Tired of chasing all the "quick weight loss programs" the insanity stops here!

Welcome to the club! you can add me if you like

A strength and conditioning coach told me one time that just about any program will work, the key is finding something that you can stick with. I can't stick with something like sugar free, paleo, etc. as it's just too restricting and makes you feel like a failure if you venture off at all. Sounds like you're on the right track.

There are a lot of fad diets out there and I've tried some of them which didn't work. For me, it's putting in the hard work of exercising and eating a balanced healthy diet. It takes hard work but it can be done. I have fought very hard for the 70 lbs I've lost and it hasn't been easy. But if you are willing to put in the hard work, you will succeed! Blessings!

Your best bet is to remove the word diet from your vocab. It almost always links to an "end" of the diet and a return to unhealthy or less healthy choices. Change your life. Even if only small things at first. A year or two down the road and the best health and fitness will not be an option, it will be your normal.

I'm 98 days into maintaining a new way for me to look at food. I am not dieting. I am trying very hard to maintain a 500 calories/day deficit and far and away most days I've done that. The scale shows it. Yes, I have days like yesterday when I eat with reckless abandon -- the scale shows that, too. But those days are now rare exceptions rather than a daily occurrence and with each occurrence I learn more about what triggers them in me.

What I now eat is my "new normal." What has changed is portions and the mix of what I eat. Nothing is "off-limits" but everything must be measured and counted. This means hot cheddar biscuits have become a very rare treat because they are so calorie dense. I can make them for us but when I do I need to make sure the rest of the day's items are less calorie dense so I can still meet my target.

I still eat cheese and pasta and bread and butter ... just not as much or as often. I weigh potato chips. I weigh the heavy cream and cheese I put in my scrambled eggs. I try not to fool myself. This morning the cheese weighed 30 grams so I dutifully logged 1.1 ounces of cheese instead of just one (28 ounces).

Arguably, the way I have always been eating is not normal. I ate too much which resulted in my weighing too much. I am now eating less but still more than maintenance for my goal. Eventually, I will be eating "at maintenance" for a person with a healthy BMI. That is normal eating not a "diet."