Lessons Learned While Trying to Lose Weight.

Crafty_camper123

So We've had a couple of bad advice threads floating around, asking people to list the bad weight loss advice they've heard along the way. I thought it would be fun to share what we've actually tried through the years, and what we learned about it. It could be bad advice you took, or just a way of eating that didn't work for you.

Things I've tried in the past (in no particular order):

Slim Fast shakes: Were not satiating enough. Left me hungry, and I ended up consuming more calories then the shakes were saving me. Fail.

Garcenia Cambodia: Back when I thought Dr. Oz was something more then a quack with a TV show... It sure did "boost my metabolism" just like they say! In the sense that it made me even more HUNGRY. Stopped taking the crap, hunger levels returned to normal. Was it all placebo? Maybe. Was it totally pointless as made Natural Grocers some money? You Bet!

ACV weight loss "booster": At the suggestion of some coworkers I tried this drink you make with ACV to drink in the morning to "detox" and "boost" your weight loss. While it was a tastey apple cider like beverage, the only thing it boosted was sales of ACV at the grocery store. I drank the KoolAide- did not get results.

Low Carb- Turns out, I need some carby things or I just feel off. I did find out however, that I can happily live without as much pasta and bread as I originally thought.

"Clean" Eating (AKA no processed refined carby things. Whole foods ok.): Added some healthy meals to my repitoir. Found out just because it's touted as "whole and healthy" does not mean it's low calorie! (Look up Whole30 ranch dip sometime. YIKES!) Cthulu won't get me if I eat preservatives & aspartame.

Now for the less rediculous techniques:

1200 calories a day: Works for about 5-6 days and then I need to refeed. -3 days if I am working out hard. I found it's important to fuel my body. Now I use a weekly budget. Some days are over, some days under weekly average though puts me at a deficit. Much more sustainable. I found slow and steady wins the race. And doing too much all at once results in burn out and failure.

Gluten free: Thought I could have a gluten intolerance due to a month solid of heartburn and bloating. Turns out I have an overeating intolerance. Gluten is fine. Symptoms reduced when I quit overeating, lol.

Intermittant Fasting: I swore by this for a few months. I learned that I can go a suprisingly long time (for me) without eating. I learned that being a little hungry isn't going to kill me, and that even when my blood sugar feels rock bottom, it isnt. (I checked). I also missed breakfast foods. I still follow a loose 14/10 schedule. Since I get hungry late morning.

Intuitive eating: I have succesfully lost and maintained paying attention to my hunger and fullness ques. But calorie counting is key for learning portions, and for staying accountable to myself.

4legsRbetterthan2

I was afraid to skip breakfast, because then my metabolism would crash and die!

Now I know better, and not eating breakfast has proven to be a useful technique for me.

Running_and_Coffee

Oh this is fun.

So I will say that until I was around 30-35, I thought a "diet" was something you did when you put on a few pounds, and didn't realize that if I went back to the way I ate pre-diet, I'd get back to that weight, too. Oops.

My early and late 20s included Slimfast, The Cabbage Soup Diet, a diet that was just frozen meals and shakes, and a few others like that. And absolutely NO exercise.

I was pretty lucky with my metabolism because this process pretty much worked at keeping me within a decent weight range...but really I was either on or off of a diet at any given point in time!

Since then, age, pregnancy/post-partum etc. have set in and now I have to play the numbers game and count calories and stick with satiating foods to be happy with my weight. It's all about the numbers. I also fell in love with exercise (running in particular) which gives me a little more leeway.

I don't think I will ever eat a bowl of cabbage soup again!

skinnyrev2b

I've dabbled in:
Slim fast- yeah, kept me satiated and worked for me, but not sustainable (funds and dietary requirements)
Slimming world - red days and green anyone?!
Weight watchers - I was on and off this for years... and that's the problem:
What these have taught me is how to play (And pay) their system. Not how or what to eat that which is healthy and yummy. Now I happily munch on a biscuit regardless of "points". Life doesn't end if I forget which day it is. I can eat real food. Just CICO. The end as far as I'm concerned.

AnnPT77

Definitely the 1200 calorie thing. I actually am fairly small, or at least non-large (5'5", narrow build), kind of verging on elderly (59 when I started losing, 62 now), and sedentary outside of intentional exercise (retired, sedentary hobbies, lazy as *baby-feline*). MFP estimated 1200 calories for what should've been a reasonable loss rate at the time. I ate that, plus all my exercise (typically 300-some calories daily at the time). I felt satisfied, I felt good . . . until I didn't.

