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

When you are relosing for the 3rd time in close succession

When I started this 5 years ago, I was all fanfare. I was going to do this. I was going to mark this. I was going to come clean with everything.

I knew I would stumble. I knew this would be a forever battle for me, but I truly didn't think I would completely fall apart - twice. I'm not "doing this" differently from before. I know what works for me. HOW I lost weight was not the reason I gained it back. Other factors came into play.

I'm now pretty convinced that HOW you lose weight doesn't really say anything about long term success (as I've been on boards where people have done it 50,000,000 different ways and their success rates are about equally the same). Only thing that REALLY matters is sticking with a plan once you get to goal. (Though a caveat to every plan can work for weight loss is that some plans are easier to stick to forever than others, but what works for me and what works for you can be very different!) You will only maintain losses if you adapt your lifestyle forever. I know I can eat a low carb diet forever. I just have to fix my head to WANT to stay on a low carb diet during dark months where I've been using it as a drug to get through the months I just want to SLEEP.

Other people don't need to change carb count, just overall calorie monitoring. Some people's natural eating was fine, but if they just through in a bit of activity daily, they can keep the weight down. Bottom line is, all of us who have weight issues which is often also food issues, have different tricks that work. But if you don't follow what you know works, don't expect to remain successful in keeping off the weight.

I wish I could eat intuitively, but if I could, I wouldn't have ever had a weight problem. Obviously, I need some tools to help me where my head cannot.

And for this journey, at least for now, I'm just going to track weight lost. I don't want to be fixed on a goal number. I just want to feel healthy and be healthy. "I" am not healthy at this weight. My BP is high - that alone is enough to work this downward. For now, everything else is fine, but for how long?

So... I keep chugging along - whittling downward.

Restart 5/18/15
Down: 7.6 pounds

Following a prescribed diet versus tailoring a diet specific to you

Sometimes I read things and it gets me to thinking about it in new ways. As mentioned, I belong to a weight loss forum. On that forum, people are on a variety of diets - South Beach, Atkins, Intermittent Fasting, Weight Watchers, Paleo, Keto, Ideal Protein, Metabolic Research, Low Carb, Calorie Counters, etc. You get the picture. There are also people who have gotten a variety of weight loss surgeries and then a lot of people like me who make up their own diets.

I read a thread yesterday about someone who said that they had tried several diets and never could stick with it for more than three days before cheating/quitting. I responded with, "Well, maybe tailor your own diet that you can live with."  And that got me to thinking about those who follow diet plans out there in the world and those of us who don't And it got me thinking about how diets come and go in waves of fads. Huh... it's interesting. I don't think there is a right or wrong way to lose weight as long as it's done in a non-detrimental way to the health, but why is it that some of us need someone to tell us what to do EXACTLY and others can't or don't want to follow rules of a diet? And then that got me to thinking about myself specifically. Why have I never followed a diet, specifically?

So, my weight loss history. I have tried to lose weight 4 times in 44 years. The first time was when I was 21 years old. I just came up with my own hair brained idea of how to lose weight. I started exercising daily and then went on a heavily restricted diet. I lost weight SUPER fast, but was starving. It lasted about a month.

I went on a diet again when I was 27. I decided to join Weight Watchers to help me stay accountable. They had just started their points plan. I 'sort of" followed it, but not really. It gave me a set of points, but I often didn't follow it. for half the month I felt famished, so I ate more points. For the other half of the month I felt less hungry, so I ate less points. I also included exercise. After a couple months I stopped counting points and I didn't really care about anything they had to say. I just knew to eat less and move more. That lasted for about 6 months before I stopped.

I didn't diet again until I was 41 years old. I went with low carb because my blood sugars were way out of line (most likely caused by my thyroid). I had done low carb before during my second pregnancy because of gestational diabetes, so I knew what to do. But, I didn't follow any low carb diet like Keto or Atkins or South Beach. I don't know why... It never even entered my mind to follow a diet already out there. I just cut out the grains and sugars because those are not really needed for nutrition and they are also a great way to cut calories. And, again, I added in exercise, first just cardio, and then strength training. I had started low carbing specifically to lower my blood sugar levels, but what I found is that eating low carb made it easier to eat less and move more. I had more energy. I had less cravings. Huh, this low carb stuff might be the way to go for me!

