Decided to try "Intuitive Eating"

anask4
anask4 Posts: 86 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
hey guys. To start off, I am a 19 year old, 5'6", 138 pound male college student., i have been counting calories for a little over a year and have lost approximately 50 pounds. My current focus is to lower my body fat (which is about 18% according to the U.S. Navy Circumfrence method) and build muscle. My TDEE is about 2100-2200, and I am currently eating at a 15% deficit. I also work out 4 times a week (20 min of moderately intense cardio and an hour of lifting. I do SL 5x5 along with other weight lifting) Over the course of my journey, I have struggled with things such as eating far too little (not any more) and binge eating. I feel that I have an unhealthy relationship with food. Im really obsessive about calorie counting and sometimes its all I think about. I want to try intuitive eating for a while and plan to closely monitor my weight, measurements, and gym performance. I dont plan on counting calories forever, so I figure why not start developing permanent healthy habits now rather than later.

Basically I was just hoping for some tips to keep myself on track and was also wondering how long I should stick with Intuitive Eating before evaluating whether or not I should go back to logging and counting calories. Also, how much initial weight gain should i expect?

P.S. sorry about the sloppiness of this post

Replies

  • Aemely
    Aemely Posts: 694 Member
    Congratulations on your journey thus far! I don't know anything about intuitive eating, but it sounds interesting. I wonder about my ability to lose weight without at least roughly counting, but with your amount of exercise, perhaps portion control and eating healthy will indeed be enough. Also, if you're not needing to lose but just maintain, that may make a lot of sense. I'm looking forward to seeing what others have to say! :smile:

    Good luck with your future endeavors, college, military, or career!! :glasses:
  • Barbellarella_
    Barbellarella_ Posts: 454 Member
    You could try it. You won't know if it's a good fit for you unless you do. I've seen intuitive really help people with your issues, and I've seen it blow up too. Waiting for your stomach to growl or grumble before you eat, van make you obsess over food as well.

    Maybe it would be a good way for you to take a break if tracking makes you obsessive. I've had to take breaks from tracking several times myself.

    Whatever helps keep you from under eating AND binging, is going to be your best route. Good luck.
  • RaggedyPond
    RaggedyPond Posts: 1,487 Member
    You might just need to take a break from tracking for a while. It will feel great until you decide you need to lose a little more.

    Tips I learned that help me not gain when I "intuitively eat" are:

    1. Only eat when hungry. 2. Stop as soon as you feel full. 3. Take your time eating and drink water every few bites. 4. Keep up on exercise.

    Good thing about it is you don't have to track and don't gain weight. Bad thing is that if you are trying to still lose weight it is very slow or you just maintain.
  • joanthemom8
    joanthemom8 Posts: 375 Member
    I'm not sure what you mean by "Intuitive Eating", but when I was with Weight Watchers the said to really pay attention to how you felt... eat when you are "hungry", but don't wait until you are "starving". Also, to eat slowly and STOP when you feel comfortably FULL, not STUFFED. Even though I count my calories, I still try to keep this mind.... if I'm not hungry, I'm not going to eat. AND if I feel hungry, I'll try to eat before I get to that crazy place I call "scarfing"!

    Good luck to you - you are very young so now is the time to develop HEALTHY habits to last you for life!
  • Leana93412
    Leana93412 Posts: 162
    Good luck to you. I tried it, but my hunger/satisfied button is broken. So I'm either eating nothing or eating too much. :ohwell:
  • anask4
    anask4 Posts: 86 Member
    I appreciate everyone's advice, thanks a lot.

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