What plan works for me - it may or may not work for you

I do not follow one particular diet plan. There are things I try to do that are parts of other plans, but it's not the entire plan. For the most part though, I flip the food pyramid upside down - sort of. Grains are definitely at the lowest and everything else is pretty equal.  As the title states. This works for me. Might not work for someone else. It's taken years and lots of trial and error to find this path I'm taking. But if you are carb sensitive, most of this might work for you. And if you are loathe to give up big meals, parts of this might work for you too.  This is just "my" path.

1. I reduce/limit my carb intake. And that is ANY carb except most fruits and some starchy vegetables. Those do not create the cravings/sugar problems that I have like when I eat bread or pasta or cookies. I'm not sure if I'm in a ketogenic state most of the time or not. I don't really care about that. Though, I probably often am in a ketogenic state.

2. As part of that, I am not on a high protein or a high fat diet in itself. I'm just on low carb and I don't really care about the division of calories from there on. Most of the time though, fats are higher than proteins as I eat a lot of nuts, olive oil and avocados, as well as meats, dairy and eggs. Fats are fine. Low fat makes me hungry. So, I drink half and half in my coffee. I use butter to cook my eggs. I will eat the skin of the chicken. I use olive oil on my salad, etc. ALL those things make me more full for longer. I don't try to load up on fats or on protein - so some days it's higher in one and another day higher in another.

3. I count calories. I cannot just eat for hunger as I cannot rely on my body telling me the truth and nothing about the truth when it comes to hunger. That's how I got to be obese! At least that's how I got obese with eating all the carb heavy foods I want. I track every morsel I put in my mouth, but I eyeball amounts (with occasionally measuring to make sure my eye is fairly accurate).

4. While I calorie count, I give myself a range and I will eat less than my allotted amount if I'm not hungry and will eat more than my allotted amount if I'm feeling very hungry. I am not stuck on a number and will not eat more just to get my calories in. Nor will I get mad at myself if I eat 100 calories more than I allotted as "ideal". These are frameworks, not something to live and die by. ESPECIALLY since calorie counting is never specific anyway. That apple you grab can be anywhere from 50-120 calories! Nothing can be so accurate!

5. I do a form of intermittent fasting and I love it. I only recently discovered this (last spring/summer when I was losing). And I feel less hungry throughout the day as I think it keeps my insulin levels lower. And little things matter! When I have coffee with milk versus coffee with half and half, I get way hungrier way earlier in the morning. That fat holds me. It costs me an extra 50 calories over whole milk calories in the morning, but saves me from a 200 calorie snack later in the day!  My typical day (right now) is coffee with half and half in the morning, a protein bar around noon for lunch and then a HUGE dinner - the only meal I make for the day anyway and it's the only meal we all sit down together for. This way I pretty much get to enjoy as much of it as I want. I don't feel deprived as I can eat a 700-800 calorie dinner without feeling guilty about it! Shortly before I got derailed a couple years ago, I was getting so hungry in the day, that I ate my allotted calories for the day before dinner, so I never got to enjoy dinner I prepared for the family or only got to eat bits of it. That stank!

6. I never eat back exercise calories. If I exercise for an hour, I do not eat more because of it. It just means I'll see more loss for the day. Unless, of course, I do feel hungry, but since exercise is an appetite suppressant for me, that's rare.

7. I work hard on trying to get enough sleep. If I can do that, it's easier to do all of the above!

And all of this should be lifelong because it's easy to follow and stick to - as long as I don't get seriously depressed or exhausted.

And, with that, the scale gave me a big drop today after holding pretty steady for days - great example of what I was talking about yesterday!

Restart 5/18/15:
Down 12.8 pounds