Most days I don't feel hungry at all for the entire day. I eat because I have to for life or because I enjoy eating, not because I get hungry. Some days I (regardless of how long after I've woken up it is) once I eat something I feel starving. Sometimes it's like a mental hunger where I want to eat and sometimes I physically feel hungry. I'm a healthy weight so it's not causing me to eat too much/too little overall, so I'm not concerned or anything, just wondering if there's some kind of scientific reason.

Sorry if this is a weird place to post the question, but I can't really figure out where would be appropriate.

I’ve developed a habit of scrolling while eating (um thanks Reddit haha!). Which of course makes it extremely difficult to actually eat mindfully.

When I’ve attempted to eat without distraction I am so bored! But maybe that’s sort of the point? To learn to just enjoy the meal and allow it be neutral rather than something bad or a huge dopamine hit?

This is a thread where you can share any questions, concerns, or thoughts related to gentle nutrition, the final and everlasting step of the Intuitive Eating process.

Please note that this thread may not be suitable for those newer to IE, as implementing Gentle Nutrition requires you to have already worked through the earlier steps of the framework.

Hello! I've been trying to practice IE for years (or trying to!) and at time think I am but then have a binge or a brief period of emotional eating and realize that maybe I'd been restricting somewhere, after all. I'm really committing this time because I'm turning 40 at the end of the year and don't want to bring diet culture with me into my next decade.

Question-- How do you navigate IE eating when you're busy and stressed? I know that I need to eat because I've been in recovery for an ED for nearly a decade and refuse to skip meals, but when I'm sitting at my desk working and totally busy and stress, I wolf down a sandwich and just feel kinda gross (physically) afterwards.

Does anyone have any advice for how to navigate being a bit more intentional when you're pressed for time and not able to really focus on what you're eating?

Use this thread to share anything you've been struggling with in your IE process.

Struggles may include learning how to read your hunger/fullness cues, feeling stuck on parts of the process, experiencing "setbacks" or relapses with restriction, etc.

Note: Struggles related to weight should be posted to the weight/bodily changes thread (recurring on Thursdays).

I just want to say that Elyse’s AMA is excellent! Thanks to all of you who asked insightful questions. Many I have wondered, and others just added to the richness of IE. Thanks especially to Elyse for taking the time to answer each question!

I am also excited that a new edition is coming out. I am reading the gentle nutrition chapter of the 4th edition right now, and wondered when we might see another update 💕

TW of mild weight discussion (no numbers!) as well as describing activity.

TLDR; I’ve gone from sedentary to highly active and finding my hunger confusing/scary/difficult to manage/difficult to understand - any tips? Does IE still work when my expenditure is so high?

Growing up I had a great relationship with food, never thought about it, genuinely loved it and was passionate about it and it was a great source of joy but nothing more. I was a skinny kid but not active at all. Ate when I was hungry, snacked occasionally but mostly my 3 meals were enough - again, I didn’t give it any thought so I don’t rlly remember.

The past year my activity level has increased, and when I moved put for the first time 3 months ago it increased dramatically. Through my hobbies and lifestyle I now average >20,000 steps a day, cycle 40+ km a week (low intensity, just getting to work), I run 1-3x a week, and gym 4-5x. This is obviously a lot and the first month my weight dropped dramatically before my appetite caught up and has continued to decrease.

I’m having a hard time understanding my new hunger cues, and keeping up with them, and I now eat/feel hungry wayyy more than my peers who are twice my size. It’s been messing with my head; I have been getting better the past few weeks but it’s been a real mental barrier for the first time ever to trust my body because I’m eating about 3 times as much as I have before and still hungry! I’m sick of eating even haha, I can’t be bothered thinking of and making 3 big meals and 3 snacks when I’ve got limited cupboard space and budget. I still love food but feel like I can’t eat what I really want because I can’t afford to buy those things in the volumes that I need.

I’ve stopped tracking to try and learn my body again. I was just wondering if anyone else is highly active can give any insight on what intuitive eating looks like for you, how/what/when you snack, do you ever have to eat when not hungry, how does your approach to IE differ?

The most helpful advice I have read is to eat like a growing/teenage boy - though this has been a difficult lifestyle change from someone who has always been a grazer without too much appetite.

Thanks all.

Are you confused about Intuitive Eating and want help understanding how it works? Are you a little skeptical? Unsure if IE is right for you? Have some doubts about the process? Do you have a question you feel is controversial? This is the space to ask those questions.

Remember to keep it civil, respectful, and be mindful of the sub rules.

