What food plan do you follow?

amandamartinez13791379

I have 160lbs to shed. I am having a hard time trying to figure out what to eat. I am not a salad lover (not yet anyways).
I think I need some structure. Any advice?

TIA

cathipa

Guess it depends on the individual, but I have found IIFYM (if it fits your macros) works for me. No restrictions, special foods, pills...just eating within goals.

cwolfman13

No food plan per-sei. I try to get in around 6 servings of veg per day and a couple servings of fruit...some whole grains, healthy fats, and lean sources of protein. Most of my food is prepared using scratch, whole ingredients...but I also eat desert pretty much every night, have pizza night every couple of weeks, drink craft beer, etc.

The most important factor to losing weight is simply hitting your calorie targets. Everything else is gravy.

Fanpat

I follow the 21 day fix eating plan

Harold76

I go by CICO. Calories in Calories Out

cwolfman13 wrote: »

Everything else is gravy.

mmmmmmmmmm gravy

kristydi

No plan. I eat regular food and fit it into my daily calorie goal.

I have found that I like to eat a bigger dinner so I eat lighter for breakfast and lunch. But that's purely personal preference.


My biggest piece of advice is to make small progressive changes rather than a sweeping change everything plan. Unless you have to lose weight quickly for your health (and in that case, speak to your Dr) take the time to develop new habits so the weight loss sticks.

Rather than trading out all your old foods for new ones, decrease your usual portions and maybe add a few lower calorie fruits and veggies.

Oh and I rarely eat salad, especially as a meal. My food log is open if you want to look.

carreen

I count calories in vs calories out too, but I try to stick to the Weight Watchers Simply Filling plan/power foods. It allows me to eat more than if I were eating empty calories.

avskk

I follow the "eat fewer calories than I burn" plan.

rainbow198

I don't follow a plan, but I eat a balance of carbs/fats/proteins, mainly just drink water and tea, eat lots of veggies and fruit daily, fit in a small dessert/treat after dinner and have 1 or 2 meals out on the weekend. It's very sustainable for me.

amcook4

CICO (Calories in Calories Out) Basically I eat less calories than I burn, according to the laws of physics, that means weight loss. 83 pounds down so far, and I can eat whatever the hell I want to eat, which is awesome. Of course, through the process of logging, I have started making healthier choices, but I still rarely eat salads, they aren't my thing either.

_lyndseybrooke_

IIFYM

^If it fits your mouth.

isulo_kura

Fanpat wrote: »

I follow the 21 day fix eating plan

What about day 22?

kommodevaran

I have made my own plan. I need some structure, but it can't be too strict. Depending on availability, time and appetite: Lots of variety, foods from every food group every day. Try to hit around 70 grams of fat and protein. Five meals a day, each containing at least a serving of vegetables and fatty protein. Three servings of fruit, and some nuts every day. Dinner is protein, starch and vegetable. Breakfast is usually crispbread. Other meals can be anything - cheese, smoothie, porridge, crispbread, salad... No "light" versions if I can avoid it.

_lyndseybrooke_

isulo_kura wrote: »

Fanpat wrote: »

I follow the 21 day fix eating plan

What about day 22?

lucys1225

I have followed the South Beach Diet for many years.

ahoy_m8

Lots of good advice here. I especially second easing into it with a progression of small manageable changes vs. sweeping change all at once.

In addition to counting total calories, I aim roughly for equal calories from each macronutrient. E.g. a daily goal of 1200 calories (to simplify the math) consists of 400 calories from protein, carb & fat each. That's 100g protein, 100g carb (of which >25g is fiber) and 44g fat (of which <10g is saturated). It's a starting place. Some people (e.g. athletes) do better with more carb and less fat. Some people (e.g. diabetics) need more fat and less carb. Once you calculate your daily protein need, that should be fairly constant regardless of your preferred fat and carb balance. FWIW, I don't eat much salad either.

I'm not sure if that's helpful or what you mean by "food plan." It's a general guideline I use to make my food choices. I log what I want to eat for the day BEFOREHAND and see how the macronutrients look. If I'm low or high on one or more, I adjust. Once you get used to a stable eating pattern, you won't have to adjust much. Especially when starting out, it's easier to pre-log than to log it as you eat it because you won't end up with something impossible (e.g. a 200 calorie dinner with 60g protein) at the end of the day. Best wishes to you!

Lizzy622

My weekly meal plan starts with the sales circulars from my local grocery stores. Healthy eating does not need to be expensive. I use sites like Eating Well and Cooking Light for suggestions. In the past I did the Bode by Vemma program (with Chris Powell) which is basically a carb cycling plan but did not buy the shakes and other products.

