Too many diets in my head

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bishopjulia
bishopjulia Posts: 205 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I was a person who weighed over 240lbs then I lost it with balanced diet and exercise... go figure! Kept it off for years ... ate paleo for a while , did WW with little success but kept it off. Now guess what ... after divorce and some personal battles I gained 😕. I got up to 232...slowly and I mean slowly I’ve managed to get down to 216. I find that I do good for a bit and then fall off but manage to not gain. I have too many “ways of eating” in my head. Paleo, Keto, macro dieting, low carb, IMF calorie counting AAAAAAAHHHHH what do I follow?? I keep bouncing back and forth! I like IMF because I have had success but I keep failing! Help 😫
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  • Fflpnari
    Fflpnari Posts: 975 Member
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    what works best for you? Not which you lost the fastest but what did you feel good doing? What can you do forever? This isnt temporary.

    I found eating more and losing a little slower is much better for me. Im not hungry all the time. I still enjoy meals out. I aim for a certain amount of calories and macros daily. Macros inc is a good group on Facebook.
  • corinasue1143
    corinasue1143 Posts: 7,467 Member
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    Why do you have to do any of those? I mean what do they offer you? A focus? A way to look up recipes? What are you looking for? The structure? To me, any of those just makes it all harder. I just focus on getting plenty of meat and vegetables, log, and let the rest happen. But it seems like you really need a plan to focus on? Examine your own needs in a way of eating and figure it out from there.
  • kenyonhaff
    kenyonhaff Posts: 1,377 Member
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    If you are here, you're doing the MFP approach...which is simply sticking to a calorie allotment.

    Sure, some people PREFER paleo or whatever, and that's great. Totally fine.

    But I think what you're looking for is "I don't know what to eat tell me what to eat" and the simple answer is whatever you like, within the calorie guidelines primarily and aiming for your macros. Which is hard if you want simple answers rather than thinking it out and possibly making mistakes.
  • Shortgirlrunning
    Shortgirlrunning Posts: 1,020 Member
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    Why not do what worked for you the first time - a balanced diet and exercise.

    None of the fad diets are necessary to lose weight.
  • lgfrie
    lgfrie Posts: 1,449 Member
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    You're already way ahead of the game. Millions of people are trying to sift through all the obnoxious fad diets out there and don't know what you've already figured out and verified with your own body: a balanced diet and exercise works. You just need to get back to "rinse and repeat" mode with that approach.

    Maybe you are not working enough satisfying foods into your day in day out dieting efforts. I know when I deny myself things I really crave, that's when things hit the skids. When I manage to tick off all the boxes of foods I love, I tend to be much more compliant. For me, there's gotta be some chocolate, and lasagne, and things of that nature -- things that aren't generally included in most peoples' idea of "healthy lifestyle eating". Thing is, when I get *some* of that stuff, I can happily lose weight and stay on plan, so in an important sense that is "healthy" eating for me.

    You need to figure out what your own equivalent of lasagne is and make sure you're getting some of it ... often.
  • shelleysykeskeene
    shelleysykeskeene Posts: 110 Member
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    I hear you. I was on a structured diet called weigh less (2 years ago) and would lose around 1.2kg per week. It was around 1200 calories a day. I'm trying to do this myself now, eating 1200 calories a day but I'm only losing 0.3 per week and I am measuring and logging everything! I am even doing a lot more exercise than I was back then - I just don't get why my weight loss on my own is so much less than when I was following a structured plan like weigh less? I'm eating the same calories and moving more! I can't follow the WL plan anymore as I've developed lactose intolerance and gluten sensitivity so I don't know what to swop out those calories with?! It's incredibly frustrating - I just wish the scale and my body measurements were moving more - it's disheartening that it's taking so very long.
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,811 Member
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    Everyone needs and has a diet - noun. The entirety of what you eat.

    Some people need a diet - verb.
    To manage a medical condition or food intolerance for example.
    Some people find a diet (verb) simply helpful.
    If that's not you OP then don't!!
    (It's not helpful to me, it would make adherence harder and less pleasant.)

    Concerned about your comment about "failing". Failing a set of someone else's arbitrary rules or what is really important - failing to get good nutrition and hit your goals?

    If you had a tough long term project or task at work you wouldn't try to make it more difficult.
    Don't cause yourself unnecessary stress, actively try to make something difficult (weight loss) easier, not harder.

  • TheChangingMan
    TheChangingMan Posts: 73 Member
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    Are you looking for a magic bullet? There isn't one. You've said it already - diet and exercise.
  • nighthawk584
    nighthawk584 Posts: 1,994 Member
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    you answered your own question in the 1st line of your post. If a balanced diet worked for you, do it once again.
  • Kotuliak
    Kotuliak Posts: 259 Member
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    cupcakesandproteinshakes wrote: »
    I would spend some time just thinking about what you want out of this life. If you work out the kind of life that’s sustainable for you and what that looks like, the rest will follow. There’s really no rush to get it done. There are lots of different ways to lose weight and the only thing you must have is a calorie deficit. Once this clicked with me and I had put in some time thinking about what I wanted out of my life health and fitness wise, the rest followed. Calorie deficit for weight loss is all you need to know. The rest is white noise.

    Very true. With the emphasis on you.

    It took me years to figure out what works for me. It wouldn't work for most people; in fact, most people would find it completely ridiculous. When you find that right balance, where you can have a sustainable lifestyle that you enjoy, while maintaining a consistent calorie deficit, the rest will follow.

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