Eating what you like vs. clean eating vs. following weight watchers or low carb or other method

Tatarataa

What has helped you most to stick to your calories? How are you losing? Especially: people with binge problems-what has helped you most?

I am currently trying to eat whatever I like and especially to include my binge foods in my normal daily life. We will see how this will go, I just started to put focus on this...

Mycophilia

I eat what I want, when I want. My only rule is that it has to fit my calorie and protein goal. Doing great so far.

Tatarataa

Great to hear that this works for others!!

Mr_Knight

I would much rather have no ice cream than the one tablespoon of ice cream that actually fits in my goals - so no, I don't eat what I want because quantity is a big part of what I want, for some foods.

You however may be different - not everybody is the same.

ajnb88

When I was trying to lose weight, for most things I ate what I wanted, just less of it. Cutting things out just made me want them more. The only exceptions were drinks, where I switched to diet/sugar free from regular.

crazyjerseygirl

I tend to want large quantities of binge foods, it is very difficult for me to eat just one slice of cake or piece of chocolate, I obsess over the next bite!
I tend to eat healthy-ish and within my calories for an average day. During celebrations (like this past weekend I'll have some sweets, but I have to physically walk away once I get my piece.

PeachyCarol

In the past I've tried the Cambridge Diet, Nutri System, Paleo, Atkins, Raw Vegan.

I can say what works best for me is eating food I already like in moderate portions. I'm okay with small servings of "treat" foods. The thing is, for me? My goal weight TDEE isn't too far off my current calorie consumption. I'm going to have to deal with food in small quantities for the rest of my life.

I'm glad to have learned better habits while enjoying things I love. I've developed an appreciation for higher quality food. I don't mind spending more money on the good stuff now. It lasts longer since I eat less of it and I feel like I get more bang for my buck that way.

mymodernbabylon

I make sure to get up to my minimum protein macro (100 grams) and then I can eat what I want. But most of what I want is good home cooked food. But I also drink beers once in a while, have a pizza takeout once in a while, etc.

ana3067

Mycophilia wrote: »

I eat what I want, when I want. My only rule is that it has to fit my calorie goal. Doing great so far.

2nd, but also needs to meet my macro (mostly protein) goals because I am also very much focused on body composition. I don't generally bother to meet fat or carbs because my average is usually either over on fat or right where it should be, and carbs are just the filler so they use up whatever is left.

ana3067

Mr_Knight wrote: »

I would much rather have no ice cream than the one tablespoon of ice cream that actually fits in my goals - so no, I don't eat what I want because quantity is a big part of what I want, for some foods.

You however may be different - not everybody is the same.

66-100g of ice cream isn't a tablespoon, but I guess if you're only allotting like 30 calories for a treat instead of ~120-150 calories then it's much harder to eat the actual serving size.

Mycophilia

ana3067 wrote: »

Mycophilia wrote: »

I eat what I want, when I want. My only rule is that it has to fit my calorie goal. Doing great so far.

2nd, but also needs to meet my macro (mostly protein) goals because I am also very much focused on body composition. I don't generally bother to meet fat or carbs because my average is usually either over on fat or right where it should be, and carbs are just the filler so they use up whatever is left.

You're right, I also care about how much protein I get. Somehow forgot to add that part lol.

diannethegeek

I do tend to have binge problems, but find that they're much worse if I cut my calories too low or try to exclude foods that I like. Everyone is different, obviously, so you may need to play around. For me, I felt much more in control when I set my weight loss to one pound a week, but gave myself permission to go up to maintenance if I felt like I needed to. I almost never used that option, but it took the pressure off if I ate a little over my goal. I no longer had the "well I've blown it, might as well eat everything" mindset that I got stuck in during the early days of my dieting. I watch my calories and my macros, but fit sweets and treats in where I can.

Also, with binging I always think that a big component of it is figuring out why you binge. For me, restricting made it worse. But I'm also an emotional eater, so I have to pay attention to my emotions and try to direct my stress into something other than eating. If I get too sad, too angry, too stressed, I'll reach for food to try and eat until I'm numb. Picking up a hobby that keeps my hands busy, keeping a journal, exercising, or anything that helps work off stress can be helpful if you're an emotional eater. Maybe you are and maybe you aren't, but I wanted to point out that it can help to pay attention to why you're eating and try to get in front of those sorts of things before you reach for the food. It's not a perfect solution, but it might help take some of the pressure off.

