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Intuitive Eating & Weight Watchers

For those of you that have done both Weight Watchers and Intuitive Eating, I'm curious what your thoughts are about each approach to weight loss. Did one work better than the other? Were you able to use Intuitive Eating and actually choose healthy choices or did you eat burgers and fries until you were back to your original weight or higher? Did you find one or the other easier to stick to?

I am NOT interested in reading WW bashing, but am looking for true, thoughtful responses from people who may have tried both approaches.


Thu. Aug 24, 7:25am

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I started Weight Watchers online some time ago, and now am interested in intuitive eating. It seems to be the 2 are not compatible...just because it's really another way of not trusting your hunger and trusting yourself! I still struggle with that, good luck!

Friday, August 25, 2006, 7:37 PM

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hello....i am doing both. on the one hand the programs compliment each other b/c IE is about "honoring your hunger" and "eating what looks good" and WW tries to include all foods by assigning a point value. the difficulty for me is that if i know something has a 21 pt value (3 scoops of icecream) i will not eat it as i'm only alloted 20 pts a day! IE says that "i shouldn't have that" mentality sets us up to binge and feel guilty (which leads to falling off the wagon...). i originally did WW 3 years ago and lost 50 lbs only to regain most of the weight a year and a half ago... the past 6 months i've been doing points to lose weight (again!) and just started reading IE last week! so the thought of throwing dieting out the window for life is quite scary...

anyway, enough about me. if you are interested in losing weight sooner rather than later, definitely try weight watchers. not all people gain it back. if you are interested in getting off the diet hamster-wheel, try IE. supposedly, you may gain or maintain in the beginning of IE but your body eventually settles into a natural weight... a much longer process. i can't say if i'd recommend beginning both at once though.

-good luck, margeis

Friday, August 25, 2006, 10:40 PM

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OP Here

Thank you both for your comments. I've been doing WW for about 4 months now (I've done it in the past with success as well, but stopped and gained the weight back). WW has been working for sure, but a part of me thinks that if I could learn to trust and listen to my body and eventually lose the weight that way, it would be a lot better because I'll be able to keep it off. Still need to finish the book though...

Monday, August 28, 2006, 8:09 AM

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Try checking out the CORE program on WW. It is more like IE....they talk about eating to satisfaction, etc. However on CORE, you eat from a list of "good foods" and then use your flex points for ones not on the list. I found that I was making healthier choices and not worrying about portions and weights, etc. when I was doing Core...so, you might look at it as a start toward IE.

Monday, August 28, 2006, 9:23 AM

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I just started on IE within the past few months; I've had a five lb gain but stopped there. I still work out and I still make healthy choice - I just don't deny myself if I really want something.

For example if I want ice cream for dinner I have ice cream for dinner. This hasn't happened yet, but nachoes have lol. Nachos is something I majorly denied myself because of how "bad" it was for me.

I had nachos for dinner the very first night I started getting into IE; it was fantastic. But just because you're on IE does not mean you can't choose healthy foods. In the past I would have had the toritilla chips, tostios cheese, olives, full fat sour cream, ground hamburger and chives. When I did it this time I decided that I could have the nachos but I could make healthy choices without sacrificing taste. So I bought fat free sour cream, turkey hamburger, baked my own tortilla chips (basically you just bake a tortilla in the oven and break it into pieces...not quite the same but still yummy), olives, and tostios cheese and added a small side salad. I ate less calories, actually ate less food because I stopped when I was hungry since I knew I could have it again any time I wanted to, and there was less fat. Plus I was completely satisfied and didn't find myself reaching for a snack in the evening time.

For me IE is the answer to many tears and prayers. I'm starting to lose weight now - slowly, but it is coming off. I don't feel deprived, I don't obsess over what I eat or what I way and I work out because it feels good.

I do like the way the core for WW sounds though, sounds very similar to IE - the only difference is with IE you don't count anything at all. You just eat what your body truly wants. I find that on a lot of days I want a big salad for lunch; which has never happened to me before.

Wednesday, August 30, 2006, 1:23 PM

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I don't know what intitive eating is! But I love the new WW core. I am really learning to eat healthy. I have had pretty good weight losses but Ijust can't afford the 1$12 a week . I think i am just gonna do the core and get encouraged through peer training

Thursday, August 31, 2006, 11:31 PM

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Great job on the weight loss so far!

I joined the WW online group with their free seven day trial to see what the core is like. It looks like a good plan; but it's not the same as IE; IE is more like the flex points system without the point counting. You eat whatever you want. The only catches are you only eat when you're hungry and stop as soon as you're satisfied and you have to honor your body's hunger.

Friday, September 01, 2006, 12:01 PM

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I don't do WW, but I do monitor calorie intake. When I started IE and really followed the eat when hungry deal (but no forbidden foods! what a release and a relief from jail), I found that a healthy intake (1400 - 1500 cal) felt good too in the satiety department. A recent vacation set me back (social eating seems to be something I need to work on), but I think you can (and in reality will have to) combine the two to lose weight. It's just so wonderful to get rid of the guilt with IE!

Friday, September 01, 2006, 9:22 PM

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Counting calories however goes against everything IE teaches. But you're right, you'll find that when you get settled into IE and are following it that you actually eat less. I've done some calorie tracking every now and then - like one day every two or three months and find that I'm eating about 1200 - 1500 calories on average.

I've lost quite a bit with IE and that's not doing anything else. I did have a temporary gain of 15 lbs when I first started but after that and after I started exercising the weight just started slipping away - slowly but very surely and it's never come back. I still have a ways to go but I know I'll get to the healthy weight for my body :)

Tuesday, September 05, 2006, 12:49 PM

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I am also doing IE and finding extremely liberating after yo-yo dieting pretty much the last 30 years of my life! I did have success on WW several times, but ended up gaining it all back plus extra pounds each time.

For me, IE means finally being at peace with food, enjoying it as it should be enjoyed. That means no counting, no obsessing, no guilt, and no more binges! Finally, the food noise in my head is gone. Check out the Thintuition website. It's free.

Sunday, March 07, 2010, 10:56 PM

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WW and IE

I love IE and have finally let go of the diet mentality. I only lost 17 pound since IE and that took me a year, from Oct 2009 to Oct 2010. that does not seem like a lot but I am smaller than a year ago and I never felt better. I don't think of food all the time and I eat what ever I want. I no longer desired a bag of cookies and doritoes now I only eat one or two cookies and a few doritoes and I feel satisfied. IE takes you through changes and changes the way you feel about food. I have started to use WW with IE because I could use the a guide line about the portions I am eating. If I follow my hunger I seem to maintain. I have only used ww points for the past 3 weeks and I have lost 7 pounds.

Link

Monday, October 04, 2010, 8:18 PM

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