You lost weight & have maintained it. Did you focus on healthier foods or just restrict calories????

mehshell420

It's mainly been being more mindful of what I'm eating. I still treat myself when I want to, but try to eat less processed foods. Definitely a struggle since I don't make as much home cooked meals as I should be. Overall doing a decent job at maintaining my weight, but I still have a ways to go until I feel like I've accomplished my fitness goal.

yirara

NVintage wrote: »

I know exercise is a huge part of maintaining weight loss, but how have you had to change your diet? Do you eat less the same foods or did you focus on eating healthier, more nutritious foods?

I just eat what i enjoy eating. Mostly 'healthy' and sometimes 'not so healthy', whatever that means. As I never followed a specific diet to start with but only ate less there was no transition into maintenance for me. Just eat a bit more again at a time and see where I end up.

DeterminedFee201426

Yes I changed my diet completely. It was unhealthy from the start. Eating junk food all day and drinking sodas. Didn't ever eat real meals. I didn't eat fruit or veggies. Now I do and a lot of them. I also drink water most of the time. I still have my snacks everyday. No where near as I did before. Eating a box of cakes or eating a whole six pack/value of Reese's. Don't even have the taste. For most of the things. That got me to gain weight. I ate so much of it before and I mean a lot.

SuzySunshine99

I changed my decision-making process when it comes to food.
The decision to eat a particular food or not, for me, is not necessarily based on nutritional value.
I know my maintenance calories, and log roughly in my head throughout the day. Some days I know I'm over, but some days I must be under, because it seems to even out.

To maintain my weight loss, I use the knowledge I gained logging calories to make thoughtful decisions. I never have, and never will, give up the foods that I love. Some of those foods are "healthy", and some are considered not. But, to me, they have to be worth spending the calories. That's the decider for me.

As a real-time example...as I'm typing this, I'm eating a pre-made salad that was handed to me. It has various greens, and is topped with almonds, dried cranberries, and blue cheese chunks. I picked out the blue cheese to save some calories. The almonds and cranberries probably have more calories than the blue cheese, but I like them better and want them on my salad. Blue cheese...eh, I could take it or leave it. So, I left it. Not worth it. In the past, I would have just eaten it as is without thinking about it.

I was also offered some questionable strawberry shortcake. It didn't look amazing, so I declined. Not worth it. Again, in the past, I would have eaten it because it was there.

So, I guess long story short, it's about the calories for me, and being aware of how I use them throughout the day for maximum food enjoyment.

mylittlerainbow

I have always tried to eat healthy food, just ate too much of it (mainly trail mix-type stuff like unsalted nuts and dried fruits). And portion sizes were not controlled at all. I am now keeping my exercise at the higher level with which I started maintenance but not eating back those calories. And I log every day and stay under a cap that I've set because it seems to work for me to stay in the range I want, within a few pounds fluctuation only. Also keeping up with the water. So it felt a bit like still being on a diet the first few months but has now evolved into a plan that I think I can basically stick with for the rest of my life. I do NOT want to go through this again!

ThinisAsin333

For me it's a bit of both.
I eat fruit in the morning. (sometimes) Between breakfast & lunch I will sometimes eat a 100 cal or lower snack. Lunch I have at least a 300 calorie or lower meal, frozen meal or a (very) light salad. Dinner is when I try to have the most calories in a day. Last I noticed I slowly built calories. Mon (365). Tues (505). Wed (795). Thurs (185). Fri (180). Sat (425). Sun (520).

musicfan68

I lost weight by walking every other day for 2 summers. (I am physically disabled and walk on crutches, so I most likely burn a lot more calories walking due to the way I walk). I didn't consciously change my diet. I have managed to keep off about 50 lbs 12 years later. I just had a shift in attitude about eating. I decided I didn't have to eat everything, and didn't need to eat sweets every day. So somehow I manage to stay at maintenance without much thought. Although I do intermittent fast due to my work schedule, which may or may not help. I no longer walk for fitness or work out at the gym. Although I would like to get back to the gym lifting weights.

lx1x

I just personally watch my calories.

sgt1372

I eat reasonably healthy but I am not obsessive about it. Basically, there is nothing that I will not eat as long as I have the cals available to so do.

All I do is keep track of everything I eat by logging it in MFP and weighing myself daily With that "data" I can keep track of what I'm eating and "why" I'm gaining or losing weight because of it and, if I'm gaining, I know exactly why and what I need to do about it.

Lost 40# and have been maintaining my weight going on 5 years just doing this. It's very simple.

riffraff2112

A combination of eating smaller portions, and making better choices seemed to do it for me. It was the mindless snacking on snacks that did me in, especially in the evening.

NVintage

I messed up my stomach taking anti inflammatory medicines, and now trying no added sugars, just low fat lactose free dairy, and less gluten until my stomach gets better. I'm not enjoying it at all! I think it takes a lot of skill to make a healthy diet taste as good as an unhealthy one...

ninerbuff

I've always been active. I just had to eat smaller portions since I already ate a good mixture of good/high calorie foods and "junk food".

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

NVintage

I think it's good if a bit of junk food here and there helps you adhere to healthy foods 80-90% of the time. As long as a once a month $5 Pizza Hut pizza won't turn into a once a week $5 pizza, and then an every other day pizza treat!:D

AnnofB

I concentrate on both... restricting calories and trying to eat in a healthier manner. Though sometimes my concentration on healthier eats comes up short. I'm not a good cook. I think it really helps to eat more home cooked food because of the control it gives you. I have found some main dishes that are prepackaged and just need a little work to get them to the table and add vegetables to that. What ever is easy, that's what I do.

