Can I eat the same, but less?

Theoldguy1

lynn_glenmont wrote: »

Theoldguy1 wrote: »

lynn_glenmont wrote: »

gatamadriz wrote: »

Yes, providing you aren't living on McDonald's, etc. Cut all your portions in half on what you normally eat, and start supplementing it with fresh produce. Have some fruit in the morning, snack on celery, carrots, endive in between - you can make low-fat yogurt dips for dipping. Add in a piece of fruit at night. See if that works for you.

Why cut everything in half when the OP only needs to reduce calories by about 30%? You're recommending 550 calories worth of celery, carrots, endive, low-fat yogurt and a piece of fruit?

The idea of cutting everything in half and supplementing it with nutrient dense foods to meet the OP's calorie goal makes perfectly good sense. The fewer calories one eats, the more emphasis needs to be placed on incorporating nutrient dense foods in the diet to ensure proper nutrition for health reasons.

In my book, allotting 28% of your calories to fruit, energy-sparse veggies, and low-fat yogurt goes beyond "supplementing." Those are the kinds of suggestions that lead to all the threads we see from people who complain that they can't eat enough food to even get to 1200 calories.

Read my post again. In no place do I suggest allocating 28% of one's calories to the items you mention, I said nutrient dense foods. I'll copy it below for easy reference:

The idea of cutting everything in half and supplementing it with nutrient dense foods to meet the OP's calorie goal makes perfectly good sense. The fewer calories one eats, the more emphasis needs to be placed on incorporating nutrient dense foods in the diet to ensure proper nutrition for health reasons.

Absence special circumstances, any Registered Dietitian will tell you what I posted is directionally correct.

lemurcat2

If you are eating 2100, have a maintenance of 2000, and eat 1500 to lose, cutting cals in half would be 1050 cals, leaving you with 450 to add to make up your 1500. 450 is 30% of 1050, and I assume this is what Lynn was getting at.

Personally, I approached it somewhat differently. I looked at my diet, determined it was mostly healthy and nutrient dense but I was getting too many cals from added fats like olive oil and cheese, larger servings of starchy carbs than I needed (mostly because I eyeball these poorly and eat what's on my plate), and snacking between meals on some days because food was there or, sometimes, emotional eating. I also was going out to eat 1-2x/week and using that as an excuse to overeat (although the meals were basically healthy in that they were protein and veg based, mostly).

So I made some selected changes that left me feeling like I was eating the same but less (and which mostly meant I was eating more mindfully and being more selective and not wasting cals on foods I did not care about). I stopped snacking. I increased protein and veg at breakfast, I reduced added fat, and I limited portions of starchy carbs. I added a bit more lean meat (I ate more meat when I first started losing than I had been before), and if needed to fill out a plate I added more veg, although it wasn't a major change since I was already eating lots of veg. I watched my portions and ate more mindfully at restaurants and I also increased activity over time.

I don't know the percentage changes, but it reduced cals plenty without me feeling like I was eating different foods or less.

cbihatt

lgfrie wrote: »

CSARdiver wrote: »

I've never restricted anything permanently and pretty much eat what I want, just cut the portions down to suit my calorie budget. I would imagine most of the successful long term maintenance folks here do the same. The only thing I do is be really careful around those foods with high calories that aren't satiating - for me this is chips, so I make sure I portion these out and never eat from the bag.

Been at maintenance for 5 years now.

I'm doing the same, for the weight loss phase, not maintenance. Nothing is off limits, but empty carbs like chips are a rare treat, carefully measured out. The longer I diet, the more my macro balance has shifted away from carbs, but not intentionally as part of a "plan". It just turns out that you can be more full and sated if you put those scarce calories toward foods that count, like meat and vegetables and such. That said, last night my wife and I split a bag of chocolate drizzled popcorn LOL It was one of the greatest things I've ever put in my mouth and a useful reminder that even serious dieters need a real treat now and then.

That popcorn is amazing. 🥰

Womona

It’s just math. You can absolutely eat the foods you currently eatC just less of them so they fit in your calorie goal.

Case in point- I pulled a muscle in my back 2 weeks ago and couldn’t exercise for about a week and a half. I stayed within my calories and lost weight. It’s just math.