Not enough calories. Sooooo not enough. Got weak, got fatigued. Pretty much stopped eating that way as soon as I realized I was losing too fast, but it still took several weeks to recover.

Some people maybe need to go to 1200 to lose. Not me, despite being non-big, sedentary, and fairly old. I lost 50 pounds in less than a year, most of it eating 1400-1600 plus exercise.

Calorie needs "calculators" don't calculate. They estimate.

cheryldumais

Oh my goodness I tried them all...

Weight Watchers
the US Ski team Diet
Dr. Bernstein
Dr. Atkins
Fasting
a Lap Band
the Gym
etc.

Finally I just did what worked for me and have been maintaining for about a year now. I spent nearly 50 years trying to do what others told me worked. I finally learned that everyone is different and what works for me might not work for them and vice versa.

dhiammarath

Cthulu won't get me if I eat preservatives & aspartame.

Mmmmmm, aspartame. Deeeeeelicious. This comment made me giggle.

What works for me, won't work for someone else and vice versa. So when someone tells me that I won't lose weight if I don't eat breakfast, I smile, nod, and move along. My entire life I never ate breakfast. As a kid, I was a beanpole. As a young adult, I was thin until a certain point when both life and a lack of nutritional education sank my battleship.

That moving more really meant I could have more calories. I move more so I can get more (high cal) coffee. >.>

I learned that I don't need to have the perfect, "healthy" diet to BE strong and healthy. MFP was my first ever diet attempt and I did pretty well at it. Maintained the majority for a while until health issues crept in.

Gluten Free is definitely not the "magic" diet, nor is it an easy diet when a spec of gluten brings about a nasty, torturous rash. I had to go gluten free for my health (prescribed by the doctor) and gained weight. It was like re-learning how and what to eat and how much. Luckily, I only gained about 30 lbs between the year of depression (aka, the Year of the Rash) when I succumbed to all the delicious, high calorie coffee drinks and the year where my weight is like some crazy boss fight as I struggled to learn how to feed myself without triggering symptoms.

The biggest lesson I learned lies rooted in the idea that there isn't an outside influence (for me as only the gluten and the bucket full of tested food allergies are my only issues) that "made me gain weight." I don't have "fat genes" (as some liked to reassure me -- I was told I was "destined" to be heavy because so many family members were). I ate (well, drank mostly) too many calories than I burned. Younger, I was active and walking everywhere. College I was still pretty active, but after that, I reverted into my natural slug-like ways. That is what made me gain the weight.

I have control. And an epi-pen! But namely, I have control over my life and my choices. I decide my own destiny. I eat all the yummy things I can (I would give a whole day's worth of calories for a delicious, normal donut) but in moderation!

ETA: I forgot I tried WW with a friend. I discovered that I did not like how it shamed me for eating the things I like (like potatoes and things). It also wasn't successful, so I went back the tried and true MFP when I needed to lose the weight I'd gained through the two years of health issues!

ErnestineBorgnine

dhiammarath wrote: »

ETA: I forgot I tried WW with a friend. I discovered that I did not like how it shamed me for eating the things I like (like potatoes and things). It also wasn't successful, so I went back the tried and true MFP when I needed to lose the weight I'd gained through the two years of health issues!

Yup, there now with WW. I’m proud to be a ww “failure.” I still have about a month left in my three month membership but won’t be renewing. The first day the leader told me to “learn how to eat the foods that got you here.” I took that to heart...but weight watchers’ current program is set at eating fat free & sugar free foods. I don’t do fat free or sugar free. I don’t eat many foods with added sugar, but when I do? I’m eating the real stuff! Doesn’t work, though. I was losing way too quickly because the foods I was eating were high points - when I started double tracking with MFP I discovered I was only eating about 1000 calories a day. Suddenly I understood why I felt drained and fatigued!

Now I’m just doing generic CICO and enjoying my 15-1700ish calories a day!

workinonit1956

My biggie was low carb, and I’m the type that “if a little is good, a lot is always better” so I went full on Keto. Bought the urine strips and everything.
I lost some weight, prob all water, very quickly, and thought I had found the key to weight loss.
Not to put down Keto, (or low carb) because I know it helps and works well for some, but I had no exit strategy or anything so I failed miserably when I couldn’t sustain it.
The biggest lesson I learned after landing here is patience. Staying within my calorie allotment works, but it works over time. Once I trusted the process and kept my eye on the big picture, I actually did find the key to weight loss.

