Changing Diet for Weight Loss

I only changed my diet once to lose weight. I had read the Eat Clean Diet and minimizing processed and refined foods made sense to me. I eliminated most refined grains and added sugars, and tried to make a point of eating foods that were recognizably whole foods. I followed it for about 4 months and lost the 30 lbs I needed to lose. Once I hit maintenance I reintroduced some refined carbs and started regaining within months.

1) Did restricting your food choices make it easier for you to stick to a calorie goal well enough to lose a substantial amount of weight?

Yes. I am not good at restricting refined carbs. At all.

2) Did you plan to continue eating this way for the foreseeable future, or did you plan to use the diet as a temporary measure and return to a less restrictive way of eating after losing the weight?

I used it as a mostly temporary measure. I planned to reintroduce some refined carbs, but not as much as before. That didn't last.

A few years ago I lost weight when I switched to keto - I used keto to treat IR and weight loss was a happy side effect. I tried to increase carbs once my BG stayed low and I lost weight but my BG went up and so did my hunger. I'm not planning to leave low carb.

3) If you lost weight and returned to your previous way of eating, were you able to maintain your weight loss?

Nope. I regained over a few years. And I find that I can only lose a few pounds using moderation before I fall off the wagon.

There are so many ways that this can work for a person and just taking it slow and let your Way Of Eating evolve can work well.

After 40 years of nothing but failure was the reason I decided to never to try to lose weight again. When I started eating all I wanted on LCHF I lost 50 pounds staying stuffed and and I have maintained going on three years doing more of the same. Other than two hellish weeks when I quit added sugar and all gains and keeping my total carbs just under 50 grams daily it has been a breeze.

I have another 20-30 pounds that would be nice to lose but until it hampers the recover of my health it is not job one and I am kind of waiting to see if it will happen automatically without effort like the first 50 pounds.

Right now I am just enjoying my improving health and the things I can do once again like walk any distance I wish.

The first time I lost weight (maintained for 5+ years, until I had some issues with depression and became sedentary), I changed my diet from an "eat whatever, don't cook that much since I'm never home" kind of diet to one based around home cooking and mostly healthful eating and lots of vegetables. I didn't count calories although I wanted portions and increased activity.

When I lost this time, I started trying out paleo out of curiousity and cutting out sugar, mostly because I was pretty conscious of my diet habits and knew that I continued to eat quite well at meals (except some restaurant meals which had vegetables and all but were high cal), except that I was using too much oil/butter and eating large portions, but that my main issue tended to be stress or emotional eating between meals. I used to not be attracted to that since I used to not like to eat the kinds of things usually available at my workplace (where it was an issue). So I decided to reclaim my preference for homecooked as well as my understanding that I did not need to eat between meals. The sugar thing was because sugar stuff was the most available at work (we have other things too, but I'm really picky about packaged chips so didn't eat them) and because I wanted to show myself I didn't need to eat sweets to feel better -- that was not intended to be long term. The paleo thing was because it was a challenge and I like challenges and figured it would be added incentive to get back to the way I used to cook. I didn't think it was long term, but had an open mind to the idea that grains might be an issue in some way (I concluded that grains, dairy, and legumes had no negative effects on me).

The result of this brief period, though, was that I got back in the same habits I'd had for years and started eating just 3 meals a day, mostly homecooked, plus maybe a little dessert after dinner and, most important, it was a fun way to get back to paying close attention to what I ate, whether homecooked or not.

I think dietary changes can be helpful, but I think it's best to understand WHY they are helpful (calories) and the benefits of them (eating vegetables is healthy, eating too many cookies might take calories you could be using for more micronutrient dense foods, protein and fiber can be sating, so on) and not think "cookies made me FAT." I also find, for me, that having a planned, scheduled way of eating where I have to pay attention to what and how much I eat is FAR more important than not eating specific things but continuing to otherwise eat in a non planned way (planned does not mean counting calories, although that could be part of it).

I don't eliminate anything now, but there are some things I eat rarely. I don't think of them as things that are being eliminated (since they are not) but just things that don't fit in my usual day.

Hmm, also I tend to think people NATURALLY will shift their diet some when counting calories, as some things are necessary for nutrition or normal to a meal (veg and protein) and some are not (sweets between meals, added oil, larger amounts of refined starches). So even if you don't eliminate foods the proportions will change. I wouldn't think it's as easy to just reduce portions of every single thing and not change eating style or choices at all, but I never think that's really recommended -- if I had kept my pattern of snacking throughout the day (when stressed) and just tried to eat less, it would have been a big fail and felt harder and miserable, for me.

I also find that focusing on things besides calories (cooking tasty meals, nutrition, whatever) is easier for me than focusing ONLY on weight, but people differ on this.