Are you on a 'program?'

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abundantlyme
abundantlyme Posts: 44 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
Hi everyone! I've always chosen programs or ascribed to lifestyles (temporarily, or at least primarily) to lose weight. Everything from weight watchers to nutrisystem, to eating Paleo, to trying Keto...I feel like I've tried so many different plans and lifestyles and ultimately I end up just falling back to old habits. Or, I find that they just don't work for me (like with Keto, I loved the food but didn't lose weight on it -- I now think I just ate too MUCH keto food, as ketonians typically don't count calories).

I've felt that since joining MFP, this may be the key -- just tracking my food and exercise, staying within my calorie/carb/protein limits and working out would be enough to actually reach my goals. But is it? Do I need a program along with MFP?

I'm 43, insulin resistant. I'm wondering -- do most of you follow a certain plan alongside tracking everything here? If so, do you recommend it? Please share.

Thanks!
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Replies

  • crzycatlady1
    crzycatlady1 Posts: 1,930 Member
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    My weight loss phase was back before I had found MFP. I did alternate day IF for the weight loss phase (also called ADF/JUDDD), and all said and done it was just a fancy way of calorie cycling. But, I still needed to hit my calorie deficit targets to lose weight. That's the bottom line for any plan. Now I'm a few years into maintenance and I do a different version of IF, but I still track my calorie intake because that's the only thing that matters for weight management.

    Some people find that specific plans help them for one reason or another, but at the end of the day the correct calorie balance for your goals is needed. No need to do anything besides MFP if you don't want to :)
  • kommodevaran
    kommodevaran Posts: 17,890 Member
    edited February 2017
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    No program, just eating sensible amounts of all the food I like, and logging it. 28 months into maintenance as we speak.

    I have tried programs before, and I lost weight every time.
  • kgirlhart
    kgirlhart Posts: 4,995 Member
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    I don't follow any plan. I just count calories. I am not insulin resistant though and don't really have any health issues that affect my weight or diet. My own personal "plan" is to eat at my calorie goal. I try to make sure I hit my protien goal and don't really worry about anything else. I always tell people that the only thing I restrict is calories. (That might be different for someone with IR though so follow your doctors advice there.) I do some light yoga 5 days a week and I walk 3 days a week and run 3 days per week. I was walking 6 days per week, but once I lost 60 pounds I felt like running would be a good idea so I started c25k and now I am on c210k. I find it helpful to stick to a schedule with my exercise, but I pretty much eat whatever I want that fits my calorie goal.
  • CafeRacer808
    CafeRacer808 Posts: 2,396 Member
    edited February 2017
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    abundantlyme wrote: »

    I've felt that since joining MFP, this may be the key -- just tracking my food and exercise, staying within my calorie/carb/protein limits and working out would be enough to actually reach my goals. But is it? Do I need a program along with MFP?

    This is a "program", and it's the one I followed to reach my goal weight. I didn't pay attention to carbs, though. I just made sure I was staying at or under my daily calorie goal and that I was meeting or exceeding my protein goal. I let all the other macros fall where they may.

    And yes, this is all you need to do. Weight loss boils down to one thing: eating at a calorie deficit. Weight Watchers, Atkins, etc etc etc are all different approaches or methodologies to help you create and maintain that deficit. But your success or failure with any of those "programs" still rests on whether or not you're eating less calories than you burn.
  • jessiferrrb
    jessiferrrb Posts: 1,758 Member
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    i count my calories as accurately as i can, what i eat and what i burn. i log all of my food and i exercise in a combination of strength training and cardio. i don't restrict any food groups but i try to not keep chips in the house because i have trouble eating a moderate amount of them. i try to hit my protein goals for the day and let the other macros fall where they may. i try to be more strict during the week so i have some extra wiggle room for the weekends. i lose about a half pound a week.