Need2Exerc1se

I don't follow an eating plan because I don't like structure, but if I wanted structure I think I might go with South Beach. It's not overly restrictive and allows for variety while still providing a structured plan.

MikaMojito

I don't follow a plan as such but roughly this is what I eat. I tend to eat very little during the day because I hate being hungry in the evening.

Weekday breakfast: a banana or a banana with low-fat joghurt or quark
Weekend breakfast: either skip or scrambled eggs with bacon or smoked salmon

Lunch: Salad (lettuce, tomato, cucumber, bell peppers) plus a source of protein, such as lean ham or shrimp or chicken breast;

Snack: I try not to snack a lot but I keep small no-added-sugar cereal bars at school just in case I get horribly hungry

Dinner: Vegetables plus protein. Tonight it's salad with ham, last week I had green asparagus with salmon.

_lyndseybrooke_

MikaMojito wrote: »

I don't follow a plan as such but roughly this is what I eat. I tend to eat very little during the day because I hate being hungry in the evening.

Weekday breakfast: a banana or a banana with low-fat joghurt or quark
Weekend breakfast: either skip or scrambled eggs with bacon or smoked salmon

Lunch: Salad (lettuce, tomato, cucumber, bell peppers) plus a source of protein, such as lean ham or shrimp or chicken breast;

Snack: I try not to snack a lot but I keep small no-added-sugar cereal bars at school just in case I get horribly hungry

Dinner: Vegetables plus protein. Tonight it's salad with ham, last week I had green asparagus with salmon.

That just makes me sad. You get "horribly hungry" between meals because you're hardly eating anything at all.

Ready2Rock206

No ridiculous fad diet plan of the day needed. Just eat less than you burn.

DogRiverDude

I opted not to follow any "plans" either. I do my grocery shopping and preparation of meals/snacks on Sunday so that I'm not tempted by the "quick fix" when pressed for time. Typically I'll prepare:
1) a hearty dinner dish, enough to last me the week (such as Jambalaya - recipe here)
2) pre-portioned veggie bags to juice (washed veggies that I can simply plow in to the juicer)
3) snack items like dehydrated kale leaves, zucchini chips, butternut squash chips

Keeping fresh fruit and veggies on-hand to snack on is a given but... I also make sure I'm stocked with frozen fruit to make smoothies when I'm craving something sweet. Also, little things like exchanging:
- Regular Milk for Unsweetened Almond Milk and,
- Regular Mayonnaise for Fat Free Miracle Whip
will save a TON of calories.

I'm just a 30 Day MyFitnessPal Rookie but have experienced surprising success so far. Track everything you eat, use some common sense, and you'll do great! During my "30 Day Fix", I've already lost 23 pounds all while feeling great.

megablackk1d

IIFYM

Sweets1954

I don't follow any particular plan, just adjust my calories. I did not eat a lot of veggies or fruits so I have been slowly adding them to my daily routine. I do like salads and will often have a salad for lunch or dinner. No food is off limits but I tend to eat some things less often or in less amounts. I do tend to stay away from fast food and prepared foods, making most of my meals from scratch. Logging my food and keeping track of the calories eaten has really helped me. My weight loss is slow but I figure it took awhile to get where it was so it's going to take awhile to come off.

Hearts_2015

LyndseyLovesToLift wrote: »

IIFYM

^If it fits your mouth.

HA HA

Hearts_2015

MikaMojito wrote: »

I don't follow a plan as such but roughly this is what I eat. I tend to eat very little during the day because I hate being hungry in the evening.

Weekday breakfast: a banana or a banana with low-fat joghurt or quark
Weekend breakfast: either skip or scrambled eggs with bacon or smoked salmon

Lunch: Salad (lettuce, tomato, cucumber, bell peppers) plus a source of protein, such as lean ham or shrimp or chicken breast;

Snack: I try not to snack a lot but I keep small no-added-sugar cereal bars at school just in case I get horribly hungry

Dinner: Vegetables plus protein. Tonight it's salad with ham, last week I had green asparagus with salmon.

How many cals are you allotted daily? Doesn't seem like you eat very much... aren't you starving in-between your meals?

NicolaMichelle93

IIFYM. If it fits your macros.
Works well for me and I enjoy it. I keep a careful eye on my micros though too and eat well 80% of the time

MikaMojito

LyndseyLovesToLift wrote: »

MikaMojito wrote: »

I don't follow a plan as such but roughly this is what I eat. I tend to eat very little during the day because I hate being hungry in the evening.

