when he wasn't hungry.

So, it's also recognizing hunger on a physiological level, not simply taking the cop-out that the cravings are all emotional. Now, I've had trouble with recognizing hunger over the years, given I had ulcers as a child during a time when the antidote for an ulcer attack was to attempt to smother it with milk or crackers and avoid anything that might stimulate acid production. I had to recognize that the pain of ulcers (or, now, heartburn) and sometimes headaches weren't related to hunger but to stomach-chemical pain. I had to recognize that foods like grapefruit not just made me produce too much stomach acid, but also changed the enzyme composition of my stomach. That's something that a lot of diet plans don't discuss outright --that certain foods and sugar substitutes change the stomach's enzyme chemistry and can inhibit digestion of certain types of foods. I noticed that when I'm doing the grapefruit and artificial sweetener thing, I have trouble digesting certain types and kinds of food--like red meat and different kinds of vegetables...and have you ever noticed that friends who diet often end up a bit hooked on diet soda? (I know there's some scientific studies out there to support my conjectures, but I'm not doing a research paper here and I'm not claiming to be an expert either. If you are still horrifically interested in anything to do with serotonin, oxytocin and addiction, as well as on the stomach enzyme stuff, go to New Scientist Magazine and do the searches.)

Adding a little exercise doesn't hurt either. Dr. Hawks didn't mention anything directly about exercise--although he wisely does not promote being sedintary along with eating whatever you feel like. Acutally, if we pay attention to our bodies, eventually our bodies tell us, in the form of muscle cramps and swelling in our extremities, that we need to get up off our butts and move around.

So, there's also "intuitive exercising"--just do what your body tells you it wants to do.

In some ways, I've also recognized that for myself. I joined a gym last week and I've been able to go a couple of times. I love that the treadmills are programable and I can vary the incline and speed. I can have a workout on a treadmill that is, physically anyway, like going on a hike! Granted, there isn't any great scenery and I miss tripping over rocks and falling flat on my face, but, to my body, it feels like I'm hiking. Subsequently, I feel darned good afterward (and I'm usually pretty sweaty, too.)

I ate whatever I wanted during Thanksgiving, started some exercise--and I've lost 6 lbs. I know subsequent weight loss will be slower--but, frankly, even with a restrictive diet, weight loss will be just as slow. Most diet plans advocate restricting the types and kinds of foods one eats, as well as encourage exercise. I think of it this way: if I have to exercise anyway (which I don't really care for, but I'll do because I hate having puffy ankles), why should I sacrifice the occasional donut or cookie? I don't have any medical problems that indicated that I need to restrict certain types of foods, so if I'm not bingeing on cookies, ice cream, donuts and all that "bad stuff," why not have it on occasion? Why sacrifice and engage in an activity I hate. That's way too puritanical for my liking.

I'd rather look at a donut and not crave it, than look at a donut and think that a bite of it will make me as happy as hours of great sex.

Besides, when I have a balance of pleasures in my life, it makes sex all that more special--and makes a donut, well, just a donut.

photo courtesy of the great Anne Taintor