[rachinma]

Has anyone quit dieting before reaching their weight loss goal, with the intention of still reaching the goal? I think I'm quitting.

My goal is still to reach a healthy BMI for my height/build, and I set out the following behaviors that should help me get there. I'm also making a conscious decision not to journal, calorie count, or whatever. This is not to knock calorie counting -- I know it works, and many people love it. I just really don't feel like doing it anymore. Maybe it will take me longer to reach my goal -- or maybe I'll totally go crazy and gain weight! -- but I'm going to give it a try.

Here are some of the behaviors that I *do* plan to focus on:

- I will pack all meals for the day in the evening or before work in the morning -- lunch & two snacks. Some lean protein with lunch.
- I plan to eat all meals at home or in the office, whenever possible.
- When I must eat out (for work obligations), I will make healthy choices or choose small portions.
- Toss all “old” veggies into a stir-fry once a week. Wasting food makes me crazy...
- I will weigh daily for accountability, but record my weight only on Monday mornings.
- I will allow myself to eat one kiddie-sized ice cream per week from the ice cream place that I love near my house. Sometimes my family gets ice cream from another place -- not my favorite. If it's not from my favorite spot, it's not work it to me!

Has anyone else had any success ditching the diet?

[bellona]

I have also ditched dieting/calorie counting now that I'm more active and finally at a healthy bmi/weight. I have been continuing to lose, but I know what choices are healthy at this point. I just don't want to be calculating down to the last calorie for the rest of my life. If I indulge one day, I really watch the next or add an extra workout in. It's been working for me for the past month. I'm still losing 1-2 pounds a week, and I'm not so obsessed with the scale/calories/numbers. Some people need to do that or they get off track, but if i weigh in a few times a week I can tell how I'm doing. I'm strict with my workouts, though. I definitely plan those!

[hpnodat]

Me, I ditched it. I feel a huge sigh of relief from it too. My new motto is "good healthy decisions and choices", and I'm doing that not just in the way that I eat but in all other aspects of my life too.

I always have a choice of what to do even if I think I don't. I'm choosing to do what is best for me. But I have to put some thought into the decision before I make the choice.

[want2bfit4me]

I don't think of it as a diet as just a healthy way of eating. Something as a type 2 diabetic is going to have to do for the rest of her life.......

[motivated chickie]

I lost the first 25 pounds with calorie counting. And I have been losing the remaining 25 without calorie counting.

It's been working fine, but the main problem is I tend to undereat. I avoid foods that make me crazy like sugar, starches, and grains, but it's hard to eat enough. I've had instances where I've probably eaten well under 1,000 calories in a day, but I didn't know that because I wasn't counting calories.

The good thing about not calorie counting is I don't obsess about numbers. Now, I tend to choose food because it's tasty and nutritious, not because it's got 5 calories.

I think it's a good idea to do regular weighing. I weigh myself every day to get a sense if I'm eating properly.

Good luck in your journey.

[d-chan]

After carb counting, calorie counting isn't so bad. Most of the time, I don't weigh or measure though. I use small bowls from a Chinese serving set and 5" dinner plates. I make sure that my lean proteins and veggies fill the plate and that tiny space left over might be for a faster carb. More fruits and whole grains (never more than one piece of bread a day a la South Beach), and low carb pitas/wraps when I can get them. My biggest problem wasn't my meals, it was all the terrible snacks like chocolate bars, cookies, ice cream, and huge helpings of bread that killed me.

I figure the counting stops when it becomes habit to eat right. It'll happen. ^_^

[souvenirdarling]

Last summer I did some serious calorie counting and lost.

This summer, I've been keeping track of my calorie totals at the end of the day, just to see if and how I went overboard and to track my habits. I never say "I'm going to only have 1400".

I have also been emphasizing healthy eating, being active, and enjoying my life

I also haven't especially been losing

[TXMary2]

Don't think of it as a diet then, think of it as a new way of living.

[QuilterInVA]

Dieting does not work in the long run. The only way to successfully lose weight and maintain the loss is to make permanent lifestyle changes in what you eat and how you exercise.

