Well I`m doing my own plan but it like any other diet counting calories eatting only lean protein,vegetables and 1 bite of sweet once a month. Only thing new im doing now is taking roxylean fat burner since I was told it helps with my work out at planet fitness.

Lost total of 50 lbs from just exercise and counting my calories

My workout is one hour of cardio one day and next day I do one hour of cardio and strength exercise

Doing what has worked for me in the past~
Counting calories ... low carb ... low fat ... lean protein.

I go for a two-mile or longer walk every day (this is up from zero miles per day), and I only eat two meals a day, a small breakfast and a bigger dinner usually, with healthy snacks in between.

It has never been as simple as following a few rules for me, though. I found it important to set myself up with easy exercise opportunities, healthy relationships and boundaries with people, and the personal resources to change my habits. I find it helpful to be flexible and open-minded to trying new things. I always thought I would be sedentary, even if I was a thin person. All that changed when I bought a house and learned the manual (i.e., less expensive) methods of lawn care. And then after never identifying myself as a dog person, I got a dog. It was more for reasons of personal safety, but she has certainly infused exercise into my schedule!

I was reading so intensively!

I don't count calories, it doesn't really work for me. Instead, I have become really aware with what I am eating and the size of my portions. I eat healthy foods (i.e. fruits and vegetables), healthy fats (i.e. avocados) and if I want something delicious, like a muffin, I make healthy alternatives. Everyone is different, and perhaps further down the track I may count calories if I hit a plateau.

The diet plan that works best for me is 1) I never eat anything with sugar in it. 2) I only eat healthy foods. 3) I am a vegetarian 4) I drink smoothies with chia seeds in them...I've lost a lot of weight...I never count calories

I literally have tried every diet out there, and probably numerous times.....so this time, which is working.....I am watching what I eat, portions, lots of fruit, lots of vegetables, protein beef, chicken, tuna, pork... and if I want a sweet I have one, BUT, the size of the sweet is probably 2 fork fulls, and yes for once I am satisfied. I also drink only water all day with 1 cup of coffee in the morning.

It is working for me and I made it a point to do it this way because I want this to be a lifetime change. I have to cook everynight, husband, 3 teenage boys, so there is food in the house all the time, but how I approach food now seems to be the total difference. It is truly life changing and I realize that this is how it will be the rest of my life!!

Ian! I've been really impressed with your steady and consistent weight loss. I've also been impressed and interested in how you approach your diet. It seems like you've achieved that wonderful balance between healthful eating and not sacrificing everything you love i.e. beer I do have a few questions regarding your approach:

Like you, I love a big, green salad with protein. And of course there are countless ways to prepare a healthy salad. With that stated, do you ever get bored with a lunch salad or do you see yourself switching this up at some point in the future?

How long did it take you to acclimate to your light breakfast, healthy salad, and no dinner routine? Has this always been your plan or did you experiment to find what works for you? Most days I do have a healthy salad for lunch that keeps me full until dinner and beyond. Yet, I still find myself eating dinner and at this point I think this is working against me. I think my fear is that I'm going to be ravenous come morning if I DON'T eat dinner. I've never tested the theory so I can honestly say I'm not sure.

Finally, your workouts seem intense. Has there been any noticeable impact on how you physically feel? By this I mean, do you ever feel extra hungry on days that you lift, or lightheaded because you maybe haven't eaten enough? Do you ever struggle during a workout because you're at a calorie deficit?

Thanks for being such a great motivator!

I agree completely. The more I become aware of situations that derail me, the more apt I am to stay on plan. For instance, I now accept that---at least for this point in my life---I cannot have treats at home. If I have them, I will eat them immoderately. For the most part, if I can resist buying them when I grocery shop, I'm in good shape. Today, for example, I resisted buying pretzel rods and Nature's Valley peanut butter granola bars. However, I did not resist buying Talenti Gelato covered pops (dark chocolate over sea salt caramel). I had realized some time back that I cannot have a pint of their sea-salt caramel gelato in the house because I eat it in one sitting. However, because these were the bars (& only 170 calories each), I talked myself into buying them, believing that I could eat them moderately. Wrong. I ate all three just this afternoon (and I was supposed to limit myself to just one tonight). So, I am much better off keeping that stuff out of my house and just eating that sort of thing outside of the house in small portions.


To the OP, I also calorie count and have been doing so since June 2011. I do not find it tedious as some do. What has made it much easier is using a smartphone app to enter it.

I've been doing well for over 4 years now. Different things have worked for me at different points.

In the beginning, I didn't need to be that strict calorie-wise. Mainly what I did was...
~ A little exercise: walked 3.5 miles 4-5 times a week.
~ Focused on eating a diet that kept my blood sugar steady.
~ Ate more fruits and veg. I've always loved them, but I made it a point to eat 5+ servings a day.
~ Nerding out on nutrition research to learn which foods could make me feel best. Then I made it almost like a game to get as many of those foods in me belly on a regular basis.
~ Checked labels for fiber and sugar grams. I preferred 5g+ for fiber and under 10g for sugar in processed foods. Exceptions were made.

Most of my weight came off during this time. I went from a size 12/10 to a 4.

Then I went down to a size 2 by doing more intense exercise and calorie counting.

I put on a few pounds after I became less active and careless about calories. So now I'm focusing on exercise and staying aware of calories. I don't desire to get down to my lowest weight (103'ish) but would like to be 106-109. I feel best at that weight. I know those numbers sound v low, but I'm only 4'11" and it works on my frame.

For me it depended on where I was at in life to what plan worked for me. I started with a very low calorie plan and I'd do that mon-fri and take the weekends off, that shed 45 lbs.. then I switched to more exercise and more calories, that took off another 10 lbs and now that I'm just 10 lbs from goal I'm doing the IE (intuitive eating) plan and I've shed several more lbs by simply tuning into my body, only eating when truly hungry and only eating what I'm truly hungry for which has been a life saver for me. Now that I have found IE I'll NEVER go back to a structured diet again, I'm having to re-learn my own body signals and throw out my diet mentality but it's been so freeing and the scale is once again my friend