What has worked best for you?

All of the above applied to me, plus realising this isn't short term it's how I should have been eating all along. Making it sustainable by enjoying meals out and having dessert. If I have a weekend with a lot of extra calories I make sure to get extra exercise in to account for it.

Thinking more terms of making the weight loss process easy, not worrying too much about making it fast.

Using the weight loss process to experiment, find habits I thought I could continue long-term, ideally forever, in order to stay at a healthy weight once I reached there. Thinking of weight management as a set of permanent new habits, not a project with an end date after which things would "go back to normal".

Focusing on finding ways to be more active that were fun (ideally) or at least tolerable, so I'd be more likely to do them regularly, vs. seeking out theoretically perfect fat-burning, fitness-amping exercises (even if doing them made me miserable so I'd back burner them as often as I could rationalize).

Thinking about how to move more in everyday life in small ways, to create a bias toward movement rather than toward limiting movement or so-called "efficiency". (This got easier and almost automatic as I got lighter, because it was easier and more fun to move, at closer to a healthy weight.)

Figuring out how to achieve my calorie and nutrition goals, and feel adequately full, while eating foods I enjoy in rational portions/proportions, rather than going all in for "diet foods", "superfoods", etc. or arbitrarily thinking of foods as inherently "good" or "bad" without reference to context/portioning/frequency.

Science + Common Sense > Hype or Trendiness.

(I'm in year 5+ of maintaining a healthy weight, after around 3 previous decades of overweight/obesity.)

AlyssaP1987 wrote: »

I want to lose weight and keep it off. I'm so sick of yo yo dieting and gaining it back. What has worked for you the best?

Weighing food helps immensely! Also, making homemade and healthy options at home. A proper diet and exercise routine, and experimenting with macros and eating times.

You got this! Feel free to add to add as a friend and I'll help all I can!

Isaac

It took me three years to lose 90 pounds. I didn't do it quickly, but I did it in a way that worked best for me. I needed to be able to enjoy holidays, family events, wine, and delicious meals. And then get right back to counting calories when the event was over. Like someone else said, I can still have the things I enjoy, just not every day and in the quantities I used to have.

Exercise is also a key component for me. I "move" every day and can't imagine a day where I would choose to do nothing. I do things I love, like hiking and cross country skiing with my dogs, or paddling a dragon boat. I do things that are okay, like yoga and strength training (because they are both good for my overall health). And I do lots of other stuff in between, like walking with friends three times a week, running, kayaking, snowshoeing, HASfit workouts, etc. Exercise improves my physical and mental health. It makes me feel younger (I'm 62) and boosts my confidence. It's just something I need to do and has played a huge part in my weight-loss journey.

I think learning the calories in what you are eating can be eye opening and helpful. For example this morning I had 13 grams of granola with my yoghurt and it was 60 calories. Thats interesting to know as this is a tiny amount of granola. Before I weighed food I would easily have consumed way more calories than I realised or in fact needed.