What 'food rules' or 'life rules' do you live by to maintain your weight?

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Replies

  • srcurran
    srcurran Posts: 208 Member
    Calories in< Calories burned. And 10,000 steps a day.
  • chelseascounter
    chelseascounter Posts: 1,283 Member
    Over guesstimate the calories of foods I'm unsure of
    Use a food scale
    Use a bathroom scale
    Drink 3 liters of water a day
    Only eat when I'm hungry, not bored
  • annette_15
    annette_15 Posts: 1,657 Member
    Hit 100g of protein every day
    Adjust calories depending on activity
    If jeans get tight, start dieting

    Thats pretty much it...lol
  • rankinsect
    rankinsect Posts: 2,238 Member
    I plan my meals in advance, and I follow the plan.
  • gigieatss
    gigieatss Posts: 60 Member
    - Wake up every morning and go STRAIGHT to the gym.
    - No sugar AT ALL, ever (I actually cannot digest it, so this intolerance makes it VERY easy to not consume sugar)
    - Drink lots and lots of calorie-free liquids
    - Probiotics & Digestive Enzymes are a must
    - Animal protein (salmon/fish, chicken, turkey) the focal point of every meal
    - I got rid of the scale 5 years ago. I don't define myself by a number
    - I don't eat breakfast
    - I have a standing desk so I don't sit in front of my computer all day (I allow myself to sit after dinner, ha) - This had helped my back A LOT!!
  • alias1001
    alias1001 Posts: 634 Member
    Track (mostly) everything.
    Weigh-in once a week.
    Don't skip workouts because I don't feel like it. 5x / week
    Eat healthy meals with one element I truly enjoy in moderation. Salad for lunch? Better have a serving of feta or something like that.
  • Jesusjohnjames
    Jesusjohnjames Posts: 378 Member
    Fast one day a week. Double my workouts in Saturday!
    Burn off what i eat.
  • Jesusjohnjames
    Jesusjohnjames Posts: 378 Member
    Fast one day a week. Double my workouts in Saturday!
    Burn off what i eat.

    Stay in the 155-160 range.
    Would love the 150-155 range tho
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  • suzely0530
    suzely0530 Posts: 150 Member
    I weigh myself daily

    Sleep well and takes naps on the weekends

    Don't forget to eat a healthy snack in between meals

    Remember "everything in moderation"

    Drink a lot of water

    Log everything I eat and drink

    :smile:
  • Donnamar86
    Donnamar86 Posts: 14 Member
    I make sure i eat dairy, grains, fruits and veggies moderately and make sure i work out 2-3 times per week (at least). If i eat sweets or anything bad, i try to remain under my daily calorie count and plan to work it off.
  • stealthq
    stealthq Posts: 4,298 Member
    In maintenance, I loosen up my tracking. I still log everything, but I'll guesstimate on low cal stuff I'd have weighed otherwise.
    I try to eat lower cal during the week because I know that there'll be probably be unexpected tastiness over the weekend. That way, I can indulge a bit.
    I keep up with exercise. Actually, I do more because I recover better when I'm well fed.
    I weigh at least every couple of days and tighten up my logging, etc, if I'm more than a couple of pounds over. Needless to say, I've yet to find myself a couple of pounds under :tongue:

    Funny, I was way more uptight about bulking than maintaining. I guess because I was putting in a lot of effort, I really wanted to see a good result.
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  • JanetMMcC
    JanetMMcC Posts: 410 Member
    Clearly, I disagree with Carnhot about legitimate chocolate. :) If one has 150 to 200 calories remaining at the end of the day, whatever you choose to use them for is legitimate. Me, I find that keeping half an eye out for a couple/few squares of Really Good chocolate as a day's-end treat helps me stay within bounds.
  • SingingSingleTracker
    SingingSingleTracker Posts: 1,866 Member
    Simple: Don't eat more than my body needs.

  • 85Cardinals
    85Cardinals Posts: 733 Member
    Never eat at a place called Mom's.
    Never play cards with a man named Doc.
    Never sleep with a woman whose troubles are worse than your own.
  • dwatson925
    dwatson925 Posts: 143 Member
    Thanks for all the advice! I needed it as well.
  • FitPhillygirl
    FitPhillygirl Posts: 7,124 Member
    5 years of maintaining:

    1) I do not log or count calories. As a lifetime WW member, I don't count points either.
    2) I eat just about everything except; pork, red meats, and fried foods.
    3) I Walk between 6 and 12 miles a day, and after my Surgery recovery period will resume my HIIT and heavy weightlifting too.
    4) I weigh in on my home scale once a week, and at weightwatchers once a month.
    5) I eat a small piece of dark chocolate every afternoon.
    6) I eat a cup of Greek yogurt with chia seeds before bed every night.
    7) I eat between 6 and 8 small meals a day.
  • RoxieDawn
    RoxieDawn Posts: 15,488 Member
    Just to remember that I am not a grazer. Do not start off the day grazing as I do not eat very well during the day... Sit down and have a meal, with ample protein..

