Intuitive Eating

Don’t we all need our own chef. I know exactly what you mean, and have for over 20 years but can’t seem to find my ground. Good luck

This is a great topic. I spend winters in a small community, and once our families are raised, I am seeing that many adultsmdepart drastically from the old "3 square meals" - some with 5-6 small meals, others with intermittent fasting, patterns with few or no sweets, avoidance of certain foods, etc.
After a lingering illness and long course of difficult medication, I have learned that 5-6 meals-snacks per day works best for me to maintain weight and blood sugar. Like you, my diabetic spouse is not a fan of large amounts of vegetables and salads, so we incorporate them in chili, spaghetti sauce, stir fry... I have also added them to smoothies (only mildly flavored ones that puree well) Every little change helps.
Sue

I have recently completed an intuitive eating (IE) course on Insight Timer and followed it up with a virtual support group that ended recently. I'm looking to continue participating in a virtual support group and was wondering if anyone has any leads into where I can find a low- or no-cost group. Most of the ones I investigated are for people with eating disorders, which I don't have, so I think joining one of those groups would not be helpful. The ones I found that relate to IE are moderately to very expensive to join. I appreciate any help with this.

Hello @mbw, Welcome to Connect. To be honest, I had never heard of Intuitive Eating and had to look it up. For others unfamiliar with the term here's some information -- 10 Principles of Intuitive Eating: https://www.intuitiveeating.org/10-principles-of-intuitive-eating/. There is also an Intuitive Eating Online Community - http://www.intuitiveeatingcommunity.org/.

Intuitive eating sounds a little like what I used to lose some weight the past year or so - Intermittent fasting. There is a discussion on Connect that might be helpful depending on why you are looking to continue intuitive eating --- Low-carb healthy fat living. Intermittent fasting. What’s your why?: https://connect.mayoclinic.org/discussion/low-carb-healthy-fat-living-intermittent-fasting-whats-your-why/

Are you looking to continue intuitive eating for losing weight or eating healthier?

Hi John,

Thanks for your response to my message. The link that you provided for those who have not heard about intuitive eating (IE) will be very helpful in their understanding. I found a good definition of intermittent fasting that shows the difference between the two ways of eating: "Intermittent fasting is an eating pattern where you cycle between periods of eating and fasting. It does not say anything about which foods to eat, but rather WHEN you should eat them." In IE, you don't eat by any schedule but ONLY when you feel hungry. We eat for many, many reasons other than hunger. We are bored, we eat. We are frustrated, we eat. Etc., etc. IE is for people like me who have tried what feels like 100s of diets (some of them more than once) and have decided that this saying is completely true: "Insanity is repeating the same mistakes and expecting different results.” IE is a self-discovery process meant for people to learn to accept themselves as they are, The goal of IE is not to lose weight, although for some people that is a bi-product. It's not an easy process to go through and it's ongoing. I highly recommend taking a class on the Insight Timer app called "Overcoming Overeating" by Andrea Wachter, a psychologist in CA who helps here clients with IE, It's a fabulous 30-day program of online work that only takes about 15-20 mins a day.

Yes, I definitely will continue on this path!