What is your secret to weight loss?

TwntyOnePointTwo

Curious to know what the most effective diet for you has been in successfully losing and keeping weight off?

giantrobot_powerlifting

Calorie restriction.

TheRootofGroot

Last cut I did a moderate version of high fat low carb.
So 45% of my calories came from fats and 25% from carbs.
Made my cut a breeze, ate delicious foods and felt full, no cravings.

norie92

• Skip the Soda, Juice, Shakes, Cookies, Brownies, Sugared Teas & Coffees (unless you measure the sugar)
• Skip fancy restaurant desserts
• Treat yourself responsibly: Fiber One bars, McDonald's Vanilla Ice Cream, Goldfish Crackers, etc.
• Find substitutes: instead of a milk shake, have a protein shake
• Whenever you go out to a fancy restaurant research the low calorie options at the restaurant before you go
• Always drink water as your drink (Coke Zero doesn't hurt)
• Measure food honestly when you cook, use a scale and measuring cups
• Eat your carbs with protein (Chicken is great)

TheRootofGroot

Fancy restaurant desserts... I about died when I found out that the Red Velvet cake in a restaurant I like is a thousand calories!

On topic, my biggest secret is logging absolutely everything.
I know a lot of people who wouldn't log the seemingly innocuous teaspoon of daily fishoil, the few cloves of garlic and the diced onion. And really things like that aren't all that much, 40 calories here, 20 calories there, but consistently failing to log all the little things can sabotage your goals, especially if you're one of the many with daily goals that are sub 2000 calories.

GET A FOOD SCALE!!!

If you want serious changes it is crucial.

BigGuy47

Marlboros and laxatives.

BarbellzNBrotein

Channelling the majority of my focus on more significant matters .. and sticking to my mantra of "Just eat good & train hard". Really is that simple, there's no secret to it.

JustSomeEm

Marlboros and Laxatives? Dude... o_0

My secret? Being honest with myself. I eat what I want, but I made a deal with myself that I'd always log it. Sometimes I go a bit off the rails for a week or two (this is where I"ve been lately), but I always get back on track as long as I am honest with myself about it.

melissalatzel25

DONT restrict

my success to losing 6 kilos and maintaining my weight at 47-49kgs is eating ABUNDANTLY as much as my body asks for.

HCLF vegan plantbased diet
(still eat vegan chocolate/icecreams /oreos/chips ahoy cookies in chocolate flavour etc - all vegan

and for the rest, keep eating as much fruit veg legumes rice quinoa grains - making pizzas burritos enchiladas soups wraps sandwiches pastas salads burgers fat free sweet potato fried and the list is endless

Sabine_Stroehm

I cut back on crap. Way back.

melissalatzel25

i get my inspiration from youtube videos of recipes and lifestyle from rawvana , fullyraw kristina , naturally stephanie , mango island mama, vegan geezer , freelee banana girl, etc etc!!

BarbellzNBrotein

melissalatzel25 wrote: »

DONT restrict

my success to losing 6 kilos and maintaining my weight at 47-49kgs is eating ABUNDANTLY as much as my body asks for.

HCLF vegan plantbased diet
(still eat vegan chocolate/icecreams /oreos/chips ahoy cookies in chocolate flavour etc - all vegan

and for the rest, keep eating as much fruit veg legumes rice quinoa grains - making pizzas burritos enchiladas soups wraps sandwiches pastas salads burgers fat free sweet potato fried and the list is endless

You're a VEGAN.. Lord have mercy.

giantrobot_powerlifting

melissalatzel25 wrote: »

DONT restrict

my success to losing 6 kilos and maintaining my weight at 47-49kgs is eating ABUNDANTLY as much as my body asks for.

HCLF vegan plantbased diet
(still eat vegan chocolate/icecreams /oreos/chips ahoy cookies in chocolate flavour etc - all vegan

and for the rest, keep eating as much fruit veg legumes rice quinoa grains - making pizzas burritos enchiladas soups wraps sandwiches pastas salads burgers fat free sweet potato fried and the list is endless

So if I eat +500 calories a day on plant based foodstuffs everyday I will lose all the weight?

Pretty awesome.

I totally believe this.

zyxst

nakedraygun wrote: »

Calorie restriction.

TheRootofGroot

melissalatzel25 wrote: »

DONT restrict

my success to losing 6 kilos and maintaining my weight at 47-49kgs is eating ABUNDANTLY as much as my body asks for.

HCLF vegan plantbased diet
(still eat vegan chocolate/icecreams /oreos/chips ahoy cookies in chocolate flavour etc - all vegan

and for the rest, keep eating as much fruit veg legumes rice quinoa grains - making pizzas burritos enchiladas soups wraps sandwiches pastas salads burgers fat free sweet potato fried and the list is endless

Don't want to make you feel like you're getting ganged up on here, you clearly look amazing and the original post was "what works for you", but do you not think you could sabotage beginners with the combination of your great looks and that counter-intuitive advice?

Thing is, most of us that ended up "needing" to use myfitnesspal got there because we didn't restrict.

I think a better thing to say is don't be an extremist.
Don't be all boiled chicken and broccoli.
Treat yourself, but let it be within the constraints of your daily goal and your macros.

MommyL2015

My secret to weight loss? I stopped going on "diets" and just paid attention to overall calories. I still do and will always. There are no required rules for weight loss other than a calorie deficit, unless you like rules and want to make some up for yourself.

