When you started out

ljfcress1964

My name is Loretta , I know weight loss is possible but right now seems completely impossible . When you started out with ur journey . What was the steps you used to start cutting out carbs ?

Lietchi

Do you think cutting carbs is essential to lose weight? Or is there a particular (medical) reason you want to cut carbs?

I lost weight without cutting carbs - my first step was just to start logging everything I eat and stay within my calorie goal. Just that was enough to start my weight loss.

And then the experience of logging food taught me which foods are calorie dense and which ones aren't, which foods make me feel full and which foods don't. With that knowledge and experience and gradually changed my diet: mostly eating the same foods, but different proportions and portions, a bit more focus on protein,...

If I needed to cut carbs, I would start by reducing my 'carb' portions and replacing it with more lower carb foods. For example: fewer potatoes but more meat and vegetables, fewer slices of bread but more generous toppings (and perhaps some soup on the side to help fill me up), less cereal but some Greek yogurt or skyr to accompany my cereal...
Specific pointers or strategies really depend on what you're used to eating and we don't know anything about your current diet 🙂

prduk2000

I agree with the above. Looking at possible lifestyle changes in terms of being more active to start and fit in the end can go a long way. Sometimes, the journey is better than the destination. I just started mine recently and I am still learning.

Best wishes!

AnnPT77

I'm with @Lietchi, too. I'm betting if you start to log your food, just what you eat now, some things will jump out at you as easier things to cut: Just not important enough to you for their calorie "cost". That's a common experience, I think.

Look, the blogosphere wants to make weight loss out as some super-complicated thing, a thing that requires points, red/green/yellow flags on foods, "one weird trick", their special $$$ supplements or exercise programs or diet plans, etc. If we figure out that it's a lot simpler than that - which IMO and IME it is - the marketers lose their markets.

Get a calorie goal. Log your food. Make the easy-for-you calorie cuts. Tweak portion sizes and proportions on the plate. Maybe do things like fry less, roast more (less oil, fewer calories). Drink more water/plain tea or other low calorie drinks instead of soda pop or sugary coffee drinks, if you currently drink the latter. Eat super calorie dense foods like rich desserts or deep-fried things or super-cheese-laden foods less often. Not all at once, either: Make changes over a period of time, heading in a positive direction. That'll work.

FWIW, I didn't dramatically reduce carbs, either. All through weight loss, I was eating 150g or so of carbs. Since my calorie level was where it needed to be, I lost body fat. I do think nutrition is important, so IMO it's also good to work toward getting enough protein, some healthy fats, plenty of varied, colorful veggies and fruits.

But that doesn't need to happen in an instant, either, and it's calories that are the direct influence on body weight. Many people will feel more full and energetic if they eat a lot of those foods/nutrients I listed in the previous paragraph, and that can help indirectly, but calories are still the direct mechanism.

You can do this. It's not necessary to over-complicate. Set yourself up in MFP for gradual loss, maybe 0.5% or a bit more of current weight per week, get a calorie goal, chip away at reaching it while staying reasonably full most of the time. Keep going, and you'll get there.

Best wishes!

ljfcress1964

Thank you , well I have done calorie , calorie cycling , calorie counting micro counting . .
Intermittent fasting which has not helped at all.
Will try calorie counting hopefully I will not self sabotage myself fingers crossed

AnnPT77

ljfcress1964 wrote: »

Thank you , well I have done calorie , calorie cycling , calorie counting micro counting . .
Intermittent fasting which has not helped at all.
Will try calorie counting hopefully I will not self sabotage myself fingers crossed

What do you mean by "self sabotage"? Give up? Over-eat sometimes? If those or something similar, what is it, and why do you think it may happen? Maybe we could help.

Other than that:

Keep the plan as simple as you possibly can.

Keep. It. Simple.