What diet should I try?

TheVimFuego

I did the low carb/keto thing for a while, it helped me control cravings and learn what real hunger is.

I'm back on the eat everything but less of it and move a bit more plan now.

I don't need a lot of 'food rules' in my life so just concentrating on that deficit is working well.

I try to hit my protein target and let the rest fall where it may.

DawnEH612

How about trying NO diet but a lifestyle change and mindful eating approach?plan ahed... Eat more FRESH fruits and veggies, lean proteins, less crap disguised as "healthy" or "diet" foods... Like snack-wells or some other such garbage... Limit or eliminate all soda (sugar and diet) replace with unsweetened iced tea or flavored sparkling water like Ayala's flavored water. Exercise at least 30 minutes 5 times a week. Calculate your BMR and eat more than those amount of calories on a day. Calculate your TDEE and eat LESS of those in a day...
There you have it.

Cait_Sidhe

I do the "Eat less, move more" diet. It's working pretty well.

melaniecheeks

I think the only thing you should change is your attitude to food. Stop thinking in terms of specific "diets".

Eat food. Eat enough of it - quantity and quality - to give your body the nutrition it needs. But not too much of it.

Simples.

jeslaughter

I have chosen not to be on a diet, I am changing my life instead.
I joined MFP to help me find out what calories I should eat, how many I do eat and I changed that. I walk more, and feel better for it, I eat less calories and am losing weight!! I feel so much better and excited to see how I am going to look in a year when all the weight I gained over the last 15 years is gone.
Stick to it, take your time and eat your allotted daily calories with good non processed foods as much as possible......oh yeah, we all tell you to stay away from processed food but I do have processed now and again..but limit it to occasions and treat your self now and again so you are not thinking you are on a diet. just make sure you get back on track and not run yourself off track very often.
Good luck and I wish you success!!!

Pimpmonkey

I am not dieting. I am changing the way I eat. Less sugar, less sodium, more whole foods, fish, turkey, more legumes. Fewer processed foods. It takes more time than just grabbing a box of stuff and making it, but it is better for me in the long run.

This

CCusedtodance

I am wondering if I should try a preprescribed diet beyond my ever effective guideline of "just eat better"!!!

What are you guys trying and how does it work for you? Are you seeing results? Do you feel hungry?

I tried South Beach once and I felt like I was PMSing 3 weeks straight. No thanks!

I am considering the zone diet because it seems to make sense to me... But I never met anyone who tried it

Part of me is also thinking all I need to do is focus on eating whole, healthy foods, avoid processed stuff and try to only do rich grains like quinoa and barley over rice and pastas. Just keeping that in mind while meeting MFP goals might be enough!!

Any input or experiences are appreciated!,

I so hope you will listen to me. I have spent most of my life overweight, I am now 48 years old and I have tried every diet out there or so it seems. Only to yo yo on the weight. Lose, gain, lose, gain and with each passing year more frustration, anger, and depression over how I looked. I have now found this site and I have learned that eating healthier, consuming less calories, and exercise is the only way to do it. Had I known this at your age, I would have saved myself a lot of misery. Change your habits now and save yourself that same misery.

pinkraynedropjacki

Diets always fail. Hence the reason I'm never on a diet & I've lost all my required weight an then more.

Workout hard daily, eat better daily, no cheat days, no days off. That works for me.

emergencytennis

Received wisdom from this site is that all prescribed diets fail, because eventually you lose the weight, go off the diet and then regain all the weight; that the only way to stay slim is to retrain yourself to a healthy diet and lifestyle.

Generally, I would agree with this.

I have a friend, though, who has just lost 10kg doing a shake diet designed for middle-aged people. She plays hockey twice a week as well as tennis once a week in our team, eats healthy food anyway and drinks moderately. She is now my build but she is fitter and more muscley than I am, since she was before she lost the weight, one just couldn't see it. I would lay good odds that she won't regain the weight.

I think for some people a prescribed diet can work well.

JanisAtki

In my first few days I used this site to record what I ate, not to restrict it in any way but to give myself an honest look at what I was eating compared to what I needed to be eating. It didn't take long for my brain to get around what I was doing to myself and it just clicked from there. Eat what you need to eat and start moving. Even if that moving is 10 mins marching on the spot in front of the TV to start with. You can do it.

KiwiKimblee

I am going with a lifestyle change. I am trying not to focus on dieting, but eating healthier. I am eating mostly clean foods, and trying to cut out sugar (struggling with this bit), and including exercise (well mostly). For this to work, for me, I had to stop thinking that I was dieting, but that i was getting healthy. Its working so far, but I am still working on the binge eating when I hit a low point.

