6+ months of intuitive eating

so ~ starting in January I began intuitive eating and a month later i wrote a post about my struggles and successes with intuitive eating, but since I have been going for almost 7 full months now, I figured it was time for a follow up post. 

Struggles:  

 There have been MANY days where I've looked down at my stomach and been not pleased with myself. Especially because Facebook and Google like to remind me that I was 10-15 lbs lighter a year ago. 

I have thought about restarting dieting multiple times throughout this process because I know I could do it and diet my way back to the weight I was previously. 

but that's not the point of intuitive eating, it's supposed to be food freedom, not a weight loss gimmick. which is definitely a shift in reasoning from how I was eating before and it's something I'm working on changing my brain around on regularly. 

Honestly, most of my struggles with intuitive eating has been with my own body image and weight . Which is an ongoing struggle, and I don't think it's gonna be fixed in 6 months. And even when I'm doing well with this all the time, there will still be bad days. Body image isn't something that's fixed overnight. But I do think that I am starting to have slightly more good days than bad days. Which is something.

Successes:

Most of my experience with intuitive eating has been good though! i have really enjoyed the freedom around food that I've had. And to be frank, my eating didn't drastically change. I eat a lot of the same foods because I like those foods. 

But, i have also added more into my diet! I have tried new marinades, I've baked more, I will have hella carbs and not stress about it, and I enjoy eating foods that I used to feel guilty about. 

I know I'm eating more than I was a year ago, but I feel like I'm fueling my body better.  

I am SO much stronger than I was a couple years ago or a year ago or even 6 months ago. And that's largely due to my strength programming but I know a contributing factor is the fact that I'm not in a caloric deficit so I'm able to build muscle.  

And its really nice not too feel guilty around food. Some days that's not the case, but most days I can eat the foods that make me feel good even it has carbs or sugar or chocolate or fat or whatever.

Beyond the food things, I know I mentioned the weight gain but it hasn't been a huge gain. It does feel like it was a lot, but when I started onto this whole intuitive eating thing I was coming off an entire month of illness so I was at a lower weight than I had typically been, so it's about 8-9 lbs since then but probably only 3-4 lbs realistically. And I don't think I've gained much of anything over the past few months (though I haven't been weighing myself regularly to be sure). 

 Another great success I've had has been with figuring out my hunger a lot better. I'm slowly getting more comfortable with eating when I'm hungry and then actually stopping before I'm so stuffed I feel terrible and just stopping when I'm satisfied. 

So a lot of positive things coming from from intuitive eating, and honestly it gets better as I get more practice with it. 

honestly, if you're interested in trying out intuitive eating I would give it a shot. It's been a process and it's not easy but the benefits of intuitive eating are many and learning how to really fuel your body in the way your body wants & needs to be fueled. If you have questions and/ or need support feel free to reach out to me at my Facebook page, Instagram, or in the comments below! 

WHAT ARE: all these different diets???

i've been talking a lot about diet these past few weeks and that is because you can work your ass off at the gym for hours, but if your diet sucks you won't make any progress. 

i've mentioned a lot of different diets so i'm gonna give you a list of all the different things (well at least a good chunk of them- cause omfg there are SO MANY) out there and let you decide for yourself what's gonna work best for you in your life! 

(side note - i was gonna try to be totally impartial on all these but some are definitely scams or just not good for you. so i'm gonna point that out. not sorry about it.also i will be noting when they are diets you have to pay to be part of) 

iifym -if it fits your macros. basically you get a set of macros (from any source- websites or trained professionals) and you just try to hit those maconutrient goals for carbs, fats, and proteins. usually have to track your intake in order to be accurate to your macros.

keto - very low carb diet. approximately less than 20 g per day to keep your body in ketosis. this will, in theory, help you to burn fat faster because your body is not taking in any energy (carbs). does require tracking to make sure you're eating under your carb goal.

low carb variations (atkins, lchf, south beach, etc). - eating low carbs for fat loss. typically less restrictive than keto (some variations allow you to eat up to 100g carbs). there are a lot of variations of low carb diets. 

carb cycling- choosing days to eat either high, moderate, or low carb. this can depend on activity level, lifting schedule, etc. 

calorie counting- figuring out how many calories you eat and reducing your intake for fat loss. have to track your intake to make sure you are eating under your calorie targets.

paleo - "caveman diet" mainly containing meat, fish, vegetables, and fruit. excludes processed foods and dairy and grain products.

whole30- a strict paleo diet meant to be followed for 30 days. eliminating dairy and processed foods, meant to help you "reset" and also to help you find foods that you may be reacting poorly to.

gluten free - cutting out gluten from the diet. this is unnecessary unless you have an actual gluten intolerance (like celiacs disease)

meal replacement kits (shakeology or herbalife or slimfast) - (gotta buy in to be part of this one). skipping or supplementing a meal with a shake with added nutrients or proteins or vitamins. 

