Lifestyle changes to maintain weight loss

[Anonymous]

You might benefit from setting rules for yourself, such as
- never eat out more than x times a week or month
- do not order (even share) appetizers of dessert. Or if you do, immediately cut your entree in half and eat only half (you could even ask for a takeout container to put half in when your meal us served)


I also have just realized I am at a point in my life where I need to make small changes to make them stick. So I gave up eating most cheese a little over a year ago. This change has helped me very, very gradually lose weight. Next I cut back on drinking. Now thanks to Invisalign, I am cutting back on random snacks. This has all resulted in my weight slowly trending down. It sounds like you are doing something drastic to lose weight, but just falling back to your old habits. It might help to view it as a long term battle.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Sounds to me like the central issue you have is your work life. That was a central issue of mine too. Then I came to realize that excelling in my career was tanking my physical health.

So, I stopped caring so much about work. I also realized I am a very capable at what I do, and nothing has ever gone completely sideways, so there isn't a need to be stressing out all the time. I still care, but I just place it at a much lower level of importance. The result is I prioritized my health, which also involved getting quality sleep. I started structuring my eating in a way that worked better, while still eating out on occasion. I drank water and not massive volumes of caffeine. I integrated an exercise routine, which is now a passion for endurance sports.

So, my advice is prioritize your health. I still work long hours and manage to do marginally insane things like get on a bike in my house for 2 hours and then run afterwards after a 12 hour work day. I won't ever be a partner at Covington/Williams and Connolly, but I will at my other big law firm, and I won't be killing myself or overly stressing out about work. I will also close the door on my home office and go have dinner with my family every night.

YMMV

This is such great advice. Attorney at a law firm here working on these same things. I reach for the candy bar in the vending machine because of stress. To improve my diet lowering stress (or my response) is key.

[Anonymous]

What has worked well for me and truly become a lifestyle is focusing and committing to healthful eating during the week so I don't eat refined sugar, simple carbohydrates, or processed foods. I also only drink on Saturday's. I indulge on the weekends, but then I'm always happy to go back to my healthy eating on Monday. Listening to podcasts helped me to realize how food and alcohol affects my body both in the short and long term so it's now easy to make better food choices.

[Anonymous]

High quality sleep and cardio 3x a week stabilize my mood, which means I don't do the mindless eating thing. Keep processed foods out of the house, no liquid calories (alcohol, lattes, juice), and a diverse spice cabinet to keep things interesting.

Instead of having a free day once a week, I use the PMS week to indulge, and take advantage of "feeling normal" during the 3 other weeks.

[Anonymous]

I lost a ton of weight over the last 2 years (nice and slow/steady).

You have to set sustainable expectations. The whole “no carbs, no desserts” rules are pretty much recipes for failure. I had to change my entire relationship with food. So for example: I only have “dessert” when out at a restaurant/cafe and will most of the time be sharing it with my spouse or whatever friend I am with. That being said-I put dessert in quotes because I do have a small piece of chocolate or 2 or 3 every single day. A small piece of chocolate is actually very reasonable calorie wise and way way less than any traditional dessert would be.

I eat most of the same stuff I have always eaten except I change the ingredients to make them lower calorie. So for example when making tacos-I will buy the leanest meat and the lowest calorie tortillas (there are some really good low Calorie tortillas) and I will use lower calorie cheese.

If I know I am eating at a restaurant for dinner-I will eat lighter for breakfast and lunch. And I will still try to order something on the lighter side for the dinner.

Completely cutting out certain foods or food groups just isn’t sustainable and is typically why people fail. The trick is to know they are not off limits and work them in carefully to your day/week.

[Anonymous]

Also-pp here. You have to always remember that having a day where you eat terribly all day is totally fine once in a while. I do this from time to time and just make sure to be more careful the rest of the week.

[Anonymous]

What makes you a good and disciplined dieter? How do you lose weight so successfully? Thinking about that might help you think about what kind of changes might help you sustain.

Because we all have different tricks, as you can see above. The trick is to find what works for you. One thing you might consider, given how disciplined a dieter you can be, is going on your "diet" for one week every month or so. So you're still dieting for 12 weeks, but you're spreading it out over the year.

[Anonymous]

I had to change my lifestyle around 40 to keep the weight off. I'm 55 now. I eat mostly protein, then veggies. I rarely eat carbs or sweets. Honestly, I just don't crave them anymore. When I was in the transition, I ate a lot of unsalted nuts. That was very satisfying. Now, I don't even want those.

I have a very demanding job, but I work out a lot. I have to. That means that you give up other things to fit it in.

[Anonymous]

Give yourself a cheat day and be good the other 6

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Make rules for yourself. No dessert, ever. Only order salads or grilled fish or veg. No bread. I find it easier to have a global rule and then just follow it automatically.

I like rules too but find the positive ones work better for me. Instead of no deserts, I say, eat 30% of my calories in protein. Drink 8-9 glasses of water, eat five different vegetables a day, sleep at least 7 hours a night, lift weights 3 times a week, and walk 10,000 steps a day.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:What has worked well for me and truly become a lifestyle is focusing and committing to healthful eating during the week so I don't eat refined sugar, simple carbohydrates, or processed foods. I also only drink on Saturday's. I indulge on the weekends, but then I'm always happy to go back to my healthy eating on Monday. Listening to podcasts helped me to realize how food and alcohol affects my body both in the short and long term so it's now easy to make better food choices.

What podcasts do you recommend?

[Anonymous]

When I was on Mounjaro last year, the intense GERD forced me to change the order of my largest meals. My breakfast was about 400 cal, then a main meal at lunch, and a light soup for dinner. I have mostly stayed eating this way and kept most of the weight off. The biggest challenge is socializing at night, but I try to plan for that.

[Anonymous]

I walk a minimum of five miles daily.

[Anonymous]

Take a couple bites of dessert and pour salt on the rest.

Cut candy bars, ice cream sandwiches, etc. in half and put the rest away before eating.

Only drink unsweetened beverages. For coffee, use unsweetened vanilla flavored almond or oat milk to add flavor.

I have noticed after some time of reducing my sugar, things taste much more sweet now. To the point where I cannot eat a whole cookie or piece of cake - it's way too sweet for me.

[Anonymous]

I do Noom. Eat around 1500 cal/day. Walk 10K steps daily. Personal trainer to focus on core strength. Higher protein and veggies - still have carbs/sugar, but not as much. Salads for lunch. Avoid processed foods. No sugar drinks. Lotsof water. Have lost 50 pounds in 6 months. 50 more to go.