Which plan is better for weight-loss and keeping the weight off?

ReCre8tingMe
ReCre8tingMe Posts: 18 Member
edited June 2022 in Health and Weight Loss
Help!! 🤔
Which is better for losing weight and keeping the weight off? If you feel there is a better plan that isn't listed, please comment below!

Which plan is better for weight-loss and keeping the weight off? 65 votes

Low-Carb
6%
TJFLAN28chrissyinbloomCountandsubtractjemadeso 4 votes
Intermittent Fasting
1%
francisolorunfunmi 1 vote
Low-Fat
1%
patriciaall3716 1 vote
Calorie Counting
90%
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Replies

  • ReCre8tingMe
    ReCre8tingMe Posts: 18 Member
    I've done exclusively low-fat, not counting calories and it worked. Only, I didn't keep the weight off. So, it can be done without counting calories. But, I'm looking for something that I can change to be lifelong committing without deprivation.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,261 Member
    Calorie Counting
    I guess I answered this in terms of which is the better plan for me - and that was calorie counting - since I havent done, nor intend to do, any of the others

    as somebody pointed out though there needs to be option to pick more than one - somebody could do low carb IF and calorie counting all at once
    or also to pick none of the above

    Bottom line - all of these , in terms of weight loss, are methods

    whether you do any or none of these methods, weight loss is still eating less than you burn - ie calorie deficit

    Whatever method you are using it must be a calorie deficit to work - so IF for example, probably wont work if you only eat in a 4 hour window but you eat 4000 calories per day

  • sbelletti
    sbelletti Posts: 213 Member
    The best plan is the one you're willing to stick to and still feel like life is worth living.
  • Lose_25_In_2022
    Lose_25_In_2022 Posts: 2 Member
    For me, Weight Watchers worked well over the winter. But come summer, as an athlete, using all my daily points for two bottles of Gatorade running in the Georgia heat didn’t work. And the sugar free stuff tasted gross. If I don’t drink Gatorade, I start to get dizzy and confused. I even add additional salt to it.

    So in the summer, I just count calories for the most part. If I drink 280 calories worth of Gatorade on a 10 mile run, I’m still ahead of the game. Those same 280 calories would take all my points on WW even though I still had a 700 calorie deficit from the run and Gatorade.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,102 Member
    It's not perfect, but this is the best run-down I've seen of various diet options (not necessarily just for weight loss, though that's evaluated, too):

    https://health.usnews.com/best-diet/best-diets-overall

    If you want to know what kinds of tactics worked (in a statistical sense) for others to lose weight and keep it off, there's the National Weight Control Registry:

    http://www.nwcr.ws/

    For me (now in year 6+ of maintaining a healthy weight, after losing from obese class 1), what worked was a combination of calorie counting, and this approach:

    https://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10636388/free-customized-personal-weight-loss-eating-plan-not-spam-or-mlm/p1

    No one approach is "best" for everyone and anyone. I agree with those above: We each need to find the tactics that will work best for us as individuals, and that may not be some trendy named diet thingie.

    FWIW, I don't much like the MFP Community poll feature - not very nuanced - so I didn't vote. If you'd asked which worked best for me, I'd have voted for calorie counting, even though that's over-simplified. I'm a nerdy gal, liked the "grown-up science fair" aspect of it, and have no tendencies to become obsessive or compulsive about counting calories.

    It doesn't work best for everyone to count calories, even though getting calories eaten below calories spent that creates weight loss for anyone. One needn't necessarily count the calories to do that. I'm old enough to remember when counting calories wasn't practical (before there were apps to automate it) . . . but people were able to lose weight back then anyway.
  • glassyo
    glassyo Posts: 7,732 Member
    You had IF as a poll option. I was under the impression that IF by itself won't do much for you regarding weight loss, if e.g. you are eating at maintenance cals while doing IF. I thought IF is just one tool in the shed for how to manage your calorie deficit. Is this not the case?

    You thought correctly.
  • ReCre8tingMe
    ReCre8tingMe Posts: 18 Member
    You had IF as a poll option. I was under the impression that IF by itself won't do much for you regarding weight loss, if e.g. you are eating at maintenance cals while doing IF. I thought IF is just one tool in the shed for how to manage your calorie deficit. Is this not the case?

