What's worked, what hasn't worked?

2

Replies

  • cbenno97
    cbenno97 Posts: 130 Member
    edited August 2018
    I month in...and 12 pounds lost, but so far:
    -taking my breakfast and lunch to work (rather than buying anything there as I used to do)
    -going to the gym and doing something (even when motivation to complete a full workout is lacking)
    -not going off the rails food wise when the scale nudges in the wrong direction
    -recognising my losses will likely be smaller going forward and trying to pratice patience
    -listening to my body and doing research. Sometimes I'll eat less than my 1200 and sometimes more, but I pay attention to how I feel and don't let myself go hungry
  • senorajoselina
    senorajoselina Posts: 19 Member
    A consistent low calorie diet is what works for me to lose weight (1200 calories). I tried intermittent fasting twice for a two month period each time, and didn't lose any weight. It's too hard for to eat moderately on 'normal' days. LOL It might be a useful tool for maintenance, but does not work for losing for me.
  • snickerscharlie
    snickerscharlie Posts: 8,578 Member
    RollTideHusker wrote: »
    For me- just realizing that this is a long process. I am not patient so this has been a learning experience 😉 Slow and Steady is my motto.

    Yup! It's a marathon, not a sprint. ;)
  • amyepdx
    amyepdx Posts: 750 Member
    cheryldumais wrote: »
    For me what didn't work was all the "magic" diets I tried. Even having a lapband failed. What has worked was finding my own diet through counting calories, logging and learning what I could live with permanently. Getting rid of the "I'm on a Diet" attitude. I finally lost the weight and am maintaining. Walking most days helps not only with giving me a few extra calories but it reduces my appetite and clears my mind. The biggest adjustment was learning I wasn't ever going back to my old habits.

    Thinking back - this could be #1!
  • buffinlovin
    buffinlovin Posts: 100 Member
    For me, the thing that works is also the thing that doesn't work: tracking/logging what I eat.

    In the past few attempts at losing weight, I tracked calories like a fiend. I measured, I weighed, I re-weighed, I stressed about using the right entries, I panicked when I saw that I was over my calories. I obsessed over the scale, and became incredibly frustrated when I plateaued because I knew I was eating less. I would decline going out to eat because I wouldn't know how much I was eating. I even refused to go see a movie because I didn't want to risk buying movie theater popcorn (a weakness for me). Usually after I hit the 4 month mark I'd get so stressed about everything that I'd call it quits to "give myself a break", and would just give up.

    This most recent time around, I'm using what I know about portion control, but I'm not tracking anything. It helps that I eat the same thing most days of the week, and a lot of pre-packaged foods, because I can keep a mental tally. I guess many would call it intuitive eating, but I feel it doesn't quite fit. I don't "eat when I'm hungry". I plan my meals throughout the week with the mindset on eating within a ballpark range of calories.

    This has caused my weight to come off slower (I'm about 2 months in and down about 8lbs), but I'm ok with that. I'm not stressed, I don't feel tethered to my phone to enter every morsel of food, I don't have any qualms about going out to eat on a whim. I weigh myself daily so I can keep an eye on things, but I don't mind if I miss a day here and there (there was a time where going to spend the night somewhere else meant I packed my scale and brought it with me).
  • robot_potato
    robot_potato Posts: 1,535 Member
    Pre-logging as much as possible
    I try to pre-log breakfast and dinner, then i know how many calories i have left for lunch/snacks

    Realising it's ok to be hungry. I don't starve myself by any means, but i can hold out for an hour until dinner if that's all the calories i have left.

    I don't log any walking etc that is part of my daily life, like if i walk to work, or at work, i don't count it. I log any walking/hiking/biking i do for fun/exercise.

    Lift weights. I don't do anything super heavy yet(previous injury/surgery makes me kind of a one-armed bandit), but i range from 30-50 pounds for most of what i do. Makes me feel strong& sexy.

    And the thing i am doing differently this time: logging even when i am in maintenance. I've hit goal a few time, thought 'i'm good, don't need to track anymore' and ended up gaining a lot.

    I am 40 pounds down from my all-time high, about 40 more to go.
  • jstoddart261
    jstoddart261 Posts: 2 Member
    This is fantastic. Thank you so much for all these amazing and helpful responses. As I'm reading everyone's stories I realize I'm curious about what you are dealing with right now even more than what you have done in the past. So let me rephrase the two questions and see what we come up with. 1. What is really working for you right now in dealing with your health?, and 2. What is really not working for you right now?

    I understand that sharing what's not working in the present can be a bit daunting but I know it can be helpful as a way to shift into a new approach. I'm going to have to think about this for myself.

    What's really working for me right now? This forum. I got a big lift from all your responses. I haven't participated in anything like this before and I can see how it's a great avenue for support and connection.

