How committed are you??
vetvicki
Posts: 62 Member
Would love to know how others do this....
Do you follow your calorie allowance religiously every single day all the time?
Do you mostly follow it but when hungry choose something healthy and go over your allowance?
Do you just follow it on less stressful days and then abandon it when busy?
What have your results been?
Do you follow your calorie allowance religiously every single day all the time?
Do you mostly follow it but when hungry choose something healthy and go over your allowance?
Do you just follow it on less stressful days and then abandon it when busy?
What have your results been?
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Replies
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Would love to know how others do this....
Do you follow your calorie allowance religiously every single day all the time?
Do you mostly follow it but when hungry choose something healthy and go over your allowance?
Do you just follow it on less stressful days and then abandon it when busy?
What have your results been?
1) No. Close enough is good enough.
2) When I'm hungry, I chose whatever it is I'm hungry for, but in a portion size that (usually) fits my allotment. If I go over a bit that day? No biggie.
3) Logging food eventually becomes a good habit. I try to pre-log my meals for the day, which really helps me stay on track, even when the day itself gets out-of-hand.
4) My results have been that I lost the 75 lbs I needed to 3 years ago, reached my goal weight and have maintained in a + or - 10 lb range since then.13 -
I stay within my calorie allowance. When I was losing weight, I followed a daily calorie budget. Once in a rare while, I ate at maintenance. In maintenance, I now follow a weekly calorie budget in which I save a few calories for the weekend. (You can do this while losing weight too.)
My result was that I lost the 100 pounds I wanted to lose and have maintained my weight for a year and a half.19 -
Would love to know how others do this....
Do you follow your calorie allowance religiously every single day all the time?
Do you mostly follow it but when hungry choose something healthy and go over your allowance?
Do you just follow it on less stressful days and then abandon it when busy?
What have your results been?
1) Within a hundred calories or so. Sometimes a little more or less, dependent on whether I'm on a rest day or workout day. But I make sure to stay on target - it's never going to be exact.
2) I always follow it, but if I'm hungry I may maneuver some of the pre-logged items I have to make sure what I'm eating will fill me up and still fit within my daily calorie allowance. Or, whatever I'm craving - make sure I portion it out appropriately.
3) I always log. There are no missed days, even when busy. I set aside the time to do it. The more you do it, the more of a routine it becomes ingrained into your every day life. Whether it's pre-logging in the morning or doing it right before I go to bed to catch up on items I may not have had a chance to log, like dinner or snacks.2 -
I follow a weekly calorie goal whether I'm losing, bulking, or in maintenance. Some days are higher, some lower and they balance out over the week. The flexibility makes it much easier for me as some days I'm hungrier than others for various reasons. I do weigh and log everything I eat. It has become a habit that has given me a great deal of liberation with the whole process. I like knowing where I stand and it's become something I do every day without much thought.
As for results, I lost 25 lbs about five years ago, ran a couple bulk/cut cycles and am currently in maintenance.4 -
Would love to know how others do this....
Do you follow your calorie allowance religiously every single day all the time?
Do you mostly follow it but when hungry choose something healthy and go over your allowance?
Do you just follow it on less stressful days and then abandon it when busy?
What have your results been?
1. I stay within my calorie budget.
2. I rarely go over my allowance.
3. I don’t abandon it even when I’m busy. I may adjust my macros on busier days, but I stick with my calorie limits. My goals are super important to me, so I don’t let other aspects of my life (i.e., busyness, work, etc.) interfere with my plan.
I’m starting again on my journey. Went through some pretty stressful things last year and gained back some of what I had lost.
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I follow it 95% of the time. There are some days where I plan to go over or not count (special occasions) and others where I’m for some reason extra hungry at night and will grab a healthy snack before bed even if it means I’ll go over my calorie goal.
I have the most success when I stick to my calorie goal. I know if I give myself too many days where I go over then I’m going to stop making progress toward my goal. And now that I’ve been doing this for 4 months it’s not hard to stick to, even when I have busy/stressful days.1 -
Would love to know how others do this....
Do you follow your calorie allowance religiously every single day all the time?
Do you mostly follow it but when hungry choose something healthy and go over your allowance?
Do you just follow it on less stressful days and then abandon it when busy?
What have your results been?
