What's worked, what hasn't worked?

buffinlovin

For me, the thing that works is also the thing that doesn't work: tracking/logging what I eat.

In the past few attempts at losing weight, I tracked calories like a fiend. I measured, I weighed, I re-weighed, I stressed about using the right entries, I panicked when I saw that I was over my calories. I obsessed over the scale, and became incredibly frustrated when I plateaued because I knew I was eating less. I would decline going out to eat because I wouldn't know how much I was eating. I even refused to go see a movie because I didn't want to risk buying movie theater popcorn (a weakness for me). Usually after I hit the 4 month mark I'd get so stressed about everything that I'd call it quits to "give myself a break", and would just give up.

This most recent time around, I'm using what I know about portion control, but I'm not tracking anything. It helps that I eat the same thing most days of the week, and a lot of pre-packaged foods, because I can keep a mental tally. I guess many would call it intuitive eating, but I feel it doesn't quite fit. I don't "eat when I'm hungry". I plan my meals throughout the week with the mindset on eating within a ballpark range of calories.

This has caused my weight to come off slower (I'm about 2 months in and down about 8lbs), but I'm ok with that. I'm not stressed, I don't feel tethered to my phone to enter every morsel of food, I don't have any qualms about going out to eat on a whim. I weigh myself daily so I can keep an eye on things, but I don't mind if I miss a day here and there (there was a time where going to spend the night somewhere else meant I packed my scale and brought it with me).

robot_potato

Pre-logging as much as possible
I try to pre-log breakfast and dinner, then i know how many calories i have left for lunch/snacks

Realising it's ok to be hungry. I don't starve myself by any means, but i can hold out for an hour until dinner if that's all the calories i have left.

I don't log any walking etc that is part of my daily life, like if i walk to work, or at work, i don't count it. I log any walking/hiking/biking i do for fun/exercise.

Lift weights. I don't do anything super heavy yet(previous injury/surgery makes me kind of a one-armed bandit), but i range from 30-50 pounds for most of what i do. Makes me feel strong& sexy.

And the thing i am doing differently this time: logging even when i am in maintenance. I've hit goal a few time, thought 'i'm good, don't need to track anymore' and ended up gaining a lot.

I am 40 pounds down from my all-time high, about 40 more to go.

callsitlikeiseeit

what worked for me:

counting calories, eating what i want within those calories and regular exercise

what didnt work:

everything else.

jstoddart261

This is fantastic. Thank you so much for all these amazing and helpful responses. As I'm reading everyone's stories I realize I'm curious about what you are dealing with right now even more than what you have done in the past. So let me rephrase the two questions and see what we come up with. 1. What is really working for you right now in dealing with your health?, and 2. What is really not working for you right now?

I understand that sharing what's not working in the present can be a bit daunting but I know it can be helpful as a way to shift into a new approach. I'm going to have to think about this for myself.

What's really working for me right now? This forum. I got a big lift from all your responses. I haven't participated in anything like this before and I can see how it's a great avenue for support and connection.

What's really not working for me right now? This is going to be a bit of a rant. I'm at my limit with helpful friends who insist that I'd be healthier if I would just change my thinking, my beliefs, and my attitudes, as though my body is just a reflection of my mind. I could go on but I'd like to hear from you.

MelanieCN77

I'm right at the beginning of tweaking my diet a little more, I've been getting really REALLY hungry right after lunch which is the need for refueling kicking in after my morning workouts and my body saying hey I didn't get enough yet. I am taking my cravings for pastries and sweets and trying to see if a higher fat morning and lunch helps at all. Volume eating has taken me a long way but I am finding the nutritionally null sweets and treats less and less satisfying so am switching those out for things I avoided in quantity before like avocado, olive oil, pasta (though that latter is going to be a mental hurdle).

Secondly I am trying to not restrict as much after high calorie days or meals - previously I've eaten at a deficit after going over maintenance and after a couple of days I'm ready to overeat again. This week I had a lot of volume/water weight after a fun Sunday of eating but kept to maintenance last two days instead of being under by 2-300 cals like I would usually have done and what do you know, things sorted themselves out just the same but I'm not having that crazy feeling of needing more cals again already.

Maintenance is weird.

deputy_randolph

-Prelogging food for the week (and being flexible during the week to make adjustments AKA not freaking out if things don't go as planned)

-Weighing food instead of measuring food

-Sticking to pretty regular meal choices (same 3 rotating breakfasts/lunches; leaving wiggle room for more creative dinners)

-Cutting out "cheat meals" entirely for periods of time and then reintroducing slowly (helped prevent "cheat meals" from turning into "cheat days")

-STRENGTH TRAINING (the only form of exercise that I truly enjoy)

ETA (what didn't work): food enablers (had to cut those ppl off), gimmicky diet food

saires_au

What worked for me was looking at the things I was doing at a point in my life where I successfully maintained a healthy weight and then applying some of those actions that I could to my life now. My life’s different as I now have kids and work part time compared to my early 20s no kids and full time work but some still translates.

