Realising that exact numbers of calories do not matter

Something that took me a really long time to truly understand is that our bodies are not calorie counting machines. There is not an exact number of calories that our body needs in order to maintin our weight. If we eat more on one occasion, this does not mean we will necessarily gain weight, just as we do not necessarily lose weight if we eat a little less on any one day. If you really think about it, our bodies truly are amazing in adapting to our energy intakes.

The same thing goes for exercise. Just because a person misses exercise on a single day does no mean that they will necessarily gain weight and just because a person exercises more on one day does not mean they will lose a significant amount of weight either. If we learn to properly listen to our bodies, we will be able to realise when our bodies need extra food or not so much and can eat accordingly.

For a long time I was terrified of increasing my intake as even though I was under eating, I was still managing to maintain my weight. I was so pedantic about the number of calories I was eating and always made sure I ate the EXACT same amount every single day. I would not even eat 5 calories more or less (knowingly anyway) as I thought it would make me gain or lose weight. I now know that our bodies do not calculate calories in this way and that there is actually quite a large intake range that our bodies can maintain on.

Throughout my eating disorder, my  body has managed to maintain my weight while eating 1800 calories, then 2000 calories, 2200 calories, 2500 calories and even up to 3000 calories. And this is because my body has cntinuously adjusted depending upon my intake. So please, just because you may be maintaining your weight at a lower weight, do not think you will never be able to eat any more then that amount in your life without gaining weight because you will be able to.

There is no magic formula to work out exactly how much you need to eat in order to lose, gain or maintan your weight. Our bodies are incredibely complex and we cannot always control them closely as we think we can. It is only since my mind has started to recover that I have been able to think so much more rationally and have been able understand dfferent things like this. Understanding this has helped me so much to get out of my bad eating disorder behaviours such as weighing everything I eat so that I can calculate the exact number of calories a food contains.

For example, I just use the nutritional values on the backs of packets to make sure I eat enough each day. While this means that I may actually be eating a little more or a little less then what it says on the packet, Iknow tha I am eating around the right amount that is all that matters. My body does not count every calorie that it uses and I therefore dont need to count every single calorie I consume either. I just need to trust that my body will use the energy I provide it with to look after me.

I cant wait until the day comes that I learn how to eat intuitively and no longer need to count calories. I am so excited about the prospect of trusting my body enoough to maintain a healthy weight without needing to eat a particular amount. Our bodies are so smart that if we learn to properly listen to them that they can really look after us, without us having to worry about it at all. Once this was the way everyone lived and this is the way that things should still be now in my opinion. We just need to sit back, enjoy life and trust our bodies to sort the rest out for themselves!