"What has been the most effective strategy for you in achieving your weight loss goals?"

Siona_Danica

"I want to know what strategies have been most effective for you in achieving your weight loss goals! Please select the option that best describes what has worked well for you. Your insights can help inspire others who may be struggling to find an approach that works for them. Thank you for sharing!"

cwolfman13

All of the above except for following a specific diet plan

tomcustombuilder

Tracking calories or macronutrients

When needing to drop some pounds I tighten up my diet and don’t drink alcohol and bump up the cardio a bit. There is no magic to it.

neanderthin

All the above except the last one.

Consuming a whole food diet higher in animal products not to be confused with WFPB (whole food plant based) and that led me to a lower carbohydrate diet which I've been on for a dozen years which has basically quelled by appetite for sugar and satiated me to the point that I need to remind myself to eat more which isn't often but when my pants get loose, it rings a bell, oh, yeah, you should probably eat more lol. Now I'm actually counting calories to support my goal of increasing muscle mass without unwanted excess body fat. Cheers

AnnPT77

Tracking calories or macronutrients

Following a specific diet plan - Vegetarian since 1974, was slim, got fat, got obese, stayed obese, got slim again, stayed slim . . . eating the same range of foods, pretty much same meal timing, still vegetarian.

Increasing physical activity and exercise - Went from sedentary blob to athlete in my late 40s, at that point began training regularly and fairly intensely 6 days most weeks, even competing (not always unsuccessfully in age-group competitions) . . . stayed obese for another dozen years.

Incorporating more whole foods into my diet - Been mostly a whole-foods, hippie-dippy whole grains, lotsa veggies/fruit eater since at least my late teens. It was pretty easy to eat too many calories worth of that stuff, too - it tastes good, and I'm a hedonist. I'm not saying I never ate treats or junk food, but it was much less than the average USian, and the majority of my eating was whole foods. Lots of whole foods. Too much.

Seeking support from friends or a community - The Community here is great and I've learned a lot from it, but you asked about "most effective for weight loss". That part was not absolutely essential for me, more like a helpful adjunct. In my real (non-MFP) life, I avoided telling other people that I was pursuing weight loss. (Most of the conversations with people in real life are dysfunctional, IME.) Friends/community were much more important to me in becoming and remaining athletically active, and that's still true now. But like I said, I was very active and stayed fat/obese. My exercise didn't change much while I was losing weight - mostly I just kept doing what I'd been doing for years. I'm still doing that, almost 8 years into maintenance, though my total exercise volume increased a bit during the pandemic because I had more time for it.

What does that leave? Calorie counting. That was key for me, the most effective thing, hands down.

I do think overall good nutrition is important, so do have macro goals and try to be near them, but that's nutrition/health, not weight loss.

But that's just me. I don't think it's universal. I don't think much of anything about weight management tactics is universal. I think what we can get from other people is ideas to consider and experiment with, not definitions of what absolutely will work for us because it worked for others.

Mpenny1001

Tracking calories or macronutrients

I voted for calorie counting, but honestly the most effective thing was nothing you have listed. It was just deciding to achieve my weight/fitness goal. Really, truly deciding to do it. I find when I decide to do something, my brain almost magically leads me to do the things I need to do to get what I want.

nytrifisoul

Tracking calories or macronutrients

If you only get one choice its tracking calories for me. You can always miscalculate how much calories you burn with exercise, but CICO doesn't lie.
What worked the most for me thats not listed is fasting. Specifically training my body to eat one meal a day ( night time for me ) Because its a lifestyle change, its easy to stick with it when you can eat a nice meal ( whatever you crave ) every day and not worry about going over your daily calories. ( its pretty hard unless you eat something with an insane amount of calories like sticks of butter )

nograe1

Tracking calories or macronutrients

My goal has been to lose 18 pounds, and I'm almost there. I eat whole foods and track my macros. When I started, I accepted the default goal calories, and then entered everything I ate and any exercise. That didn't work so well for me. So I regrouped. This is what did work:

1. Set my lifestyle as sedentary and got some guidance as to a daily calorie goal, which I really didn't follow.
2. I exercise about 4 days a week or so, but I don't track that and did NOT allow myself extra calories for the exercise. At first I did, but that sabotaged my results, so I stopped.
3. I initially set a daily goal of 1300 calories which was probably close to 1000 calories below my maintenance level. I followed that for maybe 6 weeks.
4. VERY IMPORTANT: Each day I planned out the next day's meals to fit within my calorie goal and I strictly stuck to that plan for the day.
5. After roughly 6 weeks, the 1300 calorie goal seemed too restrictive, so I upped that to 1600 calories which is where I stayed. That gives me about a 600 to 700 daily calorie deficit.

I weigh myself daily. I might go 4 or 5 days with absolutely no weight loss, but then I will see a significant drop to a lower level. Sometimes I'll see a bit of an increase. I should reach my goal weight within the next couple of weeks. At that point, I'll start increasing my daily caloric intake by 100 calories every couple of days and continue that until I reach maintenance level, as long as my weight remains stable. Long term: I'll continue to weigh myself daily, but I'll only track calories occasionally to make sure I'm not eating too much, but the scale will be my daily feedback. If my weight goes up slightly, I'll eat light until I'm back down to my goal weight. If my weight should increase 3 pounds over my goal weight, I'll get strict again with calorie counting until I lose that weight. If my weight declines, then I'll increase my food intake until I get back up to my goal weight. Of course, I'll continue my exercise routine.

ClearNotCloudyMind

Following a specific diet plan

Clicked specific diet plan but may have misinterpreted what it meant. I do track calories, though not very precisely. It helps me keep portion sizes in my mind.

I do seem to do well using Intermittent Fasting or my own version of it. Only lunch and dinner, then STOP. No snacking, just meals.

All foods are allowed, though I have been avoiding biscuits. For some reason I have a bottomless and eternal capability to eat them once I get started.

LittleBunnySocks

Tracking calories or macronutrients

Calorie counting absolutely, but being able to talk about it with people who are aiming for weight loss as well is really nice! Kinda wish I could select 2 because upping my exercise has also been helpful (just some walks on the weekend, usually between 5,000-10,000 steps). Theres something nice about just getting outside for a bit.

Calorie counting is a little awkward at times. Sometimes you have to look at individual ingredients and make a best guess on what your eating, especially if your out at a restaurant. but for the most part it works really well.

I started at 18st and i've dropped to 17st 5lbs in roughly 3 weeks. I'm expecting this progress to slow down significantly eventually but for the time being i'm really happy!

I only weigh in once a week too, as my body is naturally going to fluctuate slightly in lbs on a daily basis.