    I never thought of it that way. but that makes perfect sense! Thank you.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,102 Member
    You had IF as a poll option. I was under the impression that IF by itself won't do much for you regarding weight loss, if e.g. you are eating at maintenance cals while doing IF. I thought IF is just one tool in the shed for how to manage your calorie deficit. Is this not the case?

    Strictly speaking, the same could be said of low fat or low carb. I could put any arbitrary low limit on grams of either fats or carbs, and still eat more than maintenance calories.
  • threewins
    threewins Posts: 1,455 Member
    If you share food with a family or whoever, I'd suggest not calorie counting. Imagine not only weighing the ingredients, but weighing what proportion you're having. Unless you want to eat separate food. I guess being single has its advantages. I think everybody should try low carb at least once, just to see what it's like. But don't be surprised if you can't get into it. It's not for everyone, or anyone at every point in their life.
  • Retroguy2000
    Retroguy2000 Posts: 1,826 Member
    threewins wrote: »
    If you share food with a family or whoever, I'd suggest not calorie counting. Imagine not only weighing the ingredients, but weighing what proportion you're having. Unless you want to eat separate food. I guess being single has its advantages. I think everybody should try low carb at least once, just to see what it's like. But don't be surprised if you can't get into it. It's not for everyone, or anyone at every point in their life.
    I can see that's not ideal, but people can still easily do smaller portions, simple substitutions, doing without an extra sauce, that sort of thing. Sure it may still be difficult to to estimate calories and macros some times, but it's still progress.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Not going to answer the poll...all of these plans work on the same principle which is energy (calorie) restriction and achieving an energy (calorie) deficit which requires your body to kick on the backup generator and burn bodyfat to make up for that deficiency. What is ideal for one isn't necessarily going to be ideal for someone else.

    Personally, I just eat a pretty healthy diet on the whole. When I want to cut weight I just cut back on a couple of snacks and/or have smaller portions of certain things.
  • rosiekin
    rosiekin Posts: 80 Member
    Like others have said, any plan that works for you long term is the best plan for you, or for an individual.
    Over my years of yo-yo dieting, I had tried quite a lot of different ways to lose weight, but never anything too extreme other than when I was in my early 20s (way back in the early 1980s!), when I was on a kind of binge/starve cycle for a couple of years or so.
    When I got out of that phase, I mainly stuck to clubs, favouring mainly the Slimming World eating plan, and laterally Weight Watchers points system. I got to goal on both multiple times BUT I never stuck at goal for longer than a month or two.
    My last time of 'dieting'/going on a healthy eating plan was at the start of January 2014. I decided this time to go it alone, and count calories & log on MFP. Also I made the decision to abstain from particular foods, as although moderation of these foods had worked for in the past, it was always a juggling act to fit as many as I wanted into my daily plan. Also, it didn't matter how many I ate, I always craved more so it was a constant battle in my brain to moderate how much I ate of certain things, and I found the constant battles quite exhausting. I decided to give abstinance a try, and it worked for me, although I know it wouldn't suit everyone... each to their own!
    I am now over 7 stone lighter than I was at the start of 2014. I maintained about a 6 stone weight loss since April 2015 until lockdown, and since March 2020, I have probably dropped about another stone due to increased exercise and not adjusting my calories up enough to make up for my increased activity. I am currently working on the latter.
    In maintenance, I am not doing anything different than I did during my weight loss period, other than eating bigger portions, and allowing myself a few more snacks or pizza.
    Whatever plan someone choses to go on should be sustainable post reaching goal, and what works for one will definitely not work for another.
    Good luck if finding the best plan that will work for you.
  • ahoy_m8
    ahoy_m8 Posts: 3,053 Member
    threewins wrote: »
    If you share food with a family or whoever, I'd suggest not calorie counting. Imagine not only weighing the ingredients, but weighing what proportion you're having. Unless you want to eat separate food. I guess being single has its advantages. ...

