Anonymous wrote:I have tried to do gluten free in the past (atkins) and failed after 3 weeks - it was just so disgusting, cream cheese wrapped in salami and so on
Then I tried to do Whole30 last year, which was just too extreme. I binged afterwards and wound up gaining weight over time.

I am 20 pounds overweight, 45 years old and it just keeps piling on.
I think I need to reduce sugar and carbs - basically an unhealthy lifestyle of eating out and pizza and kid's food because it's easy.
I'd like to change to a healthy, whole foods lifestyle, and reduce or go gluten free inititally to shed the weight via ketosis.

How do you start in a healthy, MODERATE way?
How do you maintain motivation? What blogs, apps or programs have worked for you to keep it up long term.
Has anyone else done this? It also doesn't help that my husband is overweight and also likes to eat treats and junk food!

First off, to start in a healthy moderate way you don't cut out food groups. You don't don't declare that you are never going to eat X, y, z again. Sounds like you don't deal well with extreme diets and I find any diet that you can not realistically stick to for the rest of your life to be extreme.

As far as motivation- sometimes you are not motivated. Long term success often mean doing what you need to do even when you aren't motivated to do so. I am not usually motivated to go to work every day, but I know I need to do it so I do it. I also find that when you take action and see results that often leads to motivation which can continue to drive you taking action.

So what has worked for me, someone who has tried all the extreme diet out there and once believe I had to eat a certain way to lose weight. Tracking calorie and eating everything in moderation. Every day i have a calorie range I aim for and a protein goal. My top priority it to hit my protein goal and stay in the calorie range. i don't worry about where the rest of my calories come from. I eat carbs, I eat fat, I eat sweets. I do eat a good amount of vegetables because they make meals bigger and doesn't pack on the calories.

Another thing that has really helped me was removing a timeline. Once I accepted that weight loss would take longer than I think it should and stopped thinking " I should have lost x by now" I stopped believing i have to be super extreme to lose the weight and that I was failing if I didn't lose 2 lbs/week. I also found that it allowed me to have a more moderate approach to my diet which is more sustainable for me in the long term. Also left me feeling a lot less deprived than did years ago trying every extreme diet out there or saying I was only going to eat 1200 calories/day and never eat sugar again.

I have found that a calorie range calculated by multiplying goal body weight x 10-12 and a protein target of goal body weight x 0.7-1
so goal weight of 150 lbs would mean a calorie target of 1500-1800 and a protein target of 105-150g protein/day. Stick with it, be consistent. If after a month the scale hasn't moved down then reassess calorie range.

I'm doing intermittent fasting. It helps me to naturally cut calories by not eating breakfast and to stop eating at a certain point at night (I could munch all night). You can choose what approach to take in your eating window (e.g., keto, low-cal, portion control, etc.) but it helps me since I don't have the time -- or inclination -- to weigh food, count calories, etc. And it allows me to eat a normal dinner that the rest of my family is eating.

Just eat less. I'm not being facetious. Any of these fancy Keto/whole 30/celiac/BS is going to backfire long term. Either use an app (Lose it, My fitness pal etc) or cut your portions. That's the sustainable, long-term way.

I agree. There's nothing easy about it. The most effective way to lose weight that I've found is to weigh and measure what I eat and count calories. Period. Full stop. The difference between losing weight and gaining weight is as little as 500 calories a day....which is....not a lot.

Absent cutting out all carbs, calorie counting is the way to go. And, unfortunately, neither of these is easy.

Anonymous wrote:OP here. This is helpful! I will try low carb and some podcasts for motivation.

What takes the least amount of work? I can't do WW - too much tracking and thinking about it. What's the easiest approach out there?

Eat non processed food. Eat fruit, veggies, meat, nuts, eggs, and some healthy grains.

Losing weight at that age is not easy. There is no easy approach. For me, the easiest is not to have dinner, but eat regular, not large, breakfast and lunch.

OP here. This is helpful! I will try low carb and some podcasts for motivation.

What takes the least amount of work? I can't do WW - too much tracking and thinking about it. What's the easiest approach out there?

Why gluten free? I have to be gluten free and it is no fun at all. Gluten is not your enemy, eating a whole loaf of bread is. I can't believe someone would do that tot themselves on purpose! I think you issue is not gluten, it sounds like you lack impulse control and are blaming gluten.

