Comments on: The REAL issue is that virtually everyone is eating more than they think.

By: Perola

Perola — Mon, 08 Sep 2014 18:07:03 +0000

Thank you Amber. I´ve been ETF about 8 months and now I feel stronger to approach a loss weight and work with mindful eating. I really enjoy it and when I focus on that I get good results. I´ll let you know. Thank you for the awesome posts.

By: Danielle

Danielle — Sun, 07 Sep 2014 17:55:08 +0000

I spent a lot of time being very, very confused because I KNEW I was eating more than 2000 calories a day, and I had this vague notion that as a woman I should be eating way less (I think I had the 1200-1800 calorie in mind from the diet promotions). But, my weight was pretty stable, and I’m not overweight. I decided to just ignore the whole thing because I really couldn’t make any sense of it. When I came across one of the calories calculators you linked to, I realized that many days I was burning 3000 calories (I do a lot of distance running), and probably eating around 3000 calories too. All of a sudden, everything made sense. How much I eat and how much I burn DOES matter, but the numbers I was working with were wrong. Now that it makes sense the numbers don’t intimidate me.

By: Sam

Sam — Sun, 07 Sep 2014 00:24:22 +0000

It also really harms those who do accurately count calories… which is usually people with eating disorders and rigid, OCD-based self-discipline. I’m a former anorexic. I KNOW how many calories I am eating. And I seriously harmed myself trying, even after recovery, to stick to the moronic popular recommendations for intake.

You’ve pinpointed exactly what makes me so furious about these blanket recommendations. I wasted YEARS of my life because I didn’t understand how I could be ‘sick’ when I was really eating 800 calories or even 1000 calories a day–those are practically normal among diets, right? NO. I almost died.

Nowadays I maintain roughly 18% body fat and high-level athletic performance on between 2200 and 2800 calories a day (I eat by hunger so it’s not always the same, plus training differs week to week). It took me YEARS, literally YEARS, to accept that I needed to eat more than 2,000 calories a day. Ugh.

By: B

Sat, 06 Sep 2014 18:57:57 +0000

This bothers me in the same way that people who lie to me about what time it is in the morning. So by lying to me I’m going to come out close to my goal? I set my clock as close to the right time as I can tell it is, and how many f-ing calories is a reasonable goal?

By: Jody - Fit at 56

Jody - Fit at 56 — Sat, 06 Sep 2014 18:08:21 +0000

TRUTH!! I have written about this for years – people underestimate how much they are eating & overestimate how much exercise & how many calories they are burning off… yet they don’t want to do the hard work to log & see what they are actually doing – ya have to know these things to make the changes ….

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Sat, 06 Sep 2014 15:42:22 +0000

Wow! This is my life. This is really great food for thought…pun intended. I think you described my life.

By: Jeanne Grunert

Jeanne Grunert — Sat, 06 Sep 2014 14:16:32 +0000

I feel like your publicist lately because I’m always sharing your posts, but honestly, you just hit the nail smack on the head with these shares. They are amazing. Yes, people DO under report how much they eat…and over estimate how much they expend. I’m one of those people. Using an online tracker helped me spot areas where I was overeating, but it’s amazing how calories sneak in. Please keep up these great posts.

By: Go Kaleo

Go Kaleo — Sat, 06 Sep 2014 14:05:30 +0000

I think mindful eating is awesome. I think it can work better for some people, especially those with restrictive eating disorder, than counting calories. Unless they fall back into undereating patterns and need to track to ensure they’re getting enough.

Mindful eating doesn’t work for everyone, some of us need a little more structure, which is what tracking gave me. But my goal has always been to create new habits so I could rely less on tracking, and I’m there now. It took time, but I got here.

But I think midnful eating is a great goal, and I envy people for whom it comes more naturally!

By: Go Kaleo

Go Kaleo — Sat, 06 Sep 2014 14:01:51 +0000

I would ask your doctor for a referral to a Registered Dietician.

By: Pérola

Pérola — Sat, 06 Sep 2014 13:35:48 +0000

I’m loving those last posts! !! Thank you. What you think about mindful eating as strategy for weight loss? better for ED recovery or can be used for weight loss too?