Living at home vs on your own

Depends. Do you plan to make your own meals or eat fast food?
I have gone without fast food food and frozen foods for almost 3 weeks and have lost weight (DASH diet). I used to go to mcdonalds and get 10 burgers and stock them in the fridge. Frozen chimichangas were always in my freezer.

Im the same age as you, I moved out when I went to college at 18, and then less than a year later moved in with my boyfriend (now husband of two years yay!) who went to the same school as me. I would say its easier to lose weight on your own but it depends on your family. My dad would get whatever I asked him to get from the store, which meant if I wanted a cake for dessert we'd have a cake. They ate pretty healthy but never wanted to disappoint me, in retrospect I realize I did this to myself and asking for those things and then eating them caused me to gain weight. I gained a little weight when I first moved in with my husband, we were 19 and had little money so pizza and fast food were easier, but as we got more settled he started cooking and planning healthier meals, recently when I decided to start losing weight I simply stopped buying the "Extras" I know this isnt exactly the same as living alone, but the same principles apply, if you are eating healthy (which is subjective and not necessary to lose weight, but you've lost weight before so you already know this) and deciding what you buy to put into your house I think you will be successful, also there wont be any of the guilt you describe earlier with having to finish something.

You have to be mindful of the choices you make because it is easy to slip into bad habits when there is only you. It can be a big advantage because nobody is bringing trigger foods into the house or automatically filling your plate with seconds. On the other hand, it can be easy to slip into a habit of eating by grazing on whatever is around rather than fixing regular meals.

I'm an old lady whose been living on her own for 20 plus years now, but I think it was harder to eat better on my own as a single woman on her own for the first time. When I was at home, my mom always made dinner w/ a salad so I always ate healthy food that she bought. When I moved out, it was Taco Bell every night. Not good. But then as you grow older you'll learn to cook more and shop and you realize that eating out every night gets tired fast and $$$.

I think it really depends on what kind of diet your parents follow, though.

You'll be in charge of your food shopping, so that will help. You'll be in charge of what you offer yourself, and that will help.

I hate it when people say, "Eat that last bite". What am I? A garbage disposal?

Easier and harder. Easier because you can be fully in charge of what kind of food you bring into your home and eat, but also harder because there will be no one saying "you shouldn't eat ice cream for dinner". So it all depends on what kind of food you are coming from but it sounds as if for you it will be a positive change, as you will no longer be made to feel guilty for not eating this or that (at least not on a daily basis!).

Easier in many ways. It's easier to take responsibility for your food choices when you are the only one making them. You decide what foods are in your cupboards and fridge. You can fix them so they are lighter and less fattening. You may find you have more time to exercise without family demands on your time. You can purchase fruits and vegetables etc. that you like, even if nobody else likes them.

OTOH, it may feel like too much work to make a good meal for just one person, so the temptation is to go fast and easy instead. Fortunately, meat and vegetables don't really take much time, so if you focus on simple foods, you can eat well without a lot of effort.

One of the issues i had when I moved out was learning about portion sizes. At home, my mother would cook for the large family she originally had. As people moved out, the amount of food she made didn't shrink that much. We often ended up with huge portions and I would eat seconds or even thirds to finish up. I had no idea what a healthy serving size was. When I first moved out, I ended up eating a lot of frozen food so I could learn to eat smaller servings. With added vegetables it worked and was quick and easy. I learned that I didn't need to have a plate full, just a normal serving.

When I first moved out I gained because I was alone/bored, didn't want to cook so I just grabbed something etc. After I gained close to 50lb and realized what was going on I cut it out and lost the weight (took almost 2 years to lose, but only a few months to gain!) This was a few years ago, now I'm back to losing some weight from having my daughter. My husbands schedule varies, but typically he's only home 2-3 nights a week for dinner, and I find it MUCH easier to stay on track and "be good" when I'm on my own for the night. Even when I go to my parents for dinner I find it more difficult than being alone and being able to do my own thing.

So my answer is it's easier when I moved out/am on my own for meals.

You need to learn to stand up for yourself. There will always be situations where people try to push food and you need to decide no means no. Living alone means you no longer can blame someone else for what goes in your mouth!

Some tough love here.

Unless they're holding you down and forcing the food into your mouth it's your decision to eat. Whether your gain, lose or maintain when you move out on your own will depend on whether or not you continue to blame something outside of yourself for your decisions or chose to take responsibility and do what you already know you need to do.

You have it inside you to do this. Decide to do it or not. It' entirely up to you.

I lost a bunch of weight when I moved out. It was really financial though. Instead of being surrounded by expensive snacks and convenience foods I had to start buying whole foods and preparing them myself to stay on budget. I'd make a pot of soup or something and have to make it last all week. While at my parents I could have second and third helpings because it was all free. Once I started making more and could afford eating out and buying whatever food I wanted, the weight started creeping back.

What you need to learn is to not care if people get "irritated" at you for refusing food. What are they going to do, restrain you and put a feeding tube down your throat if they get P.O.'d enough at your noes? Smile, say "Thank you, but I'm sooo stuffed from that wonderful [___] (breakfast, lunch, dinner, snack, etc., etc.), that I couldn't possibly. I'd absolutely pop! Why don't you let [___] (whoever is also there) have it?"

In other words, kill 'em with kindness while keeping your lips zipped and move on without thinking about it again.