As I have really started my fitness journey and tried to be more active and healthy (for the most part) in the past year, dieting has actually been the hardest thing for me. Going to the gym, I LOVE it. I get to release all my stress from the day, catch up on Youtube videos if I am doing cardio, and just feel like one of the boys in a Testosterone filled weight room. But when it comes to my diet, it just never really sticks.
Don’t get me wrong, my nutrition/diet has gotten much better since I have started/left college. I use to be okay with ordering Dominos pizza every night and eating a Medium Pizza by myself. Now, I try to eat healthy 75% of the time if I can and portion things correctly. So what has helped me get to this point? Well a lot of trial and error.
I first tried going on a meal plan. I have done these in the past, but these never really stick after week 2. I think it becomes too expensive for my budget, and gets frankly boring for me and is just too much meal prepping. I then tried the “If It Fits Your Macros” approach. (IIFYM). Now I have to say that this was great for a little bit. It allowed me to fully understand what I was eating and what I should be avoiding. But for a long term solution, this really wasn’t good for me either. It actually gave me a negative response to food. I stopped enjoying food, but rather thought of it as a chore and frankly and a stressful one at that. Calculating what I could and couldn’t eat in a day just wasn’t fun and would cause me to under eat, which isn’t a good thing either.
I then started to learn about Intuitive eating. Now, I can’t say that a year ago this would have been a good idea for me. I think I needed those meal plans and macro counting for me to get to a point where I start to listen to my body. I know that I need to have a lot of protein in my diet. Not only is it good for my muscles to grow, but also it helps with leaning out, which is what I am currently working on. But I also learned that I need Carbs. my body really needs carbs, no it doesn’t need a whole pizza worth of it, but it definitely can’t be as depleted as it was getting from my other nutrition methods.
So, what I really wanted to get out of this post was that, not every diet is really a diet. In addition, a diet can’t last for ever, a new nutrition eating habit outlook can though. For me, listening to what my body wants and creating a positive image of food is most important to me. But I don’t think I could get to where I am today without those bumps in the road.
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What are some eating plans/ diets that you have tired? What worked for you? I would love to know/learn.
Youtube: (COMING SOON) @Adele Jackson
Twitter: @adelekatherine
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Trying To Become An Adult 
Hey Adele,
Loved the honest progression from diet to IIFYM to intuitive eating! My wife and I were both into IIFYM for a while, but like you said the counting and tracking got a bit overwhelming (at least for my wife haha I still follow it, but nearly as strictly as I used to). I like how you mentioned the awareness that came from your experience with it though. Overall, I feel that’s the best part. I think most people need that reality check of how much food and nutrients are actually consumed in a day in order to know how to “listen to your body” effectively when trying to stay in shape. Great post!
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Thank you… Im glad you liked the post 😊
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