zone diet- lower carb diet with a specific amount of meals per day. (3 meals and 2 snacks). uses the glycemic index to classify "good" carbs. ratio of 30:40:30 fat: carbs: protein

cabbage soup diet - THIS IS NOT A SUSTAINABLE DIET (nor is it advertised that way). basically you only eat a cabbage soup recipe for all your meals for a week to lose weight quick. (which you will because you aren't eating very much for an entire week)

weight watchers- (gotta buy in for this one). uses a point system instead of calories and has a community to check in with to add to your motivation to stick with the plan.

blood type diet - this diet says that you should eat and avoid specific things due to your blood type. to get the full lists you have to buy the lists of "good" and "bad" foods. seems very scammy to me.

macrobiotic diet- a diet based out of zen buddhism. an attempt to balance the yin and yang within a person. major guidelines are to eat minimal animal products, eat locally grown foods in season, and eat meals in moderation. 

raw food - basically eating mostly uncooked and unprocessed foods. several variations under "raw foodism" that can include dairy, meats, fish, and/or eggs. 

bullet proof - low carb diet again. trying to get 50-60% of your calories from healthy fats, 20% from proteins, and the remaining from vegetables. usually starts with a cup of coffee with butter or coconut oil for energy and satiety. 

intuitive eating- what the non-fitness population would call regular ass eating. eating things based on what you want to eat without restriction. becoming more attuned to the body's hunger signals and not following any strict guidelines as to what you should or should not eat. 

detox diets- all of these are so scammy y'all. anything claiming to detox your body in however many days is full of shit... and that's all these diets will do, to be honest. they're usually glorified laxatives. 

grapefruit diet - operates under the theory that grapefruit has a fat burning enzyme. eat half a grapefruit with every meal to help "burn calories/fat" (obviously not real life and a scam). some of these diets are 7 day detox diets where you only eat eggs and grapefruits (hard no on that one)

jenny craig- (have to buy in to this diet- they send you the pre-made meals). teaches portion control and eating small meals throughout the day to increase satiety and energy. this is basically calorie counting without the work of counting calories because they send you the meals

nutrisystem - (gotta buy into this one too. they'll send you all the meals that you eat) very much like the jenny craig system. they give you all the meals that you have to eat, which is at a calorie deficit so you lose weight.

Mediterranean diet- emphasis in eating plant based foods and healthy fats. limits red meat consumption. moderate intake of dairy products. (lower carb diet, as well) 

and that's just to name a few... there are so many more than that. some of these are really great... and some are pretty terrible (*cough* that cabbage soup diet y'all*) and some are crazy and some work just by happenstance. 

find what works for you and be consistent to get your long term results. 

need some food ideas? check out my facebook and instagram to see some tasty foods you can incorporate into your menu! 

did i miss any diets that you loved or hated? let me know in the comments! 

HOW TO: sustainably diet

last week i wrote about WHY you should sustainably diet... this week i'm gonna give you the HOW. 

what exactly is a sustainable diet? 

under my definition, it is a diet that you are able to do for a long duration without burning out and without feeling restricted. 

and it will look different for everyone. for some people that will be a paleo diet, for some people a lower carb diet, and for others its just general portion control.

 so here's how you figure out what a sustainable diet looks like for you: 

1. figure out how you're currently eating and what needs to change. the easiest way to do that is to totally track your food for a few days (being sure to track at least one weekend day). maybe (most likely) you need to reduce your intake or maybe you snack more than you realized or drink high calorie juices or coffees and things you wouldn't usually think of. so knowing what you currently eat can help you to see the issues that may be causing the weight gain. 

2. figure out what is most important for you to keep in your diet for you to stick with it. is that getting to eat hella pasta or other carbs? or do you need your chocolate fix every night? know what is important to you so you can plan how you eat around those requirements to not feel restricted. 

3. which brings me to part 3... plan, plan, plan. at least at first make sure you are planning as much as you can so you don't go off track due to laziness. make yourself a menu, have your snacks portioned out, meal prep if that's something you need to do. make sure you have your plan in place so you can enjoy the foods you want to while also staying within whatever goals you've set for yourself successfully

4. have goals. clear cut, written, achievable goals. that could be staying within a calorie range or no sodas or no eating out during the week or no chips with lunch or eat a veggie at dinner or try a new fruit/veggie every couple of weeks. have set goals for each month that you can achieve and stick with them. 

5. and finally...if you slip up (and you will) don't let that run you off the rails. change takes time and you will make mistakes. and that is OKAY! but do not let that mistake turn into a whole day or week or whatever of going off track. 

so that's how you do it! make your plan and stick with it. eat your healthy foods and protein and enjoy your treats in moderation. 

you can do it! 

but if you need help/have questions/want some ideas follow me on facebook and instagram! send me a message or leave a comment with any questions!