Intuitive Eating, 3rd Edition

Intuitive Eating encompasses ten principles, but the main three (3) keys are these:

* Unconditional permission to eat when hungry and what food is desired

* Eating for physical rather than emotional reasons

* Reliance on internal hunger and satiety cues to determine when and how much to eat

I have been a big fan & promoter of this method since I first heard about it in 2005. Using its principles, I lost twenty-five pounds in six months while eating my favorite things (chocolate, ice cream, cheeseburgers, pizza, etc).

In this latest edition of the book, the authors have removed many of the numbers that were in the previous edition (stats, weights, heights) because they believe that it leads to self-sabotage when these are the focus. They have also added two new chapters -one that gives scientific backing to prove that IE works, and the other that focuses on how to help children and teens become Intuitive Eaters.

The chapter on kids was actually very interesting to me, as I have two of my own (ages 11 & 14), one of which is very rebellious in regards to food -he loves chips & ice cream, and it worries me that he's learning all of my own bad habits. The authors insist, though, that letting kids make their own decisions regarding food (how much, what kinds, etc) is the best method because they will intuitively get in the balanced nutrition they need, if they're left alone. It's when an issue is made of their eating habits or their weight that they start to rebel, and/or lose faith in their ability to trust their internal cues.

One thing that surprised me about this new edition was the constant reminder of how it's important to put weight loss on the back burner in the beginning of this process. The reason for this is that, if you're focused on losing weight -as opposed to just learning how to become an Intuitive Eater -you will sabotage yourself by either getting depressed over the slowness of your weight loss progress, or by seeking out other diets in hopes of quicker results.

Here are some quotes from the book that I found helpful (some of which I forgot to write the page number references for):

* bring peace to your eating life and body image (p.32)

* focus on weight loss MUST be put on the back burner while you learn to return to Intuitive Eating

* If you allow even one small hope to linger that a new and better diet might be lurking around the corner, it will prevent you from being free to rediscover Intuitive Eating (chp.1)

* undereating leads to overeating

* you can't fail at IE -it's a learning process at every point along the way (p.53)

* the more you practice, the more confidence you'll have (p.86)

* focus on continual change and learning, and start thinking in terms of what you can learn along the way (p.119)

* pause in the middle of eating to gauge your hunger level, and to ask yourself how the food tastes

* give yourself permission to eat again when you get hungry

* if you start eating when you're not hungry, it's hard to know when to stop from satiety (p.128)

* slow down while eating

* It's what you eat consistently, over time, that matters -progress, not perfection...

* Intuitive Eating means having no guilt in your eating (p.301)

Lastly, there is a chapter on eating disorders, too, and how those caught in the throes of one can seek help, and also learn to eat intuitively.

Overall, I most highly recommend this book, and this method. It is very much based on common sense, and we all know that dieting doesn't work in the long run, anyway. This method is great because you can still eat what you love, you can eat out at restaurants without worrying about blowing your `diet', and you can lose the craziness of obsessing over what food is "good/bad".

It must have been fate or divine intervention, but this book came at the perfect time for me. I had pre-ordered the 3rd edition of the book months before (waiting on the new chapter on teaching children intuitive eating), forgot I had ordered it, and in the mean time went on my usual roller coaster of dieting then overeating and gained and lost the same 5-10 lbs. I had just started a protein only diet to lose those 10 lbs again and was MISERABLE when this book arrived in the mail. I stopped my diet immediately and devoured the book in a couple days. After only a week with this book, I can already tell it will be a lifesaver for me.

It made me realize the reasons why I am overeating, which has helped me stop the cycle more than any diet rule ever has. I also am learning to enjoy my food and really savor it, leading me to eat less. I have also started exercising again, but more gentle and enjoyable exercise than when I was dieting. My biggest accomplishment so far was when I made a batch of real chocolate chip cookies, savored ONE, and felt truly satisfied. Before I would have either eaten the entire batch in a day or would not have made them at all and use substitutes that never really met the craving (leading me to over eat the cookies whenever I got my hands on them). I am still early in the process, but I can already see that this will be a healthy, balanced and enjoyable way to eat for the rest of my life.

I am starting to incorporate the chapter on intuitive eating for children (I have two preschoolers). It is scary letting my kids have what they want, I have been controlling their food intake and limiting sweets since they were born. I think this process will be harder than the work on myself. But I know it will be worth it in the end.

