How do you diet?

e93marie

I know what I do and what works for me. I'm curious about others. Also do you enjoy your diet? Do you find it easy or difficult? Why?

My diet is focused on convenience and involves prepackaged meals and meal replacement shakes. I do it because it's easy I don't need to cook, break down calories, or portion. I just buy enough for the week grab one and done. It's on the boring side for variety and I'll look in to that a bit more later. It works though.

glassyo

Just eat less

I log my calories and eat what I want.

e93marie

glassyo wrote: »

I log my calories and eat what I want.

I'm not sure if I'm replying correctly 😅 Hmm my initial thought was that fell under eat less or meal plans. Considering it more you are right that should be an option.

glassyo

Just eat less

You replied excellently!

I love polls but coming up with all the options is hard. Thank God for "other".

Lietchi

Just eat less

I track my calories and aim for a small calorie deficit. I don't eat differently. Mostly home-cooked, barely any pre-packaged meals except when I know there won't be time for cooking.
No replacement meal shakes, they would leave me very hungry.

I find it easy, as my weight loss has been quite 'painless'. It is a bit of a hassle to log all of my individuals foods, but it does get a bit easier as MFP remembers my most frequent foods. The hardest part was 'training' my BF to also weigh ingredients and take notes when he cooks 😉

BarbaraHelen2013

I’d have to pick 4 of your options and it still wouldn’t quite cover it! 😂

🟣 Just Eat Less - goes without saying when adopting a calorie deficit.

🟣 Just Eat Healthy - not really a function of my ‘diet’ but more how I prefer to eat. Lots of vegetables and plant based proteins.

🟣 Track Nutrition - which is a side quest on the calorie counting process basically. This one I don’t have to think about too much. The way I was brought up and hence, the way I’ve always thought about building a meal lands me pretty much in the right place as far as macro balance goes .

🟣 Make It Up As I Go Along - this, too, applies because I am one of those people who, if I’ve planned what I’m going to eat find myself really, really not fancying the thing I’ve planned! I do two things - batch cook favourites, all calorie calculated using the MFP Recipe Builder, and packaged in single portions with the weight in grams on the package. The other method is to open the fridge and store cupboards and see what jumps out at me. I then build a meal, entering quantities and calories into my food diary as I go. Weirdly, the ad hoc method usually lands me right where I need to be calorie wise for that meal. If not I’ll add or adjust on the fly.

🟢 - Here’s the extra option - mostly covered in the previous point, but not quite! Log calories and eat what I want!

Walkywalkerson

Make it up as you go

I also log calories and eat what I want.
I'm not a planner - I make it up as I go along too
I have been on ALL of the 'diets' shakes and keto etc ... none of them are sustainable for me.
So I try and eat at a small deficit most days - life happens so I don't succeed every day.

ReenieHJ

Just eat less

I chose eat less but there are also lots of other options I use as well. Looking back to the way I ate as compared to now, I log calories, eat less, eat healthier. And like the above posters mentioned, I make it up on the fly. It depends on what I feel like when I open the fridge. I used to eat all day long. Now it's more of a conscious thing.
So many ways to do this. And it's definitely not a one size fits all.

azuki84

What helps me stay in shape and maintain is seeing calories as a budget- whether daily or weekly.

wizzybeth

Make it up as you go

I chose "Make it up as I go" because I have a combination of things I do. For breakfast I eat the same boring thing every day. Plain greek yogurt w/ some maple syrup, plain instant oatmeal, 16 oz of water. Mid morning snack is a banana. Then a Lean Cuisine for lunch (or even dinner too if I'm stumped). I try to have more "home cooked" food for dinner but let's be honest. I often default to prepackaged because I hate cooking and am often working 10-12 hours a day or more and just lack the desire to make a meal.

AnnPT77

Just eat less

I just eat less, i.e. fewer calories. While losing, I ate the same range of foods I ate when obese, just changed portion sizes, proportions on the plate, frequencies of calorie-dense foods. I didn't intentionally stop eating anything, though realistically probably some things I don't enjoy as much have dropped to a zero frequency.