When I want to lose weight, I follow my calorie allowance religiously every single day all the time. And I lose weight.3 -
Would love to know how others do this....
Do you follow your calorie allowance religiously every single day all the time?
No. I look at it more as a weekly thing most of the time.Do you mostly follow it but when hungry choose something healthy and go over your allowance?
Yes. I'll also sometimes eat more if I'm coming up short on protein or fiber, assuming I don't feel full (i.e., if I'm in that "not really hungry, but I could eat" range).Do you just follow it on less stressful days and then abandon it when busy?
I wouldn't say "abandon it when busy" but I accept that sometimes food works as a short-term substitute for rest and sleep when I'm stressed and overworked. Weight management is a priority, but it's not my only priority.What have your results been?
I've been happy with them. Shot well past my initial health-based goal of losing 10% of my starting weight; maintained more than 10% below SW for more than four years, then it started creeping back up to that 10% in the past year, and I've been addressing that.
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I only go over "because I am hungry" if I have been undereating the previous days or getting a lot more exercise than usual.
I sometimes go over because I am weak, though. Not often, lately.1 -
Do you follow your calorie allowance religiously every single day all the time?
- No, I allow myself days where I'm more relaxed. For example, NYE and New Year's Day, I knew I would be celebrating with friends. I didn't worry as much about calories, but also didn't overeat or drink too many empty calories. I had normal fluctuations after with my weight, and now I've gone back to normal half a week out. I would be miserable if I always followed it.
I've also found that moderating cravings and pre-logging the next day helps me immensely, especially if I know I might want to be more relaxed with my calories for whatever reason. If I keep on track most of the time, it allows me to enjoy life within reason.
Back a few years ago when I was at my lowest weight ever, I did *very* well in regards to following my deficit with the occasional breaks. Had I maintained my diet and gym routine as I had in 2014-2015, I would have been great! But, I didn't, and now I'm back, lol.1 -
Would love to know how others do this....
Do you follow your calorie allowance religiously every single day all the time?
Do you mostly follow it but when hungry choose something healthy and go over your allowance?
Do you just follow it on less stressful days and then abandon it when busy?
What have your results been?
No I don't follow the same allowance everyday, I go with a guestimated weekly one which I follow very loosely. If I'm actually hungry I eat.. I will try to find something filling, usually protein based. If I go over it's fine I likely will even it out another day. I eat more on weekends to give myself more flexibility to eat out, eat with family, etc.
As a result I can adhere to my deficit easily, lose weight slow and steady and have no issues around events or family functions. This has worked well for me.2 -
While losing, I was over 95% compliant. Even when I wasn't, I usually still had a deficit After losing ~65 pounds and going into maintenance, I am less compliant, but I have not gone out of my maintenance range even once in 10 months. If I get near the top, I go back into full on weight loss mode and nearly 100% compliant. I always log every day, all the way through the loss and every day of maintenance.2
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...my response was flagged? Did I say something wrong? 0_o2
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RunnerGrl1982 wrote: »...my response was flagged? Did I say something wrong? 0_o
No, you didn’t. Probably an accidental flag. I’ve done it before on my phone.2 -
RunnerGrl1982 wrote: »...my response was flagged? Did I say something wrong? 0_o
No, you didn’t. Probably am accidental flag. I’ve done it before on my phone.
Ah. Thank you, this helps clarify.
I hadn't thought of that, since I mainly use a web browser. Appreciate the response. 2 -
Do you follow your calorie allowance religiously every single day all the time?
While losing, I did so the overwhelming majority of days. I ignored the allowance for true special occasions (e.g., my birthday, major food-focused holidays).
In maintenance, I calorie bank (eat under maintenance) most days, to have calories available for special restaurant meals or other higher-consumption occasions that happen with fair regularity.
I'm not religious about anything.
Do you mostly follow it but when hungry choose something healthy and go over your allowance?
If I'm quite short on protein, and can materially improve the situation without huge calorie overage, I will. (Now, the banked calories can easily cover some of this.)
In maintenance, I'm rarely hungry and out of calories on normal days. I guess that was true while losing, too, once I got the in the swing of it: I'm pretty good at managing satiation at this point.
BTW, I don't think of foods as healthy or unhealthy individually; I do think about whether they contribute positively to my nutritional needs at that moment.
