I lost a lot of weight a couple of years ago just by eating healthily with sensible portion sizes using no particular diet plan. I have never tried counting calories, and the low fat or low carb diets made me feel really tired.

This is the plan I followed.

Breakfast: Porridge (sometimes with dried fruit on top, but more often not).

Lunch: a small amount of chicken, a lot of salad with nuts and seeds on top, and a piece of fruit. Sometimes I would have soup, bread and fruit instead.

Dinner: healthily cooked meat/fish with a small portion of carbohydrates (pasta/potatoes/cous cous/bulgar wheat etc) and lots of veggies. I wouldn't usually have a pudding.

In the early stages of the diet I had planned snacks in the mid-morning and when I got home from work such as a piece of malt loaf, fruit and nuts, small bag of plain popcorn. I later cut these out when I hit a plateau.

Other than my fatal flaw (crisps / chips) I could eat any food, but in moderation. I could have that sticky pudding when I go out to a restaurant with friends, or have a takeaway meal, but the next day I would have to cut back somewhere to compensate. However, I would never miss a meal because then I would feel hungry and tempted to binge.

I planned to eat oily fish, nuts, seeds, veggies and fruit because they are all good for you, but I would eat the fattier of these foods in moderation. UNlike other diets I tried in the past, with this plan I didn't have cravings (I think because I was eating so well), and I consistently lost weight.


Now that I am back to my highest weight, I am thinking of doing the same kind of diet again. Is anyone else out there doing something similar?

Pachy... I am turning over a new leaf this week... My weight crept up this winter and I was following WW Flex Points in order to lose.. For two strict weeks I counted points and my weight didn't come down.

I am changing to eating what I want, but making healthy choices and listening to my stomach. I found on WW I was eating because I had "points" left over and found myself eating when I was full...

The new show "I can make you thin" has inspired me...

I'll check in at the end of the week and let you know how I am doing...

HI, Yes, that is the diet I am on also. I am at goal weight now, but intend to eat this way forever. I think it's a healthy diet and that is my intent. I try to eat when I am hungry and stop when I'm full. I do have treats. I think putting anything off limits just makes you want them that much more.

I am glad that there are others out there like me! Both of you sound like you are either at or near to your goal weights which is fantastic - well done!

I liked this way of eating before because I thought of it as more "normal" eating, something that would just continue into maintaining. Certainly the people I know who are slim all eat like this - they can just eat more every day than I can while I am trying to lose!

Maybe we should have our own thread here for our kind of lifestyle choice...

That's also what I do. I do count my calories just to keep track, but I don't choose my foods necessarily by what fits in some calorie plan.

I eat lots of lean meat, whole grains, healthy fats (olive oil, sunflower seeds, almonds, etc.), lots of veggies (cooked as little as possible), lots of fruit. I try to avoid processed food whenever possible - and since I don't like frozen meals / tv dinners anyway, that's fairly easy.

There are things that I try to eat organic when I can but mostly I just try to eat the freshest food I can.

.

Pachyderm,

This is what I have been doing. It has taken me a LONG time to take off the weight that I have lost, because I did slip off the wagon for awhile when I was working a job where long days and very little activity were the standard.
I have now fallen into what I feel is a more "natural" way to eat - I make sure I'm getting in all of my meals, I am rarely hungry, and I rarely eat processed foods. I find I am fuller faster, and my portions are definitely more than sensible and I am still losing weight! (I have upped my activity recently now that I am not working 60+ hours a week and commuting another 20 on top of that)
I feel better every day that I don't eat junk, and the few times i've been tempted i've found that the "fake" food just does not taste good anymore at all.
I don't count my calories, but I would estimate that I eat about 2000 a day on days when I am more active - doing more at work, or on a day when I do a lot of exercise, and I cut back a little when I'm not that active. my body tells me I don't need it, so i don't have it.. and it's working so well!

Pachyderm... here are some of the focus points to that book/show "I Can Make you Thin" - It's working for me.. So far this week I've felt better and much more in control..

1.) When You Are Hungry, Go Eat!
I’ll summarize a few of his statements -
Physical and emotional hunger are different -
Don’t starve yourself -
Stay between 3 and 7 on the ‘Hunger Scale’
1. Physically faint
2. Ravenous
3. Fairly Hungry
4. Slightly Hungry
5. Neutral
6. Satisfied
7. Full
8. Stuffed
9. Bloated
10. Nauseous
Starving does not work - too much guilt - we start ourselves throughout the ‘day’ and then ‘binge at night’
Metabolism is important -
TELL YOUR BODY THAT YOU ARE NOT GOING TO STARVE IT AND THAT YOU ARE GOING TO GIVE IT ENOUGH FOOD
2.) Eat What You Want
OK, I’ll summarize a few things he said about “eat what you want”
Eat what you want, not what you think you ’should’ -
When we eat what we want, we stop depriving ourselves -


3.) Eat Consciously!
Again, I’ll summarize a few of the points he makes -
People who overeat ‘think’ about food all the time, but, when it comes ‘time’ to eat, they ’shovel food’ into their mouths -
Eat slowly, think about each and every food -
Chew the food and think about it -
Like when we ‘drive’ on the freeway, when we get ‘on an on-ramp’, we realize how fast we’ve been driving -
Eating consciously - slowly, no distractions, enjoying the food - allows us to actually feel ‘full’ when we are -
Eat at a quarter of the speed that you normal eat at -


