What diet worked for you?

Lifestyle change. "dieting," as a verb is short term..."diet" as a noun is forever. Not only am I watching my calories and maintaining a deficit to lose weight, I'm also managing my macro nutritents; much of this is to make sure I'm losing fat and not muscle, but it's also helped me make smarter decisions in RE to what I'm putting in my body. That's not to say that I don't have a cookie or cake or whatever from time to time...they're just not routine parts of my diet anymore. I get the majority of my carbs from fruit, vegetables, and whole grains these days...I've significantly upped my protein and I try to keep it lean for the most part (though I do have a juicy steak pretty much every week at some point)...and I get my healthy fats from olive oil, canola oil, nuts, avacado, and other sources of healthy fat. I've also re-introduced myself to the concept of exercise...I don't do it for weight loss...diet for weight control, exercise for fitness. I'm nowhere near what I would call fit, but I'm a lot better off than I was a couple of months ago when I started all of this. Cardio and weight/resistance training...you should be doing both.

Eating this way has made me much more balanced and I feel great. I'm on a 1 Lb per week plan and I'm right on track. It's slow, you have to be patient. You have to remember that you didn't put the weight on over night...it may seem that way, but that's not the way it happend. You're not going to shed it overnight either.

Eat right and exercise. I've cut out sweet treats, except on occasion. I eat at my deficit, I exercise (both cardio and strength training) and I am seeing major differences already. I'm down 7 lbs and my body is shaping up quite nicely. I still have a ways to go, but I'm on the right track.

Stay away from diet pills, meal replacements, etc. They are not realistically maintainable.

Paleo/Clean eating diet

I thought you were on the doughnut-fueled frenzy diet?

You must be mistaken, donuts have carbs and sugar which make you fat

Silly me, and I thought you were on the ice cream diet.

Since April or March, I lost 26 lbs, down to 108, which is me in my profile pic, by eating cleaner, and sticking to 1200 cals a day. Recently I've slowed way down in weight loss, because I'm so close to my goal, but it's still working!

Paleo/Clean eating diet

I thought you were on the doughnut-fueled frenzy diet?

You must be mistaken, donuts have carbs and sugar which make you fat

Silly me, and I thought you were on the ice cream diet.

Dairy is only for baby mammals, and I am not a baby mammal. So no ice cream for me

Shhh, you're ruining the fantasy.

I would just like to know what kinda diet worked for those who has had major weightloss.Did you use diet pills,meal replacements,or did you make a total lifestyle change eating healthy?And how long did it take you to reach your goal weight?

All I have done was figure out how many calories I burn on an average day, and eat less than that on a consistent basis. I make sure I get plenty of protein, remind myself to have veggies with my meals, and limited my sweets and beer and other high calorie items to stay under my goal. I refuse to give up sugar and all my favorite foods, but have resigned myself to limiting them based on my calorie goals. I refuse to eat a "planned" diet or to replace my food with "shakes," and I've already taken more stimulants in my lifetime than most people would ever consider doing, so pretty much done with that. (Well, no not really. I still enjoy my stimulants. :laugh: )

ETA: Oh, and my first day on MFP was July 5, so it has been just over 5 months, and I expect it to be at least another 6 months or so for the last 60 pounds.

Im not really good at planning so a diet dies not work for me. I am sticking to 1200 calories a day, and making better choices. I have lost 6 pounds so far ( started like a month ago) and also working out. This is the most I have EVER lost on my own, with no diet pills or supplements. I feel great! Whenever I have taken diet pills or supplements, I loose alot of weight but as soon as I stop, I gain it all back, and MORE!

Definatly a lifestyle change. I still have the stuff I love, but once in a while and just a little bit.

The one where you eat slightly less then your TDEE and exercise several times a week. That works out to be about 1700 plus exercise calories for me. It ranged from 1700 calories if I literally stayed in bed studying all day, to about 4000 calories (day hikes or surplus days). Less then a year and over 30 lbs off (and I was on the slimmer side, it's harder to lose weight the lighter you get).