I did that diet with a lot of exercise, with little tweaks, for over 2 years. Then I had this disaster half year when I just totally didn't care as I was tired of struggling with injuries. I snapped out of it, and then started right back up with the same diet, with more changes to accommodate for my injuries. At this point, I cannot do the strength training I was doing as I have several issues with neck and back issues (I get spasms quite frequently) and some issues with my left knee. I can, however, walk and walk fast, so I do that. BUT... if I'm too busy... I'm too busy. I don't beat myself up any more for days I can't fit in exercise, OR just don't feel like it. I just adapt my eating to be lower on those days - something I didn't seem able to do the last go around. Exercise is important, for sure, but I also need to be able to adjust my eating around more or less exercise as injuries and time away from exercise WILL HAPPEN.

So, now, with this current weight loss I do a combo of these diets: Keto, Atkins, South Beach, Calorie Counting, Low Carbing, Intermittment Fasting, and Intuitive Eating and probably more.  I don't follow ANY OF THEM specifically.

I fast most of the day and eat one large meal a day with two very light 'snacks' in the morning and afternoon. I keep them low carb to keep hunger at a minimum. However, if I'm hungrier, I listen and eat more (intuitive eating). I will not white knuckle it out. When I eat my big meal of the day, I keep it low carb - high fat and high protein. BUT.. I don't avoid food groups completely. I will eat fruit (minus bananas) and I will eat any vegetable or bean. When I'm craving it, I'll have something with sugar - in small bits. Like a slice of zucchini bread. Or a single small ice cream treat. I don't say, "I can't have that.". I just try to limit them because when I eat more of them, cravings start increasing and it becomes harder to stick with this way of eating. I also still need to calorie count because I do not have an "I'm full" button. I can and could eat my entire calorie allotment in one sitting - in one salad, so I need to count the calories.

This is what has worked for me, and for the most part, has been totally sustainable for 3.5 years. It was only depression that derailed me and now, I have a plan for that too.

Even the mere idea of following a prescribed diet has me balking at the idea. Like, "Who are YOU to tell ME how to eat?" But more, I don't trust any authority with food recommendations because what I've learned is that we still don't know SO MUCH about dietary needs. But also, I don't think I could follow someone else's diet and be able to stick to it. I would find it too restrictive for me. I would feel like I was cheating or failing if I couldn't follow it to a T. I just don't need it and would find it a hindrance.

Yet, I know a lot of people who need to be told what to do. It's why those diets that come with meals are so popular - Jenny Craig, Ideal Protein, etc. It takes all thinking out of it. Just do this and X will happen. Somehow, you need to figure out how to eat once you go off the program, but maintenance on ANY diet has that aspect of it.

I don't even think it's that people don't know what's healthy eating or not, but that they feel they need someone to hold their hand through it - to lead the way for them.

It gets me to wondering if people who follow their own diet are any more successful long term than those who follow a set of rules given to them by someone else. Or the reverse? Of course, people often start out with a particular diet and then tailor it to fit their needs - more points, less points. More carbs, less carbs, etc. I don't even know if there's been studies on that! I LEARN from prescribed diets, for sure. I didn't know about low carb when I was 27, but it was easy to find information on it later. But it's interesting to think about why we flock to diets - and then ditch them too.

Like Atkins was a HUGE rage... then it disappeared. Low fat was (and still is lingering on) a huge way of living, but now is waning for high protein and high fat. Paleo is now huge and will fade. it's always a cycle of diets coming in and out of fashion and people jump on the band wagon and jump off.  Why is that? is the problem of being too strict to follow? Or that it's trying to make all people fit into the same peg hole?  And why do people try a diet, have success at it, quit and then never try it again? Because you quit there was a problem with the diet? Or, was there a problem ELSEWHERE - like in your head?

It's interesting and the more I think about it all, the more questions I have.