Your game changer

amusedmonkey

Counting calories, food scale, logging...etc. was what I naturally jumped into right away when I first started dieting. I had little to no experience with dieting before that, so I was not i influenced by the dieting culture, and doing it that way felt like the most logical thing to do. What really was a shock is how many calories I spent on things I didn't particularly like or want, like grabbing random items left on the counter or mindlessly fridge surfing. The game changer was limiting myself to foods I like and want. This made it possible to diet eating a wide variety of foods I like and I didn't feel deprived.

Another game changer was added calories from exercise. It still feels like a victory whenever I stubbornly eat my regular portion of some high calorie foods I like (that won't be satisfying in smaller portions) without going over calories.

ChaoticMoira

Definitely like you, learning what proper portions looked like. When I first saw it, I was like, "omg, I can't do that," and then it turned out it was a totally reasonable amount to eat. This was huge because I realized I could still eat food I liked, I just needed to change the way I was seeing it.

Also learning that weight loss is mostly about food, and exercise is about health. Not that their isn't cross over between the two, because of course their is. But I always saw food as the biggest health factor, and exercise as the biggest weight loss factor. It totally changed my approach to how I eat, and how I workout.

sijomial

Mine was a series of three linked game changers......

A serious throat infection meant I couldn't eat for a while and surprise, surprise, I lost weight. That flipped a switch for me (silly as it sounds) as I had to admit despite what my Mum told me - I'm not special.
I'm not immune to the effects of energy balance and subsequent weight loss.

That triggered a bit of self-reflection as to why I stayed overweight for 22 years. Although I could make a compelling argument that the driver that mangled my knee triggered my sudden weight gain but I couldn't escape the fact the although the blame for the gain wasn't my fault, staying fat really was both my fault and my responsibility to resolve. Ironically, I faced and conquered much greater challenges in that time but my weight was a blind spot. PMS (Poor Me Syndrome!) really isn't in my personality but in this one aspect it definitely held me back.

That led to the "how to" game changer. I did a bit of research and planning (I tackled the task like a project) and as I looked back on my failed attempts, I realised that daily restriction had always bored, frustrated and ultimately sapped my determination. Tried the 5:2 IF eating style and it really gelled with my very determined short term, but bored by routine, strengths and weaknesses.