This thread isn't for arguing about whether IE is healthy or not, or to try to debunk the framework. Trolls and bad faith engagement will not be tolerated.

\General or controversial questions must be posted in this thread, not as standalone posts.*

Did you have a great meal this week you want to talk about?

Has your taste for certain foods has changed since starting IE, like finding a beverage you used to love too sweet, or realizing you love a vegetable you used to hate?

Did you try something new or succeed in eating a fear food?

Use this thread to share anything that's on your mind about what you've been eating lately.

Note: If you'd like to discuss Gentle Nutrition, please post in the dedicated weekly thread (recurring on Tuesdays).

This thread is dedicated to discussing any difficulties navigating weight or bodily changes that happen during the IE process.

Please refrain from sharing numbers, as per the sub rules. If necessary to make your point, please put "Trigger Warning" at the beginning of your comment and consider using the spoiler feature to hide mentions of numbers.

If you are discussing weight loss that has naturally occurred through IE, please ensure to do so neutrally.

Note: This thread may be triggering to those struggling with their body image. Please be mindful of your mental health when engaging with potentially triggering content.

Are the constant GLP-1 weight loss ads getting to you?

Have you noticed any concerning trends in media that worry you?

Is there an uptick in negative body talk in your workplace or among your friends and family?

Are you facing social or medical stigma that you want to get off your chest?

Your rants, concerns, and grievances about diet culture and weight stigma in the general media or that you've experienced personally are welcome to be discussed in this thread.

Note: Please post general struggles with weight and body image in the Thursday thread for weight/bodily changes if they aren't directly related to media/society/social or medical stigma.

I was listening to the book, and they said something really curious. "Children are naturally active". Well, I wasn't. I always despised physical activity and always felt like it was something to do with being "forced" to engage with my father and to shrink my body size.
I wasn't allowed to move freely and everyone was disappointed later when I was uncoordinated.
Its funny how the food chapters triggered me less than the movement one.
I am currently doing yoga as a sign of respect for my body that deserves to not fell 90 at 29. But I find myself, like for food, fighting between that walk "I should take" or sleeping (while I'm actually sleep deprived because of the heatwave).
Movement is something I "should" do, and I don't really enjoy.
I enjoy doing yoga because it allows me to play with my body and put me in positions I wouldn't otherwise, makes my inner child happy. But for everything else...it feels like a chore. And although I love lifting weights too, Its hard to not make it feel like a chore "to be healthy", "to build muscle".

I guess I should try a karate or dance class. Although I'm still too shy to do it alone 😂

This is a thread where you can share any questions, concerns, or thoughts related to gentle nutrition, the final and everlasting step of the Intuitive Eating process.

Please note that this thread may not be suitable for those newer to IE, as implementing Gentle Nutrition requires you to have already worked through the earlier steps of the framework.

After a recent ed relapse, I have decided to try intuitive eating instead. My plan was to read the book and do the workbook at the same time. I have also been listening to the food psych podcast so I feel like a lot of the principles of intuitive eating and anti dieting are being drilled into my brain. The one thing I’m kind of struggling with is the way they recommend habituating to foods- by choosing one fear food at a time until it loses its novelty. But basically anything other than watermelon and cucumbers has felt restricted to me. So I don’t think only choosing one at a time would make sense for me. To me that would feel like another way of trying to have control also. But I am worried since the author said variety will make the habituation process take longer. At this stage in intuitive eating, nutrition/balanced eating hasn’t been introduced so is that something I need to worry about anyway?

Basically, I am wondering if others have diverged from the advice of doing one forbidden food at a time and just kind of eating as they wanted before they were ready to take off their intuitive eating training wheels?

Use this thread to share anything you've been struggling with in your IE process.

Struggles may include learning how to read your hunger/fullness cues, feeling stuck on parts of the process, experiencing "setbacks" or relapses with restriction, etc.

Note: Struggles related to weight should be posted to the weight/bodily changes thread (recurring on Thursdays).

Is it okay that if I sometimes only feel satisfied when I eat a bit more than full like a bit overwhelming but not too much

Are you confused about Intuitive Eating and want help understanding how it works? Are you a little skeptical? Unsure if IE is right for you? Have some doubts about the process? Do you have a question you feel is controversial? This is the space to ask those questions.

Remember to keep it civil, respectful, and be mindful of the sub rules.

This thread isn't for arguing about whether IE is healthy or not, or to try to debunk the framework. Trolls and bad faith engagement will not be tolerated.