I rejoined a gym as I forgot how much I’d enjoyed lifting. I planned my meals ahead of time. I make room/allowances for higher calorie foods/days at social gatherings by either eating less during the days ahead or eating at maintenance on the day of the event.

I only eat foods I find enjoyable, I don’t push my self to eat ‘healthy’ or ‘clean’ but my overall diet is well balanced and I meet my nutritional goals. Eating more protein had helped me feel full longer.

Patience is something I’m working on. Using happy scale to help me accept daily weight fluctuations as a normal part of life. I’m still on a downwards trend

I rarely eat milk chocolate now as I can not master moderation with this 1 food! But I love a small piece or two of dark chocolate. Alcohol has been reduced as I would prefer to ‘spend’ my calories on food most days but once a week or so I’ll have some wine

CSARdiver

What worked? I focus on what matters to achieve my goals. Initially this was weight loss and I focused on my intake and output. I cared about protein intake to preserve muscle and I cared about carbs to ensure I had the energy to fuel my workouts. I returned to being brutally honest with myself and others.

When I lost the weight and achieved my goal I shifted to endurance and strength and put more focus in my workouts, rest, and fuel. I'm more in maintenance now and cycling between bulking/cutting. Also moving these successes to other aspects of my life - marriage, parenthood, work performance, etc.

What doesn't work for me: wastes of time, distractions, dishonesty, free lunches

soufauxgirl

What has worked for me:
-logging every day and trying to stay in a moderate deficit and/or maintenance level
-regular walking
-not eliminating treats but incorporating them into my allowance

What hasn't worked for me:
-Crash diets
-Eliminating whole food groups
-Doing exercise I hate
-Starvation diets

I have maintained a 70 pound loss for almost 3 years. I am now absolutely convinced that there is no other way for me to keep off the weight forever.

Candyspun

What's worked for me:
- doing step and hula hoop for my cardio, and a walk when I feel like it (but it's Winter, so I don't always feel like it just yet).
- weight lifting at home with dumbbells.
- getting some cardio in most days, simply so I can eat more than the measly 1200 calories a 5'1 woman is given.
- tracking my food no matter what, and 99% of the time, staying within my calories. What works even better is if I don't eat back all of my exercise calories, only some.
- meal prep. I just need to do it more often, because it truly does help!
- yoga.

What hasn't worked for me (but might work for others)
- pilates. I really wanted to love this, but I tried it and I have learned, I really, really hate pilates. But hey, you don't know until you try, right?
- resistance bands. It didn't work as well for me as lifting weights. I used these for a little while, until I could get some dumbbells. Being short, often I couldn't get the band to stretch, because I wasn't tall enough. It also just didn't do much for me when I could get the band to stretch on a small number of exercises.

Running_and_Coffee

jstoddart261 wrote: »

What's really not working for me right now? This is going to be a bit of a rant. I'm at my limit with helpful friends who insist that I'd be healthier if I would just change my thinking, my beliefs, and my attitudes, as though my body is just a reflection of my mind. I could go on but I'd like to hear from you.

I'm trying to imagine what they are saying! Is it the "mind body connection," comments that stress or lack of sleep is what's keeping your weight on? That always seemed like a bunch of hooey to me. But I do agree that after you lose the initial weight in the first 6 weeks or so, your mind has to kick in and you need to stay disciplined.

QPR1953

I lost a lot of weight before calorie counting and exercising. It was all going fine until I couldn't exercise. Then I just slowly put back on all the weight.
This time I haven't done additional exercise just walking. I have used the calorie counter every day to balance my meals and nutrients. I have lost 50lbs since January eating a mainly plant based diet and I feel great. I feel that I will be able to continue this lifestyle when the weight loss is over. I might then add in some additional exercise as I used to love running and swimming.

CatherineLaurel

What’s currently working for me:

- not keeping food in my house besides snacks like fruit and oats. I know this is shocking, but I have no will power or self-control. I even binge healthy food. I am going the expensive route of ordering (usually) semi-healthy meals to my house or picking them up 2 times a day (normally wraps, sandwiches, rice bowls, SOMETIMES salads) made with a lean protein and veggies, and making them more nutritious (wheat bread, brown rice, grilled, no cheese, light condiments)

- walking, jogging at least a mile, and strength training. I have plenty of calories to spare! Averaging 1200 per day

-not drinking alcohol

- I ditched the scale. I’ll weigh myself in 4 months.

It’s so much easier this time around because I know what messed me up in the past.

What I could be doing better:
More water and more sleep! And more patience!

dejavuohlala

I'm also of advanced years and it's harder to lose weight the older you get. Exercise is a challenge but I try to do what I can, I had two major surgeries in three months and it certainly knocks you back. Logging is really helpful but it's still a challenge when I tend to stress eat with snacks at times.

nooshi713

What has not worked:

Limiting carbs.
Limiting dairy.
Drinking more water.
Exercising more.
Trying to eat intuitively.

What has worked:

Focusing primarily on nutrition/diet and logging and weighing everything.
Eating 1200 -1400 calories a day.
Avoiding restaurants.
Skipping a meal so I can have 2 larger meals.
Prioritizing sleep over exercise.
Not keeping treats in the house.
Breaking up with my ex.