Do you follow a certain diet or do you just track calories?

KJCJAJB

My friend and I are both " carbaholics", We got the " Type two diabetes weight loss book", FOURTH edition... it's important to have this newest one as they keep making changes according to what they find works with folks who are their patients/ clients. It is low carb, but gives you many choices and variety to choose from for all daily meals, plus two snacks per day, also you get into mild ketoses ( it's all explained in the book) and your cravings pretty much disappear, your are content and not craving all hours of the night and day. my fitnesspal ... which our adult children found on line for us and loaded onto our mobile phones.... is about 50% of the success we're having with our healthy life style program though .... helps keep us aware and on track. One of the things that the book notes, is, that they've found the highest success rates among their patients to be folks who do certain things and one of them is to keep track or a journal and my fitness pal is doing exactly that, right? !
We are exercising too, but are older ladies with arthritis, so we do some cardio... just walking, and light weights, a streching move or two and one or two pilates moves... if we hurt ourselves by going to hard at it, it takes quite a while to heal muscles, tendons and ligaments when you're older lol, then you miss out on all of those weeks of exercise!
We also chew our food completely , putting our fork/ spook down between bites, don't watch TV or read / text/ cell phone game etc. while eating... just savour the flavour. We DO weigh our protein portions and stick to them... it's enough to satisfy we've found, if you're eating your recommended amt. of cooked/ counted veg. and big portion of free veg. salad... mmmm. I don't even use the low low low cal home made salad dressing that they recommend, I don't ike it and that makes me not want to eat my nutritious salad! so I just use less of regular Kraft dressings and steer clear of the creamy ones.
Hope this is of some help, we feel so much better on this program and are both doing great with between 25 and 30 lb. losses each since May first.
Good luck with your feelings of deprivation/ food fixation, if you are addicted to carbs, this should work nicely for you

Ilovejacks

Just track calories.I find that if i stay under the recommended #'s across the board,I don't have cravings.I think if you just Give your body what it needs,it all balances out.No gimmick's, just eat healthy:)

Robin_Bin

Also keep in mind that no one food will supply all your nutritional needs. While it's good to have some daily eating plans in mind, I've never heard of anyone who could eat the same thing day after day for the rest of their life. And even if you could, it probably wouldn't be healthy because it would be missing some micro-nutrients.

I remember hearing about a woman who found a daily meal plan that worked for her (in WW with a leader I knew, but it really wouldn't matter which plan). She ate the exact same things every day for an entire year. Lost all the weight she wanted. But at the end of the year, she still had no idea how to eat for the rest of her life to maintain. She gained it all back in less than a year.

Learning which things work for you may require some trial and error, and that means you might have some minor set-backs. However I propose that it's worth that in order to learn what will work for you as part of a long-term lifestyle change.

Good luck!

Weatherford102

If you are just maintaining, would find out what your basal metabolic burn rate is and set your net goal as 2-300 cals below that. That means your total cals with exercise factored out and planning in some exercise will help to add muscle where you want it. If you want to still lose, that make your net cals 3-600 below bmr. I have notice a big difference when I have eaten whole foods, and it is surprising how many you can fit into a reasonable diet. Fruits and veggies can add alot of fill for not that many calories, so make sure you eat at least 5-6 servings each day. If you decide to binge one day, double your exercise for 2-3 days and your weekly totals will average out. Lastly, find some exercise that you like and get used to calculating how long you have to do it to reach a given calorie burn. That way you are not guessing. P90x, insanity, and 30 day shred are all high intensity, 400-800 cals burned per hour. Even jogging is about 500-700/hour. This kind of exercise gives you alot of cal burn for your time spent, and they can give you definition in your muscles.