Hornsby

I cut a lot out when I was losing. Mainly because the calorie hits were too high with some things. Now that I am maintaining, I basically eat what I want. That being said, "what I want" is a bit different these days than before I started as I am more knowledgeable on calorie counts/macros/etc.

joshuapowell1989

I'm using the "Eat what you like" (as long as it fits my goals) approach.
Previously when I dieted I cut alot out, - No Beer, No Chocolate, No Sweets etc. Then when I struggled I binged on beer, sweets and chocolate.
Now I am thinking more around the calories and fat of items.
The other night I laid in bed and ate 12 Milky Bar Buttons as that is what fit into my goals, once I had 12 I stopped.
a) The pack lasted alot longer.
b) I continued to lose weight.

betuel75

Mr_Knight wrote: »

I would much rather have no ice cream than the one tablespoon of ice cream that actually fits in my goals - so no, I don't eat what I want because quantity is a big part of what I want, for some foods.

You however may be different - not everybody is the same.

Im like him, i try to find food that i can eat the biggest quantity of. So a tablespoon of ice cream will not suffice or i will end up eatin the entire tub.
I also have binge eating problems but it is not daily, its maybe once a week. So after that day passes and ive eaten mindlessly 7000+ calories i up my cardio and drop calorie intake for the next 5 days to offset the binge day. Im still able to maintain the body fat level i desire with this method.
How often do you have the binge cravings? This makes a difference. If you can limit your binge day from turning into days and your calories deficit the following days exceed the binge(till the next binge day) day overage you will still lose weight.

4legsRbetterthan2

Eat the way you want to eat the rest of your life. If you are happy "eating clean" (however you define that) for the rest of you life then go for it.
If not, then don't. Same goes for low carb.

If it is not something you want to do forever then no use starting. Temporary changes are the base of yo-yo dieting.

sofaking6

I'm in the 'eat what you like - sorta kinda' camp. ex: I like ice cream and chocolate but I have problems with gallons and bars, so I get fudgesicles. Finding the little substitutions that aren't "low fat" or "sugar free" but which focus more on the portion control. I also try to make my meals balanced with protein, carbs and fat since I have found that to be really satisfying.

maidentl

I find it to be about my mindset. I haven't told myself that I can't have anything. I just tend to not eat certain things because of the calories. But somehow knowing that I haven't "forbidden" them makes that okay. And if I do get a real hankering for something, I either have a bit or decide to make it a maintenance day or make it fit somehow.

PeachyCarol

ana3067 wrote: »

Mycophilia wrote: »

I eat what I want, when I want. My only rule is that it has to fit my calorie goal. Doing great so far.

2nd, but also needs to meet my macro (mostly protein) goals because I am also very much focused on body composition. I don't generally bother to meet fat or carbs because my average is usually either over on fat or right where it should be, and carbs are just the filler so they use up whatever is left.

This too. I feel best when I hit my protein goal. I also try to meet a fat goal for satiety.

diannethegeek

sofaking6 wrote: »

I'm in the 'eat what you like - sorta kinda' camp. ex: I like ice cream and chocolate but I have problems with gallons and bars, so I get fudgesicles. Finding the little substitutions that aren't "low fat" or "sugar free" but which focus more on the portion control. I also try to make my meals balanced with protein, carbs and fat since I have found that to be really satisfying.

^This is definitely something that I do. Like right now, I'm having a hard time not eating a whole pint of ice cream if I buy one (usually it will last me 3-4 days). So I bought the 40-calorie fudgesicles instead. Where I can moderate, I do, but sometimes moderation means knowing what I can't be trusted around at the moment.

KylaDenay

I am a fan of eating what I want as long as it fits my goals. However due to medical issues I cannot do that anymore. Now I am struggling big time with a low carb/keto lifestyle. It seems to be the only woe where my symptoms are gone. I go back to my normal carb loaded lifestyle and get super sick. I hate it, but rather not be sick.