Anonymous wrote:I have tried to do gluten free in the past (atkins) and failed after 3 weeks - it was just so disgusting, cream cheese wrapped in salami and so on
Then I tried to do Whole30 last year, which was just too extreme. I binged afterwards and wound up gaining weight over time.

I am 20 pounds overweight, 45 years old and it just keeps piling on.
I think I need to reduce sugar and carbs - basically an unhealthy lifestyle of eating out and pizza and kid's food because it's easy.
I'd like to change to a healthy, whole foods lifestyle, and reduce or go gluten free inititally to shed the weight via ketosis.

How do you start in a healthy, MODERATE way?
How do you maintain motivation? What blogs, apps or programs have worked for you to keep it up long term.
Has anyone else done this? It also doesn't help that my husband is overweight and also likes to eat treats and junk food!

To start in a "healthy, MODERATE way," I wouldn't go straight for cutting out an entire food group, or an entire food protein. You could start by instead focusing on cutting out processed carbs and going for the more healthy ones (beans, lentils, oats, etc.). Try to avoid packaged foods, go to as close to original as possible. Doing something extreme is really hard, esp. with a family that you're cooking for, enjoying meals out, etc. People may be able to make it short term and lose a few pounds, but it's hard to maintain.

OP - there are some great podcasts that really get to the underlying issues and can facilitate changing your approach to eating and sticking with it. Low carb may in fact be what you need but working through the underlying issues that are driving overeating is invaluable in keeping on track.

One that I can vouch for that has worked for me is "weight loss for busy physicians" It is more impactful than you would imagine a podcast could be. That said, if the way she talks about it doesn't speak to you, try others. Search weight loss life coaching on Apple podcasts. I also like Weight Loss Made Real. but you have to find someone that speaks about these issues in a way that resonates with you.

I have lost a total of 26 pounds since last April. I did WW in the spring and did well (15 pounds), gained 5 back with summer vacations and then started listening to podcasts to help with my motivation and it has been literally life changing. I am down 16 pounds since the beginning of September. And I am 55 and I am not miserable or white knuckling it. I still do WW because I like the accountability of weighing in and use the app for tracking but I am 1 pound from a normal BMI and I attribute my success to the mindset changes. Good luck.

Gluten free is very different from keto. It's completely possible to eat a high-carb, low protein & fat diet that is also gluten free.

Don't get fancy, OP. Just eat more fruits and veggies and less saturated fat and sugar.

since you don't have a gluten sensitivity, I'd try something like weight watchers that doesn't eliminate whole categories but encourages produce and lean proteins, and teaches portion control. You can certainly eat a lower-carb diet on WW but if you want a piece of bread it's totally fine to fit it into your points budget.

Like pp just do low carbs not gluten free. My son has celiac that’s really the only purpose to go gf. GF itself is not healthier.
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Hi! So...I think that you should focus on going lower carb and worry less about going gluten free. If you choose lower carbohydrate foods, you will naturally lower your gluten intake - but the reverse isn't necessarily true. As an example:

If you cut out pizza due to it being high in carbohydrates, you will also cut out gluten.
If you eat gluten free pizza, you will still be consuming a lot of carbohydrates. (And, usually, more fat/sugar because gluten free things need more help to taste good.)

A few good blogs: Oh she glows, Skinnytaste, and Elena's Pantry.

One thing that has really worked for me is making sure that I get in the rest of the nutrients (vitamins and minerals) that i need. I log all my food on Cronometer.com and love it. There's an app as well. I find that if I'm meeting my nutritional needs, my cravings really decrease.

Good luck!

I have tried to do gluten free in the past (atkins) and failed after 3 weeks - it was just so disgusting, cream cheese wrapped in salami and so on
Then I tried to do Whole30 last year, which was just too extreme. I binged afterwards and wound up gaining weight over time.

I am 20 pounds overweight, 45 years old and it just keeps piling on.
I think I need to reduce sugar and carbs - basically an unhealthy lifestyle of eating out and pizza and kid's food because it's easy.
I'd like to change to a healthy, whole foods lifestyle, and reduce or go gluten free inititally to shed the weight via ketosis.

How do you start in a healthy, MODERATE way?
How do you maintain motivation? What blogs, apps or programs have worked for you to keep it up long term.
Has anyone else done this? It also doesn't help that my husband is overweight and also likes to eat treats and junk food!