what do you think of my coworker's weight loss secret
 

Like almost all of us, I am trying to lead a healthier lifestyle....this time the word >life< is the emphasis. I have decided to start moving more( walking and running) and to start eating less ( calorie counting, eating less crap I can't pronounce the ingredients of).

One coworker lost a lot of weight. How did they do it? She said that she cut her portions in half and cut way down on carb servings. Rather than a few carbs per meal, it was a few carbs per day. Then she just moved more. Didn't log or track it, just ran when she could have walked, parked far away, took the stairs, ect.

It almost seems too easy. Maybe because it's in simpler terms? Essentially it is calories in vrs cals out, but it seems almost -too- simple...

Imput appreciated-

OG

It is that simple ... not easy ... simple.

Every diet is just some variation on the theme of eating less and, hopefully, moving more. Anything else is trimming, personalization, interest and so on.

Portion control is similar to calorie control. I don't worry about carbs so much because I know my carbs are coming from whole foods rather than processed junk. I think you are definately on the right track (lower calories and eating less crap and moving more). Changing plate size is one way to help keep those calories low. I've employed that one myself many times! As for the carbs--if you want to cut them, go ahead, but if you decide to eat an apple, which is full of carbs, don't hit yourself. Apples are good for you! And, BTW, you have come a LONG WAY! Congratulations! I think the last few pounds are somewhat harder than the first and those in the middle. I don't know who said this, but think of pounds in relation to a roll of paper towels. The bigger the roll, the towel doesn't even go all the way around, so it comes off easier. Toward the end of the roll, the towel goes around several times and it is harder to remove. Weird, but it makes sense.

That's basically what I'm doing now, and it's no secret that eating less and exercising more will result in weight loss.

I tried, but I can't count calories or points. I'm one of those people who will both become obsessed with it and rebel against it at the same time. A diet can't run my life or I'm going to go crazy if I have to count this or that at each meal. More accurately, it upsets my eating disorder. So I'm doing the same thing she's doing.

I think your coworker has it right and it really can be that simple.

There is a website out there somewhere that lists things you can do daily to incease your movement, like she was talkin about taking stairs and parking farther away. One list I know of includes dietary tips as well: http://www.smallstep.gov/sm_steps/sm_steps_index.html

I completely agree with SusanB. Weight loss is simple, but not easy. I confused simple with easy for a long time. I confused simple with "fair" for a long time too.
Anytime you cut your portions and start eating more whole foods, in addition to upping your activity, you will lose. You may need to follow some stricter guidlines if you want the loss to be faster, but these basic things are the core steps to weight loss.

It sounds like a pretty good method. On "The Step Diet" they encourage you to get those famous 10,000 steps logged every day and to eat only 75% of everything you take.

I try to do the 75% thing. Watever goes on my plate [or on my dashboard] loses 25% to my doggy...

ipa

I think she chose the right way to lose weight for HER. I also know that cutting portions helps no matter which route is taken. I also did Low Carb and am still doing it. Works wonders for me. (At times I've had as low as 8 carbs per day and usually closer to 30). If I want fruit, I eat it. If I want Oats, a sweet potato or some LC wheat bread, I eat it. It hasn't hurt my wt. loss. Even small amt. of exercise, from a previously sedentary person can have great results.

One thing about portion size ... for about three weeks now I have eaten a normal sized portion for everything (and I would normally eat twice or three times the amount) ... and the other night I ended up eating a double portion of potatoes because I starved all afternoon (didn't take a snack to school).

And, I was in so much pain afterward ... which was truly amazing, because a few weeks ago I literally could have eaten twice what I did (ie 4 portions).