Everyones "method" to their weight loss

i ate clean for years and never lost a pound - in fact, i put many on. counting calories doesn't preclude clean eating, but you can't lose weight without lowering your calories, and the only way to know how much you're eating it to weigh and log.

you know, not all pre-packaged or processed foods are bad for you at all. i read a lot of labels to find the foods i prefer to eat. a couple ones that are readily available include plain greek yogurt (and some flavored ones), and oats - just regular quaker oats as they have one ingredient, which is oats, and are super good for you.

btw, my ex father in law lived to almost 100, and until the last year, he was in good health overall. he ate all sorts of stuff, much of it processed, and he lived longer and healthier than most, while his brother - who eats organic and healthy and has for decades - had a world of health problems. he's still alive in his 90s, though. i had a friend who lived on candy, stuff like hostess cakes and playing video games, and he was thin as a rail. obviously we don't want to follow his example, but eating pizza or a brownie once in a while isn't going to hurt you.

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I totally believe the CICO and I tend to eat light breakfast, light to midsize lunch and then I really eat a huge dinner, I love to eat a half a head of cauliflower or cabbage with chicken or turkey sausage. And 100% getting enough water.

No matter what your choice is, it's still CICO that causes the weight loss (or gain).

Protein and fat make me feel more full, so I go for a 30/30/40 macro ratio.
I bank calories during the week to spend on the weekends with friends/family/boyfriend/events/etc.
Bringing my lunch to work every day is KEY for me.

CICO all the way. I eat what I want, when I want, so long as it's in my deficit. I'd say that I probably focus more on protein because it fills me up, but I'm not super strict about it. The majority of my calories usually fall in the night because I'm a night snacker. I also do strength training and some light cardio for exercise, which gives me more calories to play with

CI<CO

Unfortunately I'm yet to find my method. Currently I decide not to drink for a bit, eat well and exercise and it drops off. Then I decide one beer won't do any harm, nor will that takeout/pizza, and bam, i'm back to where I was again! haha

...and I go to the gym 5 days a week.

low carb, high fat, mostly vegetarian

Ultimately for me it is coming down to CICO, with some exercise and cooking good food at supper time. Generally I try to keep carbs down, not because they're inherently bad, but because proteins and fats suppress my voracious appetite better. I usually do a protein shake with added fat (heavy cream) for breakfast and lunch, because it's quick to make and I can prepare them ahead without much fuss.

In the mornings I do 35mins on the elliptical at a high-ish resistance, on the Precor ones I go at resistance 12 and 10 in 2min intervals.

Breakfast - Usually a protein shake, I make my own ketochow at home and it keeps me full for 4-5hrs, 453cal, 11g carb, 34g fat, 37g protein, 6g fiber.

Lunch - Another shake typically, sometimes I go to the cafeteria at work and get a chicken breast and salad, either way its usually between 450-600cal.

Supper - Depends on what I feel like making. Last night I smoked some chicken breasts and had raw veggies and ranch on the side. Tonight I'm having the leftovers from that and prepping for tomorrow. Tomorrow it'll be sous vide steak with bearnaise sauce, roasted asparagus, and shrimp with whiskey lime sauce (saving about 1000cals for that delicious nightmare)

So far I'm down about 35lbs since February, and I just started adding the exercise a couple weeks ago.

I'm just doing CICO and working up to running a 10K

scjamieson644 wrote: »

Hey everyone! So I know everyone kind of believes in their own method of what works for them so I am just interested to hear. Do y'all prefer "clean eating", counting calories in vs. out, etc.

I am in a balancing game of first learning how to maintain calories in vs out without going hungry and then learning how to eat cleaner foods instead of all processed junk.

Most people would consider my diet to be "clean" for the most part...."clean eating" doesn't guarantee anything. I've lost weight, maintained my weight, and gained weight eating primarily whole foods and minimally processed foods. It still comes down to calories.

That said, I find it much more difficult to overeat eating the way I do...I don't log or otherwise keep a diary so I use a variety of strategies to keep my calories in check...but I'm still aware of the calories...you ultimately have to have at least some general awareness in regards to where you are calorie wise.

Also note that CICO is just the mathematical equation...anything you do diet wise comes down to CICO...CICO is just the math.

kgirlhart wrote: »

The only thing I restrict is calories. I eat foods that I like that fit in my calorie goal for the day. That includes sweets and processed foods and alcohol. I also eat out regularly including fast food. I am learning which foods help me stay full longer so I eat more protien and less sweets than I used to, but I still eat sweets and I don't deny myself anything that I really want. I just know that if I have a donut for breakfast I will be hungry way before lunch, so I will usually pick the eggs instead. I also try to be more active. I don't exactly exercise so I can eat more, but I can eat more if I'm active so I try to at least get in a 3 mile walk every day. So far I am down 43 pounds since October 2015 and I have 17 to go. This is working for me and I feel that I will be able to stick with it forever. I lost weight years ago doing low fat and while I did lose weight I was miserable a lot of the time and sad because I couldn't eat things that I really wanted to eat and eventually I quit eating low fat and gained the weight back plus some. Now I know that I can eat what I want, I just might not be able to eat the portion sizes that I used to have.

This too. I focus on what keeps me fuller but still have anything I want- I just track it all (my food scale is my best friend) and move more so that I can eat more. Down 19 lbs, 31 to go. I'm not on a race to lose my weight, I know this may be slow sometimes and there are weeks that I lose only 0.5 lbs, but that's okay. I want this to be sustainable and know that I'll be tracking long after I reach my goal and while I maintain. I also focus on fitness goals and keep that separate from my weight loss goal. I'm training to run 5k and soon after 10k and eventually a half-marathon.

Like someone said before, I eat super light through the day and eat most of my calories at dinner/before bed. I drink lots of water to stay full all day and rarely feel very hungry. I always go for veggies and eggs first and calorie dense things only at the end of the day if I can afford it.

I'm just doing CICO: that said, I do find that particular foods (though filling at the time) tend to leave me starving later rather than satiated. So for me it's a balancing act between eating filling quality foods, but also fitting in treats and snacks in moderation.