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The "Nondiet Diet?"


At the ripe old age of 74, I've certainly seen and most likely participated in any number of diets. Including fad diets. Many fad diets. Lately, there's a lot of talk about something called intuitive eating. I still don't know very much about it, but it seems to be guided by logic, rather than mere number crunching.

While most fad diets rely upon some measurement or distorted measurement of some nutrient or calories, intuitive eating depends more on good, healthful choices, eaten in moderate portions, guided to a great extent by mindfulness or slow eating, as well as a measure of hunger versus fullness.

This last attribute is, perhaps, the most important. Many of us of my generation were taught to clean the plate. Much of that, of course, was generated by parents who did not have reliable refrigeration open to them. Food was prepared freshly, served quickly, and anything else needed to be thrown away. Nowadays, of course, we have reliable refrigeration, as well as freezing. So there really is no need to clean the plate.

 And knowing when to stop eating is always a key determinant. And I hope the so-called experts will pardon my nitpicking, but it's not fullness we should be looking for but satiety. And I define satiety as the exact point at which hunger is neutralized, compared with fullness which can be misinterpreted to mean filled to bursting.

Mindfulness is an important part of intuitive eating. Long story short, it means being aware of each bite, chewing it well, and perhaps even putting down utensils between bites, to consider whether or not the next bite is worth taking.

I'm not an expert on this, because it's so new. But it does seem to allow body and mind to come together to produce desired results. Naturally. Without some focus or obsession on one nutrient or another and demonizing certain foods.

The picture above? Well, it's not really related to intuitive eating per se, but if I were to eat intuitively that's one of the first things I have. Plain, clean, oysters on the half shell!

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