Weight loss without eating right?

butlera8

First off, I've been here for a while, but I'm finally ready to get things in gear.
Secondly, I know successful weight loss is a combination of eating right and exercising. However, the problem I'm running into is giving up food I love for healthy food. (I'm sure many of you know that some healthy food is not as good as we would like it to be). This is truly a tedious process for me, that I think few people truly understand.

As of right now instead of stopping cold turkey I've focused on portion control and giving up large amounts of sugary drinks. After all of this rambling can I expect to see some results by just focusing on exercise and portion control until I can fully wean myself off unhealthy food?

saraht131

I guess it depends on just how unhealthy your unhealthy food is! What are we talking about here?

janeite1990

I've tried the cutting back method, but it didn't work for me. I do better cold turkey. Dump the junk. When you do, your tastes will change and the healthy stuff will start to taste good to you. As long as you keep eating junk, even less of it, you'll crave it and eventually use portion control.

Just imo.

omma_to_3

Yes, you can absolutely lose weight with just portion control, or portion control and exercise. Cutting down sugary drinks will help a lot! My diet is not clean, by any means, and I've had good success.

Sidesteal

First off, I've been here for a while, but I'm finally ready to get things in gear.
Secondly, I know successful weight loss is a combination of eating right and exercising. However, the problem I'm running into is giving up food I love for healthy food. (I'm sure many of you know that some healthy food is not as good as we would like it to be). This is truly a tedious process for me, that I think few people truly understand.

As of right now instead of stopping cold turkey I've focused on portion control and giving up large amounts of sugary drinks. After all of this rambling can I expect to see some results by just focusing on exercise and portion control until I can fully wean myself off unhealthy food?

As long as the unhealthy food, in the portions you eat it, allows you to stay in a calorie deficit, then you will still lose weight.

Apply some common sense, obviously. If you're eating "mostly" whole and nutritious foods and you're eating "some" junk food, then you'll be just fine and I'd say keep going with that plan. If you're literally eating all twinkies and cookies and just eating so little of them that you don't exceed your calories, you will STILL lose weight, but you'll not feel good and you'll eventually have micronutrient deficient problems that will lead to health issues.

Individual food items outside of their contribution to your total intake of calories, do not make you fat.

cressievargo

If you think it's going to cause you problems, why go cold turkey?
It's better to eat stuff in moderation, learn portion control and slowly eliminate stuff (if you want to) than to quit cold turkey, be miserable and end up quitting.

MB_Positif

I agree with above posters that you can absolutely lose weight while still eating the foods you love. I've been doing that this whole time. I have changed some of the things I eat, but overall I try to eat healthy with some treats thrown in there! For me, portion control works well! Feel free to add me as a friend and look at my crazy diary

katharineshalia

Speaking from my own experience, most definitly YES. By cutting out 1 soda a day you are potentially cutting out 100+ calories and portion control is probably the most important thing I have learned from logging in my food. I remember the first time I saw 4 oz of chicken, so tiny, but now I'm used to it. Hope this helps and good luck!!

ElizabethRoad

I think it's a good idea, actually. Of course everyone is different but, to me a radical change in everything I was eating, plus restricting calories, would be too much and I would never stick with it. Making changes over time is more sustainable, in my opinion.

And as long as you're eating the right number of calories you will lose weight. It's better overall to eat healthy foods, but as far as weight loss is concerned, the calories are what matter.

DeepAsAPlate

I still eat the things I like, just make substitutions to make it better for me. Instead of beef tacos, I do chicken or turkey on a bed of greens. If I can't make substitutions, I just eat less of it, Seems to work so far.

angieleighbyrd

Different things work for different people. I have a friend who lost a lot of weight in the beginning. (like first month) by eating nothing but garbage. But instead of having 2 big macs she'd have 1 etc. She started a blog with what she was eating everyday and how much of it. And what exorcises she was doing. I imputed her meals into here once just cause I was curious, she was at 3,000 calories before dinner once. It eventually caught up to her. She stopped dropping and started gaining again.

I think though, if you do more than just portion control, and maybe count your calories you could do well. I haven't given up everything. If I have extra calories at the end of the day and I want a candy bar, I have a candy bar.

mslindsay

I have lost 20 pounds just by limiting the portions of the foods I love, and adding in veggies and fruit. (For a snack I would chop up veggies and eat them with hummus, or take fruit and peanutbutter with me). Adding the fruits and veggies help me feel fuller and I didn't go to crazy with eating something I enjoyed. Or at least less likely too, I still am trying to get a handle on my emotional eating. I am now trying to clean so of the less nutrional stuff out (like gummy worms).

honeysprinkles

I only pay attention to my calorie goal. Some days it's through exercise to burn off extra calories, some days I eat healthy, and some days I just eat small amounts of junk food. As far as weight loss is concerned, if you create a calorie deficit you WILL lose! I'm proof of that

katejkelley

I agree - do a two-week program of only healthy food (the 17-Day Diet really worked for me). Once you've rid yourself of the excess fat and sugar, you don't really miss it. I gave up sugar a year and a half ago and can actually easily forgo cookies and candy - this from a person with a mouthful of sweetteeth! In the long run, you'll be doing your body a favor.

