What Worked for You?!
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missysippy930 wrote: »
Actually ... no.
You should not plan to follow your diet for the rest of your life or you'll continue to lose weight for the rest of your life.
Instead, follow your diet until you near your goal, then figure out what your plan will be for maintenance.
At least that's what works for me.
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[quote="amusedmonkey;c-43546747"If I wasn't willing to do it for life, the change wasn't worth it. Lots of trial and error and tweaking, THIS! Taking the time to figure out what worked for 'me' was crucial!
I would rather do things at my own pace and normalize the act of food management instead of it feeling like a special phase that requires support. This was also really important to me. I do not want to "diet" ... ever!
I also learned perfectionism can be a brutal enemy. Oh my, yes! That all or nothing thinking undermined my attempts for years! (in more than just food management ) Really internalizing that consistency, not perfection, is the key was critical.[/quote]
Great post.2 -
missysippy930 wrote: »
Yup. Succinct and to the point.missysippy930 wrote: »
Actually ... no.
You should not plan to follow your diet for the rest of your life or you'll continue to lose weight for the rest of your life.
Actually, no.
Per Oxford dictionary’s first entry -
Diet: The kinds of food that a person, animal, or community habitually eats.
From the Greek: diaita, meaning ‘a way of life’.
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missysippy930 wrote: »
Actually ... no.
You should not plan to follow your diet for the rest of your life or you'll continue to lose weight for the rest of your life.
Instead, follow your diet until you near your goal, then figure out what your plan will be for maintenance.
At least that's what works for me.
Having months (or years, like in my case) of practicing maintenance strategies is a good idea. Building a set of habits and strategies does not mean planning to be in a deficit forever and the habits do not need to change just because you have more calories. You simply do the same things but eat more.2 -
I have been overweight for most of my life, starting at 260lbs at 18yo and going up to 390 lbs at 38 (at 6'3", 190cm), then dropped to 271 within 18 months on the Atkins diet with 5-6 days at the gym too, as I worked next to one, and the owner was a friend so I got a lifetime membership for free (Major international corp). When I say gym, I did start slow, with just some treadmill or elliptical, and by the end of the 18 months I was up to 6 days of cardio and 3 days of circuit training, about an hour or thereabouts a day. Nothing drastic, but steady.
Then I had an accident, and during my recovery I stopped exercising and the Atkins. I started gaining maybe 1 pound or 2 per month, no big deal, right? Well, 10 years later and a continent away, I was at 174,5 kgs (385 lbs), with a bit more muscle, but about the same size as before. Didn't think much of it, till I started seeing double one day, headed to the hospital, and I was told I was a couple of steps away from a stroke a few months before my 50th birthday, and my blood pressure was at 220/130 (As soon as they measured it, they gave me a nitro pill and admitted me to the hospital). So the time to start losing weight was upon me once again.
I joined MFP, started counting the calories and eventually bought a digital kitchen scale as well, and 245 days later I have lost 33,5kgs (74 lbs), without any hard dieting or missing out on most of my foods. I learned to do proper portions basically, and I stopped eating when I reached my goals or when I was dangerously close before dinner. I still do a mini-binge once a week at a restaurant with friends (Two years, every single Friday, same friends, same restaurant, same foods, creatures of habit), though I still try to stay below at least my maintenance level. The rest of the week I am at a level to lose about 1,5 lbs per week.
Did hit a couple of plateaus where I stayed at the same weight for about a month, but eventually overcame with some near zero carb keto diet for 3-4 days. It worked for me, I am not sure it works for everyone. It helped me restart the weight loss at the plateaus, I do not have the patience to do it full time, despite knowing I could have lost perhaps 20-30 lbs more during the last 8 months. I prefer to take it slow now, and take up to 2 years to get to a healthy weight, since research shows if you lose it too fast, you will eventually gain it all back and more. I recently got back on the bike, since it now could bear my weight, and hope to get up to 10 miles a day eventually, though I am at 2 right now.
So in 8 months I went from 385lbs to 312, from a size 54 jeans to a size 44, BP from 220/130 to 125/70 (with medicine), can fit in my old (expensive) motorcycle gear from 11 years ago, and get better gas mileage on my motorcycle. (The car doesn't really care for 75lbs difference in weight)
To recap:
1) Started measuring calories
2) Dropped some high calorie foods like cheese, sausages, fried foods, chocolate, desserts, oils, dips.
3) Added some new healthier foods like cottage cheese, yoghurt, tahini, greens, chicken.
4) Still eat some of the "bad" foods in moderation a couple of times a week, but keep the calories below my goal by eating less of the rest.
5) Still eat like a pig on major family feasts (Christmas, Thanksgiving, birthdays etc), but still avoid overdoing it to the point of exhaustion from eating.
