Intuitive eating

hihid
hihid Posts: 2 Member
I just started eating intuitively about a week and a half ago. I gained about 5-7 pounds from that. I have been counting calories and restricting on and off since high school ( in college now) and it never really worked, I lost weight from it but never got a flat stomach. I also try to eat pretty healthy. I excersice 3-5 times a week, mostly weight lifting with cardio. Since I exercise regularly I should be gaining muscle but it feels like the weight is just going to my belly. Any advice on what I should do? Should I give it time and see if the weight eventually distribute throughout my body and begin to build muscle?

Replies

  • LyndaBSS
    LyndaBSS Posts: 6,964 Member
    Stay in a calorie deficit and lose weight. That's all it takes.
  • hihid
    hihid Posts: 2 Member
    edited October 2019
    Sijomial, I want to lose fat and have a lean body. My struggle with calories is that whatever the calculated amount I get of what I should be eating, based on activity level and weight, is way higher than what I actually eat; however, I'm still gaining weight. That could probably be from years of low calorie diet that has slowed down my metabolism
  • jdog022
    jdog022 Posts: 693 Member
    edited October 2019
    hihid wrote: »
    I just started eating intuitively about a week and a half ago. I gained about 5-7 pounds from that. I have been counting calories and restricting on and off since high school ( in college now) and it never really worked, I lost weight from it but never got a flat stomach. I also try to eat pretty healthy. I excersice 3-5 times a week, mostly weight lifting with cardio. Since I exercise regularly I should be gaining muscle but it feels like the weight is just going to my belly. Any advice on what I should do? Should I give it time and see if the weight eventually distribute throughout my body and begin to build muscle?

    If your going from a completely depleted state to a surplus then it’s normal to gain 5 pounds very quickly. But that’s not 5-7 pounds of fat. That would be at least 3500-4000 calories over every single day over such a short time period. Eating till sick.

    Weight is best measured in long term trends . Weeks, months and years.

    Gaining muscle is a very slow process. I’m not sure if your male or female but once your initial spike wears off then you should only be gaining .25-.5 pounds per week. You also need to be following a proven program for your level with progressive overload. I see plenty of people who work out 5 times a week and make zero progress. It would guess it is largely due to poor programming.
  • EliseTK1
    EliseTK1 Posts: 483 Member
    @hihid I understand your pain. Intuitive Eating is fantastic when it's your natural inclination or when you're getting a lot of support (ex. working closely with a Dietitan who is trained in IE) in making the change from the restriction mindset to listening to your body. It's an important tool for people recovering from eating disorders. It's very difficult to learn when it's not natural for you and you jump into it by yourself without support.

    I found it extremely hard to eat "intuitively" and stay healthy... Until recently. I had to change multiple habits over the course of about 6-8 months including eating past the point of fullness and reaching for unhealthy foods as the default. Breaking the habits that lead to weight gain takes time, patience, and consistent practice. I started lifting weights as well which has been a HUGE help in keeping me healthy and bringing down my body fat %. Even though I'm maintaining now and pretty much eating intuitively, I still log every day. I find it interesting and helpful to look at my calorie and exercise data to track trends in hunger and weight. That's not the case for everyone.

    Have patience with yourself. You didn't develop the habits overnight, and you won't break them overnight. Recognize when you're in a difficult place mentally and need to just focus on maintenance instead of losing. Also remember this is a long-term change meant to last your whole life. There's no rush.

    Also I agree with jdog- you probably didn't gain all that weight in pure fat. A good portion is likely fluid retention.
  • Cahgetsfit
    Cahgetsfit Posts: 1,912 Member
    sijomial wrote: »
    There's more options than logging food or intuitive eating.
    Try mindful eating perhaps?

    Personally for my entire adult life my intuitive eating level is higher than my actual needs (leading to weight gain) but I can manage my weight using mindful eating without any great effort or hardship, just vigilance and a bit of thought.

    What your goal is for your weight isn't clear to me from your post - is your desire to lose, maintain or gain weight?

    PS - eating "pretty healthy" can be done while losing, gaining or maintaining weight. The calories in healthy foods are the same units of energy that apply to unhealthy foods (however you wish to define unhealthy foods).


    Yeah I'm kinda like this to. I always tend to overeat when I'm being 'intuitive' - so I need to be 'mindful' - for example I serve something like rice onto my plate - then take a little bit off. Whereas if I was being 'intuitive' - i'd probably add a little bit more on.

    I manage to maintain when i'm on holidays and stuff when I am being mindful.

    BUt if you want to lose weight - deficit.
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
    edited October 2019
    There isn't much evidence in support of "intuitive eating".

    Imagine balancing your checkbook, but lacking the numbers of your paycheck, lacking the price of your purchases, and loosely being able to check your balance.

    There is nothing intuitive about eating - your physiology lacks the ability to maintain a weight range intuitively.