Do you just follow it on less stressful days and then abandon it when busy?
I'm retired. What is this "stressful days" and "busy" of which you speak?
Seriously: There are days when I go over my usual daily goal . . . sometimes way over my goal. That's what part of the calorie banking strategy is about: I like the occasional indulgence, for whatever reason.
What have your results been?
Just under one year to lose about 50 pounds, at age 59-60, while hypothroid if it matters (it doesn't, IMO), without particularly changing my exercise activity (I was already quite active). I've been maintaining for about 3 years since then, not perfectly: I have a bit of weight creep. Still at a healthy weight, age 63, 5'5", 136-point-something this morning, post-holidays; still pretty active. From obese to healthy weight, there was massive improvement in my health markers (cholesterol/triglycerides went from high to solidly normal; blood pressure from high to low normal; much less pain from my (minor) osteoarthritis and torn meniscus, better spryness overall.
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Would love to know how others do this....
Do you follow your calorie allowance religiously every single day all the time?
Do you mostly follow it but when hungry choose something healthy and go over your allowance?
Do you just follow it on less stressful days and then abandon it when busy?
What have your results been?
1. More or less - with reservations which I will explain
2. On occasion, I rarely find myself in that situation
3. No
Because I don't weight a lot (most) of the food I eat, I'm going off of gross estimations when all is said and done. My calorie allowance is set at 1,600 calories (I'm 5' 8"). I suspect that if I didn't exercise as much as I do, it would be a lot harder for me to lose weight. Historically weighing all of my food has lead to me staring a potential eating disorder in the face and thus, I don't weigh most of my food. I do cook a lot of what I eat from scratch and will weigh ingredients, but I will eyeball individual servings. I typically won't eat back all of my exercise calories in order to take into account my lack of weigh food.
So far this approach has worked very well. I've lost 1-1.5 lbs a week over the past 6 months and typically I'm not feeling fatigued, exercise wise - or at least I'm not in ways that one could contribute to diet. The one time when it was clear that I wasn't eating enough, I simply at more food and it corrected itself within a week and a half.1 -
I'm really impressed by everyone's commitment here! I only started on Tuesday and today has been my first difficult day where I have really over-eaten. It seemed to go downhill as I just got too hungry before lunch and it set off an ongoing eating frenzy. Back on the wagon now for me, thanks for the motivation 😊2
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Do you follow your calorie allowance religiously every single day all the time?
If I'm quite short on protein, and can materially improve the situation without huge calorie overage, I will. (Now, the banked calories can easily cover some of this.)
In maintenance, I'm rarely hungry and out of calories on normal days. I guess that was true while losing, too, once I got the in the swing of it: I'm pretty good at managing satiation at this point.
I'm retired. What is this "stressful days" and "busy" of which you speak?
Thanks @AnnPT77 I found this very interesting!
So do you just make sure you're eating regularly to avoid getting hungry? What would you typically eat as a filling but nutritious (lower calorie) snack? Today I got ravenous whilst waiting for lunch and it set off a few hours of overeating.
Ahh retirement, I work part-time and have a 4yo and 2yo twins.... Maybe I need to lower my expectations of myself 😂😂1 -
I'm really impressed by everyone's commitment here! I only started on Tuesday and today has been my first difficult day where I have really over-eaten. It seemed to go downhill as I just got too hungry before lunch and it set off an ongoing eating frenzy. Back on the wagon now for me, thanks for the motivation 😊
I eat about every 1.5 hours so I don't get too hungry.1 -
Do you follow your calorie allowance religiously every single day all the time?
If I'm quite short on protein, and can materially improve the situation without huge calorie overage, I will. (Now, the banked calories can easily cover some of this.)
In maintenance, I'm rarely hungry and out of calories on normal days. I guess that was true while losing, too, once I got the in the swing of it: I'm pretty good at managing satiation at this point.
I'm retired. What is this "stressful days" and "busy" of which you speak?
Thanks @AnnPT77 I found this very interesting!
So do you just make sure you're eating regularly to avoid getting hungry? What would you typically eat as a filling but nutritious (lower calorie) snack? Today I got ravenous whilst waiting for lunch and it set off a few hours of overeating.
