No strict diets for me, anyone else?

lrhodes907

Finally motivated AGAIN to better myself but strict dieting never works for me. 😬 Instead I am just making sure that my calories in are less than my daily goal, while eating somewhat healthy and no nighttime snacking which was always my biggest downfall. I also cut out soda, increased my water intake, and am fitting in exercise as often as I can. Also looking for friends to help stay motivated and on track!

amusedmonkey

That's exactly what I did, except I didn't cut out soda because I don't drink it often, and when I do it's diet soda. I didn't have to make drastic changes to my food either because I already ate healthily, just too much. All I did was identify the biggest contributors to my calorie intake and worked on reducing their amount or frequency or both. The result: slow but steady weight loss, reached my goal weight, currently maintaining while still counting calories.

lrhodes907

Wow that’s awesome, congratulations! I’m definitely okay with slow and steady! I don’t want to deprive myself completely and then fall of the wagon.

jawz5987

Thats actually a great way to do it. I was having trouble hitting my caloric daily goal. But eating stuff and being just under it would be fitting as well.

lrhodes907

I think so too! It’s not such a mental strain since I don’t constantly tell myself you can’t have this and you can’t have that.

mmapags

lrhodes907 wrote: »

I think so too! It’s not such a mental strain since I don’t constantly tell myself you can’t have this and you can’t have that.

I think your approach, with a liberal dose of patience, is the winning formula. Over-restricting leads to white knuckle syndrome which then leads to falling off the wagon and sometimes bingeing. Good for you for choosing the smart and sustainable path!! This graphic is a good illustration of the danger of over restricting.

MidlifeCrisisFitness

Did the same thing. Great approach.

janejellyroll

This is what I did: focused on my calorie goal and meeting my nutritional goals overall without focusing too much on any particular food. As long as I was getting what I needed at the right calorie level, I knew no individual food choices were going to cancel that out.

Lost 40+ pounds with that approach and have been maintaining since 2015. Good luck!

CarolRo1

I'm also not trying to restrict but rather to make better choices whilst raising my awareness of calories. Today was my first day calculating the calories of what I ate. It's been quite eye opening. It's easy to see how I and others overeat sometimes. I'm hoping I'll think twice now before I mindless eat something.

estherdragonbat

I'm a kosher ovo-lacto vegetarian. Those are just about all the restrictions I need. When I started, the only other 'rule' I implements foodwise was to keep homemade desserts to 200 calories or fewer per serving. (This week it was a fresh fruit gazpacho. Next week, I'm doing a cherry chocolate pudding cake from out of a low-fat cookbook I bought back in the 90s.)

Dropped 108lbs eating what I wanted within my calories. Closing on goal.

Lietchi

I started on MFP last August. I've lost 30lbs so far just eating my usual foods in more appropriate quantities and proportions. (And gradually becoming more active) It's been a lot easier than I thought!

The past few months I've been a bit more attentive with regards to my protein intake, but still enjoying what I eat and not feeling restricted since I'm still eating between 1700 and 2000 calories and still losing weight.

I'm guessing I'm about halfway to my goal now, slow and steady wins the race!

lrhodes907

Thanks everyone! I feel like it’s the most sustainable approach to take. Your successes are inspiring!

knightmagic

I finally broke my on and off again diet cycle. I've made small tiny changes to my life as i've gone and never made more then 2 changes at a time. I eat much healthier now, i'm down 60lbs with another 40lbs to go. The only thing i make sure I get enough of is protein. It's great for my heavy lifting but also it's more satiating and has been proven scientifically to further progress weight loss. My weakness is when my wife buys candy and has it upstairs near our computers...i just want to eat more and more of it (this makes me feel bloated and adds 2-3lbs which is fake weight).

NovusDies

This is the approach I took right before I began my process of thoroughly changing my life for the better.

You should also give yourself permission to make mistakes, to have bad days, and to have good days that might include more food. Your life doesn't stop because you are losing weight. It is better to be flexible and bend than to break. You do not need perfection. I should know. I have lost over 200 pounds and I have not done it perfectly. There have been many days I have eaten my maintenance calories and a few I have eaten more than maintenance. I never needed to lose weight each day I only ever needed to lose weight most days.

I have learned a lot about myself through my mistakes but this time around my answer was never to quit but to learn and adapt.

You got this.

Pipsqueak1965

I did the same - I didn't lose as much as some of these guys, but it was still 10% of my body weight - I just keep within my calories now (roughly) and have maintained for about 3 years.

rainbow198

This worked for me too. I started off eating the same, but cutting back on how much I was eating. Over time I added in more healthier things.

Once I started being aware of how many calories I was taking in, the weight really started to come off.

Cutting things out and following a diet never worked for me in the past. I would do great for a while, then overeat on things I was missing. I decided to do things differently this time around and it has worked for me.

I had to figure out how I could enjoy what I liked to eat and still lose weight at the same time. For me the answer was calorie counting, controlling my portions and meal planning so that I had a plan and was prepared at meal times.

ILoveSoda91

Same, each time I've crashed and ended up binging the hardest it was when I was trying to follow a strict diet of no this or no that. I've learned that portion control and just teaching myself that I don't need to be CONSTANTLY eating are much more effective at weight loss. So for now I am eating the same things, just less frequently and in small portions!

alabastermama

Hi everyone! That’s what I’m doing. It’s less stressful since o have to cook for my husband also. And he’s not going to give up anything! Been on MFP since 2/20/20 but didn’t really start watching calories until almost 2 weeks ago. I have lost 8 pounds so far without exercise. Plan to implement that soon.

jugar

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DavidBong

I take healthy breakfast with intake that sees me till at least 3pm. My late light to medium lunch cum dinner starts at 4pm. No dinner after that. I’ll take a glass of milk if needed. Head off to bed by 10pm.
Was 240lbs, now between 175 to 180.

galprincess

Me too I find if I rule things out I crave them then over eat so sensible thoughtful choices for me. If I want a slice of pizza I will have it but stop at the one. Feel free to add you will see I eat well I workout but dont log it as currently focusing on food.