Diet plan VS just eating healthy

ashleyeatsbetter

Which has worked better for you? I think a plan works better for me for a while until I fall off the wagon. What has worked best for you? Do you follow a plan or just try to pick healthy options?

kimny72

If you fall off the wagon, doesn't that mean it didn't work?

I didn't do either. I just logged my food and hit my calorie goal. Sure, I did make some small changes over time as I learned from my food log, but I just tried to eat a varied diet and hit my calories goal.

AnvilHead

I ate foods I enjoyed within the context of a reasonably balanced, nutritious diet, and stuck to my calorie goals. Works the exact same for maintenance, except I eat a bit more of them.

Calories are what matter - I could easily gain all kinds of weight eating "healthy" foods if I didn't mind my calorie intake.

apullum

If your goal is to lose weight, then you must eat fewer calories than your body burns. Any approach to eating that accomplishes this will lead to weight loss.

estherdragonbat

My diet plan was to eat healthier, while keeping a space for treats. Working great so far.

Danp

If something works 'for a while'' then it's not really working. It's just a temporary fix. It's like saying which works better to keep my boat from sinking, bailing like crazy or getting the holes plugged? Bailing may work for a while but it's not going to fix the problem and as soon as you stop bailing (ie 'fall off the wagon') then you're gonna sink.

If you're overweight you're eating more calories than you use. The only solution is to reduce the number of calories you consume so that you're using more than you getting. There are lots of ways this can be achieved, portion control, meal timing, mindful eating and many many more.

Look at all the different ways you can reduce and control your calorie intake. Pick the changes that suit you. This means picking the changes you'll find easiest to make thereby eliminating the need for willpower or motivation, and more importantly, picking the changes you can honestly say will be permanent. If you think you'll struggle to make a particular change or you can't see yourself making that change for the rest of your life, look for a different change to make. 2 or 3 easy permanent changes to the way you consume calories will, I believe, yield far more successful and permanent results than any drastic change that aren't gonna last.

G'luck

Running2Fit

I don’t follow a plan, I just count calories which doesn’t mean always “eating healthy” I still have all the foods I like, I just eat them in moderation. I still try to make healthy choices, of course, but I don’t have to 100% of the time. It’s the only things that’s ever worked for me.

MikePTY

In my opinion it's definitely better to just eat healthy and control portions vs. being on a specific types of diet. "Diets" usually have the problems you mention. They work for a while and people see results fast, but most people have a hard time sustaining them and they gain back the weight they lose.

It's important to note that even if you "eat healthy foods", you still need to count calories. There are plenty of foods that are natural and nutrient dense but also calorie dense and if you don't monitor it you will likely not see results.

Blythmag

I just dont be such a pig anymore

SabAteNine

Neither. And I tried various things in the past.

What works for me is staying within my calories. I approach the daily menu like a puzzle, or a monthly expense budget - I have these many pieces, I need this much protein, this much fat, I need enough micronutrients, and the rest goes usually on chocolate or whatever the heart desires.

bubblemum2

Plans only work for me a short time.

I have lost 100 lbs and yes every now and again il try new things like low carb etc but the thing is I listen to my body and if I’m not into a plan I move on lol. To be honest I didn’t count calories for the 100lbs lost. I tried but was too lazy to be honest and I didn’t excersise either which I do now. I just cut out junk food and alcohol and stopped snacking all day, I did enjoy small portions of not the healthiest food with family etc. And at Christmas instead of using the holidays as an excuse to eat a lot of food I enjoyed Christmas food but just little bits of everything and I still continued to lose over Christmas.

I reached my goal at the time but then I decided to lose the last 20lbs to put me at a healthy BMI.

Now I have less to lose I realised I have to work harder , not following any plan like low carb or whatever, I’m trying to stick to the following.

