What are your "diet rules" while counting calories?

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fitnwhole
fitnwhole Posts: 227
in Health and Weight Loss
Do you limit your carbs? Eat them only in the morning? Drink only water? Whatever it is I would like to know what rules do you have for yourself and how is it working for you?
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  • cgrout78
    cgrout78 Posts: 1,679 Member
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    i quit having rules. I just eat at least my BMR calories every day. I drink a lot of water, and aim for 100 grams of protein a day. Other than that I don't worry.
  • missfluffyuk
    missfluffyuk Posts: 245
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    I try to drink only water. I don't really track my carbs or fat, but I do try to get lots of protein.
  • ltlemermaid
    ltlemermaid Posts: 637 Member
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    I don't really have any rules-I just stay at my calorie limit (eat more if I workout) and drink lots of water. I try to limit my sodium intake as well. Basically as long as I'm within my numbers I'm good. If I go over by a little I just try to make better choices next time around.
  • MelissaL582
    MelissaL582 Posts: 1,422 Member
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    I don't really have any rules-I just stay at my calorie limit (eat more if I workout) and drink lots of water. I try to limit my sodium intake as well. Basically as long as I'm within my numbers I'm good. If I go over by a little I just try to make better choices next time around.
  • onehotgirl
    onehotgirl Posts: 120
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    No rules here either, my marco's are set at 40/30/30 and I try to eat roughly around that but if I don't it doesn't really bother me.
  • MaximalLife
    MaximalLife Posts: 2,447 Member
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    Do you limit your carbs? Eat them only in the morning? Drink only water? Whatever it is I would like to know what rules do you have for yourself and how is it working for you?
    30% Protein 40% Carb 30% Fat - balanced out in 6 meals.
    And I eat a lot too.

    It was a hard leap for me going to a higher calorie diet , but after my first initial 30 lbs, I stalled, then did what any disciplined and determined person would. I starved myself. And that worked too for a season, but I was losing lean body mass too much.

    Long short? I increased calories to almost 3000 to account for my activity level, exercises and other variables, and I thought NO WAY! I was eating less than half that....

    Out of the 65 lb total weight loss, half of that resulted from a higher calorie diet but slightly restricted with enough of a deficit to reflect a 1lb weekly weight loss.

    It worked!

    And today I have a mere 10 lbs to go, eating around 3000 daily [except on rest days], losing 1 lb each week like clockwork.
    If your input is right, all will be well.

    Good Luck!
  • Acg67
    Acg67 Posts: 12,142 Member
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    Hit my macros and eat foods i like.
  • rockerbabyy
    rockerbabyy Posts: 2,258 Member
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    my diet rules are:
    1. to not have diet rules
    2. see #1
    other than eating as balanced a diet as i can, i dont see the need to cut anything out
  • lmelangley
    lmelangley Posts: 1,039 Member
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    I only eat stuff I truly want. I always think about if the taste is worth the calories. If it is, I go for it - but in moderation. A couple of cookies versus 6. A scoop of ice cream instead of 3. One piece of pizza instead of half a pie- I fill up the rest of the way on salad.

    Oh, and my second rule - I'm worth the price of good food. If I want raspberries out of season, I have them. If I go out, I'll pay for real food versus McDonalds.
  • caramkoala
    caramkoala Posts: 303 Member
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    My rule for the week changes according to what aspect I am struggling with.

    When I first started and saw what my sodium was, it was to keep it in the green. When I felt I had control of that, the rule was to drink 12 glasses of water a day (since I wasn't tracking sodium then, I presumed I was going over and compensated) I've pretty much gotten the hang of the water now, so now my goal is to eat within 200cals of my target (I was consistently going 500cals under and guess what? My weight loss stalled.)
  • AEchic914
    AEchic914 Posts: 9
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    I try not to eat anything after 8pm at night, and drink LOTS of water! Good Luck to you!
  • caramkoala
    caramkoala Posts: 303 Member
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    Oh, and my second rule - I'm worth the price of good food. If I want raspberries out of season, I have them. If I go out, I'll pay for real food versus McDonalds.

    This is going to be my next rule. I didn't buy blueberries the other day, even though I really wanted them. And they were on special AND in season! They are still expensive though. I am working on incorporating one treat in a day, and it doesn't necessarily have to be bad for me, just delicious! Like fresh blueberries, prawns, or yes, sometimes chocolate icecream (1 small scoop).
  • fatgirlslove
    fatgirlslove Posts: 614 Member
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    always under on sodium, drink lots of water, no fried foods and log EVERYTHING.
  • Cal28
    Cal28 Posts: 514 Member
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    No rules at the moment (only 5 days in), just keeping within my calories and eat what I like. :smile: If it doesn't work then I'll look at bringing some rules in.
  • his_kid1
    his_kid1 Posts: 177 Member
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    I try to get a bunch of fruits and esp. veggies, and a variety. I try to eat lean meats and whole grains as much as possible. I try to avoid artificial sweeteners, and frankenfood with a million preservatives, etc. I'm trying to cut back on the sugar, and drink lots of water. That said, I don't have any hard and fast RULES, just these guidelines to help me decide what to eat at any given time. I'm not going to stop living in the world though, because I'm trying to eat better. If my mom wants to go out to lunch at a place she likes, I'm going to make good choices, given the menu, what I've eaten that day, and what sounds GOOD.
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,671 Member
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    Do you limit your carbs? Eat them only in the morning? Drink only water? Whatever it is I would like to know what rules do you have for yourself and how is it working for you?
    Don't go over and if you do, exercise it off.


    A.C.E. Certified Personal Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • Cr357
    Cr357 Posts: 238
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    Hit my macros and eat foods i like.
    ^^^^^ This
  • EricMurano
    EricMurano Posts: 825 Member
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    1. Log everything, every time, even if you're on a 'cheat meal'. If what you ate is not in the database then go with something as close as possible or quick add calories as a last result. But ALWAYS log!

    2. The less calorie dense a food is the less important the quantity in the log. Don't worry if you measured 2 cups of lettuce but you got three. On the flip side get as accurate as possible when logging cashews!

    3. Bread's fine but just remember how many calories there are in it.

    4. Even though it's calories in versus calories out for weight loss it can't hurt to pay at least a little attention to macro ratios and food quality, just don't get all Paleo on me!
  • xMedullaOblongatax
    xMedullaOblongatax Posts: 136
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    I just stick to low calorie, high protein chum. I do not have a sweet tooth, so the sweetest snack I eat constitutes of a cup of Mott's Country Berry applesauce a day - no sugar added and packed with flavor. I swapped chips and other salty snacks out with jalapenos. Yes, I snack on jalapenos =P
  • thelovelyLIZ
    thelovelyLIZ Posts: 1,227 Member
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    I only drink water, with the occasional glass of milk or swig of my boyfriend's soda. I was a compulsive soda drinking for most of my childhood and when I finally quit cold turkey, I lost a ton of weight, even though most of my soda consumption was diet. I do drink tea sometimes, but that's basically water. In a rare occasion I might have some alcohol, but that's pretty infrequent these days.

    I try not eat white bread, but that's also mainly because I think it tastes bad. Whole wheat stuff tastes so much better, in my opinion.

    I think the biggest recent change was if I want something sweet I reach for fruit. I've never been a big fruit eater, but I've actually managed to train my taste buds to accept fruit as a sweet treat, whereas before it was never sweet enough since I was used to richer desserts.

    I don't really have any "rules" though. I just eat sensibly and make sure it tastes good.

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