4.) When You’re Full, Stop Eating!
I’ll summarize a few of Paul’s thoughts -
The more you listen to the ‘full’ signal, the better you’ll feel -
We decide how much we want from what we see, not from how we feel -
Our stomach will tell us how much to eat -

yep, yep, yep. I've tried ever so many published "diet plans" and a lot of them actually worked for the short term but on almost all of them I was thinking "I can't wait until this is over because I never want to see another squash (or brussel sprout or whatever) as long as I live" or, as soon as I lost a few pounds got complacent and headed straight for the convenience (chemical laden, overprocessed) foods at the grocery store or the drive through at whatever fast food place was on the way home so I always ended up gaining back any weight I had lost - and then some.

This time around I've completely redirected my thinking about food and become an avid label reader. Not to say I haven't taken a few points here and there from a lot of those diet books I've invested in over the years but I'm modifying them to fit me and my tastes rather than trying to modify me to fit them. For the most part I'm just going for whole foods. I'm picking the foods I actually like to eat and taking responsibility for planning my own menus. This puts me in the "hot seat" so to speak and makes me be the only one accountable. If (when ) I succeed, I get the credit and if I have a setback I can't blame it on "that stupid diet". I think your plan sounds very sensible and a great place to start but you should also be open to tweaking it if necessary. You might find that you lose more steadily if you have a slightly higher percentage of protein than carbs or something. Lucky me found that if I keep the percentage of fats a little higher than the protein the scale inches down a little more smoothly (but stictly the "good" fats - I keep the saturated fats to less than 10% of my total calories) so I get to have an avocado a couple of times a week (yay)

I haven't done huge research on the "I Can Make You Thin" program (yet) and I'm sure it will work great for some people but I would be a little careful. I really like the "Eat Consciously" part - I've had issues with mindless eating in the past so I do need to focus on what I'm putting in my mouth - but, just from Marathon Mom's synopsis, I can see a couple of "red flags" that would make it another one of those "I can't do it, I give up" books for me. For example, the idea of "eat what you want" and "when you're full stop eating" scares me. For someone who has "trigger foods" that's kind of like telling an alcoholic have a shot of Jack if you want then just stop, and if you feel buzzed, don't have any more. Great idea in principal but just not not that simple so isn't going to work for everyone. (see what I mean about picking out the parts of published diet plans that are going to work for me and ignoring the parts that aren't )

Ooh dear, look, I've gone into windbag mode again. sorry
Good Luck. Come here often and let us know how your doing.

Marathon Mom I had the same problem with WW Flex Points. I did great when I first started because I had learned to eat only when hungry, but when I wasn't hungry WW said I had to use ALL my points. I didn't like that because I think it was stetching my stomach. I just don't think it is good to eat when you don't want to. Now I am trying to retrain myself to eat only when I'm hungry. I liked your "I can make you thin" rules you posted. It is a lot like Intuitive Eating. I have a list from my IE book as to what we should eat to be healthy and now instead of following a diet telling me what and how much I have to eat, I eat what I want ONLY when I am hungry. At one time I had trained myself to eat that way on my own (no diet) and lost weight. Now I am having to train myself all over again. All good diets tell us the same thing. Eat mostly grains, fruit and veggies. I also follow the Flat Belly Diet rule of using only or mostly "Good fats" with every meal. I eat what I like and nothing I don't and my grocery bill is less because I'm not buying foods just because a diet says I have to eat. My weight has started coming down again, slowly, but it is moving in the right direction. Hopefully since this time is the way I'm going to be eating for the rest of my life, it should work for me and I'll be healthy too.

Pach
Hi
I kind of do the same thing. I do have some general amounts I stay within as far as calories, fat and carbs. Most of what I am doing is eating the required amounts of the four basic food groups each day and staying within those general amounts. I don't do without a thing but I make sure I stay withing those general ranges. I even have a can of mountain dew once or twice a week , I have some kind of yummy every night. Can't live without my dew lol. I use fit day to track my food because for me, it lets me see what I still need to eat for the day to get all those foods eaten. I tend to plan what I am going to have tomorrow tonight. I eat about 6 times a day, sometimes more and I am exercising. Because there is very little time between the times I eat, I am never really hungry.

Yes, I am just "eating healthy" and what I mean by that is that I am not particularly following a specific weightloss plan. I know these plans are eating healthy too, I guess it's just the easiest way to describe that I am doing this on my own? I was following Canada Food Guide, which shows you exactly how many servings you need of each of the four food groups as a guide of what is healthy eating, (on a convenient piece of cardboard) but now that I have become accustomed to it, I don't even think about it. I've learned that I'm just not the kind of person who can write down every little morsel of food I eat or who can write down every little bit of exercise I do. I know this is a great way to be fit and healthy for so many people, but it's just an aspect of dieting that I always get bored with and I procrastinate with calculating everything, and then I get soooo behind on the calculations that I get fed up with myself and go off the diet. I get that I am still technically following a "plan" of just "healthy eating" (as it is most easily described) and three cheers for all you people who can stay on a plan, but "not dieting" has been the best thing I've ever done for myself.