Adc7225

I tried low-fat, lasted less than 24 hours! All I could see was my cat and I siting outside collecting change after I lost job and became homeless. Fat helps keep your moods balanced. I think my diet is generally less fat so my low fat was probably too much of a shock to my system.

I recently tried with a friend 60 days of no Flour, Rice or Pasta - we both gained weight!

New_Heavens_Earth

Well I'm doing 16:8 IF now and actually like it. I'm losing weight again easily staying within my calories.

WW- felt deprived on the new system and found out how ridiculous the system is through double tracking points vs calories. Old system was great and lost most of my weight on it

Exchanges/ low fat- actually worked but lost interest and left it for WW.

HCLF vegan- gained weight

Accupressure diet- hated my existence within a few days.

JeromeBarry1

Log it. All of it.

k2mexox

In college I tried the HCG diet where you put the drops underneath your tongues and eat only 500 calories of very restricted food. 🙄 clearly I knew nothing of actual nutrition and what my body needed. I lost weight fast but didn’t last long obviously.

I’ve also tried MFP in the past (before HCG) but I still didn’t understand portion sizes, and I wasn’t consistent so I didn’t last long.

Now about 5 Years later on MFP I’ve lost 70 pounds, I understand and know what body needs and my weight loss journey is SUSTAINABLE. I still occasionally eat chicken nuggets, French fries, pizza, lots of wine. But I also eat lots of lean means and veggies MOST of the time.

VUA21

Diets I've tried:

Military (Just plain ridiculous, lasted about 4 days)

Adkins (I love carbs way too much. Also, giving up carbs left me extremely irritable - like murdering random strangers irritable)

South Beach (actually worked while I bought the products)

Herbalife (Because a friend gave me all her free samples after failing to sell that crap - worst tasting shakes ever!!!!)

HGC (I personally think this one should be outright banned)

Paleo (See Adkins.. )

Raw Food (that lasted about 1 day)

Grapefruit (Lasted 2 days, I don't like grapefruit)

Water (at least I didn't waste money on it)

ACV (great for pulled pork, does nothing for weight loss. And yes, did that whole ACV + cayenne pepper drink crap. YUK!!!)

Green Coffee pills

Upside Down (you eat food upside down, 🙄)

"Insert woo" Detox (tried them all)

"Clean Eating" (There's only so much grilled chicken breast, brown rice and steamed veggies with raw unsalted nuts as snacks I can have before turning into a full blown rage monster, and I gained weight on this one. Just because it's "clean" or "healthy" doesn't mean that it is low in calories)

Breathing diet (at least that one was free. No surprise that I didn't lose any weight based on how I was breathing)

No-White food diet (I don't even know why???? Seriously, any weight loss program that would ban cauliflower yet allow chocolate is beyond me)

There are more, I just can't remember them all.

What worked for me: figuring out that I don't have to eat food I hate, or give up food I love, so long as I eat mostly healthy with some snacks in modern while being in a calorie deficit. And realizing how important a food scale really is!

Crafty_camper123

OKay last necro bump I swear! But this one is kind of fun, and may be useful to new people considering what WOE(Way of Eating) they want to use to lose weight.

HoneyBadger302

Many years ago I tried Slim Fast (gross)

I tried a few different "pills" from various companies (expensive with no noticeable difference)

I lost a fair bit of weight when I finally cracked down on my eating and started measuring all my food and then tracking macros. After that decided to focus on fitness, went up a few pounds, but then started to slowly trend back down. Then, big injury, and the better part of 2 years of "yuck."

I've since settled on my own variation of OMAD. I took a good look at my lifestyle, natural eating habits, what I could and couldn't live with, what would work no matter where I was or what I was doing, and this proved to be a very sustainable thing for me. It's not a "true" fast, because that doesn't work for me. I enjoy my morning coffee with flavored creamer, one larger meal each day, and if I'm hungry, a small (~200 kcal - depending on my workouts that day) "meal/snack."

I still have to count calories and measure my food if I'm going to lose at a noticeable rate, but even without that, I will have a downward trend, albeit slower. For reference, I'm F, 40, 5'7", CW 149, GW ~130.

It's not the fastest way to lose weight, but it's completely sustainable, I don't feel like I'm depriving myself, and it's something I can live with, and my weight trend has stayed in the proper direction since making this change (been at it for close to 6 months now I think). It works no matter the time of year, race weekends, work weeks, gatherings with friends....