[milmin2043]

Is there anyone here who has lost substantial weight with their own plan?

I tried Weight Watchers, Calorie Counting, Atkins, lo-carb, SB, Alli, practically every single plan in the past. I was successful at losing a little on each of them but found each of them to be either too restrictive, too boring, or made my OCD kick in full force.

This time around I have developed my own plan. I estimate the amount of calories I eat now by eye-balling, etc. I no longer write things down or keep track of points because I know me, and I knew I couldn't keep it up for a life time. When people say they write down every single thing they eat, I am amazed. It drove me nuts after a while.

Now, I have bounced around A LOT over the years, and I am still just about 20 lbs. from goal. But, I need to start thinking now about maintenance because I know that I will reach it.

I guess what I'm asking is, has anyone been successful with losing and maintenance without all of the plans we hear so much about? Or, am I just kidding myself? If you have, I would really love to hear about it.

Thank you.

[maalisse]

It all depends on your personality & your needs. Personally, I'm almost always hungry (even after a huge meal), so I need to keep a running tally/approx of my calories going at all times to keep my portions in check. I still lose when I'm approximating instead of tracking everything, but I find I lose much faster if I'm tracking as closely as I can. When I was maintaining, I mostly estimated approximates, but I checked in with my FitDay every month or so to make sure that my maintenance calories weren't creeping up. (When I started ignoring it entirely is when I started to get outta control, and now I'm back here to lose the 10 lb I gained back!)

So, in my case: I will have to be on some sort of plan for the rest of my life, but it doesn't have to be nearly as strict, so long as I'm keeping an eye on things. Your mileage may vary!

[Robsia]

Well, calorie counting isn't a prescribed 'plan' so much - it's just knowing your caloric limit for losing weight and sticking to it.

But for me I know I can't lose weight without writing it down, otherwise I cheat.

But I don't consider that I followed a plan as such, other than my own. I can have anything I want, provided I stay within my self-imposed limits.

[starbrite]

Yes - 110lbs on my own plan. I low carb, but unlike Atkins I also low fat. Unlike Dukan I allow myself wine because it is my treat. I have been rigid about sticking to the plan I made because this time I want to succeed. I think weight loss is about essentially finding the way that suits you, and allows you to feel full, satisfied and well nourished, without giving up all the things you like and that make you happy. For me it's wine, for someone else it could be chocolate. I have also drunk loads of water and posted here every day. That gives me the accountability I need to face the ups and downs that there are in weight loss. I also talk about my success and failure to those that ask. I have also weighed in daily and charted the fluctuations that are part of a monthly cycle - I can now almost predict gains and losses (If I am 100% OP- which I have been all along)

[krampus]

Totally. I've never even tried to get involved with any established "programs." I'd consider myself a "calorie estimator" - I track what I eat in my head and make guesses on the calories. It's probably not accurate, but for me just keeping track of what I eat and realizing how quickly little things add up is what's led me to success.

[shannonmb]

I do what Krampus does. At first I figured up my calories at the end of the day more formally, but by now I have a pretty good idea of how many calories are in stuff I regularly eat and know how much I can have. When I go out to eat, I do try often to choose ahead of time and look up the calories, but I mostly estimate in my normal life.

I imagine I could lose a little faster if I were more vigilant and counted every lick, taste, morsel. And I know that if I start to stall, I would benefit from tracking more closely. But I'm happy with my pace right now (78lbs ~8 months), and I'm pretty confident I can keep doing what I'm doing long term. Tweaking in the future may be necessary, and I'm completely fine with that.

[PopcornGirl]

I have tried mixing protein shakes with some meals around, carbs free of course...And that way I have learn to make cauliflower rice, mash etc to make feel I’m eating carbs but I'm not. I will probably share some low carb recipes later on.
Anyways, I tried many things, but to be honest the best is to keep your lips together. lol

This time, if by June I lost what I wanted, I will get 1000 in new clothes, Just to make me positive about it hehe! :P

[JessLess]

I don't know if 46 is significant, but it sounds like I do what starbrite does. Low carbs, no white carbs, low fat. I use portion control but I don't count calories. I also weight-train and do cardio 3x a week. Foods that I used to binge on are not allowed in the house. It's been working well for me, I'm very happy with it. I rarely feel hungry or deprived. And as a bonus I have been off of Phentermine for a couple of weeks now and am still slowly losing.

[MissFuchsia]

I've lost over 60lbs doing my own plan. I've tried so many diet plans including WW but I can't stick to anything for more than a week. When (if) I get to my goal weight I want to be able to maintain it, so I just try to keep it simple. I have to keep track of what I've eaten or I'll convince myself I haven't eaten that much so can have a treat.

[Eliana]

This is one of those things I'm almost afraid to talk about around here, like it's my guilty little secret. Yes, I'm a big time estimator!! LOL! I'm amazed daily at the diligence so many of the folks on this board have!!

Milmin, I needed something sustainable too, and journalling isn't it for me. It's just another thing that can get too complicated so I would give it up. From the beginning I have pretty much eaten 6 meals of equal caloric value. In the beginning I was precise about how many calories were in each meal, but I never wrote it down. Now I estimate. I measure now and then because of possible calorie creep and you know what? I'm really bad at giving myself too SMALL a portion! I'm extra cautious because of my method.

And yep, I've had great success!

But...I don't have many of the issues associate with obesity, like binge eating, addictions, etc.

