For those of you who have successfully “broken the code” with diet

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:For the folks who have given up dairy why do you think that has helped? I often am eating alone and I don’t want to cook a meal. Eating a cup of cottage cheese, an apple with cheese or plain yogurt is so much easier.

Well, diary is a lot of calories. If you like eating more volume, you are better off eating something else. If you are overweight and wanting to lose weight, it would help you cut calories. If you have gastro or cough issues after eating it, maybe you have some intolerance or an allergy. If you are fine and love it, why would you stop eating what you like?

When I am alone (never anymore!) and don't want to cook, I would eat a packet of tuna (either the plain, and add salt and lemon, or the flavored lemon pepper is not bad) with celery and cucumbers, maybe a handful of baby carrots. Also, slices of apple spread with peanut butter. These are as easy as what you describe. I love dairy but had to limit it, so these are the substitutes that were successful for me.

[Anonymous]

Exercise and mental shift that this is a long term lifestyle change rather than a short term goal (losing x lbs). The goal was not the lbs, but the lifestyle change.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
Track your calories for a week so you can see what you are really taking in. 2000? 3000?
Get a fit bit or an app to easily track calories (where you can put in "a piece of chicken" and they will give you a calorie range.
Also track how many calories out. Once you get a feel for how many calories you need to eat to maintain or lose some weight, you can adjust your eating accordingly.

I lost 20 ish pounds 2 years ago by just recalibrating. Less calories, more exercise.

Some little tricks I *try* to adhere to:

* No more eating after 9pm (my version of if)
* Lots of water/liquids to feel full.
* Limited sweets. I ask myself if I really want it.
* I try to think of food as true nourishment and eat super healthy. No take-out, everything cooked at home.

Sorry to bring up an older thread, but if you're not eating past 9pm as your version of IF, what time do you resume eating the next day? I'm curious because that is my major challenge to sticking with 16:8 IF since sometimes I don't have dinner until 7/7:30pm so not eating past 7 is hard for me to stick to. Does not eating past 8 or 9 still have the same effect if you fast until 12 or 1pm the next day? Just seems like a long time to wait again to eat...plus I work out at night after the kids go to bed (it's the only time I can clear my head to work out--morning does not work for me), so I'm hungry the next AM! Maybe IF just isn't right for me.

[Anonymous]

I’ve maintained the same weight by not eating until 1pm every day. I exercise in the morning and drink a ton of water plus two cups of coffee (with a splash of milk). I don’t consume anything before 1pm. At 1pm, I eat a healthy “snack” around 300 calories. (Cheese, nuts, dried cranberries, apple with peanut butter, 100 calorie pack of popcorn, Greek yogurt... a couple of things like this. Around 3:30, I treat myself of a sweet- usually a small cookie or piece of chocolate. I eat whatever I want for dinner around 7:30, including a couple glasses of wine if I want. I also indulge in dessert 1-3 times per week- but only for something really delicious. We don’t buy junk food to just have on hand. If I want a dessert, I pop by a bakery and get something legit. On weekends, I might do Sunday morning breakfast with my family but if I do that, I skip lunch. I feel like my approach is easy to maintain and I never feel deprived. That being said, I could probably lose 10 pounds and look GREAT if I cut out sugar and wine. Life is too short! I am 5”9 and 150 pounds with a muscular build. I do workout every single day- even if it’s only 15 minutes of strength training. I do 2-3 500+ calorie workouts a week and I take at least 10,000 steps per day. I think that helps a lot too!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Count calories. You will be hungry at first. But then it gets pretty easy.

\

This. Use an app to count calories (I used MyPlate). We eat more calories than we realize. The app helps you see that and keep you in check. Read labels. I was shocked at what really is high calorie vs low calorie.

Tips that helped me:
- Craving a mid day sweet? Eat a pickle spear. It strangely curbs a sweet tooth.
- Craving chocolate? 16 dark chocolate chips (65% cacao)
- Having the munchies and want to eat a lot? Popcorn with spray butter and a touch of salt (not the bag microwave popcorn)
- Starving at the wrong times? A string cheese and 2 turkey slices or a Slim Fast smoothie.
- Stay clear of salt as much as possible.
- Portion your food out before you eat (never eat out of a bag or container). You will guard your portion with your life.
- Every seventh meal you can eat whatever you want but watch your portion.
- Ask yourself before you eat - am I actually even hungry? After you’ve eaten a few bites ask yourself, am I full? You will learn how your body works the more you do this.

Also, I have found that skipping breakfast (with the exception of coffee) and eating dinner no later than 6pm help hugely. HUGELY.

I lost 21 pounds in four months 3 years ago and have kept it off.

[Anonymous]

PP here. I forgot to add that I’m 5’6” and weigh 121 pounds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Count calories. You will be hungry at first. But then it gets pretty easy.

