Hello all!
It's been a very long while since I have posted. And I just went back into weight loss mode a month ago, and have lost 19 pounds. 190 to 171. I thought someone might be interested in what I am doing.

For info, I initially went from 320 lb to 160 lb about 8 years ago, had a couple kids and regained and lost weight in the interim. All that to say my metabolism is le wonky.

No breakfast - not a breakfast person never have been, do have lots of coffee and water

Lunch at noon - bed of lettuce romaine, iceberg, celery with a 1/2 pound of a high fat meat, and a 1/2 cup of black beans on top. (Typically 80/20 hamburger)

Dinner around 5:30 (small children we eat early) same as lunch

Dessert around 9:00 - as much ice cream as I want, usually about a 1.25 cups.

Drinking lots and lots of water and coffee


Yep that's a pound of meat a day.

Hope this is useful for someone

While that may be helping you to lose weight I'd be concerned about nutrition. I'm not seeing how you're able to get an adequate balance and variety of nutrients and minerals with that diet.

"Le wonky" - love it! Congrats on finding a system that works for you. That's what any successful dieter's number one job/goal is.

I'm a big fan of meat myself, and feel that it benefits the body greatly. As long as it's natural, the body recognizes it and puts it to good use.

I agree to a point, Leah, but I have seen a lot worse eating plans. There should be a bigger variety of veggies and meat. Actually, black beans have a lot of nutrition that many people overlook.

She seems to be following somewhat of a low carb/high fat plan with intermittent fasting. I don't know where the ice cream fits in, but if it's helping her lose, I say go for it.

Analystbyday, WTG on finding and staying on your plan, not to mention amazing progress! WOW!

Fast weight loss is rewarding, and reward is critical to the success of a diet, imo. In my experience, it's a race to get to goal before I become bored with my regimen. Boredom/burnout is the ultimate diet killer.

Fwiw, I'd suggest having something in the wings for if and when you become tired of this WOE, and also for long term maintenance.

The trouble with sharing what works for you is just that: it works for you.

Everyone has a different body chemistry and what works for you might not work for everyone else. That's a dangerous road to go down.

Congrats on finding something that works and good luck on your journey!

Thanks for the feedback all.
I guess I should have listed that I know this is a for now, and not a forever way of eating. When I eat in the varied balanced way, which is my norm, I gain weight, again this is the way my body reacts to a balanced eating plan. so once a year I do the work and lose the 20-30 pounds I gained. As I am getting older and have had a hysterectomy these things have gotten harder.

Typically the amount of mental energy I need to extend to losing weight is exhausting in itself. Counting calories etc. For some reason, this for me is essentially thoughtless. I think it is because the balance of fat and protein during the day is so high I don't get hungry, and then I have a treat at night so I don't feel deprived. I am a strong believer in community so I eat in moderation when I have food with people, aiming for something similar to my daily routine, but being fine if it's not exact, because I would rather focus on who I am with than what I am eating.

I understand this may have a very limited audience who could find it useful, but as I also want to hear what others try, i didn't think it out of line to share what I do.

And out of curiosity from people's concerns I posted it in a nutrition calculator, and it is actually pretty nutritionally dense. And at the end of the day it is even parts of about 103 grams each of protein fat and carbs. Clocking in At about 1750 cal, where usually I have to drop to 700 calories to lose weight. Again, useful for me.

Hi Analystbyday,

on finding what works for you. That's why we are here to bounce ideas and share our experiences with others. I was delighted to read your post. I always like hearing success stories.

I'm a very positive person and always look for the good in any situation. So welcome and I look forward to hearing about your journey. By the way, I'm still trying to figure out what works for me

Analyst, congrats on the loss! And it's totally appropriate for you to share your diet! It may or may not work for others but there may be some who want to give it a go. Skipping breakfast works very well for some people. Salad, meat, and black beans is high protein and low carb. And although ice cream is questionable from a nutritional standpoint because of the sugar, it actually has a low glycemic index number so I'm not surprised it's working with your weight loss plan. Besides, you're not eating it for its nutritional value; you're eating it because it's a yummy treat, which works for you! Especially knowing that this is not your usual pattern of balanced eating, but just a yearly weight loss plan to help you maintain, makes me say