What is your eating plan? Can't get it together!

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gavinsmom2003
gavinsmom2003 Posts: 3 Member
in Introduce Yourself
So I've lost and gained over 50lbs 3 times in the last 5 years. I am currently working on #4. I'm down 26 lbs. My problem is I cant seem to stick with anything. Low carb, low cal... what do you do?

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  • mom2aeris
    mom2aeris Posts: 98 Member
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    I'm doing low carb, high fat & protein. I am mostly focusing on eating whole, natural foods, and it seems to be working for me. I am not very adventurous with foods sometimes, so that helps me from getting terribly bored, but I eat a lot of chicken breast and raw veggies. There's no real reason for it in specific, I just like it. *shrug* I also eat eggs every day and bacon as much as I can. :-D
  • melimomTARDIS
    melimomTARDIS Posts: 1,941 Member
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    Low calorie, 1400 to 1800 per day, with rare 1200 calorie "fasting" days mixed in, and a few un planned binges here and there.

    I'm down 45 lbs :) currently maintaining.
  • melimomTARDIS
    melimomTARDIS Posts: 1,941 Member
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    My diet is high carb, low fat by medical necessity. (GERD)
  • michelleepotter
    michelleepotter Posts: 800 Member
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    First, I try to stay within my calorie goal. Second, I look for ways to maximize putting good stuff into my body. For example, add a cut-up apple to my breakfast, or toss some broccoli into my fettuccine. (I'm not always good at that, but I get better the more I try.) Third, when I go out to eat, I try to take half of my food home. That helps control portion size, and I get to eat yummy restaurant food for two meals instead of one! Third, if I want something that isn't very good for me, I have it! I try to fit it into my calories, and I might eat a smaller portion than I used to (for example, I buy the half-sized cans of soda), but I don't try to deprive myself of everything yummy, because no way I could do that for the rest of my life!

    It also helps to keep a big travel cup full of water with me all the time, and drink it whenever I'm thirsty. Drinking water rather than soda or juice cuts out quite a few calories, and once I got used to it I started to PREFER water when I'm thirsty. I have a cup of coffee in the morning, and the occasional soda, but I get way crankier when I can't have water than when I can't have other drinks.
  • gavinsmom2003
    gavinsmom2003 Posts: 3 Member
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    Thanks for your replies. Ive done it all pretty much, just wondering what works best for you!

    I lost half of the weight I have currently lost doing low cal, the other half doing low carb. Right now im not doing much of anything (well I am down a lb) - Ive been the same weight for over a month probably because I keep flip flopping. I guess I will probably go back to low carb as when counting calories I feel like I am starving and end up binging because Im feeling deprived! ugh, the drama of it all lol.
  • ceceg13
    ceceg13 Posts: 25 Member
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    I use to feel the same way...counting calories and feeling deprived so then I would binge on sweets and junk. What I try to do now is just take things a day at a time. I follow my MFP calories (currently 1,300) and am doing the Focus T25 program, which is perfect for me. I can't make any good excuses as to why I can't work out for 25 minutes out of the 24 hours I have in my day. Everyone in my family knows me for always looking for the loop holes in things. I refuse to give up my sweets so my loop hole has been finding healthier alternatives that taste just as good if not better than the regular stuff. I am trying to get away from processed snacks but for now this has been a life saver. I buy things like Fiber One brownies and their new cookies...omg amazing! Also, skinny cow has ice creams ranging from 110 -160 cals so I buy those. I generally input my meals the day before so that I know what my next day will look like. I make sure to eat a good breakfast and lunch and have snacks in between so that every few hours I'm eating something small. So my best advice would be:
    1) Take it a day at a time. Even the smallest amount lost is better than those who are doing absolutely nothing about their weight. you'll get there
    2) Ditch the fad diets. You will gain the weight back later on. The whole point is to learn how to control your eating and make better choices. It's a new way of life not a diet.
    3) Pre-make your meals if you can for the following day and input all the info into MFP. You can leave a few calories as wiggle room and can always modify portions.
    4) Find your loop holes.... Realistically I can never give up my sweets so I found my loop holes and I'm happy with it.

    Feel free to add me as a friend and check out my diary :)
  • dym123
    dym123 Posts: 1,670 Member
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    I think tracking calories is a good way to figure out how much you are eating. I was really surprised how many calories were in a serving size and how small that serving size was. I basically lost my weight by eating less, but more real food. Never followed a diet plan. Even though I avoided most simple carbs, ate whole grains and tons of fruits and vegetables, lean meats and fish. Never felt deprived. My weakness is sweets, which I do allow myself if its something I really want.
  • gavinsmom2003
    gavinsmom2003 Posts: 3 Member
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    Ceceg13

    Wow, so funny. I totally ordered T25! I should get it today. YOu are the second person on here to mention that to me. Well, glad I ordered it.
  • vamaena
    vamaena Posts: 217 Member
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    I've started a low carb high protein/fat. I usually try to stick within my calorie goal for the day. If I do still feel really hungry after a meal I wait a bit and then indulge in veggies. I try to buy natural foods as much as possible. I tend to avoid adding salt to anything. I do have a few Paleo cookbooks so I will base my recipes from these but I add grains and milk products since going full on paleo diet seems a little unhealthy.

