What you started eating to get the weight to start coming off?

What I started eating to lose?

Less. 😉 In calorie terms.

Like the others, no big changes in my range of foods, just changes in portion size, proportions of the various foods on my plate, and frequencies of some calorie dense things.

TBH, it was far simpler than I'd ever imagined - not always psychologically easy every second, but manageable, and a simple process.

The payoff in quality of life was huge. I could kick myself for not doing it decades earlier.

For me, it was realizing what foods are worth the calories and which aren't. I focus on lean protein and veg, but still eat chocolate, bread, etc. I just don't eat low quality stuff. If I'm eating chocolate, it's not going to be Hersheys! Ghirardelli make individually wrapped squares that taste so much better to me and also help me limit portions.

I also figured out some substitutions, like plain Greek yogurt for sour cream... Nothing is really off limits, I'm just more aware of calories in general and what I am willing to make room in my plan for and what isn't worth it or makes me feel like crap.

I eat well through the day and if I have room after dinner, I'll have a fudgcicle, some cheese and crackers, a beer, whatever I'm really craving. Which also makes me stop and think, "am I really hungry and if so, what does my body want?" Sometimes it's fruit, bread, something fatty... and usually it's a macro I'm low on that day. Not intentionally, just more in tune with my body.

I eat food. 😋 Nothing is off limits for me.

sbelletti wrote: »

I eat a lot more plants and a lot less meat and processed foods. But really, I can have whatever I want as long as I'm at my calorie goal for the week. 43 pounds down and entering maintenance now.

This is sensible. As everybody else has pointed out, all that really matters is calories when it comes to pure weight loss. But making better food choices is good for long term health and in many cases much more satisfying than high processed meals all the time.

Mostly I cut way back on eating out and soda. I used to eat out for lunch every single day and drank anywhere from 3-6 Mt Dews per day. I started brown bagging my lunch and cut the soda out and that was pretty much it in regards to "cutting out". I put a lot more emphasis on things I was nutritionally lacking like trying to get in or close to the recommended amounts of veg and fruit than I what to cut out. Getting into regular exercise was also huge for me as a lack of exercise was a big part of my slow weight creep over 8 years or so.

What did I start eating to lose weight? Less.

I didn't change much in terms of what I ate. I mainly just made more calorically economical choices and adjusted my portion size. So I still went to Mexican restaurants, just had soft tacos instead of a chimichanga. It never worked or lasted long when I changed everything about my diet and lifestyle. The reality is that I'm just never going to be one of those people that finds prepping and cooking and cleaning up afterward in any way entertaining, fulfilling or satisfying. Once I made that realization and figured out ways to fit my calorie goals into the way I tend to actually eat, weight loss got a LOT simpler.

I now eat less low nutrient high calorie food (junk food) and more nutrient dense lower calorie food. This allows me to be satisfied with a lot less calories. I haven't given up anything but really limit the junk food now.

Like everyone else, my diet didn't change a whole lot in regards to WHAT - more a matter of 'how much' and 'how often'.

The only two big changes I made were prioritizing protein (I was way low before) and switching to lower calorie condiment/sauce choices. I was adding a whole lot of calories (like a thousand a day with those). Almond milk instead of cream/creamer for my coffee, light mayo or mustard instead of the regular stuff, making my oatmeal with water, fat free dressing, stevia instead of sugar stuff.