How did you find what works for YOU?

lorrpb

I lost 148 lbs without following any prescribed diet plan. I aim for 50% carbs, 30% protein, 20% fat and lots of vegetables. This is plan that has carried into maintenance as well.

aelunyu

ebrass73 wrote: »

I've been searching far and wide for an eating plan that works for ME. I know that dedication and calorie counting are blanket plans that do work for everyone, but I mean more specifically.

I've tried low-carb, IMF, cutting out sugar, meal replacement shakes, etc. It's not true that every method will show success to everyone who tries it, so if you're someone who is going to respond with the like, then please move on.

I guess what I'm mostly asking is if you are someone who has found consistent success through planning your diet around ketosis, Atkins, Whole30, Shakeology, balancing macros, vegan, or anything of the like, how and when did you decide that that's what you were going to stick with? How much time did you give it before you tried something else?

Years? It's probably going to take years to fall into a lifestyle that auto-regulates your calorie intake and balances it with your calorie expenditure as a sixth sense. My first recommendation to anyone trying to lose weight is to work out more, and with more intensity. If none of the methods you've tried has worked for you, it's likely not the method that's holding you back. I say that with an extremely loving appreciation of what you're dealing with, but you need to listen. The new normal is what you're after. You can eat freely and with moderation, but you have to exercise and pave a pathway to progress. Over time (years?), it becomes second nature and your quality of life does not in the least bit suffer. I'd argue that it actually improves leaps and bounds.

cnbbnc

It was trial and error for me. As you said...calories in/out is what ultimately matters, but there definitely is more than one way to skin a cat, and I think we all differ a bit in how we choose our food.

The best thing I had found for me was South Beach diet. I lost weight and felt great as far as energy, but after a while I felt restricted and got bored. What I did take from it however is that high protein works very well for me. Now I stick to that and let the rest fall wherever it does. I lost my weight, and I've kept it off for a year.

I think I knew that was the plan for me because over the years that I messed with different diets, I kept coming back to it. I do think however that you'll know within a few weeks to a month if what you're doing will be sustainable or not. If you're finding yourself bored, hungry, irritable, deprived, ect.... You won't keep it up.

Machka9

I've been using CICO since I first started paying attention to my weight over 30 years ago ... and I've been slender most of my life.

CI>CO if I wanted to gain a bit of weight.
CI<CO if I wanted to lose a bit of weight.
CI=CO if I wanted to maintain.

For the most part, I eat only foods I like. But because I was diagnosed with hypoglycaemia when I was about 17 years old, I did quite a bit of research and found that certain foods have more "staying power" than other foods. So while I love pears, I rarely eat them because they are a higher calorie fruit and I feel hungry again about 20 min later. I also discovered that I need to eat about once every 1.5 hours or so.

That's what works for me!

Machka9

Tacklewasher wrote: »

caimay199 wrote: »

Loug1983 wrote: »

I cannot understand why someone would rather follow a restrictive diet over eating any of the foods they like within a limit.

That's not meant to be a criticism, I know plenty of people who do it, I just honestly don't understand why. The only explanation I can come up with is that they don't want to have to think about it, they want to be told what they can and can't eat. I guess I can see some appeal to that, certainly to get you started, but that sounds too limiting to me.

I calorie count, my diet hasn't really changed, I just try to eat more of the nutrient rich things, and less of the nutrient poor things, but ultimately I am in control of what I eat and that's how I like it!

I guess for some people it's easier to eliminate those foods completely than try and eat smaller portions of them. I've always had this theory that you're either/or...you're someone who can only succeed if these things are included in your plan, or you're someone who will ultimately find it easier to 'cut the cord' as it were.

Still not sure which one I am...

Someone posted this somewhere else, but here is an interesting article on the topic.

http://gretchenrubin.com/happiness_project/2012/10/back-by-popular-demand-are-you-an-abstainer-or-a-moderator/

I'm a moderator. I have small (~30g) bags of chips in the house and will have one every 2 or 3 days. If they were not in the house, I drive to the store and buy a family sized bag when I wanted some. But I can't do the same with pop. If I had any in the house, I'd drink it. So I don't have any in the house any more.

Very definitely a "moderator". I'm quite happy having one of something on occasion whenever I feel like it ... and thus I sometimes forget I even have whatever it is in the cupboard until I clean the cupboard out.

Last week I tossed a couple boxes of flavoured crackers because I discovered them in the back of the cupboard and they'd gone stale. I had obviously started eating them, probably just a few crackers at a time, and then forgot about them.

Timshel_

Trial and error over a few years. Simple as that. I started with the basic CICO. Lost weight that way. Then started tweaking based on my personal nutrition and performance needs for sports. Mucked up weight so tweaked again, tweaked again, and tweaked again over a few years.

The best thing ou of it has been building a repertoire of meals I know the caloric values on so I can easliy prep and eat without having to think about it much.

LiveLoveFitFab

Eat real food. Mostly plants and lean protein. Weigh everything. Don't keep poor choices in the house. I find this is simple and it works every time.

dv3177

I found what works for me by trying out a bunch of pricey activities (weight watchers, gym memberships, home exercise) and diets du jour( south beach, 17 day diet, Atkins, slimfast) losing some weight but gaining it again later on. Believing silly weight loss myths was also a favourite past time hehe.

I eventually got really honest and realized I hate following anything rigid or is a have to or must do. I'm also cheap.

Finally found freedom and success with calorie counting and plain old walking. I eat what I want. Usually it's lean protein and veggies including potatoes and some kind of bread daily. Sweets in small amounts daily including ice cream. And occasionally it's pizza, bacon cheeseburger, wings and beer. I don't find being restricted to a particular way of eating enjoyable ( low carb, keto, vegetarian, paleo, whole30). The great news is they aren't required nor are they magic.

Calorie counting appeals to my day natural tendencies toward logic, data points and tedium. I don't find it tedious at all and enjoy the routine. Others? They rather be fat than deal with something so fiddly and that they find to be boring and terribly onerous.

Calorie counting also requires discipline, perseverance and patience. These things always work. Always. For everything, not just weight loss. That I've demonstrated all of those makes me pretty proud though losing 112 lbs has me pretty chuffed too.


Tldr; I found what worked by failing at a bunch of things that didn't. I fail at weight loss by following anything rigid and prescribed beyond calorie counting. So I stopped doing those rigid plans and just ate what I liked within my calorie goal.

TimothyFish

I've been eating food my whole life. I know what food I like. I don't think it takes much to figure out that what works for me is to eat the food that I like. The only thing hard is making sure you stop eating the food you like before you exceed your calorie limit.

bisky4

IIFYM. you eat the calories that is allocated into protein, carbs, fats in grams amounts. I use MFP to count the calories. Ive tried the shake diets which works but I WAS STARVING all the time. If you count Macros then you CAN eat a piece of cake every now and then. Or have a steak and chips. As long as it all fits into your Macos daily. Ive been on it now for 4 weeks and lost 2 cm around waist. I only have a few kilos to lose so for me it wont be a quick process. Put it this way, if something works quick then it wont last and is not sustainable. Counting macros is sustainable for me. I can even have a glass of wine a few nights a week because it all fits. Good luck

callsitlikeiseeit

food scale
exercise
eating the same foods i always have, just less of it due to the calorie counting

its a lifestyle change, something you can do FOREVER - not a few months or a year. do that, and you learn nothing and will not have success