To those who have lost

I love food. I watch food television, I read about food, I collect cookbooks. I thought about food a lot before I lost weight. I think about food a lot now. The difference is that I now feel like I have a control and predictability in my "relationship" with food that I never had before.

When I began tracking, I did feel like I was having to think about fitness and logging a lot. But now I'm pretty much on auto-pilot with tracking. So it does feel like I'm just living my life.

lost 70 pounds over the past year.

i eat the same things i always have. just much less i eat out, i drink, i eat chocolate.... no depravity here....

Nope, not at all. I went from 139 to 115 since July. I exercise five to six days per week which I love to do and it became part of my daily routine. I make more mindful choices but enjoy myself. Just yesterday I ate an entire medium BBQ chicken pizza and a chocolate mint donut and enjoyed every bite without guilt.

Nope, don't feel deprived. I eat all of my normal foods and the foods I love (including sweets, fast food, takeaway, etc on a weekly and for some, daily basis). It's all about moderation, not deprivation. Balance is key.

I didn't feel deprived. There were days that I had to internally argue with myself to not eat too much. When the weight starting pouring off it made it exciting and I really didn't have problems sticking to the plan.

One of the great distractions I'll do is online clothes shopping in the size I want to be. I don't actually buy anything, usually, but it's fun to fill up the cart and imagine what the clothes will look like.

Good question. You should post it also on the Maintenance board.
Like most other responses, I really don't feel deprived.

I usually take a bite or eat a small portion of anything, even if I don't eat the whole serving. I also have learned that feeling really stuffed full is extremely uncomfortable so it's motivating to stop eating earlier than I used to. (Don't let me fool you, though, as I still have a few big weaknesses.)

Plus, I used to feel embarrassed and self conscious about my appearance. That has disappeared! Given the choice, I'll stick with feeling slim versus wanting an extra treat or second helping. But it takes patience to reach that point. You can do it, too. I'm certainly nothing special.

I have been on here for around 3 years and lost 32 pounds initially. I was a bit obsessive but that is how I role anyway. I maintained the loss for 18 months or so but recently gave up smoking and piled a lot back on. Now I am starting to lose it again so back to being a bit obsessive. This seems to work for me.

literlover wrote: »

Do you feel deprived? Do you feel like you obsess and are constantly thinking about your food, fitness, tracking? Or is it now "easy" and you're just living life?

I don't feel deprived. I found a diet (keto with 17:7 IF) that fits how I enjoy eating and how I live.

*Not* obsessing got me to where I was. Obsessing is working very, very well.

I'm obsessing *and* it's easy and I'm just living life. I simply made food/exercise tracking part of life. They aren't mutually exclusive.

I think about food all the time. I'm constantly planning my next snack or meal. But I did that when I was obese too.
I don't feel deprived. I feel comfortable now...before I always felt like I was bursting at the seams because of how much I overate.

I've lost 70 lbs in the last year. Most of the time I'm perfectly happy : at a planned deficit of 1 lb/ week I can eat mostly what I want. Just not as much as I used to. I don't keep things like sweets in the house to tempt me anymore though.

literlover wrote: »

Do you feel deprived? Do you feel like you obsess and are constantly thinking about your food, fitness, tracking? Or is it now "easy" and you're just living life?

I've always loved food and obsessed about food... Pretty much everything in my life has always been centered around food. So yeah, I'm always thinking about food.

Tracking? I don't care one bit. I just do it. It helps me. I could probably do without but then I'd still be counting calories in my head, so might as well log it (I still have to weigh, I'm better at estimating portions but I'm just not pushing my luck).

Easier... yeah in a way. I keep a deficit so it's not a huge deal if I go over maintenance some days, but at the same time, while I was losing, I never felt the need to go over. Now I do, a lot, because I'm just so much hungrier (I'm WAY more active than I used to be and I get wicked hunger with PMS too). So half my days are just fine with my deficit, and I don't feel deprived at all, some REALLY suck and I go over because I'm so hungry, and some are a bit tough but I manage.

So yeah, I still feel deprived quite a bit. I do eat what I want in moderation while doing my best to meet my protein and calorie goals, but there are some things that are just hard to fit so I don't have them as much as I'd want (hello 1200 calorie slice of cheesecake)... but at the same time I don't sweat it if I go over, I'm used to it by now, and I know that I'll make up for it on days when I'm less hungry. I also make sure to get the high calorie stuff I've been craving at lunch, so I'm full until dinner and sometimes even end up skipping dinner (I'm hungrier during the day than at dinner time so it's extremely hard for me to save calories for dinner).

That being said, my taste has changed. I don't crave fast food or fried food at all anymore. But good dessert is what does me in every single time.. although at least I don't eat the mediocre stuff anymore.

When I first joined MFP 3 years ago, I learnt a lot about BMR, TDEE and what to eat not to feel deprived. I opted for slower losses to be able to stick w it in the long term, eat above my BMR, go easy on white carbs and try to include healthy oils and fiber full veggies. Still there are times when I feel hungry (eg when I work out longer and harder) and then I have a couple of "magic" foods that really sort it out - salmon w brown rice and broccoli is one and a large steak w salad is the other.

I never felt I was being deprived since I started on MFP, the days I'm hungry its my own fault as I haven't hit my macros.
I do feel its 'easy' now, the way I eat now has become an ingrained habit.

Plus I am now very active, I wasn't always but I have also made that a lasting habit.

Been maintaining my weight loss goal for 2 1/2 yrs

Still a little obsessed but getting easier with no second thought. I started Dec. 29. It's turning into a lifestyle, I feel a lot better. My little victories are still victories!!

I've been maintaining for about 6 months now, and yes, I am still as obsessed. I like the new me, it's worth the amount of thought that goes into it. I hope to be able to ease off weighing and logging, but I am ok with the idea that 15 years of bad habits will probably take more than a year to break for good. I've not quite been able to conquer the out-of-body experience which still leads me to eat mindlessly on occasion.

I spend a lot of time thinking about food, but like lots of others have said, I did that before too! The main difference is how much I think about exercise now. I know that if I get enough running under my belt in a given week, I will be able to eat what I want and I tend to lose the urge to binge. Conversely, if I don't run (because of the weather or my schedule), mindless eating can take over!

TL:DR I don't really mind spending time planning, weighing, logging and working out because being slimmer and fitter is worth it.