60oz of liquids
4x excersise per week.( I have chronic pain so I don’t do more than 15 minutes at a time but better than nothing.
I don’t allow my self to snack freely. Usually veg fruit or a boiled egg, if I don’t want that I know I’m not hungry so I wait to the next meal.
Don’t drink my calories so just stick to tea,water, 0 cal water packets( I’m not worried about fake sugars)
I have veg with every meal.
And now I do track calories to make sure I’m not eating too much.

I feel for me, when I follow things like weight watchers, slimming world even though people find it easy I know that I won’t stick to it and now for me I’m trying to learn healthy habits for even when I’m in maintenance so I don’t end up here again.

My mistakes when previously losing weight is I would follow a plan lose 50lbs get bored of the plan and end up gaining it back.

Many people are successful with specific plans and I think that’s great! I just take one day at a time!

hroderick

I use platejoy.com to make planning my meals easy. You can set your profile to different ways of eating (kosher, vegan, keto, paleo, diabetic... etc), set your allergies, set how much time you have to cook, set a low or high budget, size of family, and more. Then you pick from weekly meal selections that fit your profile. After selecting, you get recipes and a shopping list to buy yourself or forward to instacart or pickup service. So easy. Great recipes. Great variety. MFP helps me set and track goals. Platejoy helps me with tactical planning to easily enjoy reaching those goals

Machka9

kimny72 wrote: »

If you fall off the wagon, doesn't that mean it didn't work?

I didn't do either. I just logged my food and hit my calorie goal. Sure, I did make some small changes over time as I learned from my food log, but I just tried to eat a varied diet and hit my calories goal.

Yep ... this.

Jackie9003

My "plan" is to walk more instead of driving everywhere and to eat whatever I fancy within a preset calorie allowance.

latestarter75

It’s goal dependant really if your goal is purely weight loss then any plan that puts you in a deficit by either increasing activity levels and or cutting calories will work, if the end body composition is important then it gets a little more complicated

Womona

I find plans where you eliminate an entire food group unsustainable in the long run as well. As a former personal trainer, I’m in the camp of “eat less, exercise more”. I eat good quality food, and don't drink my calories (I have wine vs a 500 calorie mixed drink, never been much of a soda drinker). I just need to up my exercise!

smolmaus

Depends what you mean by "plan". Does the way I eat have a name? No. Nobody designed a Meal Plan for me, I eat what I like. But it is planned out in that I have calorie and protein goals and checks-and-balances for calorie dense foods and getting in my micronutrients as far as I think is reasonable.

Picking "healthy options" is a meaningless term anyway. People can use "healthy" to mean food that's low-calorie, low fat, low in saturated fats but high in "good" fats, low sugar, only with natural sugars, low carb, unrefined carbs, low GI, high fibre, high in antioxidants, high in protein, organic, gluten free (don't get me started), paleo-friendly, vegetarian, vegan, dairy free or diabetic-friendly. You can justify pretty much anything being a healthy option if you try hard enough.

latestarter75 wrote: »

It’s goal dependant really

Exactly. "Is this appropriate for my goals?" is a much better question than "Is this healthy?"

kiwiroz

One of the 'old timers' on here once responded they follow the eat less move more plan which I have adopted. It was liberating when I realised it's all about the calories in and the calories out. I didn't need to pay a monthly fee to a weight loss company, buy the latest diet books or have an expensive gym membership. I could eat what I liked as long as I didn't eat more than my body needed. The problem with a 'diet plan' is I never see them as something anyone will do forever and the reality is that most of us need to find a way of eating/appropriate calorie level that we can maintain for ever.

Panini911

I eat many "healthy foods and meals" but staying in my daily goals. But I totally include indulgences every day. I have a little bit of chocolate after lunch and dinner daily.

Basically i am eating in a way that I will need to (and be able ot) CONTINUE eating one the weight is lost (just my overall caloric intake will go up a bit to maintain VS loose but not enough that i can completely change how I eat).

sardelsa

Just eating healthy would not work for my goals. I prefer to use my own self-designed plan. I have specific foods I eat and adhere to on certain days, other foods I avoid more often, I try to get an adequate amount of protein at every meal or snack, and I base my eating on my weight trends. Any "rules" are set by me and not anyone else.