My goals for the next few months:
1) Do some more biking
2) Walk a lot more
3) Lower my carb intake
4) Buy a new motorcycle (nothing to do with weight, I just need one. ) 2 -
missysippy930 wrote: »
Actually ... no.
You should not plan to follow your diet for the rest of your life or you'll continue to lose weight for the rest of your life.
Instead, follow your diet until you near your goal, then figure out what your plan will be for maintenance.
At least that's what works for me.
Actually, yes, for me. It says it all, with a few words.
All foods in moderation for me.
Consuming less calories than my body burns while losing.
Smooth transition into maintenance consuming the same amount of calories my body is burning.
Very little adjustment, except being able to eat more.😃2 -
missysippy930 wrote: »
Yup. Succinct and to the point.missysippy930 wrote: »
Actually ... no.
You should not plan to follow your diet for the rest of your life or you'll continue to lose weight for the rest of your life.
Actually, no.
Per Oxford dictionary’s first entry -
Diet: The kinds of food that a person, animal, or community habitually eats.
From the Greek: diaita, meaning ‘a way of life’.
Per Oxford dictionary's second entry -
Diet: A special course of food to which a person restricts themselves, either to lose weight or for medical reasons.
I diet (second definition) to lose weight.
I eat a maintenance diet (first definition) to maintain.
For me, they are two similar, but different, things for when I'm in different places. Given that I've remained within a healthy BMI for the vast majority of my life, it seems to be working. 3 -
missysippy930 wrote: »
Yup. Succinct and to the point.missysippy930 wrote: »
Actually ... no.
You should not plan to follow your diet for the rest of your life or you'll continue to lose weight for the rest of your life.
Actually, no.
Per Oxford dictionary’s first entry -
Diet: The kinds of food that a person, animal, or community habitually eats.
From the Greek: diaita, meaning ‘a way of life’.
Per Oxford dictionary's second entry -
Diet: A special course of food to which a person restricts themselves, either to lose weight or for medical reasons.
I diet (second definition) to lose weight.
I eat a maintenance diet (first definition) to maintain.
For me, they are two similar, but different, things for when I'm in different places. Given that I've remained within a healthy BMI for the vast majority of my life, it seems to be working.
Everyone has a diet. (Food they eat)
You don’t need a different diet to lose weight than to maintain the weight loss. It’s all about the number of calories. That’s why the poster who told about the Pittsburgh RB’s statement is so perfect.2 -
For me, cutting carbs made weight loss easier because it cuts my appetite. Losing us much easier when not that hungry.
I went to keto about 4 years ago, and lost my weight in the first 6 months. I only counted calories for the first 3 months. I stayed keto for health reasons and because maintenance was so easy. I tried increasing carbs but my appetite came back, my health declined a but and I regained a bit. I cut carbs again and lost it all again without trying.
I dont eat (very often) refined and processed carbs like flours or sugars. I dont feel deprived by it because of lack of cravings. I had more hunger and cravings when eating those foods when i was eating more. Ymmv1 -
missysippy930 wrote: »missysippy930 wrote: »
Yup. Succinct and to the point.missysippy930 wrote: »
Actually ... no.
You should not plan to follow your diet for the rest of your life or you'll continue to lose weight for the rest of your life.
Actually, no.
Per Oxford dictionary’s first entry -
Diet: The kinds of food that a person, animal, or community habitually eats.
From the Greek: diaita, meaning ‘a way of life’.
Per Oxford dictionary's second entry -
Diet: A special course of food to which a person restricts themselves, either to lose weight or for medical reasons.
I diet (second definition) to lose weight.
I eat a maintenance diet (first definition) to maintain.
For me, they are two similar, but different, things for when I'm in different places. Given that I've remained within a healthy BMI for the vast majority of my life, it seems to be working.
Everyone has a diet. (Food they eat)
You don’t need a different diet to lose weight than to maintain the weight loss. It’s all about the number of calories.
It is all about calories.
When I want to lose a bit, I switch to low calorie food. When I'm OK with where I am, I eat higher calorie foods.
That's what works for me!
(That was what the question was ... right?)
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missysippy930 wrote: »missysippy930 wrote: »
Yup. Succinct and to the point.missysippy930 wrote: »
Actually ... no.
You should not plan to follow your diet for the rest of your life or you'll continue to lose weight for the rest of your life.
Actually, no.
Per Oxford dictionary’s first entry -
Diet: The kinds of food that a person, animal, or community habitually eats.
From the Greek: diaita, meaning ‘a way of life’.
Per Oxford dictionary's second entry -
Diet: A special course of food to which a person restricts themselves, either to lose weight or for medical reasons.
I diet (second definition) to lose weight.
I eat a maintenance diet (first definition) to maintain.
For me, they are two similar, but different, things for when I'm in different places. Given that I've remained within a healthy BMI for the vast majority of my life, it seems to be working.
Everyone has a diet. (Food they eat)
You don’t need a different diet to lose weight than to maintain the weight loss. It’s all about the number of calories.