\General or controversial questions must be posted in this thread, not as standalone posts.*

I'm 17, but I've been going to the gym seriously for around 4-5 years and I track and log every food to the gram at home and log visual estimates whenever I eat out. All of my meals are planned and portioned ahead of time so I kind of always feel compelled to finish a meal entirely since otherwise the tracking will be inaccurate and food will be wasted. I went on vacation this past week and decided to give myself zero restrictions and eat anything I desired, so I consumed 5~6k calories everyday and ate until my stomach was distended by night time. Easily eating 8 donuts and a pint of ice cream in one sitting people look at me like I was insane and I am confused how other people are able to just take a bite of a sweet treat and feel satisfied. I would rather not even taste it then just have a piece of something. Even after this I immediately resumed my normal diet with tracking, and it feels so robotic but if I go a period of time without tracking I still can easily figure out he macros of any meal within a small margin of error and I literally cannot view or eat food like a normal person anymore. I don't really think I "restrict" myself, since I genuinely enjoy the foods I eat on a regular basis and they make me feel energized but I don't really feel the natural cues of craving or "I've had enough" anymore. has anyone experienced a similar thing or have advice?

Did you have a great meal this week you want to talk about?

Has your taste for certain foods has changed since starting IE, like finding a beverage you used to love too sweet, or realizing you love a vegetable you used to hate?

Did you try something new or succeed in eating a fear food?

Use this thread to share anything that's on your mind about what you've been eating lately.

Note: If you'd like to discuss Gentle Nutrition, please post in the dedicated weekly thread (recurring on Tuesdays).

Hi! I am super new to this (like 1-2 weeks lol). Also, english is not my first language so sorry for typos and stuff!

Context of the question : past eating habits were/are more on the overeating side (like, planning what I will eat, based on my hunger at the moment and usually extra voluminous, but then forcing me to eat all of that to the point of discomfort and pain). But also restricting some time (exemple even if extra hungry I won’t eat before X hour) and overall used to try to keep calories « low enough to avoid gain ». I am now trying to go all in in intuitive eating.

So, since I began this journey, sometimes I feel like my stomach is empty and want to « work » on something, to be fill, but at the same time I don’t feel like eating AT ALL. Like even small easy things like chips, nuts, grapes, yogurt, etc… the simple idea of putting something in my mouth other than water make me feel super « bleeehhh ». Which really surprise me because I used to ALWAYS want to eat, like even stomach full. I NEVER though I would some day « not feel like eating ». This « mental fullness » is not relate to stress or any emotion whatsoever. And it happens a few hours after the last meal so the fact my stomach is empty is normal i guess.

So… should I eat? I am wondering if it’s a signal my body tries to go back to a naturally smaller body type? Or is it because I used to overeat EXTRA VOLUME and so my stomach wants food before my body actually needs it? Or should I honor that stomach request and ignore my « not feeling like eating » feeling (which really feels like stuffing, not judgemental type but real stuffing feeling)?

Thank you and sorry for the long post!

This thread is dedicated to discussing any difficulties navigating weight or bodily changes that happen during the IE process.

Please refrain from sharing numbers, as per the sub rules. If necessary to make your point, please put "Trigger Warning" at the beginning of your comment and consider using the spoiler feature to hide mentions of numbers.

If you are discussing weight loss that has naturally occurred through IE, please ensure to do so neutrally.

Note: This thread may be triggering to those struggling with their body image. Please be mindful of your mental health when engaging with potentially triggering content.

Are the constant GLP-1 weight loss ads getting to you?

Have you noticed any concerning trends in media that worry you?

Is there an uptick in negative body talk in your workplace or among your friends and family?

Are you facing social or medical stigma that you want to get off your chest?

Your rants, concerns, and grievances about diet culture and weight stigma in the general media or that you've experienced personally are welcome to be discussed in this thread.

Note: Please post general struggles with weight and body image in the Thursday thread for weight/bodily changes if they aren't directly related to media/society/social or medical stigma.

On TikTok there are some dietitians I follow who promote intuitive eating. I really enjoy their content, but have noticed that a lot of them are in bodies I previously aspired to have. I am hoping to diversify so I don’t continue comparing! If anyone has some recommendations for other content creators who follow intuitive eating, I would be grateful<3

This is a thread where you can share any questions, concerns, or thoughts related to gentle nutrition, the final and everlasting step of the Intuitive Eating process.

Please note that this thread may not be suitable for those newer to IE, as implementing Gentle Nutrition requires you to have already worked through the earlier steps of the framework.