I think I finally found a combination that works for me.

CourtneyDurham1

I love to eat. I think about eating in the same way crack addicts think about crack. I've tried protein shakes and I've tried juicing and I've tried eating tiny little meals all day which in my line of work was just a freaking hassle. I thought about what almost worked for me before and what didn't and I combined two things. I pulled out my Nutribullet and dusted it off. I bought big bags of frozen fruit. Big boxes of baby kale from the produce isle, and big cannisters of the low glycemic protein fiber powder and combined all of that into one shake. Suprisingly the calorie count on one of these things was only 220 calories so I've been adding a tbsp of Olive oil to the shake as well to up the calorie count and add some healthy fat. I've been drinking three of those a day for about 5 days now and I am surprised at how not hungry I am. Like really surprised. One meal a day consists of something solid like Chicken breast or hard boiled eggs. No sides. It's kind of like the whole slimfast premise. Two shakes a day and then a sensible meal, except I'm always hungry after having a slimfast shake. Those things are worthless. No hunger headaches, which is a big deal and a major reason why I've failed in the past. I occasionally get to jonesing for something salty or cruchy but since I don't have any of that in the house I am doing okay. So what works for you guys and what hasn't?

arditarose

Will you do this forever?

A balanced diet of chewable food worked for me.

mathandcats

But what happens when you go back to eating normally? How are you going to maintain your weight loss? The key is to learn habits that can last a lifetime, or else you'll be yo-yo dieting.

I eat the foods I like with portion control. I also choose to drink very few of my calories.

runningforthetrain

I think it is great that you have found something you can live with and lose some weight in the process. The big trial I'm sure many posters will tell you,"This is not something you can do for life."

What has worked for me is to accept slow weight loss- I log everything. I am approaching a 10 lb loss in a year. After you get tired of the shakes try to log everything so you can figure out a small deficit instead of a really large one. Then maybe go back to the shakes. 1 week on 1 week off? Only a suggestion---especially since you mentioned how much you love food... I can relate.

pepita15

I find that a shake doesn't fill me up. I'm hungry 1-2 hrs after most meals and specially after eating a salad, which usually is very big. Don't know how to keep to 1300 calories a day. Suggestions?

arditarose

pepita15 wrote: »

I find that a shake doesn't fill me up. I'm hungry 1-2 hrs after most meals and specially after eating a salad, which usually is very big. Don't know how to keep to 1300 calories a day. Suggestions?

Look at my diary today (sunday). It's 1400 so 100 calories over your goal, but I'm actually full right now. Lots of protein.

hutchin88

That sounds great for a jumpstart. It sounds like you are very motivated, which makes all the difference imho.

I was 197 and 5'3". What worked for me when I started out was cutting all portions by half (or less). I also started out walking a 15 minute mile every morning. Even that short walk seemed to rev up the metabolism. Eventually I settled on the zone diet for long term. I lost around 60 lbs, but this past couple of years I let 20 lbs creep back on, so I'm back in the game

Yeh, those slim fast shakes are full of sugar and other junk. After two days of those I couldn't stand to even look at them. I'll make my own healthy (green) shakes, thank you very much.

Good luck to you!

toadster1

It is so important to find what works for you. I am happy that you found something to get you going. Keep up the good work.

CourtneyDurham1

Oh yeah, I know the shakes are not a long term solution but I have found so far that I am less tempted to cheat if I am less tempted to eat. Drinking the shakes is kind of like going cold turkey on food. I can't stop eating altogether but this is the next best thing. I love food way too much to ever give it up completely. Eventually I will come off the shakes and have to do a diet plan with healthier meals. Given how much I need to lose, after a few months of drinking nothing but shakes I'll start incorporating more meals into my diet plan.