I care about good nutrition, but I always did, even when obese. That implies, to me, that I "eat healthy" on average, though I don't categorize individual foods in a black and white way as "healthy" or "unhealthy". It's the overall way of eating that's healthier or less healthy, IMO.

I'm vegetarian, but I've been veg for 47+ years, thin to fat to obese and back to thin again. That makes me believe that vegetarianism is irrelevant for weight loss. My health as a thin person is better than it was as an obese person. That implies to me that "eating healthy" isn't enough to assure health. (Ditto for exercise, though that's not relevant to this thread: I was very active for over a decade, yet stayed obese.)

I'd also say that I make it up as I go, in a way, because I eat different foods day to day, try new things, eat a lot of X for a while then move on to a different pattern, etc. That's more enjoyable for me.

I don't
* do strict diet plans (annoying to me),
* eat many prepackaged meals (maybe once in a while, it's not a religious principle, it's a taste-preference: they're mostly not very good, IMO, and pleasure is important to me).
* use meal replacement shakes (don't enjoy them, don't find most liquids as filling as foods I chew).

Those are fine things, if they help a person; they're just not congenial to me.

I did this, pretty much, to lose weight, then to maintain for 6+ years since:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10636388/free-customized-personal-weight-loss-eating-plan-not-spam-or-mlm/p1

I'm not saying that will work best for others, because IMO personalization of tactics is key to success. It's just what works for me.

GinLee61

Track nutrition

It is a combination for me, I eat less, I eat healthier and I track nutrition. I cook almost every day and rarely eat out. It helps me by planning meals for the week before doing the shopping and when cooking I try to use as many of my usual recipes as possible while tweaking them to reduce the amount of calories, fat and/or carbs. I find that it is easier for me to stick with my healthier eating habits doing it this way and I rarely have any cravings. Except for chocolate
Each morning I plan what I am going to make for dinner that evening and then build my other meals such that they fit within the calorie and macronutrient allotment for the day.

When I started using MFP again in early January I did find it difficult for the first few weeks, however I am finding it much easier now. I even had no problem sticking with my healthier eating habits while I was on vacation for 10 days in late February. It helped that I had access to a kitchen so I did not need to eat out every day.

Surprisingly, I can say that I am now enjoying my new eating habits. When I started on January 3rd I also made a personal commitment to get at least 30 minutes of exercise 5 days per week. That was also difficult at first but now I find that I am enjoying the exercise and I rarely go a day without it.

paperpudding

Hmm, difficult to vote so I did not do so.

because my answer would be a combination of responses.

Make strict meal plans - No. But flexible semi planned meals- yes.

Just eat less - Eat less calories - well that is a given for any weight loss.

Just eat healthy - not specifically for weight loss and by no means strictly. But just try to eat a reasonably balanced diet, nutrition wise.

Track nutrition - as per previous answer, but no, I dont track it

Make it up as you go - sometimes. I would describe my approach more as loose flexible semi planning rather than either polarised extreme of strict planning or totally make up on the spot.

Prepackaged meals - sometimes. Not as a weight loss strategy, more for sometimes convenience.

Meal replacement shakes -no, never.

Like previous posters, this is just my style, what works for me. Nothing wrong with any of the other approaches, within reason.

Which I guess means as long as not taken to extreme - eg meal replacement shake is fine for 1 meal if that suits you - but don't live entirely on shakes.

Xellercin

Just eat healthy

I bulk cook vegetarian, legume-based meals and pre-portion them out for the week, so it's stupid easy to reheat meals on demand no matter how busy I am. It takes one afternoon a week.

DancingMoosie

Track nutrition

e93marie wrote: »

glassyo wrote: »

I log my calories and eat what I want.

I'm not sure if I'm replying correctly 😅 Hmm my initial thought was that fell under eat less or meal plans. Considering it more you are right that should be an option.

