My Secret to Sustained Weight Loss.

ginalove1960

Hello. My name is Gina Love, and I lost 52 pounds two years ago, and kept it off, by counting all of my calories on www.MyFitnessPal.com even after losing all the weight. Another secret I have is that I never drink my calories. And I avoid all artificial sweeteners and all alcohol like the plague. I drink a lot of plain tap water, and black coffee and tea without additives. I exercise every single day at activities that I love. My Body mass index is 22.5 if that tells you anything. My method works. My weight has been stable over the past two years. For those of you who are interested, I have another weapon in my weight maintenance arsenal: mindfulness meditation. I practice it for 15 minutes, twice a day. Meditation goes a long way toward appetite control.

L1zardQueen

Nicely done!

mom2kateRH

Great job, and good, sound advice!

missh1967

Congrats on your weight loss! That's awesome. However, not everyone need eschew artificial sweeteners (they have no calories), and many can successfully include alcohol in their daily or weekly calorie allotment.

Hornsby

Glad you found what works for you.

spiffychick85

I'm happy for your accomplishments!!....but I won't give up my sweetener or my alcohol

middlehaitch

So glad that you found what works for you.

Personally, I didn't avoid sugar, sweets, or alcohol. I just had a calorie deficit that included all things I liked. It worked for me while losing, and has worked for the 7+years I have been maintainingat at normal BMI. (counting calories for a could of weeks a couple of times a year.).

I think it is wonderful that each person can find a way of losing and maintaining that suits their life style.

Cheers, h.
( on her 2nd glass of wine)

L1zardQueen

middlehaitch wrote: »

So glad that you found what works for you.

Personally, I didn't avoid sugar, sweets, or alcohol. I just had a calorie deficit that included all things I liked. It worked for me while losing, and has worked for the 7+years I have been maintainingat at normal BMI. (counting calories for a could of weeks a couple of times a year.).

I think it is wonderful that each person can find a way of losing and maintaining that suits their life style.

Cheers, h.
( on her 2nd glass of wine)

Cheers

middlehaitch

Tiny_Dancer_in_Pink wrote: »

middlehaitch wrote: »

So glad that you found what works for you.

Personally, I didn't avoid sugar, sweets, or alcohol. I just had a calorie deficit that included all things I liked. It worked for me while losing, and has worked for the 7+years I have been maintainingat at normal BMI. (counting calories for a could of weeks a couple of times a year.).

I think it is wonderful that each person can find a way of losing and maintaining that suits their life style.

Cheers, h.
( on her 2nd glass of wine)

Cheers

Chink chink, on to the 3rd, h.

PAV8888

middlehaitch wrote: »

Tiny_Dancer_in_Pink wrote: »

middlehaitch wrote: »

So glad that you found what works for you.

Personally, I didn't avoid sugar, sweets, or alcohol. I just had a calorie deficit that included all things I liked. It worked for me while losing, and has worked for the 7+years I have been maintainingat at normal BMI. (counting calories for a could of weeks a couple of times a year.).

I think it is wonderful that each person can find a way of losing and maintaining that suits their life style.

Cheers, h.
( on her 2nd glass of wine)

Cheers

Chink chink, on to the 3rd, h.

Easy there tiger

jenilla1

middlehaitch

PAV8888 wrote: »

middlehaitch wrote: »

Tiny_Dancer_in_Pink wrote: »

middlehaitch wrote: »

So glad that you found what works for you.

Personally, I didn't avoid sugar, sweets, or alcohol. I just had a calorie deficit that included all things I liked. It worked for me while losing, and has worked for the 7+years I have been maintainingat at normal BMI. (counting calories for a could of weeks a couple of times a year.).

I think it is wonderful that each person can find a way of losing and maintaining that suits their life style.

Cheers, h.
( on her 2nd glass of wine)

Cheers

Chink chink, on to the 3rd, h.

Easy there tiger

@PAV8888 we really should meet up sometime when I am travelling between Victoria and Port Moody. h.

PAV8888

middlehaitch wrote: »

@PAV8888 we really should meet up sometime when I am travelling between Victoria and Port Moody. h.

PM sent

ginalove1960

Artificial sweeteners have been repeatedly scientifically proven to increase cravings for sweets, and that's why I avoid them. I rarely partake of alcohol because I don't like it that much and it has too many empty calories.

L1zardQueen

Scientically proven? Where did you see this?

Christine_72

What happened to your other thread?

Artificial sweeteners do increase cravings for some people, but have no affect on others.

ginalove1960

It's been all over the news and the internet.

livingleanlivingclean

I personally have never had issues with artificial sweeteners increasing my cravings or making me eat more, so I don't see them as an issue.

L1zardQueen

maybe for you but not me. When I get the hungries, a diet soda does the trick.

malibu927

Yeah, no. http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/1308408/why-aspartame-isnt-scary

cerise_noir

ginalove1960 wrote: »

It's been all over the news and the internet.

Yeah....

No.

Sweeteners have no impact on my appetite. None.

I hate blanket statements.

ginalove1960

Well, that's just what I had been reading. That people who drank diet soda tended to be just as fat as people who drank regular soda, according to studies.
All I know is that when I quit drinking diet soda, the weight started dropping off of me like a waterfall. And that's no exaggeration.

SusanMFindlay

ginalove1960 wrote: »

Well, that's just what I had been reading. That people who drank diet soda tended to be just as fat as people who drank regular soda, according to studies.

This is true, but it's a correlation and it has cause-and-effect backwards. People who are fat will be more likely to choose diet soda as a way to cut calories. People who are naturally thin* will not tend to feel the need/want to do that.

*Naturally thin = able to maintain a low weight without applying conscious effort

ccsernica

ginalove1960 wrote: »

It's been all over the news and the internet.

Oh. The Internet. Gotta be true then.

Seffell

ginalove1960 wrote: »

It's been all over the news and the internet.

So not scientifically but rather tabloidically proven then?

Alatariel75

Actually they haven't. If you read the studies, and not the headlines, your statement is completely incorrect.

I believe the secret to sustained weight loss is education and critical thinking.

middlehaitch

I like sugar, I like alcohol, I am indifferent to 'artificial'sweetners- if they are in something I enjoy, I eat it.
This has, so far, had no effect on my weight loss, maintenance, or health.

If you are finding these things do not please you, and your particular palate, it is worth avoiding them.

My secret is not eating more calories than I burn.

Cheers, h.

My method has worked since 2008

paperpudding

I drink Pepsi max few times a week - does not give me cravings.

I drink alcohol sometimes too - actually - shock , horror - I often drink artificial sweeteners aka Pepsi max, and alcohol, aka Jim Beam or similar, together.

Of course if you don't want to consume something, be it artificial sweeteners, alcohol, whatever - don't.

But blanket statements about everyone or big secrets to weight loss - Nah.

Chef_Barbell

But I crave steak like all the time. Am I gonna die?

Sheisinlove109

Nothing in excess usually works in most cases. Everyone is different.

I find artificial sweeteners to give me a headache and I don't like the taste as well as some salts in restaurant foods.

missh1967

Chef_Barbell wrote: »

But I crave steak like all the time. Am I gonna die?

Some day. Maybe not today, but some day.