    this is what works for me, but i would recommend finding something that uniquely works for you. mfp is absolutely enough if you are accurate in your logging, but within the structure you'll have some trial and error of what makes you feel good and fulfilled and what you feel is sustainable. tweak your macros if you find that one makes you more satiated than the others or if a combo is best for you.
  • BoxerBrawler
    BoxerBrawler Posts: 2,032 Member
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    I feel like a lot of people turn it into a big science project when it really doesn't have to be. Just set your target, track your calories, carry a deficit and live your life :smile: I've been at it for over five years. First dramatic loss, then building back up (building muscle), tweaking here and there for whatever activities I had on the horizon. I've been obese and I've been anorexic and everything in between. When I finally stopped the "program" and learned to just eat intuitively and holistically, listen to my body and what it needed and keep a check on my calories is when I got to a healthy goal weight. I love my body and my "plan". I do follow a plan but it's a plan of my own choosing that works for my body, my health and my active lifestyle. I burn up close to 3g's a day in calories between generally being active, dance and Muay Thai. I eat clean, I eat very low calories and follow a CRON plan. Despite what anyone else does, it works for me. You just have to find what works for you and stick to that. To answer your question, the idea behind my plan - calorie restrict with optimal nutrition - is that it doesn't matter how few calories you consume throughout the day, as long as they are nutrient dense and quality calories. Every calorie I consume serves a healthy purpose in my body and nothing is left to be stored, and my body isn't starved of any nutrient. On Friday nights I have date night with my husband where I may or may not chose to have a treat meal. Not a treat "day", but just one treat meal. For that meal I'll have anything I want while still controlling my portions and I'll usually have dessert too. And I usually pay for it the next day LOL! My body doesn't like lotts of processing or sugars or sodiums.
  • BoxerBrawler
    BoxerBrawler Posts: 2,032 Member
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    And to the above posters point, different things work for different people. I find that I also have great success when I track my macro's.
  • TeaBea
    TeaBea Posts: 14,517 Member
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    Pet peeve of mine......many weight loss "plans" are not lifestyles at all. A lifestyle is not a temporary change. I know that it's a popular buzz-word that people selling weight loss products misuse. Rant over......

    I think logging YOUR food choices and tweaking them, watching YOUR macros and tweaking them, is more than good enough. In fact it's the best method. Only you can figure out what permanent changes you can make to keep the weight off.

    I don't see any written plans that match closely enough for me to do them for the rest of my life.
  • __TMac__
    __TMac__ Posts: 1,665 Member
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    I'm insulin resistant as well. I count calories and eat essentially the same foods I always have, except I try to keep my carbs to about 150g. I find I get really hungry when I have more than that. It's working fine and isn't too hard.
  • Lounmoun
    Lounmoun Posts: 8,426 Member
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    No program.
    It has been very sustainable for me to just track calories for about 2 years now.
  • cmriverside
    cmriverside Posts: 34,019 Member
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    No formal plan. I just log my food, eat a widely varied diet with lots of vegetables and stay under my calories, which means I have to get a bit of exercise nearly every day or I get too hungry.

    Almost ten years of maintaining my weight loss (70 pounds) by staying consistent over time. I do use a food scale and I eat 13 out of 14 meals prepared at home.

  • StaciMarie1974
    StaciMarie1974 Posts: 4,138 Member
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    No program, no plan. Other than living. And for me, now that means being aware of my caloric needs. That means I pay attention to my intake as well as my output. As a semi-active person, my maintenance calories are 1700-2000 per day. The old me was not semi-active, but rather lazy and sluggish, so looking back: it is no surprise that I was overweight.
  • Jruzer
    Jruzer Posts: 3,501 Member
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    abundantlyme wrote: »
    I've felt that since joining MFP, this may be the key -- just tracking my food and exercise, staying within my calorie/carb/protein limits and working out would be enough to actually reach my goals.

    Yes, Yes, YES! I wish everyone understood this.
  • noexcuses0626
    noexcuses0626 Posts: 60 Member
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    I'm a firm believer in (gasp) everything in moderation. As long as I stay within my daily calorie limit I tend to lose weight.
  • abundantlyme
    abundantlyme Posts: 44 Member
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    Thank you everyone for the great insights. I love being a part of this helpful, supportive, motivating community!
  • heatherbilyea
    heatherbilyea Posts: 5 Member
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    I have personally adopted a keto lifestyle . Plans never worked for me.....just lose weight, put back on, repeat. It has taken me many years to realize that no quick fix, no miracle ...just dedication and choices. Do I miss a big old heaping plate of mashed potatoes? Hell yeah...but I know I can't . Found my best thing, Lo Bok. Pasta, I am crazy for, but now I get Miracle Noodles.

    But I can still have bacon, and butter , and cream. That's a pretty good trade.

    This is the rest of my life, I get that now. Plan on making the best of it!!
  • lightenup2016
    lightenup2016 Posts: 1,055 Member
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    Jruzer wrote: »
    abundantlyme wrote: »
    I've felt that since joining MFP, this may be the key -- just tracking my food and exercise, staying within my calorie/carb/protein limits and working out would be enough to actually reach my goals.

    Yes, Yes, YES! I wish everyone understood this.

    MFP is all I do--just counting calories in and balancing with calories out from workouts. I do wait until 1pm to eat, but that's just to make it easier for me to hit my calorie goal for the day. A also have begun looking at macros and nutrients more lately, but only because MFP makes it so easy!

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