clean eating, trim healthy mama, or just counting calories ?

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ipodmama
ipodmama Posts: 9 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hello everyone, My friends all have different ideas they want me to try for weight loss, one is all clean eating which to here means no processed foods, another one of my friends does the trim healthy mama plan which is switching from carbs to fats per meal and eating every 3 hours. I was at one time on weight watchers and counting my points and lost close to 50lbs I have gained a lot back since then. I want to lose weight again and feel good again physically but I want to know , should I do one of my friends diets or just count calories ? I do like to eat the healthy life bread and that would be processed and would not be allowed on either plan. Please help me to find the best way to lose weight.
Thanks so much.
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Replies

  • HutchA12
    HutchA12 Posts: 279 Member
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    1st plan you can still eat to much. 2nd plan you can still eat to much. In WW you ate less and lost weight. In calorie counting you will eat less and lose weight like what worked for you in the past. I think you know what to do.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    For me it's lifestyle changes. I'm a yo-yo. I've lost weight & regained it. The problem with (I'll pick one) a "clean eating" diet is I won't use this for maintenance. So when I get to goal I have to ask myself "now what?"

    Clobern80 is correct. CICO is what it always comes down to. Knowing the portion sizes and calorie counts of food I eat now (and will eat in the future) gives me tools to maintain. "No specific diet is magic"....so true.
  • williams969
    williams969 Posts: 2,528 Member
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    Calorie counting. If any of those ways of eating appeal to you and/or help you meal plan and stick to your intake goals, go for it.

    For myself, I enjoy eating whole foods, well balanced and homemade cooking, while making room for the realities of eating out and occasional convenience meal, take out, or sweets.

    Essentially, I aim to get the majority of my intake as nutritionally balanced as I can, with treats and indulgences worked into my goals.
  • KrisiAnnH
    KrisiAnnH Posts: 352 Member
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    Whatever plan you do choose should be one that you can continue after you've lost weight and into maintenance. Keeping weight off is all about consistent habits and lifestyle changes. As others have said calorie counting is all you need, all weight loss comes down to CICO. The first 2 plans you mentioned may well work, but it will only be because you're creating a deficit on those plans. Why not still create a deficit but eat whatever you want in the process? If you've had success with weight watchers in the past the chances are you'll be better off with calorie counting as that is the most similar/the same.

    There's no need to overcomplicate thing with restricting different food groups or doing certain plans- just eat what you like within the calories MFP gives you and you'll lose weight :)
  • DrifterBear
    DrifterBear Posts: 265 Member
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    Just eat less than you burn. No matter what you eat, that's the golden rule. Regarding what you eat, it should be something that fits into your lifestyle and keep you on track. Any diet that you get sick of or aren't satisfied from won't work. Just track what you eat and stay below your calorie goal.
  • emdeesea
    emdeesea Posts: 1,823 Member
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    Just count calories, it's free and anyone can do it. And that's basically how weight loss works anyway. Why do some stupid program that will cost money?

    <-- 50 pounds lost by eating whatever I want, just less of it.
  • jeepinshawn
    jeepinshawn Posts: 642 Member
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    Doesn't matter what you eat as long as you eat less then you burn. Pick a plan that will allow you to eat that way for life, and be realistic, thats the way to long term successful weightloss. Picking a restrictive plan that allows only x,y,z might help you initially loose some weight, but you won't stick with it for life, CICO on the other hand is something you can easily do for life. I lost 110lbs last year and I still had nachos for dessert occasionally at night...
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
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    Losing weight comes down to calories taken in vs calories expended...you take in less than you expend and you lose weight.

    There are a million and one ways to get there...calorie counting is one..."clean" eating may help one achieve a calorie deficit as well as highly processed foods and junk foods that are calorie dense are eliminated...but it is possible to eat "clean" and overeat as well....low carb is yet another way of helping one achieve an energy deficit as many sources of carbohydrates are calorie dense and you would also be cutting out things like cookies and other "junk" sweets and whatnot.

    My diet consists largely of whole foods and minimally processed foods and most would consider it to be pretty "clean" but I don't get all caught up in labeling myself and I don't feel like I'm "cheating" or whatever if I take my boys out for pizza or we pig out on fake nachos at the monster truck rally or something...
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    emmycantbemeeko wrote: »
    Some people find very specific, restrictive ways of eating help them to eat fewer calories than they would otherwise, and so they lose weight on those methods. But it isn't the specific types of foods they ate on those plans that caused the weight loss, it's that they ate fewer total calories than they burned. Most people find these restrictive ways of eating challenging to maintain forever, and if you use a special way of eating to lose weight, even if you're successful, you'll likely gain it back when you return to your usual habits, which whatever they are, if you have gained weight, include eating more calories than you burn.

    "Clean eating" alone won't make you lose weight- you would have to eat "clean" (god I hate that term) and also eat fewer calories than you burn.

    Switching back and forth from carbs to fat each meal alone won't make you lose weight- you would have to switch back and forth from carbs to fat and also eat fewer calories than you burn.