Ahh retirement, I work part-time and have a 4yo and 2yo twins.... Maybe I need to lower my expectations of myself 😂😂
Satiation seems to be very personal/individual. The big variables - no surprise - are what you eat, and when you eat it.
You'll see people around here advocating everything from grazing all day, to 6 small meals, to 3 meals and snacks, to no snacks ever just meals, to one meal a day, and lots of other variations. There are a lot of breakfast skippers, but also some (like me) who will crash and burn two hours into the day, without breakfast.
As far as what to eat: Some people find protein satiating, some get it from fats, some from high volume things (often large amounts of fibrous veggies, but there are other variations). Some people do best low carb, others need carbs (often complex carbs like potatoes or grains) in order to feel full. Some need a combination of one or more of the above. For certain people, there are particular foods that are extremely filling; those can be anything.
What I'd suggest is to figure out your personal best options via experimentation and diary review.
If you have a particular crave-y day, try to figure out why: Look for patterns. It may be eating, but it could also be stress, insufficient sleep, dehydration, exercise (day of, or day before), boredom, emotions, habit, social triggers. If the cause is something other than eating, the solution isn't eating: Gotta fix the root problem.
If you have an extra good day, or part of a day, again try to figure out why. Look at your food log: Did you eat differently? If so, what/when? Try repeating that pattern, see if it improves things. (Here again, the reason could be something other than food: Exercise, distraction, non-food indulgence, etc.).
Pay attention to how you feel when eating, and (especially) after eating. What sticks with you? What makes you want to eat more? What helps your energy level, and what tanks it? Try a new variation for a couple of days, and see whether it helps or hinders.
For me, I found that I need a solid breakfast, with a decent fraction of my day's protein, and protein spread through the day. If I get hungry when it isn't close to meal time, I'll have a small snack, usually one with protein (adjusting calories elsewhere in the day as needed): If I let myself get super-hungry, I'm much more likely to overdo the upcoming meal. In addition to protein, I need volume, mostly in the form of pretty large amounts of veggies. One meal is almost always old-fashioned oats (microwaved) with berries/walnuts/Greek yogurt: Incredibly filling to me.
Since I have a flexible schedule, I also eat somewhat flexibly. I wouldn't say that I eat on a "regular schedule" necessarily; it depends on the day. It also depends on when I'm hungry, within the idea that I need to account for how much more day is left to come, of course. It depends a lot on my exercise schedule, which changes seasonally. In Summer, I row (on water) or spin 6 days a week, so get up early and have a small breakfast (protein!) beforehand, with lunch sometime afterward, and dinner in the evening. In Winter, I'm more likely to sleep later when it's not spin day, & stay up later, and often only have 2 main meals, with sometimes some snacks. But even that varies.
But this is me, not you. You'll need to figure out you. It's like a big, fun, high-payoff science fair project for grown-ups.
P.S. You asked explicitly what snacks I like. This will be individual, but some that work well for me, since I find protein satiating, are string cheese; crispy chickpeas or dry-roasted soybeans or crispy broad beans; apple with peanut butter (if I need a bigger snack & can free up the calories); Greek yogurt with berries and maybe chocolate peanut butter powder; small portions of nuts (you can get 100-calorie packs for portable use; note that nuts are also high fat, but they work for me sometimes); hard-boiled eggs; cottage cheese with spices and maybe cherry tomatoes or something like that. (BTW: I'm a long-time ovo-lacto vegetarian. If I weren't, there would be some meats or maybe tuna in there.) I keep some single-serve long-keeper snack packets in my car, in case I'm out longer than expected running errands or something.
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Would love to know how others do this....
Do you follow your calorie allowance religiously every single day all the time?
Do you mostly follow it but when hungry choose something healthy and go over your allowance?
Do you just follow it on less stressful days and then abandon it when busy?
What have your results been?
1. Yes if I want to see results
2. I go over on Saturdays as a treat, and usually not healthy
3. I can't abandon it, if stressed I exercise more and chat to someone1 -
@AnnPT77 wow thank you so much, can you be my life coach please?!