Hornsby

Focus on fiber and protein. If you hit those goals, it is virtually impossible for your diet to not be balanced. Eat at a calorie deficit while doing that and voila... Success.

#proofisinthepudding

williammuney

Chocolate

STEVE142142

I'm not on the diet. I look at this is a lifestyle change. Diets suck you're constantly miserable you give stuff up and in my opinion that's why they're doomed to fail. By looking this at this as a lifestyle change I haven't given up anything. As long as it fits within my calorie goals it's not off limits.

I still enjoy the occasional Wendy's hamburger slice or two of pizza or beer on the beach. If I couldn't have these I don't think I could have done what I've done as far as my weight loss.

julesloveland

No dieting here -I see it as a lifestyle and just make good choices. I eat at a 500 cal deficit a day, I track and weigh what I eat. I avoid refined sugar, processed foods, alcohol and caffeine. I eat protein, good fats and low carb as a choice but not because it is good for weight loss.

Frankly so long as I ate at a deficit I could eat crisps all day but I wouldn't be healthy. I exercise for health too.

WinoGelato

I'm in maintenance now but when I was losing I focused more on adding things to my diet/routine than cutting things out. More protein, more vegetables, more whole grains, more exercise, more sleep. By doing that, and not restricting anything (other than calories) I found it fairly easy to achieve my weight loss goal and the transition to maintenance was simple as well.

BalletAndBarbells

Don't diet! There is no secret to weight loss - it just takes hard work and dedication if you want success! Eat sensibly and log absolutely everything after weighing it all with a food scale. Take progress pictures and measurements and then see how many calories you need to cut in order to see the results you want.
I started out following the calories which mfp told me and have since figured out what works for me. Don't stop yourself from eating anything completely but over time you'll start to make healthier choices.
Lifestyle change rather than a diet is the only way to lose weight and maintain that loss.
I yo-yo-ed for years and have now lost over 60lbs, dropped 5 dress sizes and kept it off - I've discovered a healthy new lifestyle and am a new version of me!

flatcoatedR

1200 cal a day, 75 g carbs 25 g sugar. I try to make healthy choices, but pretty much eat what I want, as long as don't go over those numbers.
Most important thing I've learn is if I eat something off program, too much, or binge, I get right back on it and keep going forward.

DvlDwnInGA

Consistency trumps everything.

Consistently logging your foods.
Consistently weighing your portion sizes, and hitting your daily macro and micro targets.
Consistently eating to your goals.
Consistently showing up to the gym, and putting your work in.

Do it long enough, and results are guaranteed.

ponycyndi

dissentingdude wrote: »

Last cut I did a moderate version of high fat low carb.
So 45% of my calories came from fats and 25% from carbs.
Made my cut a breeze, ate delicious foods and felt full, no cravings.

This.

dissentingdude wrote: »

Fancy restaurant desserts... I about died when I found out that the Red Velvet cake in a restaurant I like is a thousand calories!

On topic, my biggest secret is logging absolutely everything.
I know a lot of people who wouldn't log the seemingly innocuous teaspoon of daily fishoil, the few cloves of garlic and the diced onion. And really things like that aren't all that much, 40 calories here, 20 calories there, but consistently failing to log all the little things can sabotage your goals, especially if you're one of the many with daily goals that are sub 2000 calories.

GET A FOOD SCALE!!!

If you want serious changes it is crucial.

Also, this! Both worked for me as well.

It's really the little things that make big changes. Drink some water. Work out for 10 minutes. Eat better. Do it again tomorrow. Make the good days out number the bad.

lorrpb

Not really s secret, but the key is coonsisentcy.

jahillegas_51

IIFYM

There is no real secret to success but if I had to pick one it would be consistency. Too often especially in fitness and I am not sure where the psychology stems from but we always push for the perfect diet the perfect meal plan the perfect work out the perfect whatever. In reality though we all know that consistency is the key to success the kid to result in anything not just in fitness we know that people like LeBron James Michael Jordan Bill Gates and Warren Buffett we're not just perfect one to or three days out of the week they were consistent day after day day after day day after day week after week year after year and that's why they got the results they got.

Your diet does not need to be perfect your workout does not need to be perfect there is no secret formula to this game that's a makes fitness so interesting. It's a science that can be backed up with evidence yet it's an artform and the fact that we are also different and what works for me may not work for you and I may not work for the next guy but it works for the next girl it's extremely difficult that way. Whatever you do it just has to be something that you can consistently do that is sustainable that doesn't add extra stress into your life or make you super super miserable. For example I have lost weight for powerlifting meet while eating burgers pop tarts and french fries.

jessef593

Eating less, lifting more, putting in the work.

socalrunner59

Shift perspective on food from that of food as a pleasurable activity, to understanding food as nutrition. It's a change mentally, but also a lifestyle change. Diets never work because they are nothing more than a means to an end.

BigGuy47

What a boring thread. Plain ole straight forward simple advice.

Where are all posts about; the cabbage soup diet, juice cleanses, you must eat breakfast, don't eat after 7pm, don't eat bread, doing cardio for 4 hours a day, coconut oil, etc. ?

What has happened to MFP?

This no non-sense advice lacks entertainment value. Oh well, I guess I'll head off to the health and fitness debate forum. There are still a few loose cannons that hang out there.

annie_858

No sugar, low carbs, high protein, lots of chicken, veggies and smoothies!