How'd you pick which weight loss program was best for you?

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  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,677 Member
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    I tried a lot of different diets over the years. With most, I couldn't last more than a week because I was so hungry. I did much better on Atkins because I wasn't hungry all the time and I was able to cut out sugar, which is my biggest weight issue. It also made my husband happy because he loves meat and cheese and hates fruit and vegetables. We both lost weight. Unfortunately, it wasn't a sustainable way of eating for me, so I gained back the weight. I then went back on the diet and lost it again. And gained most of it back. Finally on my third serious attempt I again lost 40 pounds. But instead of going back to 'normal' eating, I began logging everything I ate. At first it was on Fitday, but then I switched to MFP because I heard good things about it. That worked. It has been a couple of years and I haven't gained the weight back and actually ended up losing an extra 10 pounds. I eat what I want, but definitely control how much I eat because I know how many calories are going in and how many I am burning with exercise. I find that if I don't track everything, I slip back into bad habits and the weight comes back.
  • saires_au
    saires_au Posts: 175 Member
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    Ive tried different diets before, for a number of reasons they weren’t sustainable.

    This time I’m much more flexible. Most foods I still eat, just reduced portions. Ive significantly reduced the amount of milk chocolate to only individually wrapped portions as I can not moderate myself. I’m trying to eat more protein as I’m a) doing strength training and b) i find it more satiating.

    Being flexible I can go to social events without having anxiety about food available. I just eat to my calorie allowance. I also save some calories during the week to ‘spend’ at these events. This is something that’s been a massive barrier to weightloss in the past. I can now see myself eating like this indefinitely.

    I eat foods I enjoy and get my nutrients in with little stress and a few minutes planning and logging a day
  • erjones11
    erjones11 Posts: 422 Member
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    I started with Keto, easy for me to follow. Then I stopped losing and started gaining so I did keto but also measured and managed all calories. This was a huge boost.

    I now eat less carbs but do eat some, because on keto so long I like eating lower carb. The truth is though any real sustained loss comes from hitting my calorie goals every day. Max weight 245 current weight 164. I am slowly adding more calories, every three weeks I add 50. I am trying to find maintenance mark and to focus on recomp once there.
  • kardsharp
    kardsharp Posts: 618 Member
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    I chose foods that fit into my calorie deficit but, foods that I enjoyed and could live on comfortably. If it was too hard or I hated the food, I would never stick with it. Food can be joyful and I needed to keep that.
  • half_moon
    half_moon Posts: 807 Member
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    Trial and error. I did the strict caloric deficit... I was hungry and lost a lot of muscle mass because I wasn't paying attention to the type of foods I was eating. I tried keto... gained weight. I tried a lot of different things and I wanted something that I understood from a scientific standpoint, and something that my body responded to well. I wanted it to be long-term! Macros is what worked for me, a meat-only diet is what worked for my partner, and a caloric deficit is what worked for a friend of mine. Everyone is different and there are no wrong answers, as long as you are getting the nutrients your body needs. :)

    I like Macros because while I can eat what I want, I have to eat certain whole foods to ensure my numbers work by the end of the day. I feel powered when I go to a workout from my carbs, and my protein ensures I am not losing muscle mass. I can see fat going away and muscle underneath, instead of just losing weight and muscle and looking skinny but meh. I also love that it makes sense to me scientifically and I can see how my body responds to different macro set-ups. I also like the math of it, because I had OCD growing up and some of that still lingers. I love netting zero at the end of the day because I calculated everything just right. It doesn't happen a lot, but it is so satisfying when it works out!
  • OldAssDude
    OldAssDude Posts: 1,436 Member
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    meagan8376 wrote: »
    OldAssDude wrote: »
    TrishSeren wrote: »
    OldAssDude wrote: »
    The main reason people become over weight is lack of exercise. All these diets and programs are a bunch of BS so people can make money.

    Exercise (and I mean real huffing and puffing and sweating exercise)
    Eat a wide variety of nutritious foods
    Try to limit junk food to the occasional treat.

    As your fitness level goes up, your body weight will go down.

    It really is that simple.

    Disagree, the main reason people are overweight is because they eat too much.

    Exercise has great health benefits and can help with creating a calorie deficit but it isn't the main reason people are overweight.

    Did you read my post or just the first line that started with exercise?

