intuitive eating...?

Sorenki

i track my nutrition, but do not follow strict diets. intuitively, i want to eat unprocessed foods, but i don’t want my diet to be completely plant-derived. today, i ate watermelon, blueberries, a banana, sautéed cabbage and brussels sprouts, grilled chicken breast, and an ice cream bar. i was calorie-deficient. yesterday, i had quite a bit of cheese and a lot of popcorn, also had a bunch of fresh fruits and vegetables and maybe an egg. no meat or fish, though. i exceeded my calorie goal a little bit. today, my macros were very well aligned with my goals, but that was the first time i’ve ever achieved my macros goals. usually my fat intake is too high.

anyway, my question is...is anyone else eating similarly? and, do you have advice for allowing flexibility, sticking mostly to natural, minimally processed, whole foods, and still
meeting protein goals?

amusedmonkey

I eat to my desires. I wouldn't call it completely intuitive because I make calorie informed food decisions, but I'm completely flexible with my eating. Protein is the bane of my existence because I don't like many protein-rich foods, that's why I plan my minimum into my day in advance. The rest of my calories are usually completely flexible. If one of my flexible choices happens to be higher in protein, I modify or remove some of my pre-planned protein foods to allow for more flexibility. I don't categorize into minimally processed and natural, my food pool is a big melting pot of things I like to eat with no categories, but I find myself liking nutrient-dense choices more often than not (which can be processed sometimes).

kommodevaran

I have advice for becoming more flexible, but I don't always live by them myself, because I too tend to get hung up

I aim to not think in terms of specific foods or macros, but to plan so I get balanced meals, starting with a general idea - getting in something from each food group every day, several for each meal, and different things from day to day, as much as practically possible of course. In this process, I schedule grocery shopping and think about what I find delicious and appealing, what's in season or otherwise cheap at the moment, the optimal package sizes for each item and other ways to avoid waste, and necessary preps to make cooking easy and enjoyable.

So this is probably more of a mindful and holistic eating approach, if it has to be called anything; be careful so you don't jump on or dismiss something just because you like or dislike the name (another advice I should be heeding better myself).

AnnPT77

I have minimum daily goals for fats and protein, and shoot for 5+ veggie/fruit servings (ideally 10+), within calorie goal. If I have calories available to eat beyond those minimums, I don't care much what macros I spend them on . . . and sometimes, it's alcohol.

I eat mostly one-ingredient or simple processed foods, and (obviously) lots of veggies/fruits most days, and have been ovo-lacto vegetarian for 44 years.

I wouldn't call this intuitive eating, but it's definitely flexible.

This was pretty much how I approached weight loss (but with the backtracks and mistakes left out ):

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10636388/free-customized-personal-weight-loss-eating-plan-not-spam-or-mlm

Diatonic12

https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10676481/flexible-dieting-vs-clean-eating

You might find some help in this thread, too.

AnvilHead

Or maybe this previous discussion as well: https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10662321/no-calorie-counting-needed-just-eat-intuitively-folks/p1