Yes I've often felt fuller on carbs than protein so I'll do some experimenting. I also need breakfast and definitely can't just do the 3 meals/no snack thing. Right, this is more exciting now that I have some investigating to do! 😊2 -
It's my thang.0
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I'm really impressed by everyone's commitment here! I only started on Tuesday and today has been my first difficult day where I have really over-eaten. It seemed to go downhill as I just got too hungry before lunch and it set off an ongoing eating frenzy. Back on the wagon now for me, thanks for the motivation 😊
I'm wondering if you chose a weekly weight loss goal that is too aggressive for how much weight you need to lose?
https://www.aworkoutroutine.com/1200-calorie-diet/
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Would love to know how others do this....
Do you follow your calorie allowance religiously every single day all the time?
Do you mostly follow it but when hungry choose something healthy and go over your allowance?
Do you just follow it on less stressful days and then abandon it when busy?
What have your results been?
1 - within 50 cals absolutely. there maybe the a day every 2-3mts i go over on a splurge dinner out or special meal. i admit the holidays were harder and i was not successful but that was a one off week.
2 - if i am very hungry (doesn't happen very often where it's not just boredom hunger) i may move around meals and snacks or calories to fit it in. If i were generally getting hungry then i'd have to rethink my overall balance of foods and if i am eating enough but this has not been an issue.
3 - i follow daily. many days are stressful that isn't an excuse i can take.
I have lost 100lbs twice doing this. More recently from May-Dec I lost 40lbs (I had stopped myself before gaining 100 this time, had only gained 40). I am on the last few pounds and finding maintenance now.1 -
Try to remember that weight loss is a journey not a destination. You can't think of it as a diet but rather changing your habits. Long term weight loss and maintenance is a lifestyle change. It is a proven fact that if you go on a "diet" 85% of people will gain most or all of their weight back once the "diet" has ended.
For now focus on healthy eating. Remove unhealthy snacks and foods that are packaged and processed. Don't drink juices or soda (even diet) and start an exercise program that you can stick to. Preference in exercise is resistance training. Muscles are fantastic calorie burners and maintaining your current muscle mass is just as important as gaining more muscle mass. As we age we start to lose muscle mass especially after age 40 so it's important to maintain what you already have.10 -
Try to remember that weight loss is a journey not a destination. You can't think of it as a diet but rather changing your habits. Long term weight loss and maintenance is a lifestyle change. It is a proven fact that if you go on a "diet" 85% of people will gain most or all of their weight back once the "diet" has ended.
For now focus on healthy eating. Remove unhealthy snacks and foods that are packaged and processed. Don't drink juices or soda (even diet) and start an exercise program that you can stick to. Preference in exercise is resistance training. Muscles are fantastic calorie burners and maintaining your current muscle mass is just as important as gaining more muscle mass. As we age we start to lose muscle mass especially after age 40 so it's important to maintain what you already have.
Incorrect/unnecessary. No food is healthy or unhealthy when taken on its own. You need to look at it in the context of overall diet. A diet comprised entirely of chocolate is just as unhealthy as one comprised entirely of kale. Packaged and processed foods aren't evil. They're convenient. Check the labels if you've reason to restrict sodium or some other nutrient, note the calories, but for example, an Yves veggie dog (family pack; there are different sizes) is 45 calories, 8 grams of protein and 15% of my iron RDA. It's also packaged/processed. But with that nutritional profile, if I need a quick snack, I'll take that over unprocessed iceberg lettuce any day of the week. And there are a number of processed/packaged foods that make it into my home cooking. (Cracker crumbs in a side dish, jam in a dessert, jarred salsa in about 30% of my meals...)
Sadly, a pound of muscle only burns 4 to 6 calories more than a pound of fat. There are other reasons to build/maintain muscle, of course. But fat-burning properties aren't high on that list: http://lanimuelrath.com/calories-burned-by-muscle-vs-fat-another-myth-exploded/9 -
Do you follow your calorie allowance religiously every single day all the time?
mostly yes but if im over i dont stress about it
Do you mostly follow it but when hungry choose something healthy and go over your allowance?
see above. if im craving something ill eat it, but within my allowance, or at least under maintenance. Holidays and my birthday i eat what i want, regardless.
Do you just follow it on less stressful days and then abandon it when busy?
no. come to think of it, when im super busy or stressed, i eat LESS
100+ pounds lost. maintained past 3 years with no gain, now working on losing the rest (30 pounds or so)1
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