    I said eat a wide variety of healthy foods and limit the junk food.

    here are some facts...
    Over half the people in this country are over weight.
    A third of the people in this country are obese.
    All diets fail over 95% of the time.
    Diets and programs are billions of dollar a year industries.
    Most people are too lazy to exercise.

    People should do intense workouts at least 4 to 5 days a week, and recovery workouts the other days. Fitness is just as important (if not more important) because it keeps our bodies healthy. Strong heart. Strong lungs. strong muscles. Strong bones & joints. Strong mind. Able to burn off anything you throw at it.

    You can't get any of those things with a diet or a program (unless the program is a fitness program).

    So disagree all you want. People have been fighting diets & programs all their lives, and it's a losing battle. A small percentage may be successful for some time, but it is unhealthy "not" to be fit.


    RIP thread.
    OldAssDude wrote: »
    meagan8376 wrote: »
    OldAssDude wrote: »
    TrishSeren wrote: »
    OldAssDude wrote: »
    The main reason people become over weight is lack of exercise. All these diets and programs are a bunch of BS so people can make money.

    Exercise (and I mean real huffing and puffing and sweating exercise)
    Eat a wide variety of nutritious foods
    Try to limit junk food to the occasional treat.

    As your fitness level goes up, your body weight will go down.

    It really is that simple.

    Disagree, the main reason people are overweight is because they eat too much.

    Exercise has great health benefits and can help with creating a calorie deficit but it isn't the main reason people are overweight.

    Did you read my post or just the first line that started with exercise?

    I said eat a wide variety of healthy foods and limit the junk food.

    here are some facts...
    Over half the people in this country are over weight.
    A third of the people in this country are obese.
    All diets fail over 95% of the time.
    Diets and programs are billions of dollar a year industries.
    Most people are too lazy to exercise.

    People should do intense workouts at least 4 to 5 days a week, and recovery workouts the other days. Fitness is just as important (if not more important) because it keeps our bodies healthy. Strong heart. Strong lungs. strong muscles. Strong bones & joints. Strong mind. Able to burn off anything you throw at it.

    You can't get any of those things with a diet or a program (unless the program is a fitness program).

    So disagree all you want. People have been fighting diets & programs all their lives, and it's a losing battle. A small percentage may be successful for some time, but it is unhealthy "not" to be fit.

    Don’t bother they are regular posers who love to argue for the sake of arguing this is where they get their jollies you made their life way to fuel the fire.

    RIP thread.

    Yeah I know, but I am just trying to give the OP some good advice, and I hate when people put down exercise. Like it's a bad word or something...:)

    I wonder why MyFitnessPal even has the word Fitness in it???

    meagan8376 is the OP.

    Sorry. Corrected.
  • half_moon
    half_moon Posts: 807 Member
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    WinoGelato wrote: »
    half_moon wrote: »
    Trial and error. I did the strict caloric deficit... I was hungry and lost a lot of muscle mass because I wasn't paying attention to the type of foods I was eating. I tried keto... gained weight. I tried a lot of different things and I wanted something that I understood from a scientific standpoint, and something that my body responded to well. I wanted it to be long-term! Macros is what worked for me, a meat-only diet is what worked for my partner, and a caloric deficit is what worked for a friend of mine. Everyone is different and there are no wrong answers, as long as you are getting the nutrients your body needs. :)

    I like Macros because while I can eat what I want, I have to eat certain whole foods to ensure my numbers work by the end of the day. I feel powered when I go to a workout from my carbs, and my protein ensures I am not losing muscle mass. I can see fat going away and muscle underneath, instead of just losing weight and muscle and looking skinny but meh. I also love that it makes sense to me scientifically and I can see how my body responds to different macro set-ups. I also like the math of it, because I had OCD growing up and some of that still lingers. I love netting zero at the end of the day because I calculated everything just right. It doesn't happen a lot, but it is so satisfying when it works out!

    You do realize that if you are managing your macro intake then you are also managing your calorie intake by default, and if you’re losing weight while tracking macros it means you’re in a calorie deficit?

    If you read my whole note, my body responds to different macronutrient profiles, no matter my caloric intake, and my experience shows that losing weight without focusing on macros made me look unhealthy and now I have a better body composition. I did the caloric deficit and completely ignored macros, and I had negative and not long-lasting results. I focused on my macros instead of my calories, and I had better results. It took trial and error to get there.
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