I basically do this as well, choose what I want to eat and log it. I try to make it fit within my calorie and protein goals, but I have treats too. I chose "track nutrition" because I figure that is what logging is.🤷🏼‍♀️

zebasschick

Track nutrition

i don't make meal plans - i log my calories. if i want a blaze pizza one day, i can ride an exercise bike and skip a snack later. but mostly i make several days worth of several foods i like - a soup, soybeans, a flavored tempeh, some veggies - and grab and eat what i want. i also eat a lot of quest bars, particularly double chocolate chunk and cookies and cream. sometimes oat bran boiled in milk and lightly sweetened with stevia.

and since i'm trying to build back my legs, i try and stay over 100 grams of protein per day broken into 6 small meals.

nooshi713

I log calories. I also try to eat healthy, less of the calorie dense stuff and treats, and try to be mindful of nutrition.

sijomial

Just eat healthy

Mainly just covered by "eat less" but eat healthy is the predominant goal of my diet and calories are a big part of that.
(I also ate healthily when I gained a load of weight and when I stayed fat.)


I cut down my discretional calories (alcohol and snacks mostly), skip breakfast more often, might low fuel some non-performance oriented bike rides. I do prioritise a higher protein intake when cutting.

"Also do you enjoy your diet?"
I enjoy my diet (noun) but dislike dieting (verb) which is one of the incentives not to regain the weight I lost.

"Do you find it easy or difficult?"
Not really difficult but I make a conscious effort not to make it harder or more unpleasant than it has to be. Avoiding every day or prolonged deficits is a key for me as is fitting my diet into or around my lifestyle.
I have two alternative strategies to get from the top end of my chosen weight range to the lower end: one is ultra slow and painless over a period of months, the other is effectively dieting a week at a time to lose just under a pound a week on average.

yirara

I eat what I always eat. Including snacks. Just less. Pretty much everything is home-cooked with the exception of the rare frozen pizza. All fits within my calorie allowance. All tastes wonderfully and makes me happy (unless I screw up with cooking of course). Also all within my financial budget.

ciaoder

I eat similar food and portions as when I'm not trying to cut weight but jack the "energy out" side of the equation. I'm moody about restricting my diet but feel great about myself for doing the extra work exercising.

I just joined the "steps challenge" as part of the Fat To Fit group. It's a perfect tool for how I approach weight loss.

I use protein shakes as a supplement not as a meal replacement. Most of the affordable prepared frozen meals have tons more sodium than I want to consume as I tend towards hypertension.

cwolfman13

Just eat less

My diet (noun) composition doesn't really change with my weight management objectives. I eat the same way whether my objective is to drop a bit of weight, maintain weight, or gain weight. The only difference is overall calorie consumption. My overall nutrition is pretty on point regardless of my weight management objectives and I eat healthfully most of the time while allowing for indulgences. If I need to cut some weight I just cut back a bit...mostly snacks, deserts, alcohol, portions, etc.

I mostly eat healthy regardless...to cut some weight I just reduce calories a bit. Do I like it? I'm of the opinion that nutritious can also be very delicious and doesn't have to be bland or boring or endless salads and plain chicken and broccoli or any of the other myopic view points on healthy eating. It's pretty easy to cut some weight...dropping 500 calories from my diet really isn't that big of a deal...that's the equivalent of a couple of beers or a couple cookies or some other snacky thing. I personally think a lot of people go out of there way to make things way more difficult than they need to be as if losing weight should be some kind of sacrificial penance or something.

AnnPT77

Just eat less

On the "do I like it" point, my view was probably obvious in my PP, but I feel compelled, now, to add one of my very strong opinions (😆): Life is waaaay too short to eat in ways I don't like. (Fortunately, I like a lot of things.)

hesn92

Track nutrition

track nutrition I guess? I don't know how to really answer. I'm trying to lose weight now, and my method is just to stick with my main meals, focus on eating a lot of low-calorie foods like vegetables, and keep my snacking under control/stop grazing throughout the day. I log my food on an inconsistent basis and that is mostly just to keep an eye on a roundabout number of calories that I'm consuming to see if anything sticks out. I could not do prepackaged meals and shakes etc. I like eating good quality home cooked meals. Just "eating healthy" does not guarantee weight loss. IMO I eat a really healthy diet, and I can still gain weight. I really have to focus on lowering calories to lose weight.