Welcome to the IE thread
Tanna. I understand what you are saying about having to count calories for the rest of your life. It gets old. It gets frustrating. Re-learning to eat intuitively definitely takes time and patience and if you're trying to lose weight on top of that it can get quite frustrating as well, especially when you don't see the scale moving the way you would like it to. But, the bottom line is, I think those of us who are sticking with IE (no matter how many twists and turns or how far we get off the path at times), I think we all realize that there is no better way. We have tried all the diets, more than once. We've given it all we've got but haven't gotten anywhere. We realize that life wasn't meant to be lived with a fork in one hand and a calculator in the other. Years of imposed rules on eating (self-imposed or otherwise) are taking their toll. We're not lazy. We don't lack the will power. We're just sick of all the rules and want to live normal lives. Personally, it has taken me almost 30 years to "learn" everything I have "learned" about dieting and losing weight (like a yo-yo, that is). I don't want it to take another 30 just to lose it, but I realize that that's a lot of UN-learning to do. It's gonna take some time. The best advice I can offer anyone who wants to do IE is to have a realistic view of it. It is definitely NOT a lose-weight-fast approach. That is not to say that one cannot lose weight at a steady rate, but I believe that how much we have to unlearn will definitely determine our rate of success.
Learning to trust our bodies takes lots of time. Just recently I put a restriction on my carbs because I *know* that eating too many carbs causes me to crave more carbs and pack on the pounds. Not only that but I'm at high risk of developing diabetes and thought that it would be a good idea to try to be proactive against it. What I
wasn't doing was trusting my body to tell me what it needed. I was relying on a number to prevent me from getting too much of what I *thought* I didn't need. The result? Diet backlash with binging on carbs. I convinced myself that counting my carbs was still IE, I was just controlling one little area of it. Nope. It's not IE. It was still a diet. Yet another diet I could not stick with. BUT it was an important IE lesson learned and more un-learning of the diet thinking that has ruled my life.
IE takes time and patience. Be kind to yourself if you decide to follow IE.
Have a great one everyone!