MalloryCurrent

I track calories. I don't think of it as dieting. Just eating the way I should have my whole life. I have really expanded my cooking skills since starting mfp too. I find healthy alternative and recipes to foods I love. And they usually taste just as good or better

jfa002

:bigsmile: I just track calories, but I try to eat as healthy as I can. Yet, I do watch my sodium intake and try to manage that as best as possible. Don't worry about sugars as long as they're natrual plant based sugars. My sugars are sometimes high because of the fresh fruits that I eat, but it gives me pep in my step for a prolonged time. Do your best to not eat refined sugars, but treat yourself once in a while if you're okay with that. Carbs, as long as they are good carbs, are good to have before a workout to give that extra boost. However, try not to load up on them for dinner, that's unless you plan on working out after the evening meal. Grains, fruits, vegetables, and nuts are always an excellent source of nutients that the human body needs, but remember moderation is the key and a balanced diet.

kmm7309

I went through the good food/bad food cycle. I also went through this cycle of "I'm going to diet tomorrow so eat whatever the hell I want... oops! I started the next day bad, so I will eat whatever I want for the day and start tomorrow... oops!"

I have tried a life of substitution and it works for me. Substitute whole wheat bread for white bread. Substitute a spinach salad for french fries. Substitute a fruit juice or water for a soda. Bake my desserts at home and substitute low fat ingredients. Substitute vegetable pasta for enriched pasta. I don't even count my calories. I just exercise every day and substitute (and watch my portions). If I want more to eat, I wait 30 minutes. Usually by then, the second helping has lost its appeal. I'm either full or the food is cold or it doesn't smell as good as when it was cooking, etc.

I don't believe in diet pills or protein bars or anything. I believe that your body has all of the right tools available at your disposal if you give it the right fuel. Good luck!

jyuubi

At the moment, trying to just track calories. I stay under carbs and fat anyways. I eat whatever I want, even fast food, it it fits and doesn't make me go over.

kdeaux1959

Calories... with emphasis on ensuring adequate protein.

delilah47

IMHO If you start following a certain "diet", you may not be learning to fix healthy meals and change your lifestyle. Many times, what happens when you go on a particular diet, you end up eating their prepared food or buying frozen entrees. Then when you reach your goal, you have no idea how to maintain your new weight, so usually a person ends up just gaining it all back. When you manage your meals every day, you learn how to lose weight, then it's easy when you reach your goal. You just start adding back calories until you find your balance. When I reach my goal, I will still be using MFP and using the scientific approach.

Laddiegirl

I just track calories and exercise. I want to be able, once I reach my goal weight, to have all food accessible to me and nothing to be a "bad food", just something I eat in a responsible way. I feel like my success will be obtained by learning to cook food in healthy ways, eat appropriate portions and snacking responsibly.

anels449

I think I'm too much of a yougin' in the health world to adhere to a diet plan or something, so I just track my calories and adjust when needed. It's just easier and cheaper for me thus far, but that could always change.

inlander

I remember hearing about a woman who found a daily meal plan that worked for her (in WW with a leader I knew, but it really wouldn't matter which plan). She ate the exact same things every day for an entire year. Lost all the weight she wanted. But at the end of the year, she still had no idea how to eat for the rest of her life to maintain. She gained it all back in less than a year.

That had to be the most boring year ever.

DesireeLovesOrganic

I just track calories too. I do eat clean though but not for weight loss but for health.

love22step

Pretty much just track calories, but try to stick to low-glycemic foods.

ninerbuff

Meet my macros/micros daily and then just stay under calorie limit. That means I can just eat what I really want to.

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Charismasme2

By not eating everyday foods, and teaching yourself to stay with in your macros your not doing yourself any good for long term. I eat everyday foods...whatever I want, but I stay within my calories and try to make sure I get the proper nutrients for my body. I no longer believe in "Dieting", as it's a set up for failure. I believe you need to love food, and love your body as well.

Shannon2714

I spent too many years following all sorts of "diets"....and the problem with all of them is once the weight is off...then what? You stay on the diet forever? You go back to eating your old ways and gain the weight back? So, this time around I am finally doing it right (for me, anyway). I set myself at a specific amount of calories each day. I have recently accepted that "a calorie is a calorie is a calorie" is a bunch of crap, so I try to eat good foods for the most part. But, I still eat my favorite foods every day, but in much better portions than before. I eat as much protein as possible, and I exercise in some way, shape or form every day. I've lost 13lbs in a bit over a month, and I'm thrilled with that so far.

Enigmatica

I just focus on my individual nutritional needs and track calories. Works well for me.

DesignGuy

Got my own thing going. I log so I can make sure I hit my cals + macro goals. It's a lifestyle thing.