[saef]

I've lost over 105 pounds on my own plan, and have been keeping it off.

In some ways, I'm pretty strict: No "treats" of the kind that I used to eat. No cake, no pie, no chips, no cookies,no ice cream, no frozen meals, nearly no processed foods. None, never. Not even for special occasions. Nothing over the holidays.

I avoid white flour & sugar.

In some ways, I'm indulgent. I don't count calories. I make my own 100% whole wheat bread & will eat two thin slices at breakfast for days at a time, till the loaf is gone. If I'm hungry, I'll eat: I am afraid of letting myself go hungry, because of having gone through an eating disorder, when I prided myself on toughing it out through hunger pangs for hours & hours. I never want to be like that again. So if I'm hungry, and meal-time isn't anywhere near, I'm scrounging for apples, oranges, and always a bit of protein with them. I eat nuts often & I don't count them out or weigh them, just take "enough." Also, I don't have issues with artificial sweeteners, and alternate between Splenda & Stevia. Some days I'll drink two cans of Diet Pepsi, other days, none at all. I drink black artificially sweetened coffee.

I cook my own food nearly all the time, and my food is heavily into vegetables & plant-based stuff.

But I read constantly online & elsewhere, trying to learn more about nutrition & certain diets. I get recipes from South Beach a lot. I'm interested in findings of low-glycemic diets. I even dip into the Atkins canon from time to time. I'm always looking for more information & for recipes. I like to eat fish at least two nights a week. I like to eat something that uses beans or lentils at least once a week, usually more. But that could mean that, a few days later, I'll be eating grilled, marinated flank steak or butterflying & stuffing & rolling up a pork loin.

There is no way to codify all this, but there is an intent behind it, and that's trying mainly for whole foods -- though with artificial sweeteners helping me along, for which I am unrepentant, I'm afraid -- and cooking my own, and eating raw often, and eating a variety of foods.

I do it this way because I am haunted by the ghost of a past eating disorder & a history of obsessiveness & compulsive behavior. The way I've learned to trick myself out of lapsing back into that -- numbers, numbers, numbers, numbers all the time, monitoring, recording, always feeling like it's never enough -- is to throw variety at myself & to not adhere rigidly to a doctrine or to counting or to phases.

People who do not have my issues & history are unquestionably well-served by counting, monitoring, following the rules of a particular diet.

I am not them. Something in me has a factory defect. I have to work with what I've got.

Also, I'd better add that I am in the gym constantly, every day of the week, sometimes up to two hours straight. I do spin, elliptical & arc trainer, Pilates, circuit training & lifting. That undoubtedly gives me a margin of error in my portion & eyeballing strategy (or non-strategy, if you will).

[Eliana]

Originally Posted by saef

I am not them. Something in me has a factory defect. I have to work with what I've got.

I feel like I know enough about you from reading so many of your posts that you don't mean this harshly, but it still hurt to read it. You're not defective! You know that. You just know what you have to work with. You're no more defective than any of the rest of us. We all have something for which such-an-such plan won't work.

[Rana]

Personally, I think most "diet plans" have to end up being unique plans to the individual that makes them work.

I'm on my own "diet plan" but I take bits and pieces of what I know have worked for me that other diets might propose.

I have IR and PCOS, so I know that my diet can't be refined carb heavy even if I have the calories for it! So, I calorie count but it's focused on making sure I am getting enough protein and fats in my diet and less on the carbs.

All calorie counting is estimating, I think it just depends on how much room for error you're willing to have. Because PCOS is such a pain in the ***, I can't do it in my head and guesstimate what might be the number of calories, because I will start gaining if I am eating more than X amounts.

In my own little hybrid plan developed by trial and error based on a lot of self-awareness of what was working and what I was doing (or not) when I was gaining/maintaining.

[Shmead]

I consider myself to have my own plan, even though I am a very strict calorie counter. I do record everything I eat, and I do weigh almost everything. But that alone was never enough for me to lose weight: I had to also go high protein (which is effectively low carb), high fiber (I think I eat more bran than anyone else in the universe), high calorie. I don't do LC well, or rather, I do it too well, with no breaks, for a long, long time until I crack, and then once I crack I dread it so badly that I can't go back. So I stick to a high calorie plan and lose surprisingly well (over 2 lbs a week for much of my gung-ho phase), and I don't need tons of willpower, I don't dread my life.

High calorie involves more precise recording/weighing because there isn't much room for going over. Furthermore, for me, if I estimated I'd feel guilty and be second guessing myself all the time: "Is that really half a cup, or do you just want it to be half a cup?". It would eat at me, distract me all day. Strict weighing and recording gives me confidence.

[CherryPie99]

I am one of those people who never in my life made any effort to lose weight before last February. And so when I started I made the statement that I would eat less and move more. The only thing that I completely eliminated from my diet was soda. Before I drank 2-3 Mountain Dews per day and now zero - ever. I don't have a sweet tooth at all, so that wasn't one of my challenges. I do however LOVE breads. So I bought oat and whole grain breads rather then my beloved potato bread.

I never gave a thought to calories until about 3 months ago. I had no idea how many calories I was eating, but I knew I was eating less then usual.

I started out with light exercise and now exercise almost every day of the week and, according to my heart monitor, I typically burn somewhere around 700 calories per day (sometimes more and sometimes less).

So I would call this my own plan and I was down 86 pounds when I weighed myself last night.