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This article appeared in the November 22, 2015 issue of The New York Times Magazine.

People hate counting and cutting calories. That unsurprising fact is behind the rise of ‘‘intuitive’’ eating, an approach that de-emphasizes dieting in favor of attending to bodily signals, like feelings of hunger and, more important, fullness. Despite an outpouring of related books and seminars, and the advocacy of some obesity specialists, intuitive eating — referred to by some as ‘‘mindful’’ eating — has not been subject to much independent scientific investigation. A recent study, however, offers one of the first head-to-head comparisons of the effectiveness of calorie restriction and intuitive eating.

The study, published in October in Nutrition and Health, was led by Judith C. Anglin, an associate professor of nutrition and director of the dietetics program at Texas Southern University in Houston, who had been struck by the number of friends and clients enrolling in intuitive-eating programs. Anglin and her co-authors recruited 16 overweight men and women from a college community and measured their weight, body mass index, health and metabolism. (The number of volunteers was small because this was a pilot study; there are plans for larger, longer-term studies.) Eight volunteers were assigned to cut daily calorie consumption to between 1,200 and 1,800 calories, depending on individual metabolic rates, for an energy deficit of about 500 calories a day. They also received instructions and counseling on how to eat healthfully within their calorie limits. The other eight volunteers practiced intuitive eating — a program, according to intuitiveeating.org, guided by 10 principles like ‘‘Reject the diet mentality,’’ ‘‘Honor your hunger’’ and ‘‘Make peace with food.’’ These subjects were given no calorie targets. To ensure that differences in physical activity wouldn’t overly influence weight loss, everyone was asked to exercise lightly at the lab three times a week and refrain from other workouts.

After three weeks, weights were rechecked, and subjects received additional counseling and encouragement. After another three weeks, the volunteers in the calorie-restriction group had lost an average of 5.3 pounds each. Shrinkage was swiftest during the first two weeks of the program, Anglin says, then threatened to plateau. But the follow-up counseling at three weeks seemed to reinvigorate their resolve, she says, and the volunteers generally lost an additional 2.5 pounds or so over the subsequent three weeks.

The intuitive eaters began well, according to Anglin, losing slightly more weight during the first three weeks, on average, than the calorie cutters. But then their discipline, luck or bodily self-awareness apparently deserted them, and most began regaining weight. At the end of the six weeks, few had lost much weight and some had a net gain of nearly two pounds.

The upshot: Calories matter, Anglin says. Bodily messages about hunger and satiety can be useful, but they should be supplemented with some awareness of caloric intake. No one, she says, is likely to lose weight over the long term by responding intuitively to hunger with a serving of chocolate cake.

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