Aside from calories...

Pebble321

I eat mostly home cooked (almost always delicious) food and try to keep processed food, especially stuff with added sugar down.
This is the way we eat anyway - both my husband and I enjoy cooking and like to try new recipes and to eat good food.
We just don't eat ready cooked meals or cook stuff from mixes or packets. I don't like artificial sweeteners and don't trust most processsed "low-fat" options as I think they usually substitute crappy starches and sugars for the fat they've taken out.

I'd say that my food philosophy is pretty much based on Michael Pollan: "eat food, mostly plants, not too much".

I don't buy into the "carbs are evil and make you fat" school of thinking - I think it is because I am old enough to have seen fat being the enemy and now that's being disputed, so I'm not going to get all gung-ho about cutting out another macro-nutrient group.

My diet isn't perfectly "clean" my any means - I still drink wine and cider and eat chocolate and cake and (very occasional) desserts but make sure I have room for them in my calories. I know I'm not going to stick long term with an eating plan that excludes all of these items so I'm making room for them but aiming for mostly home cooked, less processed meals with treats in moderation (just not this week, two spectacular birthday dinners have been very enjoyable - back to normal now!)

mashanda

I have recently tried to look at sodium. I have realized all that low fat /low cal processed stuff has a lot of sodium. I look back on previous times I have lost weight and processed high sodium foods were not a huge staple in my diet.

PB67

I eat mostly home cooked (almost always delicious) food and try to keep processed food, especially stuff with added sugar down.
This is the way we eat anyway - both my husband and I enjoy cooking and like to try new recipes and to eat good food.
We just don't eat ready cooked meals or cook stuff from mixes or packets. I don't like artificial sweeteners and don't trust most processsed "low-fat" options as I think they usually substitute crappy starches and sugars for the fat they've taken out.

I'd say that my food philosophy is pretty much based on Michael Pollan: "eat food, mostly plants, not too much".

I don't buy into the "carbs are evil and make you fat" school of thinking - I think it is because I am old enough to have seen fat being the enemy and now that's being disputed, so I'm not going to get all gung-ho about cutting out another macro-nutrient group.

My diet isn't perfectly "clean" my any means - I still drink wine and cider and eat chocolate and cake and (very occasional) desserts but make sure I have room for them in my calories. I know I'm not going to stick long term with an eating plan that excludes all of these items so I'm making room for them but aiming for mostly home cooked, less processed meals with treats in moderation (just not this week, two spectacular birthday dinners have been very enjoyable - back to normal now!)

^^Excellent Post^^^

Pebble321

^^Excellent Post^^^

Oh, thanks :blushing:

dls06

I don't exercise. I know everyone else does but I can't be bothered. I just lowered my calories and had no trouble losing. :drinker:

mlbazemore

CARBS! I try to watch my carbs carefully because eventhough an Atkins dosage of carbs, say 20g a day is way too low, most Americans (according to somewhere I've read or seen on tv) eat between 300-500g a day and that is WAY TOO MUCH, TOO MUCH. Try decreasing your carbs a bit, and increasing your fiber. I would also watch your sugar intake. Sugar doesn't have any calories and when you factor that into a low calorie count that's ok....but SUGAR+CARBS combine and store as fat in the body. I definitely wouldn't recommend not worrying about your exercise, but I can't preach either, I'm a little lazy with mine, but decreasing your carbs will promote weight loss alone without exercise. Just make sure that the carbs you are ingesting are GOOD CARBS, and not things that are made with sugar, refined flour, etc. Basically anything WHITE. We all have our days...don't let it get you down.

I stand by everything that I said except that sugar doesn't have calories, because it does....

Mmmary212

I only look at protein/carb/fat I don't care how many calories it is.

So you aren't trying to lose weight?

There's more to weight loss than calories in/calories out...

meerkat70

I only look at protein/carb/fat I don't care how many calories it is.

So you aren't trying to lose weight?

There's more to weight loss than calories in/calories out...

Perhaps. But calories in / out is foundational to weight loss.

hockey7fan

I only look at protein/carb/fat I don't care how many calories it is.

So you aren't trying to lose weight?

I only look at protein/carb/fat too and I'm down 115.5 pounds total and 31 since I started tracking on MFP.

I eat fruits and veggies and they are either fresh or frozen. I eat all kinds of meat and I don't worry about the calories or the quantity. I use olive oil, butter and walnut oil and I eyeball the portion sizes. I eat cheese in moderation. When I log I guess on the portion sizes. I'm always full and never starving and the pounds are coming off, so it's working for me.

meerkat70

Worked well for Dr Atkins too, didn't it? :-)

neanderthin

The only thing I look at is the lack of packaging. Well over 90% of the food I eat is natural, so I just keep my eye the foods I have to open, and keep them to a bare minimum, works for me and I don't count calories btw. simple and easy ; peasy

love4fitnesslove4food_wechange

I don't exercise. I know everyone else does but I can't be bothered. I just lowered my calories and had no trouble losing. :drinker:

You shouldn't exercise because everyone else does or simply because it'll help you lose weight. There are more benefits to exercise than that and maybe you could find SOMETHING that you can be bothered to, something that you'd WANT to do! From the mayoclinic:


No. 1: Exercise controls weight

No. 2: Exercise combats health conditions and diseases

No. 3: Exercise improves mood

No. 4: Exercise boosts energy

No. 5: Exercise promotes better sleep

No. 6: Exercise puts the spark back into your sex life.

No. 7: Exercise can be fun

Mmmary212

Worked well for Dr Atkins too, didn't it? :-)

Obviously....he and all of his patience and all of the other people still doing "The Atkins Diet" today....

(?)

Grokette

I dont look at calories actually. I make sure my fat is high enough and my protein is sufficient and my carbs are low enough.

This is what I do also.

Grokette

Worked well for Dr Atkins too, didn't it? :-)

What is that supposed to mean?

If you are referring to how he died, he did not die because of his diet. He died due to falling on ice and succumbing to a head injury.

hockey7fan

Worked well for Dr Atkins too, didn't it? :-)

Dr. Atkins died from a slip and fall on the ice and hitting his head. He was 72. You can Google his death certificate and the articles about the accident if you really want the truth. Accidents like that can happen to anyone at any time.

Mmmary212

Worked well for Dr Atkins too, didn't it? :-)

Dr. Atkins died from a slip and fall on the ice and hitting his head. He was 72. You can Google his death certificate and the articles about the accident if you really want the truth. Accidents like that can happen to anyone at any time.

No, but you're wrong....large platters of bacon made him slip and fall.