Do Not Delete
Have you ever tracked calories, logged every gram of protein, or followed a macro plan to the letter — only to still feel off in your body? Same! 🙋♀️
So many of us have tried all the “right” approaches to food quantity: counting, measuring, restricting, adjusting. And while there’s nothing wrong with wanting to feel better or more in control of your eating, I want to offer you a gentler — and more effective — approach:
Let’s shift away from controlling every bite… and toward actually listening to what your body needs.
It’s by learning to listen – and respond – to what our body is telling us that true healing happens.
Why Counting Takes You Out of the Relationship
One of the core themes around here is learning how to get back into a relationship with your body — to reconnect, to listen, and to honor the signals your body is giving you.
But every time we outsource that wisdom to an app or a number — whether it’s calories, macros, or points — we take ourselves out of that relationship.
Instead of asking:
- Am I satisfied?
- Do I feel nourished?
- How does my body feel after this meal?
We’re asking:
- Did I stay under my calorie goal?
- Did I hit 30 grams of protein?
- How many macros do I have left?
Can you feel the shift? One invites awareness. The other invites control.
One builds a relationship with our body. The other takes us outside of that relationship and puts the focus on external drivers.
When Counting Might Make Sense — and When It Doesn’t
Now, are there cases where tracking macros or calories serves a purpose? Absolutely. Competitive athletes, bodybuilders preparing for a show, or individuals with very specific short-term goals may benefit from precision tracking. But for most of us — women navigating full lives, careers, families, and fluctuating hormones — the real power lies in developing a keen ear for what your body is asking for. That’s where long-term healing and sustainable energy come from.
What Happens When We Overeat — Even the Good Stuff
Now let’s be clear: quantity still matters. Just in a different way than you might think.
When we consistently overeat — even healthy, whole foods — we overwhelm the digestive system.
Digestion is one of the most energy-intensive processes in the body. So if you’ve ever felt exhausted after a heavy meal (hello, Thanksgiving nap!), it’s not just the tryptophan in the turkey. It’s your body rerouting energy away from activities it feels are less critical to your survival at that moment and toward breaking down a huge volume of food.
Eating large amounts at once also challenges blood sugar balance, slows digestion, and makes it harder for your body to absorb nutrients efficiently. It’s like asking your body to multitask 100 things at once — something always gets dropped.
You Can Eat the “Right” Amount — of the Wrong Food
Here’s something that rarely gets talked about in mainstream nutrition:
You can eat the perfect number of calories…
And still feel bloated, inflamed, sluggish, and totally out of sync with your body.
Why?
Because it’s not just about how much you eat — it’s about what you eat and how your body responds to it.
You can hit your macros to the gram — but if they come from processed foods or are accompanied by inflammatory oils, artificial sweeteners, or nutrient-poor ingredients, your body still struggles. It’s not just trying to manage energy intake — it’s trying to manage toxicity, inflammation, and digestive dysfunction at the same time.
That’s why food quality and quantity go hand-in-hand.
Nourishing food in the right amounts, eaten with intention, is what creates the environment for your body to heal and thrive.
Gentle Guidelines That Don’t Require Math
Instead of tracking and controlling, let’s start tuning in. And that starts with using simple, visual, intuitive cues to guide your portions.
Here’s a framework to help you portion your plate — without the overwhelm:
- Protein: About the size of your palm (per meal)
- Fats (like nuts or seeds): About a thumb-sized portion
- Starchy vegetables or fruit: About the size of a cupped hand
- Non-starchy vegetables: Fill half your plate or more (go colorful!)
This isn’t a rulebook. It’s a starting point — a visual guide that you can adjust based on how your body feels, what season you’re in, the stage of your cycle, or what kind of movement you’ve done that day.
Listen to your body.
Hunger, Fullness, and Everything In Between
The most powerful tool you have isn’t a food scale — it’s your body’s internal cues.
When you slow down and eat with presence, you can start to notice:
- Am I hungry — or just bored?
- Is my body asking for energy — or a break?
- Do I feel satisfied — or stuffed?
- Does this food energize me — or leave me foggy and sluggish?
There are the kinds of questions that build trust with yourself. And the more you practice tuning in, the more clearly your body will speak.
⏳ Your 5-Minute Action
Before your next meal, pause.
Ask yourself:
- How hungry am I right now?
- What would feel nourishing?
- How do I want to feel after this meal?
Then, build your plate with those answers in mind — and eat without distractions, even if just for the first few bites. This is where your relationship with food starts to shift. You don’t need to do a full kitchen purge. Just start noticing. One label at a time.
You’re Not Alone
If you’ve been stuck in a cycle of overthinking food — swinging between restriction and overwhelm — you’re not the only one. Most of us were never taught how to listen to our bodies, only how to control them.
But food isn’t just numbers. It’s a relationship. And you get to rebuild that relationship — gently, intentionally, and on your terms.
Keep Reading
👉 Why Food Quality Matters More Than You Think – Food quality fuels healing, energy, and balance.
👉 Understanding Symptoms – Symptoms Aren’t the Problem. They’re the Clues.
👉 Nutrition as Medicine – how food becomes your daily healing tool
👋 New to the blog?
This article is part of a bigger picture. Head over to the Start Here post to learn how the blog is organized and where to begin your healing journey.
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