TheDoctorDana

I am from the south, I totally understand about the flavor thing! I have the occasional junk and as long as it fits in my daily goals, I don't see a problem. I do understand also that the junk is usually loaded with salt so I expect to see a stall or slight gain in my weight afterwards. I am finding a lot of tasty recipes though that are "like" my junk (Monty Cristo Mmmm....) but heathier and they aren't bad.
Hope this helps :flowerforyou:

butlera8

I guess it depends on just how unhealthy your unhealthy food is! What are we talking about here?

Well, I typically do home cooked meals so I know that's definitely healthier than fast food. I don't fry, but I do tend to eat a lot of rice. Honestly, I think starches and sugar is my biggest downfall. I crave it like crazy. If I find something that satisfies that craving, I typically don't know when to stop eating.

TripleJ3

You can lose weight by eating junk and just cutting back. Some of my closest friends eat a vending machine bag of chips for lunch, lots of ramen noodles and lots of beer and have always been thinner than me who always ate mostly healthy foods. I was always the chubby one even though I ate good foods and worked out. I just ate too much.

To be healthy you will want to try to cut back on the junk more, eliminate or replace with healthier ingredients. Do what works for you and that you can live with.

kristen6022

Technicially, as long as you stick within your calorie and macro goals you should lose weight. But you may find as you get farther into your journey that there are a lot of "health" foods that will fill you up more and you can eat more of them. Like say, if I'm out at a restaurant and I can eat 2 chicken fingers or a giganic salad with lean protien and light dressing, I'm going to pick the salad because it will fill me up and give me more energy.

At the beginning of my journey (a year 1/2 ago) I gave stuff up cold turkey, pop and french fries first, then pretty much eliminated white flour/pasta/rice from my diet. Now, that's not to say I never have a diet coke, a french fry or two or white rice, but I make conscience decisions about them. Most of the time I decide if it's worth it, will it make me feel nasty, or if I really want it.

I'm 5'11, 155 (at goal, finally) and 33 years old. I was the biggest pop and fried food junky that ever lived. I never exercised. Now, I eat very healthy 95% of the time and splurge 5%. I like feeling good and being thin more than I like unhealthy food!

Homer3D

I got to my goal weight I don't think I ate the "best". I just made sure to work the calories off to get back under my daily limit. One of my issues with a show like the Biggest Loser is they put you in this bubble of good food versus real world food. In the real world, you will have a big cheese burger and fries or have a candy bar for a snack. It happens. I learn to balance what I eat (whatever I want to eat) with the required exercise to work off those calories. So basically if I am looking at a donut and I want to eat it, I just have to make sure I am willing to burn that off as well. If not, I pass on it.

Rae6503

First off, I've been here for a while, but I'm finally ready to get things in gear.
Secondly, I know successful weight loss is a combination of eating right and exercising. However, the problem I'm running into is giving up food I love for healthy food. (I'm sure many of you know that some healthy food is not as good as we would like it to be). This is truly a tedious process for me, that I think few people truly understand.

As of right now instead of stopping cold turkey I've focused on portion control and giving up large amounts of sugary drinks. After all of this rambling can I expect to see some results by just focusing on exercise and portion control until I can fully wean myself off unhealthy food?

As long as the unhealthy food, in the portions you eat it, allows you to stay in a calorie deficit, then you will still lose weight.

Apply some common sense, obviously. If you're eating "mostly" whole and nutritious foods and you're eating "some" junk food, then you'll be just fine and I'd say keep going with that plan. If you're literally eating all twinkies and cookies and just eating so little of them that you don't exceed your calories, you will STILL lose weight, but you'll not feel good and you'll eventually have micronutrient deficient problems that will lead to health issues.

Individual food items outside of their contribution to your total intake of calories, do not make you fat.

This, exactly.

ampa916

I think as long as you mostly try new healthier foods then yes, you will lose weight if you stay under your calorie goal.

I can't do the "in moderation." that some people seem able to do. If I say I am only going to have one piece of pizza, I end up eating 4. So I just don't have pizza often. I do however eat fried chicken etc (I am a southern girl and if there is one thing I learned from the South it's how to cook with oil/shortening/gravy lol) But I can portion it out better and make sure I know how much is in something if I cook it myself even if it's unhealthy I still choose better choices.