I count calories and I try to follow the principles of Barbara Rolls' Volumetric books. Her books appeal to me because I like to eat a full plate of food and she shows how to do this.
Changing one's eating style is very difficult. I am left handed and back in the very dark ages, various teachers tried to make me right handed. I could do it for a while, but in times of relaxation or stress would revert back. For me, it is the same thing with eating habits. Without constant vigilance, I tend to revert to the known, the comfortable and the easiest.
As others have stated, I count calories using MyFitnessPal. Due to some medical issues (PCOS) and the way I seem to function, I do better and feel more satisfied on a lower carb, moderate fat, higher protein diet. Even complex carbs can make me hungry and rage like a she-bear protecting cubs, but instead of cubs it's a piece of bread.
You may try counting calories and see what works for you. If you have a high carb breakfast like oatmeal in the morning and find it's not keeping you full, switch it up and try high protein like an omlette and see if that gets you through the morning.
As LockItUp stated, it's so flexible which is why it works for so many people. It's just the foundation and you build the rest to fit your profile.
I can't calorie count, it starts off fine but then I start venturing into eating disorder territory because I start trying to see how much under I can eat. I wind up doing the same thing with Weight Watchers and counting points. Counting stuff is not for me.
I basically do low carb, no grains. I eat eggs, meat, fish and veggies during the week, as much as I want.. sometimes with cheese, an almond milk protein shake, peanut butter or a chickpea flour crepe thrown in. I don't have too much variety because trying to find variety will often derail me. Plus I don't get bored with my food too often. On Saturdays I eat anything I want. I have rejected the idea that I need to eat at meals times and only eat when I'm actually hungry. I generally lose between 1.5 and 3lbs a week this way.
I also run 3 days a week and lift heavy weights two days a week.
It's hard to figure out what works best for you. For years I thought I was bad at dieting because calorie counting did not work in the long run for me and I'd avoid dieting because "I just can't do it." Turns out that I can lose weight, just not by counting things.
I just count calories. I look online sometimes and get "healthy" ideas and tweak them to my lifestyle which makes it easier for me. I posted a couple weeks ago on here about how busy I am and I literally don't have time to sit there and cook a full breakfast/lunch/dinner. So I really have to be careful. When I can't determine how many calories are in something (say I come home and my parents already made dinner and I don't think it's as healthy as it could be) I just take smaller portions and try to the best of my ability to determine what is in it. I searched for HOURS one day to find a diet suitable for me and I just couldn't find anything. The things I found, it either was the easiest diet, but I hated everything they listed, or I loved everything they had, but it involved to much. I think counting calories and looking online for healthy things and tweaking them are soooo much easier than trying to stay on an exact diet.
However, you have to figure out what is going to work for you. We are all different.
Whatever you choose, I feel that you need to journal/track/weigh in and then use the info to help you make better choices moving forward. There is no failure, only feedback!
And it needs to be a lifestyle you can live with, that is most of the time being on plan, but allows for flexibility. No one can be perfect every day!
I agree with this. You have to find what is right for YOU. Personally, while I am disciplined in certain ways (i.e. limiting my carbs, portions, and cutting out junk food, etc. from my diet), I am not disciplined about other things. I don't believe that a plan like WW or calorie counting would work for me because I am too lazy to keep track of the points and calories! So, a low carb - paleo-type - diet works for me because its just easy for me to do. But its not only about finding something that you can do. It has to be something that you can stick with for the long term. Anybody could follow just about any type of plan for a short time. But where so many of us have eventually failed in the past is that we fell off the wagon at some point or did not maintain once we reached our goal. I know that the key to my long term success will be viewing this as a complete change in my eating lifestyle, not just a temporary change in diet to achieve a short term goal. It has taken me YEARS, and repeated bouts of losing and gaining, to figure this out. Hopefully I finally DO have it figured out!
I really hate the word "diet" because I look at it more as a lifestyle change. I don't particularly like following any type of "diet" because I don't like being restricted to what I can and cannot have. I'm a stubborn person naturally and I just KNOW that following a "diet" will not work for me lol.
With that said...I am a calorie counter and it has changed my life. Sometimes I would get frustrated with it and stop. Once I did that I went overboard and gained weight back. With calorie counting I know exactly what I'm eating. I like to find low calorie foods that I can eat a lot of and still be under my allowance. I use the calorie counter app by Fatsecret and I like seeing my breakdown of carbs, protein, fiber, sodium, etc.
Once I was able to get my calories down under control I started focusing on the other stuff. I started with my carbs first, getting it down to a healthy range. Once I did that I worked on protein and fiber. Now I am working on sodium. I choose to get one thing under control at a time so I won't get overwhelmed. I really hope you find something that helps!
I like to count calories. I started keeping track by writing everything down and after 6 months I felt I didn't need to do that anymore, but I think I need to dust if off and start again. I am finding that bad habits/foods are starting to creep back in.
I have never found a diet i could stick with consistently for more than a couple of months. This time, however, i am determined to make it stick. So i am practicing everything in moderation. No banned foods. Just old fashioned calorie counting--but not very low calorie level. Only a very small deficit. I am losing weight very slowly and i plan to continue on this path.
I think that one of the things that is helpful in any diet for people who have issues with still being hungry after eating their allotted calories, points, carbs ... or whatever unit of measurement one is using to restrict their intake of certain foods... is to eat a salad or whatever "free foods" that those diets allow. I have a salad just about every day. Sometimes it is my lunch and/or dinner, and sometimes I have them in addition to lunch and/or dinner. But they tend to make sure I am not hungry after eating a meal. That reduces the temptation to eat too much of the food that is not unrestricted. My typical lunch will consist mainly of one of those 5oz bags of the pre-washed spring mix salad. Its 30 calories for the entire bag. I use a low calorie, low carb dressing (I like the Ken's Northern Italian Lite), and mix in some veggies and a protein (usually turkey, grilled chicken or tuna).
I second what joefla70 says. I eat huge salads with all kinds of veggies and Trader Joe's low cal dressings. Sometimes I add chicken breast or hard boiled eggs and make a meal of it.
I also buy 5.5 lb bags of Costco frozen stir fry veggies. When I have something like spaghetti and meat sauce, I add about a cup and a half of these veggies to the whole thing. It really makes the pasta dish fill the plate and tastes good, too.
My mother has lost over 200 pounds two years ago and she's kept it off. People will often ask how she did it and her response is always, "Cutting back and exercise." She knew it had to be a permanent lifestyle change. She couldn't eat diet foods, and she couldn't say, "I'll never have this again or that again." She kept eating what she had always eaten, she just made the portion sizes smaller. She started exercising but only for about 30 minutes a day because that's something she knew she could maintain for a long time.