The exercise is helping with the low points, and is the increase in veggies and fruit, and cutting down on processed food and preservatives, etc.

Good luck with whatever you choose though. Losing weight is such and individual thing, and it may take a few attempts to find what works best for you.

fufi04

I am not dieting. I am changing the way I eat. Less sugar, less sodium, more whole foods, fish, turkey, more legumes. Fewer processed foods. It takes more time than just grabbing a box of stuff and making it, but it is better for me in the long run.

^This!

And No "Diet" Foods

shellyeahx

Thanks so much for the feedback!

I just want to be clear that I am we'll aware what "diet" means. Thing is, I've been eating at a calorie deficit for years, and I am a fairly physically active person... I want to step all of this up, but I was also hoping to find a good guide to help me make the right food choices. Like I probably eat too many carbs, but how many do I eat? What are macros? Etc etc.

I'm not looking for a fad, but a guide to get me started and to keep me disciplined if that makes sense!

But yeah, thanks everyone for the input. Keep it coming!!

dym123

I am not dieting. I am changing the way I eat. Less sugar, less sodium, more whole foods, fish, turkey, more legumes. Fewer processed foods. It takes more time than just grabbing a box of stuff and making it, but it is better for me in the long run.

^^^^This!!!!!

TimeForMe99

Thanks so much for the feedback!

I just want to be clear that I am we'll aware what "diet" means. Thing is, I've been eating at a calorie deficit for years, and I am a fairly physically active person... I want to step all of this up, but I was also hoping to find a good guide to help me make the right food choices. Like I probably eat too many carbs, but how many do I eat? What are macros? Etc etc.

I'm not looking for a fad, but a guide to get me started and to keep me disciplined if that makes sense!

But yeah, thanks everyone for the input. Keep it coming!!

http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/937712-in-place-of-a-road-map-ver-3-0

You'll hear this over and over again, but read the roadmap thread and follow the instructions. It will help you set your calories and macros to an appropriate level for a steady, sustainable weight loss at 1 pound per week. Yes, it's slow but it's also the best way to make changes that will last a lifetime. Not to scare you but your "diet" calorie level is likely at or over your maintenance level so this is a life-long commitment.

Nothing is off-limits if it fits in your macros but you will find yourself making different (better) choices so you can have more food and eating pleasure. Read through the boards - we eat ice cream and poptarts, eat out with friends, go drinking, and generally live life. Some people feel a need to restrict certain foods but most are just trying to eat healthy.

Feel free to message me if you need help setting your goals. And good luck!

cwolfman13

I am wondering if I should try a preprescribed diet beyond my ever effective guideline of "just eat better"!!!

What are you guys trying and how does it work for you? Are you seeing results? Do you feel hungry?

I tried South Beach once and I felt like I was PMSing 3 weeks straight. No thanks!

I am considering the zone diet because it seems to make sense to me... But I never met anyone who tried it

Part of me is also thinking all I need to do is focus on eating whole, healthy foods, avoid processed stuff and try to only do rich grains like quinoa and barley over rice and pastas. Just keeping that in mind while meeting MFP goals might be enough!!

Any input or experiences are appreciated!,

My opinion is that you should set up reasonably intelligent calorie and nutrient goals and hit them using foods you enjoy. Within that framework I would also:

a) Try to eat "mostly" whole and nutrient dense foods.
b) Exercise a few times per week.


And I would not complicate it beyond that.

Pretty much this...^^^

The problem with program diets is that they don't teach you anything. For long term sustainability, you need to learn about what your body requires in RE to fuel...quantity and quality and you need to make your diet (noun) part of your lifestyle rather than dieting (verb)...something you start and eventually stop.

Also, diets like South Beach...Mediterranean...Paleo....Zone....these aren't really diets in the verb sense...they are designed to be lifestyle guidelines. For example, my diet (noun) is largely Mediterranean influenced (lots of veg, fruit, some whole grains, lean proteins, healthy fats from nuts, olive oil, etc) coupled with the Zone diet (40c/30p/30hf). That is not to say that I don't indulge in junk food from time to time...I do...I just focus my overall diet on eating primarily natural, whole foods. I'm currently eating at a caloric deficit from my TDEE, but very close to maintenance having lost about 30 Lbs...just 5-10 more to go.

The above is sustainable for me...it is how I've been eating...it is how I eat...it is how I will forever eat. My diet is forever, even when I reach maintenance and then start doing bulks...my calories will change, but my diet will remain, overall, the same.