"You never regret the salad you ate." Just a take on "You never regret the workout you did." There are days when I don't want a salad, (mainly cause it's labor intensive, and yes I am pretty lazy.) But after it's done, I always think "That sure was good." Now if someone were to make the salad for me, I'd be having one every day... hmm, I AM pretty lazy! I have learned not to trust my feelings. If I think I'm hungry, I check my calories. If I have had my allotment for the day, I think "Ok, I have had enough calories to keep me going and I shouldn't be hungry. Therefore, I'm going to ignore this feeling. Feelings aren't always correct.

Reached my goal in 2012 and been maintaining since. Fluctuated a bit but found something here that helped with that... someone posted they give themselves a 3 lb leeway. One they hit 3 pounds above, they go back eating fewer calories. Sounds so simple. Yet, for decades I would ignore the very real number on my scale, regain and start the whole process over again. Not any more.

Congratulations on getting to maintenance! You will figure it out and it will become second nature.

cwolfman13

NVintage wrote: »

I messed up my stomach taking anti inflammatory medicines, and now trying no added sugars, just low fat lactose free dairy, and less gluten until my stomach gets better. I'm not enjoying it at all! I think it takes a lot of skill to make a healthy diet taste as good as an unhealthy one...

Understanding that you're trying to work out a gut issue...but there's nothing inherently unhealthy about either dairy or gluten, and even sugar isn't the devil...massively over consuming sugar isn't good, but there's whole big area between eating endless amounts of sugar and none.

I think there is also a misconception that healthy eating has to be bland and boring...plain chicken breast, steamed broccoli, endless salads...basically if it tastes good, it must not be healthy. I love to cook and learned to cook in my early 20s because I was a broke college kid and couldn't afford to take my dates out that often and they found my cooking skills impressive. You can make all kinds of delicious and also highly nutritious meals using a wide variety of herbs, spices, and sauces/marinades. Last night I grilled some boneless/skinless chicken thighs (I don't do breasts...like ever) in a yogurt marinade and a variety of Indian spices with sautéed zucchini and summer squash. It was absolutely fantastic and nutritious...and much better tasting than fast food or frankly most anything I could get even at a nice restaurant.

As to the original question, I don't see it as a black and white, this or that issue. Meeting one's nutritional requirements happens on a broad spectrum...I tend to look at nutrition in the context of the totality of one's overall diet. It's really not about the minutia of this one particular meal or that particular meal. Context of the whole matters.

My diet previous to losing weight wasn't particularly bad, nor was it particularly good. I cooked a lot as I have since I was in my early 20s, but I also ate lunch out everyday...usually Popeye's fried chicken 2-3x per week or Taco Bell 2-3x per week and occasionally I'd mix it up with a greasy burger from a local FF chain here called Blake's. When I got onto my weight loss plan I started brown bagging my lunch everyday and using my lunch hour to ride my bike or otherwise get some exercise. That was probably the biggest change in my diet...the other being that my diet was rather lacking in fruits and veg so I made efforts to eat more of those things.

In the context of my diet as a whole, eating fried chicken 2-3x per week or otherwise eating fast food for lunch every single day wasn't particularly good or healthy...I still eat my Popeye's, but it's maybe once or twice per month these days. I love pizza and Friday evenings are typically reserved for pizza and a movie...and it isn't Pizza Hut, it's good pizza from a local pizzeria in my village. As a whole, I'd say my diet has dramatically improved, leaving plenty of room for those things that maybe aren't so "healthy" but I enjoy them. Given my overall nutrition, those things are now largely immaterial to the whole of my diet.

wunderkindking

I replied earlier in the thread but this reply made me think of what is probably, actually, the biggest change in my diet:

It has improved, but it has improved largely in terms of the fact that I used to eat a lot more 'junk' because it was convenient, rather than I particularly loved it. I STILL do the unhealthy stuff, but now that it is less frequent and in smaller quantities I am more likely to save it for what I really want and really, really like.

I'm not going to the grocery store to get the brownie I mentioned in my previous post. It's not worth it. If I really want a brownie I'm going to the bakery and getting the really good one. It is more expensive both in money and calories, but since I'm not buying the kinda crappy one and eating three of them the overall cost (calories and money) is less, and the enjoyment is higher. It also means 'brownie' is a lower percentage of my overall diet.

Or I buy the low cal ice creams and bars, but I only use them to throw/blend into my coffee. If I'm gonna eat ice cream I'm still getting the premium stuff. Just... not as often.

Olafiina

I genuinely enjoy "healthy" food, I'll often choose to have carrot soup instead of chips just because I love it. But I'm not going to feel guilty for having ice cream several nights out of the week either since I know it fits into my day calorie wise as well. Basically I just go with what I like and fit in "fun" stuff with the aim of 1600-1800 calories on average, It's good enough I suppose.

nossmf

A combination of diet and portion control. I still have my daily soda, just 12oz instead of 20oz, or two cookies instead of four. If I'm still hungry, that's where my diet change kicks in; thanks to my wife's insistence, I have added vegetables into my regimen, at first to be a "good role model for the kids" and later when I realized I actually have begun to enjoy the taste more as an adult than I did as a kid.

In summary: same treats as before (just half sized), add vegetables. Other than that, I only have two daily dietary goals: eat enough protein, and overall calories at or below maintenance total. Otherwise I allow myself to eat whatever...pizza, fried chicken, hamburgers, etc. Just not typically the same day, as it's hard to meet calorie and protein goals if I do.

NVintage

I've been losing weight, (the last 5 pounds) without even trying since starting a gluten free experiment for my stomach issues. (I think I messed it up taking some anti-inflammatory pills). I wouldn't advise it if you're able to eat wheat with no problem because bread is high in fiber and usually fortified with iron and folic acid, etc. However, if there is any intolerance it can really help! I'm just going to keep limiting gluten for a month or so and then slowly try incorporating it back into my diet a little.