I'm ready to throw in the towel and just do this. Just eat healthy, exercise daily and to heck with the calorie counting or following some commercial diet plan or even the rules of intuitive eating (which I know this works brilliantly for many, but to me it's just more rules)

I was irritable skipping snacks and all sweets, but my irritability has turned a bit rage-like with calorie counting. I thought I should just up my calories, but I'm finding myself making the unhealthier choice a few times a day, just because the unhealthier choice is easier to calorie count. I'm loving the exercise, love my broccoli, and avoiding greasy food is no hardship, but the rest is making me miserable.

Have you tried eating whatever you want,within reason, and portion control using your hand as measurement ? Looks like this https://goo.gl/images/iY69jG
Also hardcore exercise makes me hungry so trying to balance that as well.
Hang in there Tortie, you’ll figure it out.

Thanks, singing, it was very kind of you to respond.

My husband doesn't like the way dieting is affecting my mental health (and neither do I). We had a long chat last night and agreed, exercise is great, making healthier food choices, also great, but dieting is bad. I'm not abandoning the road to better health, just avoiding the restricting that is depleting me, and turning me into a crazy woman.

Just wondering if anyone else on 3 Fat Chicks is doing something similar. Or if a thread like this already exists, I'd love to be directed to it.

Hi tortie. Sounds like you have a solid plan that could work really well for you. I haven't seen a similar thread. I've been calorie counting and I often find it very limiting even though I like healthy cooking and working out. I'm really curious how this works for you. I might want to follow you down this path and give up calorie counting.

I do WW because just trying to make better choices was too nebulous to me. Also, I have health issues that needed to be addressed ASAP so I didn't have a long time for results to eventually happen.

I am miserable to be around when I'm starving so having zero point fruits and vegetables to base snacks around really helps.

For myself, I need a goal and guidelines, but I need a little flexibility for things like going out to eat, meeting the occasional craving, and not just running out of calories or points or carbs and having to be hungry. I am the definition of hangry.

Good luck with whatever you try.

I am doing a structured approach so I can train myself truly healthy quantities and types of food.

Dieting messes with me head too. I keep tabs on what does or does not cause problems and eat only those foods. Most of my food is carefully controlled to keep me thinking clearly, pleasant to be around, and to squelch cravings.

Almost every day I have a hard boiled egg for breakfast and some high fiber hot cereal with berries. Then for lunch I have a sandwich with a slice of cheese and some luncheon meet on half of a sandwich thin. For snack I have an apple and a wheel of lite babybel cheese. Dinner is with my husband and is far less restrictive although still controlled. It sounds restrictive and I guess it is, but I am secure knowing I won't get hungry, foggy, or emotional so this is what I eat almost every day.

It took a while to figure out what works for me though (and I might add that this plan works for me, it won't work for everyone). There was a lot of crankiness and tears until I figured out, so I feel for you. The important thing is to have a better relationship with food and your body!

Thanks for your replies, everyone, I really appreciate it.

It's an interesting discussion, I think. How much outside structure do we need, and how much is harmful. When to learn to trust our choices. How to love ourselves enough to make healthy choices for ourselves, and to know when we are conning ourselves into something unhealthy for us. And to know when an outside structure is influencing us to make poor choices.

Keep the posts coming, ladies. Your opinions and experiences are valuable.

This really is an interesting discussion. I can relate to a lot of the things that have been said so far, so I'm curious how this will work out for you.

Yeah, that's definitely doable. The other time I needed to lose weight was about 10 years ago. I'd gained 40'ish pounds (same as this time). To lose it, I started walking about 3 miles, 5 days a week. I didn't calorie count. I just became slightly more mindful and discriminating in what I ate. After about 9 months, I lost 25 pounds. At that point, I did start calorie counting. I would count for 2 or 3 weeks, then not count for a couple of weeks but still eat a similar amount, and back and forth with that. Back then, I found calorie counting too tedious to do it for more than a couple of weeks at a time, so that's why I'd take breaks with it.

This time, I needed to lose a similar amount of weight. I've been consistently calorie counting for nearly 3 months now. I like it (for now ), but if I didn't, I'd definitely stop. We've got to play to our strengths.

I'm like you, I turn evil when hungry (as do most of the women in my family). I think the idea of eating right and excersising is the basis for any solid weight loss plan. The tough part for me is eating right. I HATE calorie counting - so I use the WW point system instead. It is close to the same thing but the psychology works better for me. I know the last time I followed WW I had a very successful weight loss - I gained it all back and then some when I stopped following the plan and gave in to my cravings. The past year has been very stressful for me and I was out of control.

Good luck with your plan - keep us posted on how it's working.

I believe there are a ton of studies that show exercise is overrated for weight loss. Clearly it is essential for good health.

Tortie, I agree with you.Why bend over to comply to a plan that might not be right for you anyway. These diet formulas are a lot like that old food pyramid. Very generic. If it feels right, you intuitively know it. Your body is unique. As is mine and everyones. That's probably why not every diet works for just everyone. I'm like you and withdrawal of certain things can damper my mood. Thus making me feel hopeless, even though the reigns are in my hands.

You'll win the battle but why create rigid time lines? Slow is best for longterm loss and avoiding the dreaded relapse. I'ma believer restrictions is the reason I relapsed. Having your own plan is the best plan!

I don't know. For the first time in my life, elimination of sugar and flour (wheat for me)* has actually freed me from my cravings. I still get hungry but it is no big deal. I can take food or leave it and just eat 3 meals a day with some reasonable constraints. ......... If I have to build some rigidity in my approach to not have cravings and suffer, I will take it. Check back with me in a year. down 24 lbs since the end of July.

*and neither of which are healthy whole foods. Right now I eat hardly any processed foods with the exception of a few sauce mixes.

I'm pretty much just practicing portion control, eating lots of fiber (oatmeal, shredded wheat, Grape Nuts), no cake, pie, donuts, etc. but I'll have a normal sized portion of fat free sherbet if I want it. Walking indoor workouts every day, trying to eat more fruit & veggies. I got the idea for the fiber from a diet my mom told me about called The F-Plan, but I don't follow the diet exactly, I just eat a lot of fiber for breakfast and lunch. I'm tired of worrying about what to eat and what not to eat, I just want to eat what I want but try to keep it healthy and watch my portions.