    What's really not working for me right now? This is going to be a bit of a rant. I'm at my limit with helpful friends who insist that I'd be healthier if I would just change my thinking, my beliefs, and my attitudes, as though my body is just a reflection of my mind. I could go on but I'd like to hear from you.
  • MelanieCN77
    MelanieCN77 Posts: 4,047 Member
    I'm right at the beginning of tweaking my diet a little more, I've been getting really REALLY hungry right after lunch which is the need for refueling kicking in after my morning workouts and my body saying hey I didn't get enough yet. I am taking my cravings for pastries and sweets and trying to see if a higher fat morning and lunch helps at all. Volume eating has taken me a long way but I am finding the nutritionally null sweets and treats less and less satisfying so am switching those out for things I avoided in quantity before like avocado, olive oil, pasta (though that latter is going to be a mental hurdle).

    Secondly I am trying to not restrict as much after high calorie days or meals - previously I've eaten at a deficit after going over maintenance and after a couple of days I'm ready to overeat again. This week I had a lot of volume/water weight after a fun Sunday of eating but kept to maintenance last two days instead of being under by 2-300 cals like I would usually have done and what do you know, things sorted themselves out just the same but I'm not having that crazy feeling of needing more cals again already.

    Maintenance is weird.
  • deputy_randolph
    deputy_randolph Posts: 940 Member
    edited August 2018
    -Prelogging food for the week (and being flexible during the week to make adjustments AKA not freaking out if things don't go as planned)

    -Weighing food instead of measuring food

    -Sticking to pretty regular meal choices (same 3 rotating breakfasts/lunches; leaving wiggle room for more creative dinners)

    -Cutting out "cheat meals" entirely for periods of time and then reintroducing slowly (helped prevent "cheat meals" from turning into "cheat days")

    -STRENGTH TRAINING (the only form of exercise that I truly enjoy)

    ETA (what didn't work): food enablers (had to cut those ppl off), gimmicky diet food
  • saires_au
    saires_au Posts: 175 Member
    What worked for me was looking at the things I was doing at a point in my life where I successfully maintained a healthy weight and then applying some of those actions that I could to my life now. My life’s different as I now have kids and work part time compared to my early 20s no kids and full time work but some still translates.

    I rejoined a gym as I forgot how much I’d enjoyed lifting. I planned my meals ahead of time. I make room/allowances for higher calorie foods/days at social gatherings by either eating less during the days ahead or eating at maintenance on the day of the event.

    I only eat foods I find enjoyable, I don’t push my self to eat ‘healthy’ or ‘clean’ but my overall diet is well balanced and I meet my nutritional goals. Eating more protein had helped me feel full longer.

    Patience is something I’m working on. Using happy scale to help me accept daily weight fluctuations as a normal part of life. I’m still on a downwards trend

    I rarely eat milk chocolate now as I can not master moderation with this 1 food! But I love a small piece or two of dark chocolate. Alcohol has been reduced as I would prefer to ‘spend’ my calories on food most days but once a week or so I’ll have some wine
  • CSARdiver
    CSARdiver Posts: 6,252 Member
    What worked? I focus on what matters to achieve my goals. Initially this was weight loss and I focused on my intake and output. I cared about protein intake to preserve muscle and I cared about carbs to ensure I had the energy to fuel my workouts. I returned to being brutally honest with myself and others.

    When I lost the weight and achieved my goal I shifted to endurance and strength and put more focus in my workouts, rest, and fuel. I'm more in maintenance now and cycling between bulking/cutting. Also moving these successes to other aspects of my life - marriage, parenthood, work performance, etc.

    What doesn't work for me: wastes of time, distractions, dishonesty, free lunches
  • Candyspun
    Candyspun Posts: 370 Member
    What's worked for me:
    - doing step and hula hoop for my cardio, and a walk when I feel like it (but it's Winter, so I don't always feel like it just yet).
    - weight lifting at home with dumbbells.
    - getting some cardio in most days, simply so I can eat more than the measly 1200 calories a 5'1 woman is given.
    - tracking my food no matter what, and 99% of the time, staying within my calories. What works even better is if I don't eat back all of my exercise calories, only some.
    - meal prep. I just need to do it more often, because it truly does help!
    - yoga.

    What hasn't worked for me (but might work for others)
    - pilates. I really wanted to love this, but I tried it and I have learned, I really, really hate pilates. But hey, you don't know until you try, right?
    - resistance bands. It didn't work as well for me as lifting weights. I used these for a little while, until I could get some dumbbells. Being short, often I couldn't get the band to stretch, because I wasn't tall enough. It also just didn't do much for me when I could get the band to stretch on a small number of exercises.

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