[Onederchic]

Originally Posted by QuilterInVA

Dieting does not work in the long run. The only way to successfully lose weight and maintain the loss is to make permanent lifestyle changes in what you eat and how you exercise.

I agree.

[kaplods]

I "quit dieting" a long time ago. What I do, still would look an awful lot like dieting to anyone who isn't me.

I try to keep a food journal and stick to my exchange plan, but sometimes I get distracted and don't count as carefully as I should have. I don't look at that as a slip or a failure or a reason to "star over," it's just what can happen if I get distracted by something else. Life is about imperfection. Most of our goals aren't acheived through perfection, sometimes the road to success is sloppy and filled with accidents. If I get side-tracked and forget to clean my house, or intentionally procrastinate and do something else, I don't beat myself up, accuse myself of sabotaging my efforts and secretly wanting to live in a dump. I don't see myself as doomed to live in filth, because I have a slightly messy house (or even not-so-slightly) and chose not to clean it up right away.

I think when it comes to weight loss, we often think we're doomed, if we don't follow a perfect path. The winding path can still get us there (as long as we haven't actually chosen a path that is circular, not winding).

I succeed best when I count my exchanges and log my food. That's probably going to be a goal of mine for life (or at least the foreseeable future), and although that looks a lot like "dieting" (in fact, it's indistinguishable from dieting), it's very different mentally.

I don't stress over imperfections, I don't see myself as "breaking" my diet if I'm not perfect, and I don't invision a time when this kind of attention will not be necessary (It could happen, but I'm not counting on it).

I think the dieting mentality is often fatal to weight loss. It's often so restrictive, it's hard to find enjoyable. That doesn't have to be the case at all. It's why I chose an exchange plan (and why many people choose other forms of calorie counting).

Even when I switched to low-carb primal eating as my goal, I still translated it into an exchange plan, because it doesn't feel like I've swithced to just one more different diet. Rather I'm integrating new knowledge and goals into my existing program - it feels like a smooth transition, not just one more "new diet."

When it comes to weight loss, there are a lot of opinions, and even the experts can't agree, so experimentation is all we've got. Just remember a failed experiment isn't a failure, it's a success in discovering what doesn't work.

[Shmead]

Originally Posted by QuilterInVA

Dieting does not work in the long run. The only way to successfully lose weight and maintain the loss is to make permanent lifestyle changes in what you eat and how you exercise.

I agree that those things have to change, but I think that careful calorie counting and food logging--the tools I use to change my lifestyle--would be considered "dieting" by a lot of people, and they have also been successful for a lot of people.

[girlonfire]

I gave up calorie counting when I realized that it always leads to obsessing and bingeing. Now I just pick healthy foods and eat treats in moderation. I just started this way, so I'll let you know in a few months . I do know when I was in France and not counting a calorie and eating everything that was put in front of me, I lost weight.

Dieting is too restrictive that's why I don't look at this as a diet. This is my LIFE and I want to live it. Good luck with the rest of your journey! You'll do FAB!

[Shmead]

It's really interesting to me how people find calorie counting restrictive: I find it liberating, because I KNOW. If I just think about "good" and "bad" choices, I always, always, always feel vaguely guilty about what I am eating, unless it's just lettuce and cucumbers. And I feel the same guilt for a small ice cream cone as for a chocolate brownie sundae and so I tend to go for the sundae.

It's just interesting to me how different people are from each other.

[bunnythesAINT]

Originally Posted by Shmead

It's really interesting to me how people find calorie counting restrictive: I find it liberating, because I KNOW. If I just think about "good" and "bad" choices, I always, always, always feel vaguely guilty about what I am eating, unless it's just lettuce and cucumbers. And I feel the same guilt for a small ice cream cone as for a chocolate brownie sundae and so I tend to go for the sundae.

It's just interesting to me how different people are from each other.

It was interesting to read this! I feel like people talk about how they make lifestyle changes but for me personally, calorie counting is the lifestyle change not just a weight loss tool itself.