Can you calorie count and eat flexibily

DeButterflyx

Hi I'm trying to improve my relationship with food. But I also want to lose weight. Iv ecently been trying to intuitively eat. It has benefited me in that I have finally stopped binge eating. I used to restrict then end up binging and my weights at my heaviest now. The thing is I want to continue that good relationship of seeing food as just food not good or bad and listening to my body on what it wants but I'd like to loose weight. Calorie counting is the what worked for me in the past. Iv tried slimming World several times and I get so far and then I end up fed up and back to square one.
Do people think I could calorie count but still intuitively eat (sort or)? Does anyone here do it?

sijomial

Yes - you can eat completely intuitively and log/calorie count after the event. Recording what you eat rather than controlling what you eat. Obviously that doesn't change today but it might influence tomorrow.

But it's not a binary choice between the two extremes of weighing and logging everything with set calorie and macro goals to control your intake at one extreme and eating completely intuitively.

Personally I think for people that have struggled with their weight true intuitive eating is an extremely lofty goal that few will achieve.

Some alternatives:
There's lazy logging. A rough idea of calories.
There's setting flexible macro goals (protein and fats as minimums is common).
There's IIFYM (the flexible dieting philosophy not the website).
And there's what I do to manage my weight - mindful eating. I don't log food but do have general nutrition and calorie aims. I simply don't need the precision of food logging to manage my weight but do log my exercise as it causes huge variations in my needs (ranging between 2250 and 4000 daily for the last few weeks.)

snowflake954

I agree, try logging after or in the evening. You'll have to jot everything down on a piece of paper during the day. You may go over (very probable) but the next day can try to do better. Do not try to set your calorie goal too low. Set to lose a half a pound a week. It may take longer this way, but your chances of success will be better. Try it and see if it works for you. If after 2-3 weeks it's not working then you'll have to try something new.

lemurcat2

"The thing is I want to continue that good relationship of seeing food as just food not good or bad and listening to my body on what it wants but I'd like to loose weight. Calorie counting is the what worked for me in the past. Iv tried slimming World several times and I get so far and then I end up fed up and back to square one."

I think you could do this and calorie count. Personally, I'd still recommend you calorie count before eating (while cooking). One thing calorie counting taught me was my eyes often had distorted ideas of portion size, but when I trusted my counting and ate a smaller portion I was fine. After doing that for a while I basically could estimate without counting and mindfully eat.

kmccrom

@XDaniellexsh

I’m no expert, but I share your goals. For me the goal of mfp and logging food is to develop better intuition about what and how much to eat to stay in line with my goals. It’s a tricky balance and that good vs bad is a real trap. Definitely restricting followed by bingeing doesn’t work, been there before. So I think if you can use mfp and logging as a tool toward an overall goal of Intuitive eating, that could work. Good luck! I’m on a similar journey.

mtaratoot

snowflake954 wrote: »

I agree, try logging after or in the evening. You'll have to jot everything down on a piece of paper during the day. You may go over (very probable) but the next day can try to do better. Do not try to set your calorie goal too low. Set to lose a half a pound a week. It may take longer this way, but your chances of success will be better. Try it and see if it works for you. If after 2-3 weeks it's not working then you'll have to try something new.

Agree with writing things down. If you don't, you will forget. Over time, I have developed a pretty good idea of what I need to use for ingredients, but I still weigh them and write them down to enter when I'm done cooking. If it is something I don't use ingredients for, I try to log it immediately. Otherwise I'm likely to forget something. It's not that uncommon for me to remember something I ate yesterday that I didn't log. I actually go back and log it retroactively so I have good records to help guide me in the present and the future.

DeButterflyx

Thank you all so much for your comments. Your insights have been very helpful

flosssymae

Hi!
I had lost a lot of weight and made myself miserable dieting for three years. I stopped and gained it all back and spent the last three years intuitively eating.

IE is amazing but there is a huge reason that most people who are successful at it are thin. Obese peoples brains respond to food differently and we are basically leptin (fullness hormone) resistant. So if you feel you are carrying extra weight, it is very unlikely that you would lose any of it through IE, as our bodies seem to just eat to maintain at best. ( IE is highly profitable rn and no one wants to tell the majority of people that you truly are unlikely to end up at "set point" if obese.)

I am 150 lbs over weight and I am currently merging IE with tracking. I don't meal prep, I still eat what I crave or feel like just with paying attention to my calorie goal. Due to IE, I know what foods make me feel best, what I actually like to eat and what hunger vs mental hunger feels like. Calorie counting just ensures that I will lose weight. I also have sort of a floating target as some days I truly am really hungry and other less.

The last time I dieted I was very black and white and going one calorie over would mean a derailment. I know now that I simply have to eat less if I want to be smaller but it doesn't mean I can't listen to my body as much as I can within this nor that I must be miserable either. IE made it so food is just food and I am thankful for that. I basically got every single benefit from IE that they say you will but weight loss and sadly it's the one I need most. (I fully believe you can be healthy and feel great at any size. I having knee issues and WL is my best option. I want to be active and enjoy life and my knees are starting to hinder this.)

HotFrieZ

This is what I do. I used to binge, so I soley ate intuitively for several years. I now log loosely and am at a very good place with food. I think counting loosely helps me pay more attention. It's so easy to grab a handful of nuts here, a few pretzels there and then 500 calories later, youre still hungry. I also think trying to balance my macros helps me feel good and satisfied but I'm not crazy with it. Highly recommend this way of eating!