Obsessive Calorie Counter Wants to be an Intuitive Eater
Posted by Evelyn Tribole MS RD at 2/14/2010 11:52 AM 
Categories: Intuitive Eating, Mindfulness, Dieting, Intuitive Eating Professionals
Tags: Intuitive Eating Tribole Mindfulness Dieting Intuitive Eating Professionals calorie counting
Categories: Intuitive Eating, Mindfulness, Dieting, Intuitive Eating Professionals
Tags: Intuitive Eating Tribole Mindfulness Dieting Intuitive Eating Professionals calorie counting
Q. I want to stop calorie counting ....for good. Since reading Intuitive Eating, I listen to my body more and not restricting what I eat, but I still count calories (consciously and subconsciously). I would really appreciate any tips or information you can provide me for overcoming my obsessive thoughts.
A. Keep in mind you’ve trained your mind to count calories, so even when you don’t want the information—it will still be there for awhile. It’s like when you’ve been shopping for a particular type of car. Your awareness of car ads lingers after the purchase—even though you no longer need the information, but it eventually fades.
Similarly, as you rely more on your inner satiety cues, automatic calorie counting diminishes—it is no longer wanted or “needed”. But it takes time, the duration of which, depends on how long you’ve been restricting and counting calories. Here are the general stages to expect.
You will evolve into the first stage, which I call “calorie awareness." This is when you know the calorie content of a food or meal, but you don’t make eating decisions based on those numbers. Generally, as you begin trusting your body, the automatic calorie counting continues, but it doesn’t have the same power, it’s just annoying. Then it starts to fade into the background.
The background stage is akin to having several software programs open on your computer—they are there for you to use, but there’s only one active program. In this case the “active program” is your inner satiety cues, and it gets more dominant the more you choose to use it.
My suggestion: Try to practice curious non-judgment every time your automatic calorie counter kicks in. Just observe your thought about the calories—don’t react. Remember that simply knowing the calories does not mean you are doing anything wrong. The issue is how you react to the calorie information. For example, if you decide to stop eating a meal— is it because of the calorie information or because your are comfortably satisfied?
Every time you make a decision based on your inner cues, you become more attuned to your body. It just takes practice—with compassionate patience.
_____
A. Keep in mind you’ve trained your mind to count calories, so even when you don’t want the information—it will still be there for awhile. It’s like when you’ve been shopping for a particular type of car. Your awareness of car ads lingers after the purchase—even though you no longer need the information, but it eventually fades.
Similarly, as you rely more on your inner satiety cues, automatic calorie counting diminishes—it is no longer wanted or “needed”. But it takes time, the duration of which, depends on how long you’ve been restricting and counting calories. Here are the general stages to expect.
You will evolve into the first stage, which I call “calorie awareness." This is when you know the calorie content of a food or meal, but you don’t make eating decisions based on those numbers. Generally, as you begin trusting your body, the automatic calorie counting continues, but it doesn’t have the same power, it’s just annoying. Then it starts to fade into the background.
The background stage is akin to having several software programs open on your computer—they are there for you to use, but there’s only one active program. In this case the “active program” is your inner satiety cues, and it gets more dominant the more you choose to use it.
My suggestion: Try to practice curious non-judgment every time your automatic calorie counter kicks in. Just observe your thought about the calories—don’t react. Remember that simply knowing the calories does not mean you are doing anything wrong. The issue is how you react to the calorie information. For example, if you decide to stop eating a meal— is it because of the calorie information or because your are comfortably satisfied?
Every time you make a decision based on your inner cues, you become more attuned to your body. It just takes practice—with compassionate patience.
_____
Copyright © 2010 by Evelyn Tribole, MS, RD Published at http://www.EvelynTribole.com
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