If counting calories and meal prep is the last thing you want to think about, we have a guest for you.

Today we bring on guest, Kierston Mills, CEO of Fearfully Made Fit, and dietetics student soon to be a registered dietician.

90% of what you do is probably your nutrition and sleep patterns. We are excited to bring on Kierston with some perspectives we haven't shared yet. We are going to talk about intuitive eating. Counting macros is not for everybody. If the thought of a food scale makes you want to cry, or you are spending 3 hours in the kitchen meal prepping every day, maybe we need to look at some other options that can fit into your busy lifestyle.

Meredith: How did you get interested in the concept of intuitive eating instead of counting and measuring every single food?

Kierston: My fitness journey ebbed and flowed with nutrition. When I first started out, I was eating the typical high school diet of hot pockets, Frappuccinos, and Doritos to starting to eat more fruits and vegetables and lean proteins. Throughout my journey I was introduced to fitting macros and flexible dieting. It was a helpful tool for me because it allowed me to see what a portion size looked like, and what portions look like on a plate. It also helped me to realize that I can include any type of food into my diet, even a glass of wine or cookie.

Over the last year or so, I adopted intuitive eating. This is eating anything in amounts to satisfy your hunger. There are no food rules around it. One of the reasons I transferred to intuitive eating was that even though flexible dieting was a helpful tool to prepare for competitions and lose body fat, it just wasn't something I saw myself doing for the rest of my life. The whole point of developing a healthy lifestyle is developing habits you can stick with forever. With my nutrition background and previous experience counting macros, I had a good idea of what foods make me feel good and give me energy to perform in the gym. It allowed me a good relationship with food and understanding of high nutrient dense foods. That's how I got into intuitive eating.

Meredith: What is the difference between flexible dieting and intuitive eating?

Kierston: With flexible dieting you would count your macronutrient needs. A macronutrient is protein, carbohydrates, or fat. With flexible dieting, you keep track of those macronutrients with an App like My FitnessPal or maybe pen and paper. The benefit of flexible dieting is to help you know how much you are eating by weighing and documenting, then adjusting for your calorie deficit or surplus.

Meredith: Got it; so flexible dieting is more about weighing and tracking, versus intuitive eating moves away from counting while still managing for health and wellness.

Kierston: Yeah. Intuitive eating is about moving away from the rules and judgement, eating until you are comfortably satisfied, and only when you are hungry.

Meredith: I feel like sometimes people count calories and get frustrated with that method, but have a fear of transitioning into intuitive eating. They have a fear about eating too much of the "wrong stuff." They have judgement about right and wrong stuff. I think it is maybe programmed from having to record and tie in so closely to an App. What advice would you have for somebody who feels like they don't know if they can make this transition even though they want to?

Kierston: A first good step would be getting in contact with a dietician that is trained in intuitive eating and has that kind of philosophy. If you want to do it on your own, start by using your hand. Your hand is a great tool to measure portion sizes without having to put your food on a scale. For instance, your palm would be the size of 3 oz of protein. A fist would be a good estimate of fruit or vegetables. If you cup your hand, that is a good estimate for a starchy vegetable like potatoes. You can use your thumb as a good indicator of a fat portion size like cheese, nuts, or olive oil.

Meredith: Thank you for sharing how we can use this eyeball method to gauge where we are at overall. What are some other tips you have for people that want to give intuitive eating a try at home?

Kierston: Consider avoiding snacking. We often hear "six small meals a day," but that might not be effective for someone's work schedule. They might not have time to eat every few hours. Especially if they are a busy person, like you, who always has patients to tend to without time to sit down and eat. You can try three balanced meals a day with balanced food groups.

Go to ChooseMyPlate.gov. That is a great representation of how to build a healthy plate. That website talks about making half your plate fruits and vegetables, a quarter of it lean protein, and a quarter of it a carbohydrate source. You also want to make half of your grains whole; they have more health benefit like higher fiber. If you aren't lactose intolerant, MyPlate also encourages a serving of dairy to increase Calcium and Vitamin D intake.

Meredith: It sounds like MyPlate is a great resource to get started; I've looked at it and noticed too that people can hone in by other factors like age, size, and gender too, which is really helpful.

Kierston: Yeah; it's a great resource. Based on gender and age group, you can find variation in recommendation so you get all of the micronutrient needs too.

Meredith: Thank you. Do you have any other tips for those who want to start with intuitive eating at home.

Kierston: Absolutely. With intuitive eating, you want to not have any judgement around food. I recommend reading the book, Intuitive Eating by Evelyn Tribole. I think that is a great resource for anyone who wants to transition out of counting macros or being free of a certain meal plan into trusting their own body.

Meredith: I'm really appreciative of your sharing these tips. I think so many times we feel judgement around food, and we want to have a healthy relationship with food, but we're not sure how. I feel like intuitive eating offers the audience some strategies to being with right now.

Kierston: Yes, absolutely. I always encourage those with difficulty having a healthy relationship with food to work with a counselor or dietician to work through that too. A good support system for a healthy lifestyle and avoiding fear around certain types of food is helpful too.

Meredith: Thank you so much; we really appreciate your sharing on how the audience can have those healthy relationships with food. You can reach out to Kierston with questions about nutrition concepts and resources via her Instagram or Website.

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