What are you doing to lose weight?

I try my best not to do too much of anything. It's tempting to want to reduce calories just a little bit more, increase exercise just a little bit more beyond sustainability, restrict foods just a little bit more, anything that makes weight loss a little bit more faster. Tempting, but a good recipe for burnout.

I personally keep my calorie deficit smaller on average than someone my weight would choose. Just because I can lose 1.5 pounds a week doesn't mean it's my only choice or the best choice for me. I have my weight loss set to slightly less than a pound a week which makes eating more comfortable because I enjoy food and food-related social interactions. That's why I also take maintenance breaks periodically whenever I need one, like during holidays, vacations, hungry days, stressful events, or just because I'm tired of focusing on weight loss. Shifting focus away from weight loss is sometimes, paradoxically, the best thing for my overall weight loss progress.

I've been at it for a while, so I know what exercise intensity and duration trigger burnout, so I stick to what works even if it's not up to par with what others are doing. I dislike lifting, so I do just enough body weight exercises to keep my muscles working. I really enjoy running, but I also have bad ankles (got them from exercising too much too soon in the beginning), so I take that into consideration and pull back a little whenever they start complaining to avoid another "can barely walk" episode. Most of my activity NEAT, I just move a lot throughout the day around the house, walk to the store, shuffle or stroll around if an activity doesn't require me to be seated or standing (talking on the phone or waiting for the microwave, for example)...etc.

The most important thing to me is not to compare my process and progress with others. We all have different personalities, abilities, fitness level, preferences, threshold... and so on. I needed to find the easiest combination that still resulted in a calorie deficit. It's not optimized for weight loss, it's optimized for sustainability.

I've been counting calories, leaving room for treats, and expanding my ingredient knowledge like lately trying new vegetables and light ice cream. I've been experimenting with meal recipes so dinners don't become boring.

As far as exercising goes, I try to do it every day. I've had a few back surgeries and have nerve damage, so I started out slow with the recumbent bike and have able to ride significantly longer since I began 6 months ago. I've started doing my physical therapy exercises again. I also went back to the gym for resistance training and began using the elliptical to switch things up. I've had to modify certain exercises and avoid others altogether, but am making strides in how much I can do both exercise-wise and in daily living. I think having the goal geared toward health as far as exercise goes vs. just losing weight helps with the bigger picture.

Jalyn77 wrote: »

I feel like my ability to be strict enough for more than a week at a time is what's holding me back. Plus when I've lost weight in the past it was always when I was exercising 5+ days each week (weights + cardio). I've had two knee surgeries on the same knee (both sports-related injuries) and at my current weight, I just can't run anymore and am restricted to using the elliptical at the gym to get cardio.

This paragraph struck a chord!
I always got frustrated by every day calorie restriction so (6+ years ago) tried the 5:2 fasting eating pattern - effectively meant I only had to "diet" 2 days a week as the other 5 days a week were eating at maintenance.
It's not something that suits everyone though.

I've also got very messed up knees (2 major and 3 minor permanent injuries) and can't run - well not more than 2 miles a WEEK! But I can and do cycle a hell of a lot with only beneficial results to my knees. I exercise nearly every day but that's got nothing to do with weight loss - it's for enjoyment, health, fitness and challenges.
I would strongly advise as part of those habits you are sensibly trying to build that you don't use exercise for weight loss either - it's a habit for life including when you get to goal weight. It's what MyFitnessPal tries to reinforce with the "eating back exercise calories" method.

What I would say though is that I found it far easier to lose weight and then maintain at goal with a higher calorie allowance boosted by my exercise and daily activity compared to trying the same on a sedentary/non-exercising allowance.

I wasn't strict in terms of restricting foods, just the weekly quantity, my diet didn't need changing - I just had to eat less for a period of time.
I didn't and don't avoid social events involving good food or restrict the foods I eat at those events, I enjoy it and work it out over an extended period of time.

Have a really serious think about this bit as there must be lessons to learn "I've been trying to lose 20+ pounds since my son was born almost 5 years ago but never lose more than 5 pounds and I always gain it back."

My last tip would be to learn to maintain weight and not let your weight creep back on, if you "fall off the wagon" limit that fall to maintaining where you are until your motivation returns. Weigh daily (or at least frequently) and set yourself a hard upper limit that triggers action.

I simply eat fewer calories than I burn.

MFP's logs help with that.