    And get my exercising on every day (except my rest days)... Pretty simple stuff..
  • sweeneyn14
    sweeneyn14 Posts: 5 Member
    I lost 40 pounds in a year and then 10 more pounds a few months later for a total of 50 pounds. That is now about 1.5 years ago. My key to maintaining the weight loss has been something my older brother said to me years ago - he said "I'm always either gaining weight or losing it, I can never stay stable". That comment made me think hard and realize that the most important thing I could do would be to have a real plan for maintaining my weight loss. I just can't think of having all this hard work go for nothing and only to be fatter than ever a few months from now and have to repeat it all over again! So I am now a year and a half into my plan and it appears to be working. I made myself some promises, an informal "contract" if you will:

    1) I weigh myself enough that I will catch weight gain early - I don't want to commit to daily weigh-ins for sure or any hard and fast schedule for weigh-ins, but it works out that I weigh approximately once per week. Sometimes with vacations, I go longer, and when I get back from one, my husband has made me promise to eat well for a week and then weigh. This reduces the discouragement factor! Once I find I have gained more than 2-3 pounds, I go back to logging what I eat and start with getting back in control at about 1500 calories. Once I do that for a few days, I start cutting it down in order to lose the pounds, I get down to between 1000 to 1200 calories per day until I am happy with my weight again.
    2) How I handle vacations: Stay eating healthy most of the time and only go off for truly special things. For example on a recent cruise I didn't go crazy for all the desserts - my attitude is "been there done that". Now if there's a special dessert I have never had and want to try or something I haven't had in just ages and want to taste again, then I go for it! But let's face it, I've had plenty of pizza and brownies over the years, nothing special about that and not worth the weight gain. Neither are those foo-foo whipped-creamy high calorie tropical drinks! Instead I have a glass of wine and then eat lots of local fruits and vegetables everywhere we go. I can't go a day without fresh salads! I also plan active vacations, love to walk, jog, bike ride, kayak, snorkle, swim, dance, hit the gym. Exercise is a habit that I love so I don't break it even on vacation. Also, I still get up and drink my lemon water with a probiotic first thing about 15 minutes before breakfast. I take my multi-vitamin, fish oil supplements. These habits remind me of my health and how important it is to me.
    3) Motivation? All I have to do is look around at my overweight relatives to know what is in store for me if I lose my will-power. My family has so much trouble with diabetes and heart disease that I know that I am in for tons of meds, doctor's visits and hospital stays if I don't make my health a top priority. I don't want that and I don't want my kids to have to spend time so much time in emergency and surgery waiting areas like I've had to do with my folks. Not if I have anything to say about it! I will accept what I can't change but if I can change it, I will!!
    4) Last but not least, I keep my house filled with healthy, organic food. It's so much easier and less expensive to eat well by preparing your own simple food. My husband loves to grill so I am blessed. We eat salad and grilled vegetables and reasonably-portioned lean fish, meats (only humanely raised or wild-caught and sustainable). I eat very little grains of any kind but when I do it's always whole-grain. We actually spend less on food even with eating organic and sustainably - now that we eat out so rarely!

    Oh, and one more thing - those diet programs on the public channels are very helpful! Watch them!

    Hope some of this might help a few. It's so worth it: I'm healthy, happy and never hungry! Cheers!
  • jillygilly75
    jillygilly75 Posts: 2 Member
    Don't eat sugar! I avoid all bread & pasta
    I never eat after 7ish
    Don't drink alcohol
    Plan
    Count - I maintain on around 2000
    No eating at all apart from my own meals and snacks
    Sleep!
  • Deortis
    Deortis Posts: 1 Member
    edited May 2016
    Drinking not less than 2 litres of green smoothies a day (worked perfect for me to loose 13 kg in 4 month)
    weighing once a week
    no processed food but
    mostly vegan and unprocessed food
    rarely to none alcohol
    rarely meat
    2 litres of water/tea daily (1 ltr. is already included in the smoothies)
    physical activity (just average like biking around 3 hrs a week)
    (still) counting calories
    no sweets
  • Noreenmarie1234
    Noreenmarie1234 Posts: 7,492 Member
    Always be prepared. Worst thing is when your busy at work, starving and need something FAST.Helps to have portioned snacks and meals.

  • rybo
    rybo Posts: 5,424 Member
    My #1 rule, eating should be as simple and stress free as possible.
    I don't log
    I rarely weigh myself
    I don't drink pop or eat fast food. Not because it's forbidden, but because I don't want to. I generally avoid highly processed foods, and don't go out of my way to eat calorie dense foods that I'm not really fond of, just because they are common.
    Eat mostly fruit, veggies, meat, eggs, nuts & seeds, yogurt, fish & chicken. Don't be afraid of rice or potatoes.
  • KetoneKaren
    KetoneKaren Posts: 6,412 Member
    I workout atleast 5 days a week
    I workout atleast one hour per gym visit.
    I try to avoid eating out, period.
    I try to avoid eating good tasting food.
    I weigh myself every day.
    I reward myself for each goal reached. (next reward is new ink).

    LOL! This reminds me of the CEO of our company who read a book about "excitogens" and their link to obesity. He boiled it down to one sentence: "If it tastes good, spit it out." :p