It is all about calories.
When I want to lose a bit, I switch to low calorie food. When I'm OK with where I am, I eat higher calorie foods.
That's what works for me!
(That was what the question was ... right?)
Yes, it was the question.
So why did you say my initial response was not good advice then?🙂1 -
Wow! Thank you:
@Liampp
@jdog022
@manderson27
@seltzermint555
@NovusDies
@JeromeBarry1
@csplatt
@vanityy99
@zeejane03
@jnik554
@grace42c
@sgt1372
@estherdragonbat
@amusedmonkey
@jan110144
@aegean2
@nvmomketo
for all of your advice/help/personal stories and insight. I will be going through this advice for a while. I appreciate it! This is inspiring and loving the repeat patterns of changes for life that feel SUSTAINABLE to you, not diets or temporary things.
Thanks Again!
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Hitting my calorie targets.1
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To lose around 50 pounds in a bit less than a year (at age 59-60, while hypothyroid), and maintain a healthy weight for about 3 years since, I did (and do) this:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10636388/free-customized-personal-weight-loss-eating-plan-not-spam-or-mlm
and this:
http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10610953/neat-improvement-strategies-to-improve-weight-loss
. . . while keeping pretty much the same (quite active) fun exercise schedule I'd had for the previous 12 years (i.e., the last 12 years of staying obese).
For anyone who isn't already active, I recommend finding something(s) active they personally find fun (ideally so fun they'd do it even if it weren't good for them), and gradually increasing duration/intensity/frequency to keep it a bit challenging, but still fun, and fitting well into good overall life balance (enough time for work, chores, family, non-exercise hobbies, etc.) Exercise should be fun and energizing, not miserable and exhausting.
Bonus points if the enjoyable activity helps build/maintain strength as well as cardiovascular health. (Personally, I mostly row - on water when I can, machine when I must - and spin; with some other fun stuff like biking and walking thrown in now and then.)
IMO, it's:
Appropriate calories for weight loss + well rounded, balanced eating for nutrition (and some treats for joy) + fun exercise for fitness = best odds of continuing long-term good health and appearance
. . . which is what most of us want, right?
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missysippy930 wrote: »
Actually ... no.
You should not plan to follow your diet for the rest of your life or you'll continue to lose weight for the rest of your life.
Instead, follow your diet until you near your goal, then figure out what your plan will be for maintenance.
At least that's what works for me.
IMO, maintenance has been super-easy for me because I'm eating just like I was when I was losing weight, I just have more calories most days. Having a sustainable and flexible plan allows me to stay in my weight range even when I'm getting less activity. The point, to me, was never to have a completely different way to eat when I was losing weight. The plan was to figure out how to live the whole rest of my life without yo-yoing.2 -
For me, also, grazing doesn’t work. I can’t do “many small meals” because I am never full. I do big breakfast, big lunch, dinner and snack later.1
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For me, also, grazing doesn’t work. I can’t do “many small meals” because I am never full. I do big breakfast, big lunch, dinner and snack later.
Same here, although I do a small breakfast with larger lunch and dinner. The grazing and mini meals works well for some people but I'm in the "never full" camp when I try anything remotely similar. I also need 400 calories for lunch (or a little more)...if I try to get by with a smaller lunch I feel like snacking all afternoon.1 -
What I suggest for new people is just to log for a week without trying to change anything, then look at your diary. It’s much easier to make appropriate changes when you know where you are right now. Are there certain foods, situations, places, or people which lead you to overeat? Any small changes that would have a large effect? I ended up changing my driving habits to avoid places where I would stop for junk food, and meeting my mother for movies instead of meals. I also took action to solve some issues in my life which were leading me to emotionally overeat. And I told my husband that he needed to stop offering me his leftovers, and expecting me to wait on him to finish meals when he would take more than an hour at the table. Everyone’s life is different and so their strategies need to be different.
It also helps to add activity which you enjoy enough to stick with it. More calories will help you feel less deprived, and strength training will help preserve your lean muscle mass while you eat at a deficit.2 -
I find I lose weight easily when I stick with mostly a plant based diet. It hard sometimes because I dont live alone. I also keep in mind that you cannot outrun the fork, and not to beat myself up if I don’t always make may goal.3
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I’m only about a month in this time around, but I feel like this is the first time in about 9 years that I feel positive and in control about weight loss. This is what’s working for me now:
I examined every situation I feel like I usually over eat - and I am finding strategies for them.
For example I used to always snack/eat a small meal when I was cooking food for my kids, and I’d also finish their food if they didn’t. Now I actively talk to myself (in my head) when I’m cooking for them and say that this not food for me, it’s not even food I actually want - it was just food I was eating because it was there. If I feel the overwhelming urge to snack at that point I try to eat cabbage or red pepper slices. I haven’t been perfect but so far it’s working.
2
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