What Do You Eat

Whatever I want, 2-3 regular meals a day, snack when I feel like it, just stay within calorie limits. Basically the same way I've eaten for the last 25 years.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

I've had many failures. I think the biggest reason is that, for me, a cheat meal turns into a cheat weekend, and then I just fall completely off the wagon for months at a time. A year ago I lost 20 pounds and then after falling off the wagon, I regained 25 pounds. So my biggest goal this time around is to always come back to MFP, even if I overeat for a day or a weekend.

I first plan out my meals so that I eat enough calories and macros to match my activity level for the day. I don't eat out at all by personal preference, and most common, commercialized junk foods no longer hold the same appeal to me as they once did, so meals are mainly homemade, *but* I still eat processed foods and sweets like cake, pretzels, protein bars, and Swiss chocolate. I dislike the idea of "cheat" days/meals, so I don't do that. I just aim to fit in a treat as a snack every day. I eat whatever I want and do not deprive myself of the things I crave. It's just important to make everything fit into calorie goals. I chose five holidays in the year where I eat whatever I want. I stay within my goals all other days, so those five days don't hinder me at all.
For the first month or two-ish, I ate whenever I wanted, and for the last couple months, I ate three meals a day with two-three snacks in between. Starting this week, however, I'm trying out eating four meals a day with just one snack between lunch and dinner, and it's working out pretty well. My post-workout hunger signals have significantly decreased this way, and I'm much happier doing this now.
I make sure to walk 10k steps total every day, workout six days a week for one to two hours doing cardio+stretches, and on my rest day, I just do yoga or tai chi.
The best key to success is ultimately knowledge, imo. That is, knowledge of a healthy lifestyle and knowledge of who you are as a person. Understand that weight loss is simple, but the mental challenge is tough. I come from a family that does value health, but there is a ton of ignorance surrounding weight loss. Furthermore, people who are naturally thin by instinctual eating don't understand that their advice of, "just eat when you're hungry" and "eat until you're full" are no help to a person who has overeaten all their life. I finally took it upon myself to do a lot of research online about sustainable weight loss and the top reasons of why people fail to lose/maintain their weight. From there, I created and wrote down my health goals and plans to lose weight that I was sure would work well with my personality and lifestyle. Then, I got down to business.
Stay focused and strong and use the support and encouragement of the MFP community to help. Don't let one bad day or mistake define you. It took several weeks before I finally learned the discipline to reach my goals. Saboteurs, the ignorant, and temptations are everywhere, so come prepared. A game plan is crucial.
Doing all of this, I've lost 48 lbs in six months while on MFP, and I am now 10 lbs and 10-20 weeks from my goal weight.

Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »

I eat everything I want. What I want has changed. I don't eat a lot of junk food any more.

I aim to eat lots of nutrient dense plant foods, lean proteins, good fats, nuts and seeds, legumes. I have treats every day...

This is pretty much how I eat. I have three meals plus one or two snacks.

I lift weights three times per week and do some form of cardio everyday unless something unusual is going on like an all day family commitment. I've been enjoying the mild "winter" here and have been cleaning up the trail in the woods behind my house, which hasn't been maintained in some time, and an abandoned trail in the hiking trails a few miles away.

I believe in eating whatever you want just so long as it fits your calories for the day. So breakfast for me is either coffee and some fruit with yogurt, or cereal, or a couple eggs with three small sausage links and cheese. Lunch is peanut butter and jelly sandwich or cereal, and dinner if im following my meal plan like i should is two pieces of talapia with either garlic powder or bbq sauce with broccoli with cheese sauce and a couple small dinner rolls. I usually eat the Sam thing day after day so thats mostly my diet. I am interested in incorporating more fruits and veggies so this may change soon. In the last two weeks i work out five days a week and have seen my body fat percentage go down almost 1% and have lost an inch around my waist. If ever im not successful its because i overrated a few days in a row. So far though things have been going according to plan and i am losing weight. I hope to continue till i lose at least a minimum of 15 pounds a max of 40.

Might sound a little bad but i try to eat everything within my calorie daily limit. I'm syrian so most my meals are traditional syrian dishes (generally it's a good mix of veg protein and carbs)

But what's working for me most is portion control at dinner time. Especially with the carbs. I find that less carbs ay dinner means less sugar cravings in the evening. And most of the time I tends to cut out evening snacks all together because I still feel full.

Wierd enough but when i used to eat more I used to get hungry again quicker.


Also I'm breastfeeding. It's not been working wonders like with some women. But it's just in the side burning some calories

Supplements are not needed in any way shape or form for losing fat. You can get everything you need from food. If you have a health condition that requires a supplement, that's a different story, but get that advice from your doctor, not someone on the internet.

Whatever I want as long as I can stand to eat it relentlessly day after day for a long long time, or as long as I don't eat massive quantities of it. Eat ALL the 'junk food' just not too often due to price, both calorie and money. I had to give up broccoli and tuna early on because of the strong taste - doubt I'll ever eat either of them again which is a bit sad since I used to like them. I weigh and log everything. I've lost 85 pounds, not sure when I'm going to stop, and I'll probably eat the same baked chicken, frozen veggies, oatmeal and egg whites for the rest of my life. I've gotten used to it over the last year and a half.

iShineBright_27 wrote: »

Me personally, I've always struggled with sticking to diets. Personally I found reverse dieting the best way to figure out how your body works, how it intakes food and how it processes for fuel! Once I found out the balance that best suits my body, I adjust my carbs & fats to increase my metabolism rate and then a mini cut to see more definition in my muscles. I started at 130lbs which is pretty healthy for my height and an 18% body fat... 60 days later I'm at 126-128lbs and 15% body fat.

Feel free to ask me how to reverse diet and/ or how to count your macros!

I work out about 6-7 days a week for about 2-3 hours, mostly weights and cardio here and there. How often you eat is KEY!! You want to be eating about 4-6 meals a day, if you can't do that due to work or anything. I make sure to fit a protein shake inbetween meals I know I wont have time to sit down and eat a solid meat. Also, you want to make sure you are always eating a protein & a veggie every 3 hours to keep your body always burning fat and maintaining lean muscle! Another thing to keep in mind for your diet is fish about 2-3x a week or at least be taking fish oils everyday, which I do!

Lastly, SUPPLEMENTS are going to be a HUGE help in losing fat, maintaining or whatever the fitness goal is! Multivitamins, fish oils, protein powder (isolate & whey) are going to be the main ones but there's more products out there that can help you enhance your results!

I hope this helps anybody reading this! Feel free to ask me any questions!

Sounds like the typical broscience from bodybuilding.com.
The body KNOWS exactly how to process foods and how to use fuels. You can't dictate that with the exception of the intensity of the workout. Adjusting your carbs and fats doesn't increase your metabolic rate. How often you eat doesn't matter with weight loss. Maintaining lean muscle basically just requires adequate protein (doesn't need to be timed) and a resistance program to keep the muscle active enough.
Supplements aren't needed in losing fat. If one isn't getting their essentials through food, then supplements help, but relying on supplements to lose fat would be misdirected. All one needs to lose fat is a calorie deficit.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

I have a lot of deficiencies and I eat to meet those and my macros and eat whatever i want after that.