Not a "Lifestyle Change"

Just wondering if there are others here who lost their weight or are in the process of losing weight through minor adjustments rather than a full-on lifestyle change.


When I got my Bachelor's degree ... that was a huge lifestyle change on many levels.
When I moved to Australia from Canada ... that was a lifestyle change.
When I travelled the world for 8 months with my husband and our bicycles ... that was a big lifestyle change.
When I started working toward my Master's degree ... that is something of a lifestyle change.

But losing weight wasn't.


Prior to starting with MFP, I had gone from about 25 years of being slender, and watching what I ate, and counting calories from time to time to ensure I was eating enough but not too much ...... to ever-so-gradually putting on a bit of weight over a few recent years. Overall, my diet was pretty good ... just a bit too much of it. I was quite active ... just not quite active enough to compensate for the food I was eating. I was kind of focused on other things ... like moving to Australia and travelling.


So when I started with MFP, I made the following changes:

-- I changed almost nothing about what I ate between the time I got up in the morning and the time I arrived home from work. The only thing I did change was to drop one snack. I had been eating a handful or two of cashews in the middle of the afternoon, so I stopped doing that. I had started noticing some allergy symptoms when I ate them anyway ... congestion, tingling mouth and tongue, digestive issues, etc. ... so no big loss.

-- For a few years, up till a year prior to joining MFP, I had been eating chocolate after work. But about a year before joining MFP I started making changes to that because I found that my blood sugar spiked and dropped which wasn't helpful when I went to the gym or cycling after work. After joining MFP, I stopped eating chocolate after work, and started eating cottage cheese and raw veggies instead. Maybe a couple crackers and cheese if I'm going to be putting in a big effort. That's better ... I've got the energy to exercise.

-- Dinners were big. In Canada, the dining style is where bowls of food are placed on the table and we help ourselves to whatever we figure we're going to eat. And if you've selected something, you're expected to eat it. In Australia, the cook serves up plates of the food. My husband would hand me a heaping plate of food, and tell me I didn't have to eat it all. But because I come from the Canadian perspective, if it is on my plate, I eat it. I was struggling through massive portions. When I started with MFP, we started weighing the food, and my portion sizes went down to something much more manageable!

As for the food we ate, I spend a few days exploring grocery stores and markets and discovering all sorts of possibilities. We actually eat a somewhat more varied dinner selection now. And it's all delicious!

-- Evening snacks ... are similar but lighter than they used to be. I still eat yogurt ... I just go for a low cal yogurt. I still eat fruit ... just a bit less of it. We used to eat a dessert like Tiramisu or chocolate cake or something 3 or 4 evenings a week ... now we do that once or twice a month.


I still have nutella and honey on toast for breakfast on the weekends.
I still eat a whole pizza once a month or so, on weekends.
We still go out to places like Subway or Zambreros or for fish and chips about once a week.

And my exercise level has increased back up to what it was a few years ago.


It's been a matter of increased awareness and a collection of minor changes.


Just wondering if there have been others who have gone through a similar process. Nothing earth shattering ... just a few small adjustments.