I prefer eating real fresh foods because they're tasty and contain nutrients that aren't processed. I'm more concerned with balance so I invested some time into reading about nutrition. I found out I was drastically cutting calories on MFP recommendation (1200 calories) so I changed that based on the math I read and it worked (and has worked for hundreds of people who asked me about it after). I found out I should be eating more protein. The RDI (and mfp) recommend the minimum amount for a sedentary person to avoid protein deficiency. After reading up I personally should have been having over 90g of protein a day. Since I'm a poor student and can't always have the greatest freshest of food and the reasons listed above I invested in some processed protein powder for when I'm stuck in a library and no chickens are available. I want to get a little of everything...Among many other reasons I try to get protein to retain muscle fibers, fat to absorb delicious vegetable nutrients, carbs to give my body energy (especially for my long hikes). But I have my fair share of oreos I also became aware of how little calcium I took so I try to get lots of that now. I'll also eat deep fried fish now (I hardly get iron, and I'm not a fan of fish but I'll eat it deep fried, preferably if I don't have a whole lot of fat that day). I've also discovered avocados! I think many people don't like them because they assume it's a fruit you can just knaw on. I prefer to use it like butter...

My best advice to you is I think people try to cut out to much while dieting...to much calories...a part of a food group (ie the fat is evil people). I think it's more about balance and variety. And for the sake of health, exercise.

As you can see it worked

Lifestyle change - I'm in it for good. Can't make temporary changes and expect permanent results. :bigsmile:

I found the info & tools in this topic to be very helpful: http://www.myfitnesspal.com/topics/show/654536-in-place-of-a-road-map-2-0-revised-7-2-12

Every DIET has failed me. Works for a little bit of time but the second I lax bam. weigh lost + some more back on. This time I am recreating every recipe I have to make them as low as possible. Something I can just do for the rest of my days, joyfully.

We eat out much less. And I workout more than I used to.

I lost 90 lbs with Weight Watchers Points Plus. Tried making the change to counting calories on MFP in order to save $18 a month, but couldn't do it. Counting points is easier for me.

I changed my lifestyle. I eat healthier, I move more, I actually ENJOY running and picking up heavy things now. There was no "I cut this and that out of what I was eating." It was portion control, making sure I get fruits, veggies, carbs, proteins.. etc. If I want something outside of the norm, I'll have it now and then.

It took hard work, determination, and just sticking to my choice.

my goal is to lost about 60-70 pounds total, i started at 235 and i'm down to 216. I have been working with a diet strong in fruits, vegetables, greens, and nuts. I still use things in moderation, i.e. sugar, lean beef, carbs, etc. Most days i have a salad with some chicken in it and alot of veg and nuts. dinners something in moderation, and healthy snacks during the day. My A!C blood sugar came down the last time i tested it, however it was still about 6.1, which is diabetic. My goal is to get down at least to 175 and better yet 165. I want to be off the diabetes metformin pills and feeling a lot better. I joke i want to get rid of "baby" lol, so that's a big goal too. I go to the gym every day, sometimes twice a day. I do some walking and sometimes bikes, then work out opposing groups, whatever isn't sore. It seems to be working so far.

But i have to admit : i am positive that the lifestyle change will do it for me. I work an internet business and spend a lot of time on my a** not doing anything. It really took the shock of hearing i was going diabetic to motivate me into doing something about it.

matt

Ideal Protein Diet... Lost 50 lbs in 10 weeks

I was working my *kitten* off (figure of speech) at the gym but my lifestyle was causing me to gain weight. So I found this diet - the science behind it was good... so I did it.

Now I use MFP to balance what I eat and my workouts... I had a 3 week vacation to the UK and gained 5 lbs... which I have lost over the last 10 weeks by using the gym and MFP to track it all.

FYI the diet was very hard to do...as I am sure they all are.

Good Luck!

I started running/exercising 6 days a week and started following the principles of the South Beach diet. So, lots of lean protein, whole grains 2-3 times a day, low fat dairy, fruits, veggies, nuts..... I also watched my portions by using a smaller plate at dinner. I lost 30 pounds in 5 months (160 lb down to 130 lb...I'm 5'4") before I ever counted a calorie or joined MFP. I joined MFP several weeks ago mainly to monitor my calories to make sure I was eating enough.