\

This. Use an app to count calories (I used MyPlate). We eat more calories than we realize. The app helps you see that and keep you in check. Read labels. I was shocked at what really is high calorie vs low calorie.

Tips that helped me:
- Craving a mid day sweet? Eat a pickle spear. It strangely curbs a sweet tooth.
- Craving chocolate? 16 dark chocolate chips (65% cacao)
- Having the munchies and want to eat a lot? Popcorn with spray butter and a touch of salt (not the bag microwave popcorn)
- Starving at the wrong times? A string cheese and 2 turkey slices or a Slim Fast smoothie.
- Stay clear of salt as much as possible.
- Portion your food out before you eat (never eat out of a bag or container). You will guard your portion with your life.
- Every seventh meal you can eat whatever you want but watch your portion.
- Ask yourself before you eat - am I actually even hungry? After you’ve eaten a few bites ask yourself, am I full? You will learn how your body works the more you do this.

Also, I have found that skipping breakfast (with the exception of coffee) and eating dinner no later than 6pm help hugely. HUGELY.

I lost 21 pounds in four months 3 years ago and have kept it off.

What size clothes are you?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Count calories. You will be hungry at first. But then it gets pretty easy.

\

This. Use an app to count calories (I used MyPlate). We eat more calories than we realize. The app helps you see that and keep you in check. Read labels. I was shocked at what really is high calorie vs low calorie.

Tips that helped me:
- Craving a mid day sweet? Eat a pickle spear. It strangely curbs a sweet tooth.
- Craving chocolate? 16 dark chocolate chips (65% cacao)
- Having the munchies and want to eat a lot? Popcorn with spray butter and a touch of salt (not the bag microwave popcorn)
- Starving at the wrong times? A string cheese and 2 turkey slices or a Slim Fast smoothie.
- Stay clear of salt as much as possible.
- Portion your food out before you eat (never eat out of a bag or container). You will guard your portion with your life.
- Every seventh meal you can eat whatever you want but watch your portion.
- Ask yourself before you eat - am I actually even hungry? After you’ve eaten a few bites ask yourself, am I full? You will learn how your body works the more you do this.

Also, I have found that skipping breakfast (with the exception of coffee) and eating dinner no later than 6pm help hugely. HUGELY.

I lost 21 pounds in four months 3 years ago and have kept it off.

What size clothes are you?

Size 2 or 4 now. Was an 8/10 before.

[Anonymous]

5'10/140 lbs here. Simple advice:

Automate breakfast - choose two healthy things and alternate i.e. eggs/oatmeal
Automate lunch - same idea as above
Automate snacks - find four options
Eat a sensible but varied dinner.

Avoid breads, pastas, processed foods.

When you go out for a nice dinner, eat what you want.

Weigh yourself every day so you never have more than a few pounds to lose.

[Anonymous]

Focusing on a high fiber and high protein diet did it for me.

[Anonymous]

Age matters. At least the tricks I used to swear by no longer do the trick for me now.

[Anonymous]

Tell me what you do to lose weight when almost 60 and the old routine just doesn’t work anymore. Thoughts?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Age matters. At least the tricks I used to swear by no longer do the trick for me now.

It does! I used to be able to fairly easily lose weight by tracking calories, running and yoga. Then this stopped working. Since I had been tracking for a while, I could see that my body had changed, not what I was doing. As I gained weight, I was trying to lower calories, increase running, and my sense of desperate hunger was only increasing. I was not losing weight. My overall conclusion is that as you age, your caloric requirements drop, and your insulin resistance increases. For some people, this is solved by moderating carbs, and a little intermittent fasting (see Jason Fung). For me I had to move to a fairly short eating window (3-4 hours), an anti-inflammatory diet (no beans, grains, dairy, etc.), and keto-ish (I don't worry about carbs in things like broccoli, etc.). Doing this reduced my hunger, allowed me to increase my calories, and not have cravings that felt out of control. I think realizing that your body has truly changed and experimenting to see what it now needs is the only way to go. My weight is not my lowest (120), but I am not overweight (127 at 5'3"), and comfortable.

[Anonymous]

Gut happiness. Key is to eliminate everything your gut doesn’t like and then eat what is left. I find eating fermented foods and only goat milk products, works for me. For coffee, almond milk only. Getting a high % cocoa bar and eating a square a day. Now that I know what works, I tend to eat less food and be content. Maintaining a good weight post menopause, think pre first child. And always brush my teeth after dinner, forcing me not to late night snack. In terms of exercise, one rather brisk walk and 30-60 minutes of yoga a day. Tend to average 10k steps per day. At bedtime, a quick 10 minute meditation. I found most of my overeating was emotional. Once I got a clear head and gut, was much easier to loose weight.