First of all I APOLOGIZE FOR THE LENGTH OF THIS POST.
Here's what I did - I decided that calorie counting was the way to go, because the math is simple and I find it fairly easy to add.
3500 calories = 1 pound. We all know this.
It takes X amount of calories for me to maintain my weight.
And if I eat too many calories per day, then I gain weight.
To lose weight, I need to decrease my calories.
See? Simple.
But HOW to apply that simplicity?
First, I kept track of my normal eating habits - not trying to diet at all! - for about a month. I thought I was averaging around 1500 or so calories per day. HA! -Then I entered everything into FitDay, to my surprise I was eating about 2300+ (heavy on the plus!) calories PER DAY! No wonder I was fat! ACK!!!
Then after that part of my "experiment" was over, I sat down with a good old fashioned pen & paper. I proceeded to write down every single thing I could think of that I enjoyed eating (or drinking!!) I mean everything! Fruit, veggies, meats, desserts, beverages, condiments, etc. EVERYTHING.
The point is I wrote down EVERYTHING that I would consider putting in my mouth. And I decided what I could "substitute" & still be happy (Diet Mtn Dew instead of regular Mtn Dew, for instance ... but not fat-free ranch dressing... icky poo!!!- but I do like Hidden Valley Ranch LITE
) Then I went on-line & looked up the calorie count for a regular serving of all those foods. Some are harder than others to decipher, because hey... I make my own sweet tea and I put 1.5 cups sugar to a gallon, and I am not math-minded enough to decipher what an 8oz serving glass would equal in calories. And going out to eat can be pretty tricky sometimes. But with some practice (& looking up everything online! - & coming here for guidance!
) I finally got the hang of it.
I went online to find a calorie calculator - to find out how many calories *I* should eat for my size & to lose weight (healthy, safely!). Then I built my own food log in FitDay (just one of many calorie trackers out there!!!) and now I adjust that caloric intake for however much weight I lose so I can keep on losing, until I'm ready to maintain. (192 lb me ate a different amount of calories than the current 161 lb me eats.)
I EAT ALL THE FOODS I LOVE. I never eat anything I don't like! No "puffy rice cake" shall ever pass these lips!! No gagging-reflex crappy low-fat anything! Is it OK for me to eat a cheeseburger from time to time? YOU BETCHA! I enjoy pretty much everything - just less of it. And it also makes it easy for me when it comes down to "Do I REALLY want a frozen margarita for 700 calories?" - usually I choose NOT to imbibe, but have a nice 150 calorie glass of wine or a 100 calorie light beer instead.
This is working for me. My weight is decreasing slower than some, but I'll take it... as opposed to not decreasing at all, or worse yet... gaining.
And I KNOW I can do this "for the rest of my life" because when you eat what you love, there's no "going back to old eating habits". Is it a perfect plan? NO of course not. There are still times when I eat too much. I can pretty much never say no to a bigger portion of macaroni & cheese (3/4 cup... puh-leeze!!!) and sometimes I DO have that 700 calorie frozen margarita...
But the basic bottom line?
"the perfect diet is the foods you'll eat"