Beeingthin

I don’t have a diet plan. I have lost close to 100lbs 15 or so years ago and became a dictionary of how many calories everything has. I had 35lbs to lose from 3 back to back babies this time and I stay home with then. For me, following. Diet plan gets tedious and time consuming, time I don’t have, and I lose interest. I know what healthy choices to make but I do t deprive myself, I just make sure to log everything. I don’t even put what food I ate, I just do a quick add of my calories. I’ve been doing this for a few months and I’ve lost over 20 lbs and 3 dress sizes. Do what works for you. If you always fall off the wagon, a plan isn’t working for you. I know for me, the restrictions alone would MAKE me fall off the wagon. I still eat pizza every once in a while, only now it’s not 3/4 of the pie. Lol!

jjpptt2

I count calories. When things are going well and I'm in a good groove, I can eyeball and approximate close enough to stay on track without having to actually weight/count/log everything. Other times, I have to weight/count/log everything.

Aside from that, everything else is variable based on my preferences, training, schedule, etc.



But to the original post... what do you mean by "fall off the wagon"?

Not every day is going to be perfect. You're going to have bad weeks. That's part of the long term process - it's not failure. Giving up is failure. Accepting that there will be ebbs and flows is, for many, a huge win.

Caralarma

thats the difference between calorie counting and being on a 'diet plan'- with calorie counting you can't really ever 'fall off the wagon' because there are no food restrictions. eat within your range and if you go over, make up for it the next day.

Tacklewasher

Caralarma wrote: »

thats the difference between calorie counting and being on a 'diet plan'- with calorie counting you can't really ever 'fall off the wagon' because there are no food restrictions. eat within your range and if you go over, make up for it the next day.

Of course you can fall off the wagon. It's called not logging and eating over your maintenance. Or even logging and eating over maintenance.

Did it last summer. Gained weight as well.

pinuplove

Tacklewasher wrote: »

Caralarma wrote: »

thats the difference between calorie counting and being on a 'diet plan'- with calorie counting you can't really ever 'fall off the wagon' because there are no food restrictions. eat within your range and if you go over, make up for it the next day.

Of course you can fall off the wagon. It's called not logging and eating over your maintenance. Or even logging and eating over maintenance.

Did it last summer. Gained weight as well.

Sshhh just call it a diet break! Or bulking

kshama2001

Named diets never worked well for me long term. These days, I just keep an eye on my calories, protein & fiber (as this helps me be full), and iron (I'm anemic.)

Tacklewasher

pinuplove wrote: »

Tacklewasher wrote: »

Caralarma wrote: »

thats the difference between calorie counting and being on a 'diet plan'- with calorie counting you can't really ever 'fall off the wagon' because there are no food restrictions. eat within your range and if you go over, make up for it the next day.

Of course you can fall off the wagon. It's called not logging and eating over your maintenance. Or even logging and eating over maintenance.

Did it last summer. Gained weight as well.

Sshhh just call it a diet break! Or bulking

Bulking is NOTwhere your pants get tighter....

It was a combination of being tired of logging, scale deciding it didn't want to work, enjoying vacation in July and then too much smoke in August to run. But I fell off and am back on and lost most of it.

janejellyroll

I've never had much luck following a pre-set diet plan. I just eat a variety of foods that I enjoy, make sure I'm meeting my nutritional needs, and stay within my calorie goal.

quiksylver296

janejellyroll wrote: »

I've never had much luck following a pre-set diet plan. I just eat a variety of foods that I enjoy, make sure I'm meeting my nutritional needs, and stay within my calorie goal.

Yep.

belleflop

F the wagon, give me a jetski! Call everything a diet, defuse the word to mean nothing. I'm on a all carrot cake diet. You herd of that all candy diet?

lorrpb

Portion control is your friend.