What diet has really worked for you over the long run to lose weight?

nupururja

There are so many different diets out there, having tried the low carb, south beach, LCHF ,Low calorie diet etc..which one has worked for you ? How much weight did you loose and in how much time?

I need to lose 10 pounds in a month before my wedding in december Help please!

kommodevaran

The eat whatever I want in appropriate amounts diet worked for me. I lost 50 pounds in a year.

If 10 pounds is all you have to lose, as in, that will make a significant difference to your appearance, one month is a very short and possible too short timeframe. You can expect to lose up to 1% of your total body weight per week, provided you do everything right - which is, logging correctly and consistently, hitting your calorie goal every day, no cheating, no forgetting.

trigden1991

Eating in a calorie deficit, using tools like MFP and a food scale.

A calorie deficit is the only "diet" that works.

HaleCry

Just calorie counting... I've friend most fad diets, and this is the only one that has worked for me. I've lost 20lbs so far, about 30 left. You're not going to be able to lost 10lbs in a month though, especially as you only have 10lbs to lose. If you had 100lbs to lose then it may be do-able. But I suspect a 1lb weight loss rate at most per week so you could possible lose 4lbs if you stick religiously to a deficit.

crzycatlady1

I figured what calorie deficit I needed each week to lose the extra weight and then adjusted how many calories I was eating to match that. I did that for a few months and dropped around 50lbs.

carligirl

I work out religiously and found myself gaining weight until I started eating Paleo. Not strictly but close to. Vegetables, meats, not many carbs in the forms of breads/pastas, and small amounts of fruit due to the sugar content. I've lost 14 pounds in 3 months. I've found myself not struggling with it. I enjoy what I'm eating. I get creative with it. I don't really miss the carbs and if I do, I have some. Same with the sweets. I don't deny myself anything but this way of eating doesn't really have me craving anything either. If someone is eating something that looks good, I'll ask for a bite and that's usually good enough.

2_FitNFab

kommodevaran wrote: »

The eat whatever I want in appropriate amounts diet worked for me. I lost 50 pounds in a year.

If 10 pounds is all you have to lose, as in, that will make a significant difference to your appearance, one month is a very short and possible too short timeframe. You can expect to lose up to 1% of your total body weight per week, provided you do everything right - which is, logging correctly and consistently, hitting your calorie goal every day, no cheating, no forgetting.

^^ This but sometimes I cheated. I would however put in longer workout efforts afterwards.

trigden1991

carligirl wrote: »

I work out religiously and found myself gaining weight until I started eating Paleo. Not strictly but close to. Vegetables, meats, not many carbs in the forms of breads/pastas, and small amounts of fruit due to the sugar content. I've lost 14 pounds in 3 months. I've found myself not struggling with it. I enjoy what I'm eating. I get creative with it. I don't really miss the carbs and if I do, I have some. Same with the sweets. I don't deny myself anything but this way of eating doesn't really have me craving anything either. If someone is eating something that looks good, I'll ask for a bite and that's usually good enough.

But you lost wait by being in a calorie deficit not eating paleo

Spliner1969

CICO is all you need. You can try all the rest of the weird diets in the world but eating less calories than what you burn is the only real way to lose weight. Log everything accurately and eat at a deficit daily. It's really that simple.

courtneyfabulous

Eating whatever I want within my calorie limit is basically the only thing that has worked for me in the long run for weight loss. I also like to eat as much "real food" as possible like meats, fish, whole grains, lots of veggies, greens, fruits, Greek yogurt, and make sure I get enough fiber and protein every day, and take vitamins. This is so I feel healthy. I also eat treat foods as long as they fit my calories so I don't feel deprived, but when I eat too many treats/sweets/processed/packaged foods I feel kind of gross and get acne breakouts. I also like to eat gluten free most of the time- I get bloated and my stomach hurts when I have gluten.

But you aren't really talking about the "long run" are you? You're talking about fast dieting for a specific event. That's kind of contradictory.

That's a very different goal and you're choosing to lose weight at the most stressful time of your life. At least the last couple months leading up to my wedding were stressful- and I was having just a small one (50 people) and had a wedding planner- still very stressful! I lost about 5 or 10 pounds before my wedding just by being stressed about looking pretty in my dress so I avoided any foods that I thought might put weight on me.

I also quit alcohol completely until the day of my wedding- that probably helped the most. But be careful to only have 1 or 2 drinks at your wedding if you do that, believe me you will not need or want more.

Good luck, but try not to put extra stress on yourself at this time with a weight loss goal on top of all the planning and impending major life event.

SingingSingleTracker

nupururja wrote: »

There are so many different diets out there, having tried the low carb, south beach, LCHF ,Low calorie diet etc..which one has worked for you ? How much weight did you loose and in how much time?

I need to lose 10 pounds in a month before my wedding in december Help please!

Less calories in than calories out - or more calories out than calories in. They both work.