    Whenever I sit down with a bowl of fruit I will grab a handful of nuts (usually raw almonds, unsalted). I make sure to grab a healthy snack before a workout (I like cut up celery with almond butter, or apples and almond butter). After my workout I make sure to take some protein of some kind, I usually go for a Premier Protein Chocolate shake (160 calories, 1 g of sugar, and 30 g of protein, plus it's high in Vitamin A, C, Calcium, and Iron). I've been doing this for almost 3 months now and I've lost 16 pounds. This works for me but might not be for everyone.

    I also eat several small meals throughout the day, usually I grab something at around 5 am, 7.30 am, 10 am, 1 pm, 3 pm, 6pm and if I workout when I'm done at 9 pm. It could be something so simple as a bowl of mixed berries with almonds or an apple but it's still a little something to eat.

    I also drink tons and tons of water. I count my water in actual cups (250ml a shot) and I can easily drink anywhere from 15-20 of them a day.
  • ASKyle
    ASKyle Posts: 1,475 Member
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    The key is to find something that isn't a "diet" but something that you can maintain for the rest of your life. Otherwise the weight will just go back on once you quit.

    For me, I like to eat a lot of protein, it keeps me full.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,741 Member
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    First, I try to stay within my calorie goal. Second, I look for ways to maximize putting good stuff into my body. For example, add a cut-up apple to my breakfast, or toss some broccoli into my fettuccine. (I'm not always good at that, but I get better the more I try.) Third, when I go out to eat, I try to take half of my food home. That helps control portion size, and I get to eat yummy restaurant food for two meals instead of one! Third, if I want something that isn't very good for me, I have it! I try to fit it into my calories, and I might eat a smaller portion than I used to (for example, I buy the half-sized cans of soda), but I don't try to deprive myself of everything yummy, because no way I could do that for the rest of my life!

    It also helps to keep a big travel cup full of water with me all the time, and drink it whenever I'm thirsty. Drinking water rather than soda or juice cuts out quite a few calories, and once I got used to it I started to PREFER water when I'm thirsty. I have a cup of coffee in the morning, and the occasional soda, but I get way crankier when I can't have water than when I can't have other drinks.

    Pretty much all of this describes my method as well.

    I have really never understood why one would restrict to low carb or another really specific eating plan, to be honest. I don't shun that but I haven't ever fully grasped what benefits there are, especially when you can track "regular food" of all types via this site and similar tools.

    I've lost 125 lb in the past 5 years, with and without MFP and 0 lb gained back. I am not saying that to claim that you don't need to do low carb or whatever other "eating plan" but I just think eating less calories and a huge range of foods is pretty awesome.
  • TopperUK
    TopperUK Posts: 3
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    I eat a lot of fish, salmon mainly, that I catch myself as I'm not rich. The problem I find is that I drink beer when fishing so it sort of defeats the purpose. Still, fish is a good way to get protein into you.
  • vamaena
    vamaena Posts: 217 Member
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    The key is to find something that isn't a "diet" but something that you can maintain for the rest of your life. Otherwise the weight will just go back on once you quit.

    For me, I like to eat a lot of protein, it keeps me full.

    Exactly! My trainer told me that if I'm going to do a lifestyle overhaul that I can't think of myself as going on a diet. Because of this he recommended that every once in a while I indulge otherwise it increases the risk of just giving up.
  • Chronicle113
    Chronicle113 Posts: 205 Member
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    I had that problem as well. Keep losing and then gaining. I finally found my eating habit to stick too. This year, I totally gave up soda and replaced it with fruit smoothie drinks. I eat more fruits and vegetables more and since then, I been maintaining or losing weight consistently. Also, my favorite food such as pizza, I substitute it with spinach feta pizza. Since then, high fat and greasy tasty foods just don't taste the same to me anymore. I even tried soda again after 6 months and it just doesn't taste the same anymore. It's all about what you surround yourself with and also how active you are on a daily basis. True, work gets in the way of finding time to workout but as you said, workouts such as T25 is great for those that want to change and only a 25 min workout. Knocking out 2 birds with one stone.
  • CoachDanJudge
    CoachDanJudge Posts: 19
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    It takes a lot of patience, time, and effort. Like many users have stated already, it's about finding something you can stick with. There's going to be good days and bad days, but the key is consistency. I'd suggest finding your maintenance calorie level through the site, and then subtract 300-500 calories from that daily. The best advice I can give people is to commit to walking 60 minutes a day. Everyone wants an easy way to do it, and the fact of the matter is that it isn't easy. Food, for instance, is my downfall. I love eating, as I'm sure many others do. But what I do is make sure I am doing my 60 minutes of exercise every day to "weather the storm" so to speak, on my bad eating days. Always strive to get better, and realize there's people struggling with the same thing.

    I'm really trying to connect with people on all levels, be it physical, mental, emotional, and I feel that would be the world a better place.

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