Overwhelmed

mags080611

Ok friends. I've been feeling overwhelmed. I have someone saying the 21 day fix is perfect for teaching habits and food portions then I hear to eliminate sugar or carbs. Then I'm told just count calories. I hear you should only eat meat 3 times a week. I'm in need of losing weight I need to find something that I can just stick to. Please any advice is appreciated

haildodger

Don't complicate it. Move more, eat less; that's it. You don't have to do it all on day one. Start small, and put one foot in front of the other; it's easy.

Fitness is a skill

Sabine_Stroehm

HaiLDodger wrote: »

Don't complicate it. Move more, eat less; that's it. You don't have to do it all on day one; start small and put on foot in front of the other. It's easy.

Start here. Move more, eat less, and slowly try to add more nutrient dense foods (including vegetables). You got this.

emdeesea

Quit listening to everyone else and do what works for you.

gramarye

Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »

HaiLDodger wrote: »

Don't complicate it. Move more, eat less; that's it. You don't have to do it all on day one; start small and put on foot in front of the other. It's easy.

Start here. Move more, eat less, and slowly try to add more nutrient dense foods (including vegetables). You got this.

All that. I grew up surrounded by food- and diet-related nonsense (don't eat after 8 PM or all that food turns into fat; skip breakfast; never skip breakfast; never eat bread; etc) and none of that makes any sense in a long-term way.

I eat a little less, and try to move a little more. I've been on this site for two years now, and that's been working wonders for me.

NerdieMcChub

You need to stop listening to everyone else and find what works for you. Only you know, and only you can find out. You can try suggestions from others, but it's a tricky process. I don't agree with the 21 day fix, personally, but I know many people that do. You should get a food scale and start there though. That way you know exactly what you're eating and how much.

lsgibbs83

emdeesea wrote: »

Quit listening to everyone else and do what works for you.

This...and make sure it is not a temporary "diet". Make it a lifestyle change you can live with forever.

MichelleLea122

Yeah it can be overwhelming, believe me I know. But in the end what stuck with me was developing healthy habits that I actually enjoyed. It may take a bit of searching to find what works best for you, but don't make yourself miserable in the process. Although I suggest starting with simple changes and work your way up from there.

DeWoSa

NerdieMcChub wrote: »

You should get a food scale and start there though. That way you know exactly what you're eating and how much.

I heartily agree with weighing and measuring your food.

I have a big appetite. I want to eat as much food as possible, but I'm lazy as *kitten* so I don't want to also have to exercise.

Once I started weighing and measuring my foods and recording the nutritional information here in MFP, I could see which foods let me eat loads of them without also going overboard on calories. Then food choices became a lot easier, and losing weight became super easy.

MagnumBurrito

Don't eliminate either of carbs or sugar. Especially carbs. Eat slightly below maintenance. Do most exercise as resistance, do some cardio, and just focus on today.

SnuggleSmacks

These are the facts: ALL you need for weight loss is a calorie deficit. Eat less than you burn. Period.

All those other things you're hearing about are various methods of maintaining that calorie deficit. Cutting or limiting certain foods works for some people. And if that's what you need to do, fine, but really think about if it's something you want to do for the rest of your life.

The best (not necessarily easiest) way to lose weight is to make peace with your food. Develop a good, healthy relationship with food. Set your macros according to your goals (ie. increased protein if you're lifting, increased carbs if you're running marathons, etc.) and weigh your foods to get a better sense of how much you're eating, should eat, and what a serving actually looks like. No need to cut anything unless it's something you just don't like. Learn to eat half a chocolate bar and safe the rest for tomorrow. Learn to eat one Pop Tart and wrap up the other one for next time.

One thing that really helped me is to get appropriately sized bowls. I have a giant bowl for salads/low cal soups, and I have a small, glass 4 oz. ice cream bowl which is beautiful and makes an actual serving look good instead of disappointing. I have Chinese rice bowls for sides with higher calories, so they're not tiny servings swimming in a bunch of empty space. You don't have to pay the outrageous sum required for the 21 Day Fix to do that. I paid $2 for my ice cream bowl.

Eat mindfully, without distraction, not in front of the TV or computer. Pay attention to the presentation of your food...make it attractive. It actually helps with satiety. Don't cut out the foods you love. Just learn to eat them in appropriate quantities.

segacs

mags080611 wrote: »

Ok friends. I've been feeling overwhelmed. I have someone saying the 21 day fix is perfect for teaching habits and food portions then I hear to eliminate sugar or carbs. Then I'm told just count calories. I hear you should only eat meat 3 times a week. I'm in need of losing weight I need to find something that I can just stick to. Please any advice is appreciated

It can be overwhelming since there's so much advice being touted by the internet and the media, and most of it is based on myth or just plain falsehood or some self-described guru selling modern-day snake oil or a magazine trying to promote page clicks to sell ad space.

Here's the cheat sheet: Make sure your calories in are less than your calories out, and you will lose weight. Make sure that those calories you do eat are providing you with adequate nutrition, good balance of macros, and are comprised of foods you actually enjoy, and you'll be healthier and sustain the loss.

Everything else is just either fad diet, pseudoscience, personal tips that worked for one person anecdotally but won't necessarily work for you. Feel free to ignore it all.

The very best thing you can do is to stop asking for and listening to so much advice. Just shut it out. Find a method that works for you, have quiet confidence in what you're doing, smile and nod when you hear all that other stuff go by.

Sued0nim

Only worked for me when I threw out all the advice, books, fads, media diets, friends tips etc and focused on calories in vs calories out

jnv7594

mags080611 wrote: »

Ok friends. I've been feeling overwhelmed. I have someone saying the 21 day fix is perfect for teaching habits and food portions then I hear to eliminate sugar or carbs. Then I'm told just count calories. I hear you should only eat meat 3 times a week. I'm in need of losing weight I need to find something that I can just stick to. Please any advice is appreciated

You have gotten a lot of good advice here. It really is about calories in vs. calories out and eating at a deficit. It's that simple. All of those other "diets" and fads just complicate things. This shouldn't feel like torture. You can still lose weight, and not feel like you're depriving yourself. It took me many, many years to figure this out, but this site has been a lifesaver for me. I still eat many of the things I love but in the correct portions. I still eat treats every day and work them into my calories. Quite honestly, this is the easiest lifestyle change I have ever gone through, and it's simply because I stopped listening to all the noise and kept it simple. Being able to eat treats and being able to still eat things I love including cheese, real bacon, hamburger, etc. is the only way I will be able to stick with something long term. I have lost 55 pounds while still eating the foods I love. Deprivation for me just does not work, and it doesn't work for most people in the long term. Keep it simple, eat what you want in moderation, weight EVERYTHING, track your calories and eat at a deficit, and you will lose weight.