Gotrek1

I eat anything as well and I'm 60lbs down this morning. The key is portion control and Keep track of it.

courtneyfabulous

trigden1991 wrote: »

Eating in a calorie deficit, using tools like MFP and a food scale.

A calorie deficit is the only "diet" that works.

This.

cwolfman13

nupururja wrote: »

There are so many different diets out there, having tried the low carb, south beach, LCHF ,Low calorie diet etc..which one has worked for you ? How much weight did you loose and in how much time?

I need to lose 10 pounds in a month before my wedding in december Help please!

All diets work on the same principle...all diets are designed to help put you in a calorie deficit...there's nothing magical about any specific diet plan...do the one you can do consistently.

Personally, if I were to pick an actual diet plan I would probably pick South Beach...the last stage is supposed to be your maintenance stage and you're supposed to do it forever...my eating closely mirrors Phase III of the SB diet but I gravitated towards that on my own.

TeaBea

nupururja wrote: »

There are so many different diets out there, having tried the low carb, south beach, LCHF ,Low calorie diet etc..which one has worked for you ? How much weight did you loose and in how much time?

I need to lose 10 pounds in a month before my wedding in december Help please!

The "diet" where I eat less food.

My Fitness Pal is great for this exact diet. You eat food you like (measure your portions) and then log it. Set a reasonable weekly weight loss goal. Hint - no more than 1 pound a week (fast weight loss is for obese people). Then meet that calorie goal.

If you choose to exercise, then log that activity & eat a portion of those earned calories as well. Only a portion because calorie burns are estimates. You can do this.

lemurcat12

I'm not really into named diets. Don't see the point. Figuring out how to eat an appropriate amount to lose and then maintain and generally focusing on eating a healthful diet (based on nutrition principles, not some weird theory of how one must eat for weight loss) and foods that I enjoy and which are satisfying for me is what has worked.

akmomof7

I lost 70 pounds following the south beach diet. I found it easy to follow and satisfying. The problem I found is that once you get closer to your goal weight, I stopped losing. It Is possible to follow the diet quite closely and still consume excess calories. I was able to maintain the loss until I got pregnant. Now I am just counting calories on mfp and have lost additional weight and now am 2 pounds from my initial south beach goal and plan to lose an additional 5 pounds before going to maintenance.

SezxyStef

"diets" that are sold or have books etc help you lose weight if you follow them.

They all help you lose weight...but...most do not help you with keeping the weight off because they don't go into what you do when you hit goal...

T0M_K

eating less calories than I burn.

UpEarly

The moderation "plan" worked (still works) great for me! I lost 60 pounds in 2011 simply by doing a 250-400/daily cut from my TDEE. The weight came off slowly - it took me about a year. But five years later, I'm still at my goal weight. It was easy. I didn't stop eating any particular food (just less of it). Maintaining has been easy too.

neldabg

TLDR: You have to choose what best works for YOU and adjust your consumption and energy expenditure as necessary to lose, maintain, or gain weight.

cwolfman13 wrote: »

nupururja wrote: »

There are so many different diets out there, having tried the low carb, south beach, LCHF ,Low calorie diet etc..which one has worked for you ? How much weight did you loose and in how much time?

I need to lose 10 pounds in a month before my wedding in december Help please!

All diets work on the same principle...all diets are designed to help put you in a calorie deficit...there's nothing magical about any specific diet plan...do the one you can do consistently.

Personally, if I were to pick an actual diet plan I would probably pick South Beach...the last stage is supposed to be your maintenance stage and you're supposed to do it forever...my eating closely mirrors Phase III of the SB diet but I gravitated towards that on my own.

This revelation/discovery was the biggest game changer for me. I don't like following diet plans created by others with rules like Paleo, Keto, Special K, etc. just to obtain a deficit. Once a named diet starts telling me what I can and cannot eat, I know I will start feeling unhappy and deprived. If that diet makes me feel that way, then I cannot adhere to it forever.
While none of us are special snowflakes to the laws governing CICO, we're all special snowflakes in HOW we best create the deficit needed to lose weight. For weight management, I only follow the one rule that matters: a balance of energy.
Being active helps. I walk a lot, mostly for fun, and the extra burn gives me wiggle room to eat more than I would otherwise have to eat if I were sedentary.
I personally find a food diary the best sustainable plan. It's just so easy to plug in whatever I crave for the day. Of course, I'm not silly enough to eat chips, candy, etc. all day long and expect to stay full and healthy, but I can fit in enough to keep me happy while maintaining a healthy weight. I don't feel deprived, and I'm healthy by pretty much all measures.
Still, I know some people don't like counting calories, and it drives them crazy enough so that keeping a food diary would not work for them in the long term. As such, once they come to better understand proper portion sizes, they come up with ways to keep them from overeating like not eating at times where they're likely to overeat when they'e not truly hungry (early morning, late at night, etc) or skipping/adding snacks if their body weight goes up/down.
The one thing everyone who maintains their weight loss successfully does do, however, is consistently eat as much as they burn.