Weekday breakfast: a banana or a banana with low-fat joghurt or quark
Weekend breakfast: either skip or scrambled eggs with bacon or smoked salmon

Lunch: Salad (lettuce, tomato, cucumber, bell peppers) plus a source of protein, such as lean ham or shrimp or chicken breast;

Snack: I try not to snack a lot but I keep small no-added-sugar cereal bars at school just in case I get horribly hungry

Dinner: Vegetables plus protein. Tonight it's salad with ham, last week I had green asparagus with salmon.

That just makes me sad. You get "horribly hungry" between meals because you're hardly eating anything at all.

Thank you for your concern, I appreciate it. And I have indeed been eating very little this week because there are two parties coming up this weekend and I've been saving up my calories. I know there a lots of people who don't agree with the concept of "saving up" but I think it's ok to disagree on that.

The thing is: different people eat differently. I've tried eating bigger breakfasts before I leave for work at 7 but then I'm hungry again by 9. So I eat again because I get bitchy. And then I eat again at lunchtime. At lunch I have a choice of school cafeteria which only serves very stodgy foods or sandwiches or salads. If I have a sandwich plus a bigger breakfast and something during break, most of my calories for the day are already gone. Now, other people would work out more so they can eat more but when I get home in the evening, I still have to grade papers etc. So I only manage to exercise 3 times a week. I COULD also have smaller dinners but I can't sleep if I'm hungry.

And last of all: you have no idea about the amount of what I eat. Eg the asparagus and salmon dinner: that was 500g of asparagus, fried in a tablespoon of high-quality olive oil with 200g smoked salmon AND 150g of quark-dip. I was seriously stuffed after that.

So all in all, what's wrong with this diet? I get fruit, veg and protein. I try to cut down on carbs which works great unless there's cake at work or when my boyfriend bakes bread etc. If that happens I happily eat these things, log them and fit them into my calorie allowance. But on a normal day I just try to keep things low-carb with plenty of fresh veg and protein.

And now I'm going back to my salad which is sitting next to me half-eaten because 150g of smoked ham plus tomatoes, cucumbers etc is actually a lot.

MikaMojito

Hearts_2015 wrote: »

MikaMojito wrote: »

I don't follow a plan as such but roughly this is what I eat. I tend to eat very little during the day because I hate being hungry in the evening.

Weekday breakfast: a banana or a banana with low-fat joghurt or quark
Weekend breakfast: either skip or scrambled eggs with bacon or smoked salmon

Lunch: Salad (lettuce, tomato, cucumber, bell peppers) plus a source of protein, such as lean ham or shrimp or chicken breast;

Snack: I try not to snack a lot but I keep small no-added-sugar cereal bars at school just in case I get horribly hungry

Dinner: Vegetables plus protein. Tonight it's salad with ham, last week I had green asparagus with salmon.

How many cals are you allotted daily? Doesn't seem like you eat very much... aren't you starving in-between your meals?

To you, too, thank you for your concern! On some days I AM very hungry. And that's when I eat something in between.

MFP gives me 1310kcal/day but I tend to aim (!) for 1200. Aiming for a lower number means I don't log the milk I put into my coffee at work. It also means that if a colleague or pupil brings cake or other goodies (which happens frequently), I can say yes because I know I saved calories the day before. Also, the 1200/day is something I want to do until May because there's a specific dress I want to wear on my birthday. After that I'll also have more time to exercise and eat more.

But mainly, I just eat huge portions in the evening. I'm not joking here: I easily eat around 500g of vegetables in the evening plus eg 200g smoked salmon which isn't exactly low-fat or 300g chicken breast. I know there are many people who say one shouldn't eat so much in the evening but since I'm often stuck at my desk until midnight, I need food to keep me powered up.

faithan84

I've had significant success with Food Addicts Anonymous's plan (http://www.foodaddictsanonymous.org/faa-food-plan). I've lost 70 pounds. I also needed structure, and while the first couple of weeks were tough, my cravings stopped. I've since modified the plan (it was too much food in the beginning!), and focus more on total calories, but it might be something with checking out! Good luck!

Juspex

I'm eating enough to fill my days calorie needs. Food includes 40% protein (getting it from tuna, eggs, protein shakes etc.), 40% carbs and 20% fat (avoiding saturated fats) of my daily needs. Usual food is for example half plate of salad, 1/4 protein (chicken etc.) and 1/4 carbs (rice etc.) Eating 2400 kcal instead of 2900 and aiming to slowly lose weight without losing muscles. Seems to work as I've now lost 2 kg in a month.