    See a pattern here? Weight loss is about calorie counting. You can lose weight eating literally anything as long as you're eating less calories of it than you're burning. It's certainly healthier to choose nutritiously dense foods, you'll generally get to eat a larger volume of food if you choose things that aren't extremely high calorie to make up your allotted calories, and if you don't eat a balanced diet over time you can see other nutritional problems from that, but weight loss itself is a matter of how much you eat, not what you eat. If you eat less than you burn of twinkies, you will lose weight, while someone who eats more than they burn of salad will gain weight*.

    *Disclaimer- these are both really hard things to do because that would be very few twinkies and a whole lot of salad, and I don't recommend trying either, but the point remains- it's how much caloric intake vs output you have, not the content, that determines whether you gain or lose weight.

    you, I like you ....
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    OP here is my advice.

    eat in a moderate calorie deficit
    get a food scale and weight all solids
    get adequate nutrition
    find a form of exercise you like and do it. I recommend lifting, but that is what I enjoy and it is great for body recomp.
    make sure that you hit your macros
    continue to eat the foods that you enjoy like pizza, ice cream, cookies, etc, just make sure that you are meeting your calorie, micro, and macro goals.
  • Need2Exerc1se
    Need2Exerc1se Posts: 13,575 Member
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    ipodmama wrote: »
    Please help me to find the best way to lose weight.
    Thanks so much.

    The answer is simple. The best way is the way you are most comfortable with. The way you can see yourself sticking with until you are at goal, and beyond. How do you want to eat to remain thin once you lose the weight?
  • ipodmama
    ipodmama Posts: 9 Member
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    Thank you all so very much ! really puts into perspective what my gut feeling has been trying to tell me. :)
  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 5,033 Member
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    The thing I like about calorie counting is that I pretty much eat the same things I have always eaten just sometimes smaller portions. Plus I don't have to prepare different meals for my husband and myself. If I go out to eat with friends or family I can still find foods that fit into my calorie goals. I know that once I lose the weight I will be able to stick with this eating plan.
  • errollmaclean
    errollmaclean Posts: 562 Member
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    ndj1979 wrote: »
    OP here is my advice.

    eat in a moderate calorie deficit
    get a food scale and weight all solids
    get adequate nutrition
    find a form of exercise you like and do it. I recommend lifting, but that is what I enjoy and it is great for body recomp.
    make sure that you hit your macros
    continue to eat the foods that you enjoy like pizza, ice cream, cookies, etc, just make sure that you are meeting your calorie, micro, and macro goals.

    This 100% I'm having ice cream tonight!
  • dhausam
    dhausam Posts: 6 Member
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    Having done all of the above, I recommend calorie counting. I've lost weight with THM and with calorie counting, about as much with both. Gained some back while pregnant. Overall I find THM too restrictive - you can NEVER eat sugar, any breads aside from sprouted whole wheat, sourdough, or specially made low-carb, milk, honey, any refined grains or average inexpensive breakfast cereals, regular diet sodas, or you are cheating. You also can't eat, for example, a burger on a normal bun, because it's mixing fuels. Which I was fine with for a long time, but it got old. I missed Cheerios with actual milk, pot pie, english muffins, ravioli, and just my own cooking! That being said, THM does work, and well, if you like it enough to stick with it.

    I have recently gone back to counting calories, and I feel let out of a cage! I can eat my own homemade pizza, and make decent gravy again (no flour or cornstarch in THM). And I've lost 2 lbs already, so it's doing the job. :)
  • crzycatlady1
    crzycatlady1 Posts: 1,930 Member
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    TeaBea wrote: »
    For me it's lifestyle changes. I'm a yo-yo. I've lost weight & regained it. The problem with (I'll pick one) a "clean eating" diet is I won't use this for maintenance. So when I get to goal I have to ask myself "now what?"

    Clobern80 is correct. CICO is what it always comes down to. Knowing the portion sizes and calorie counts of food I eat now (and will eat in the future) gives me tools to maintain. "No specific diet is magic"....so true.

    This.
  • cerise_noir
    cerise_noir Posts: 5,468 Member
    edited January 2017
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    Calorie counting all the way, which can consist of 80% nutritious food and 20% treats/"junk food".

    I ate "clean" for 5 years, was 275lbs and didn't lose weight. As for THM... ugh no carbs and fat together? Stupid.
  • WinoGelato
    WinoGelato Posts: 13,454 Member
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    OP I'm with the others who advised a method that puts you in a calorie deficit that you can sustain even when you transition to maintenance.

    When I started here I decided rather than restricting or cutting out things, I would set a moderate deficit and then focus on adding things to my lifestyle: more protein, more veggies, more whole grains, more exercise, more sleep. By doing that and staying within that deficit, I still had room for things like pizza, ice cream, wine, etc. I lost the weight I set out to lose and am currently maintaining without ever feeling deprived.

    So my vote is for calorie counting (with a focus on nutrition but not calling it "clean eating"). THM sounds way too arbitrary and restrictive.

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