Or should we count calories to lose weight?
I ask as recently there's been a big hoo-ha about caloric restriction and the fact that it doesn't work.
Caloric restriction doesn't work, they say, you need to learn to listen to your body's cues.
This pilot study took two groups of 8 obese people and put them on a diet. One was given a caloric goal to aim for, the other was given instructions of how to eat intuitively using portion control and food choice. This study lasted 6 weeks.
At the midpoint of the study, the intuitive group was slightly ahead.
By the end of the study, the calorie restricted group had lost on average 5.3lbs and the intuitive eating group 3.4 – this was a statistically significant difference.
What this tells us is that Intuitive eating, more or less, doesn't work, or is at least flawed in it's basic framework and needs more than just 'eat good food' to really work.
Sometimes, for some, eating good food is enough, it works, but sometimes it doesn't.
When it doesn't work, look to count or track your food, why guess with weight loss?
Calorie restriction works. Very well. The challenge is helping people to take the first steps.
Ultimately, if you want better results, know the variables.