this post was submitted on 27 Aug 2023
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It isn't too hard to lose weight if that is your main goal, it just takes time. You don't have to give up food that tastes good or that you love. Just eat under your TDEE and you'll lose weight. Every meal can be a cheat meal. A food scale and counting calories are the only things you need. I've lost 30 pounds so far without doing any exercise and have lost 6 inches off my waist. There was a whole sub dedicated to it called r/CICO. I only need to lose 20 more pounds until my goal weight. I don't eat food I don't enjoy, that would be like torture to me.
Hell you don't even need to count calories, simply eating things that are higher in fibre and generally lower calorie will help bias you toward weight loss.
For example the weight watchers have made fruit a freebee, because it's basically impossible to get fat from eating fruit.
I've never properly counted calories, i just make sure the base ingredients of my diet are generally healthy and that has worked extremely well.
No stress, easy to manage, and i've been able to get back in tune with my body's feedback so i can eat intuitively. I viscerally feel what nutrients my body needs the most (and very much doesn't need), like how people in survival situations get cravings for stuff like fish eyeballs because it has vitamins they need.
Yeah that doesn't work for me, I actually enjoy eating food so eating "intuitively" makes me eat too much. That was a common complaint on r/CICO that eating intuitively made people regain their lost weight. There is a reason why people like me got fat in the first place lmao. Over-eating tasty food.
Once I learned what actual serving sizes are supposed to look like it got much more easy. It's not stressful to count calories, I found it immensely stressful when I thought I was eating healthy low calorie meals but when I counted the calories using an actual scale I was actually over-eating and hated every second of it since I still felt hungry all day and the food tasted bad. Now I eat whatever I want or crave, including cheesecake, ice cream, burritos, spaghetti, burgers, and pizza. I'm not on a diet, I just adjust my portions. Once you get the hang of it, you can visually confirm you are eating too much or too little. This is how I like eating, nothing is off limits and very easy to tap a few times on my phone. My cheat day is everyday and I still lose weight. If I ever crave fish eyeballs, you can safely shoot me in the head lol.
I also enjoy eating, i need to eat good food to enjoy the rest of the day.
But you can absolutely eat intuitively while enjoying food, i think the mistake many people make is confusing "intuitive" with "follow every single urge no matter what".
no, you have to learn to interpret your bodily feedback, it takes like maybe a year to learn what your body actually wants because at first you will simply be following surface level psychological desires.
Part of this is simply weaning yourself off of sugar
I used to constantly drink cola and eat snacks and candy, nowadays after a glass of soda i feel a profound urge to drink nice cold water and i barely eat snacks or candy because actual food is more satisfying.
As for overeating and learning what serving sizes look like.. that's just like the definition of intuitive eating? simply knowing how much you want.
I mostly drink water and tea so soda now feels too icky to drink but that hasn't stopped me from enjoying other desserts. I don't see myself giving that up lol I love it too much. If it works for you, then kudos to you. I just can't dedicate myself to it. Especially not an entire year. I hope you don't think I am putting you down or anything, if it works for you then you should stick to it.
That's not the definition of intuitive eating, at least I'm pretty sure it isn't. I look at the serving size of whatever I am eating on its packaging label, weigh it, log it, and eat it. I only eat that predetermined amount the manufacturer came up with. I don't say maybe I'll eat double this amount or half because my body feels differently that day. I eat the exact same thing of something every time I eat it. I stop eating when I've met my calorie count, not when my body feels sated. That's calorie counting. As long as I eat throughout the day, I don't feel much hunger. I'm pretty sure I have a slow metabolism and eating whatever I want in smaller portions has been working for me.