Buy Intuitive Eating, 3rd Edition Now

I pre-ordered this book after buying the 1st edition online. While the first was interesting it was seriously lacking for the times so I contacted the authors on their facebook page with questions. They let me kow that it was totally revised and had two new chapters including one about children (something I'd been wondering about since I have children). So I preordered it. Couldn't be happier. This isn't a book you sit and read quick, you have to read and work through each chapter and really think about stuff.

Don't expect this read like a gimmicky cheap diet book because It isn't a diet book! There are no before and after pictures! There is no diet lurking in the back half of the book! Refreshing, annoying at first but refreshing (no one to physically compare myself to---awesome!, Refreshing, while there is nutrition in the back they really tell you take what you want and leave the rest! REFRESHING!!

I'm just now getting to the chapter about children which is very interesting.

I've also started blogging about my experiences and become active on the official IE forum on the website.

If you are tired of diets, tired of nutrition companies whether it be food companies or pill companies telling you what you need, tired of emotional eating and what to find what causes you to overeat, and much more THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU!

It's so sad now to realize all the money and time I wasted in my life following or researching diets. Seeing the pain my friends and loved ones put themselves through to lose weight. They say in the book that America needs a diet attitude adjustment and they sure are right!

UPDATE: 1/3/2013

I got this book right in the middle of my pregnancy. I was told by my doctor 11-15 lbs was my weight gain limit...20 lbs max. So after frustratingly trying to count calories or eat "right" I still gained weight. I got the book in August when it was released and had my baby in December. I gained 30 lbs total and really only emotionally/boredom ate the last two weeks because really...who wouldn't being going nuts with an overdue baby inside her? Even though my doctors weren't too happy I couldn't "control myself" and not gain weight my body knew what it was doing!

I'm pleased to say this works. Yes you have to work through a lot of emotional stuff (which I'd been working on the first half of the year before IE). ANYWAY two weeks postpartum I was back within 1 lb, ONE POUND! of where I had been pre-pregnancy. I won't weigh myself again until the 6 week checkup and I doubt I will weigh myself ever again after that.

IE is easy, a pleasure, and the online community on the website is a phenomenal support system when you need to get yourself focused again. ESPECIALLY with January "diet month" being here. I can eat out or cook at home and not worry about calories, fat, points, whatever. I eat what I want, when I'm hungry, with pleasure, and stop when I'm satisfied to full.

Also I will add that I lost 3 lbs after reading the book (most likely water weight) then gained 1 lb a month for the next three months, only gaining the last 10 lbs of my weight (baby/water/etc) in the last month of my pregnancy. My body has recovered so much quicker than my first pregnancy and I feel so much better and attuned to my body. The only thing I had trouble with the first two weeks postpartum was watching my portions. I let myself eat like the hungry girl I was because for so many months I had the portioned-appetite of a squirrel....lol..now at three weeks things are balancing out.

Read Best Reviews of Intuitive Eating, 3rd Edition Here

I have been a fan of Intuitive Eating for several years now. I discovered the book during a time when I was struggling with disordered eating, having obsessive thoughts about food and my body that were making it hard to focus on anything else in my life. I have since read the book several times, and it has helped me to make peace with food and my body. I'm constantly talking about Intuitive Eating to my friends and family, because I truly believe that it can make so many people live happier, more balanced lives, free from diet worries or obsessive thoughts about food or being the ideal body size.

And this new edition is fantastic! As someone who has read the previous edition more than once, I can tell that it's been completely revised, and I appreciate the two new chapters as well-one about the science behind Intuitive Eating (which I think is great for those people who really need to see scientific evidence in order to buy into something) and another about how to raise children to be Intuitive Eaters (something I think is quite important in today's society, as more and more children are suffering from obesity and disordered eating).

If you've been on too many diets, and are tired of constantly worrying about what you "should" or "shouldn't" eat, it's time to read this book! I truly credit this philosophy with giving me my life back, and I feel that it can do the same for so many people if they just take the time to read it and live it. You won't regret it!

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My nutritionist at my university lent me this book to read. I thought it would be like all of the "Weight Loss" books. It is not. You really have to read the first couple of chapters and understand when they say you can eat what you want it doesn't mean NOT to eat healthy. They are referring to when you have strong urges to not to deprive yourself of it. I saw a reviewer saying that she gained tons of weight, well she did a lot of things wrong. Obviously, you can't always expect to eat junk food and lose weight. You have to incorporate fruits, vegetables, and exercise into your diet; there's no going around that period. This book has taught me to learn to listen to my stomach and my body, so that I can stop eating when I'm full. Because of this I gained not one pound during Thanksgiving Break and in the last 2 weeks with excercising for an hr three times a week have lost 4 and a half pounds. True story.

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