30 lbs, close to ideal weight, maintaining easily

wisdomfromyou

This may not qualify as am authentic "success story" as I believe success means weight kept off for years in a row...but I am 100% confident that anyone could keep the weight off as long as they continue to follow this "diet" forever (note "diet" in quotation marks.
Below is some text that I cut and pasted from another thread where I replied to someone inquiring about the "Ideal Protein" diet. I thought this post would be better used here and hopefully it will help some people. So:

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2 cents about what I learned throughout years of weight-related issues and 30 lbs lost:

Every time I hear about some branded diet, with a name/label on it (can be anything, Atkins, Ducan, Paleo, Ideal Protein, etc) I do this:
IGNORE.

I ask myself what happens after I am done with said diet/way of eating/approach.
What's going to happen next? Go back to NOT being on that diet? And if I am no longer on that diet, what will I be on?

If I think the diet / lifestyle in question is doable for life and I can continue to do it forever, then it's worth taking a look at; if I realize this is something realistic only for a certain amount of time - then I ignore.

This is why I don't count calories routinely. This is not realistic for me over the long term - though in the beginning, until you gain perspective and learn your main foods, it is very helpful.

The only "way" that has worked for me, that continues to work for me very well and that I read is the ONLY WAY that works long-term - is to learn how to integrate healthy eating and healthy living into every day life, without making it THE FOCUS.
After all, you can only be overly preoccupied with something for so long without having your mental health affected.

So I just do the "Lifestyle Diet" :-) (Don't look it up, I just made this up).

1. Eat "clean" (you can look this up, it used to be called "eating" but in the context of our contemporary society you have to add "clean" and understand exactly what that means).

2. Cook from scratch as much as possible all while trying to keep all high-calorie ingredients relatively low (such as oil, animal fats, carbs, etc)

3. Include all groups of natural foods in moderation, with some priority given to lean organic meats and fresh vegetables (if your pocket allows).

4. Watch your portions, aim to no bigger than your fist for the main serving.

5. Stop a step or two before feeling full.

6. Avoid sugar and white flower entirely - most days if you can. Actually "always" if you can - but chances are you won't.

7. Be on the lookout for the "Stress Devil".

Some people (you may or may not be one of them) use food to cope with stress just like some use alcohol, cigarettes, prescription drugs and other addictions to cope with the pressures of modern life. If you happen to be one of those people whose "thing" is food, this is probably the most important part of the "diet". Stress can be anything like "bad thoughts", tensions at work, problems with kids, various anxieties about the future, desperate desire to rest with some comforting feeling after running around like crazy all day, whatever. If you have experienced such moments, when your mind veers off all while the hand reaches out for the potato chips bag and introduces them in the mouth one after another without the brain being fully aware of the event - then RECOGNIZE it is happening and somehow, someway, find a way to wake up and step away from that "Devil".
I say "somehow, someway" because it is not easy. In such moments, you can have a PhD in nutrition, you can know your daily calories to the 1/100th point or what not - you're still in danger, because it is not lack of knowledge that causes the problem or willingness to make "the right choices" - but ABILITY.

I suspect that a large percentage of people with weight problems ca track back their woes to stress-based eating, where nutritional knowledge doesn't make an oz of difference. You know very well the fries are "bad" in large quantities, but in those moments you are wired to do just that: stuff yourself with large quantities of fries despite all the nutritional awareness in the world. That Stress Devil is very hard to control when it hits.

Then again, you may be lucky enough to not have such issues. Then nutritional and physical activity-related knowledge, accompanied by a decent resolution - is all it takes.

8. Don't keep "treats" in the house. Want to have a treat day? Plan for fewer calories than normal during the rest of the day, go to a sweet shop, sit down, have a cake and eat it too, enjoy and don't even think about feeling guilty in any way, shape or form because you owned it (in the example where you were delivering chips hand to mouth, spontaneously, with the brain elsewhere - you are not "owning it") .
Then leave and don't take anything "to go".

9. Set special time aside to exercise 4-5 times a week, as natural moving has been engineered out of life for most of us.

10. Do all the above like you brush your teeth. Don't make this lifestyle above the center of your daily energies, preoccupations and conversations, just like you don't make brushing your teeth the center of your preoccupations.

That doesn't apply to the "Stress Devil" part, this will NEVER be like you brush your teeth. It will be hard every time it hits and the danger of relapse will always be there once you have experienced food as addiction - as a way to cope with stress. If once in a while the Devil wins and you end up "going to town" - go to bed, sleep, get up the next day and pretend it never happened: continue with your normal lifestyle.

samjoy

love it!

jcr85

Lol okay...

How about eat whatever the **** you want just try not to exceeded caloric maintenance level.

wisdomfromyou

To jcr85 - forgot to quote:

Sure...except this line remains "fuzzy" for most people and does not address "health" - only "weight".
Neither does it address the "Stress" part which is THE killer for many people.

You can drum into people's heads "eat less than you burn" until you're blue in the face - this will still not translate into something concrete and doable.
Besides...you can surely lose weight with fries - but are you sure you want to do it this way?