    I do not find this to be a hassle at all. I weigh ingredients as a matter of habit whether I'm cooking for myself or my family of 5. MFP recipe builder makes it super easy, no math, no proportions. Just weigh the finished product and enter that (in g or oz as you prefer) as the number of servings in your recipe. Weigh what you serve yourself and enter that as "number of servings" (vs. g or oz)

    A simple example: you bake a loaf of bread that ends up weighing 600g. In the recipe builder, enter the ingredients and number of servings as 600. A couple slices that weigh 39g would then be logged as "39 servings." Same principle when making spaghetti carbonara for 5. It's really just a matter of habit.

    As for the best diet, I'd vote for the trial-and-error method for discovering what is more satisfying to you personally within your calorie budget. Or the AnnPT77 "free customized diet."
  • Chef_Barbell
    Chef_Barbell Posts: 6,644 Member
    Calorie Counting
    threewins wrote: »
    If you share food with a family or whoever, I'd suggest not calorie counting. Imagine not only weighing the ingredients, but weighing what proportion you're having. Unless you want to eat separate food. I guess being single has its advantages. I think everybody should try low carb at least once, just to see what it's like. But don't be surprised if you can't get into it. It's not for everyone, or anyone at every point in their life.

    Yeah no. Family of 5 and no problem calorie counting using the recipe builder. And definitely no to low carbs here. :noway:
  • glassyo
    glassyo Posts: 7,732 Member
    Ahhhhhh, the good ole days when researching diets to follow, getting to Atkins and...well, just getting to the "A" and shuttin' that puppy right down.
  • zebasschick
    zebasschick Posts: 1,067 Member
    edited June 2022
    IMO no plan is good for long-term weight loss.

    learning about nutrition, calorie counting, and how things work best for you is the way to maintain a healthy weight. there's a reason that people who use plans, according to the FDA, almost all gain the weight back - they haven't learned what foods and meals work best for them.

    btw, i went from 242 to 171 pounds simply substituting the regular foods i like with light versions i did also do very light walking with that, but cutting full fat ice cream, full fat cheese, full fat yogurt and switching them for low fat versions worked without dieting or changing my eating habits. and there are yummy versions of many light foods, but finding them can take some experimenting.

    having said all that, portion control works.
  • ReCre8tingMe
    ReCre8tingMe Posts: 18 Member
    IMO no plan is good for long-term weight loss.

    learning about nutrition, calorie counting, and how things work best for you is the way to maintain a healthy weight. there's a reason that people who use plans, according to the FDA, almost all gain the weight back - they haven't learned what foods and meals work best for them.

    btw, i went from 242 to 171 pounds simply substituting the regular foods i like with light versions i did also do very light walking with that, but cutting full fat ice cream, full fat cheese, full fat yogurt and switching them for low fat versions worked without dieting or changing my eating habits. and there are yummy versions of many light foods, but finding them can take some experimenting.

    having said all that, portion control works.

    Thank you, this was very informative! Now, this is something I could do!
  • kshama2001
    kshama2001 Posts: 28,052 Member
    edited July 2022
    Calorie Counting
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  • JaysFan82
    JaysFan82 Posts: 853 Member
    Calorie Counting
    Calorie counting. I won't do low carb cause I want something that I can do for the rest of my life. I have my onion bun with my turkey burger, I have my English muffin in the morning but I don't go crazy like I used to. Currently down just over 70 pounds and I feel like I've found something I can keep up.
  • JaysFan82
    JaysFan82 Posts: 853 Member
    Calorie Counting
    threewins wrote: »
    If you share food with a family or whoever, I'd suggest not calorie counting. Imagine not only weighing the ingredients, but weighing what proportion you're having. Unless you want to eat separate food. I guess being single has its advantages. I think everybody should try low carb at least once, just to see what it's like. But don't be surprised if you can't get into it. It's not for everyone, or anyone at every point in their life.

    Why? What is the point of trying something just to see what it is like?

    If we are happy with how we are eating now and it is nutritiously balanced and we are losing/maintaining weight as desired, why just randomly try something else??

    as to your other point, I didnt find calorie counting while sharing food with others hard - weighing the ingredients than weighing my portion is pretty easy using the recipe builder

    If my gf is cooking supper I make her send me the recipe ahead of time so I can log everything. You're correct. It's not that difficult . I log the vast majority of my food the night before. Just make it a routine.