Originally Posted by tricon7:
I don't plan on eliminating delicious, heavenly sugar from my diet. I'd rather just abandon my diet altogether! I do eat less sugar now, though, since I get more bang for my buck by eating non-sugary foods. But if I want to splurge on something once a week, or even eat an occasional pint of ice cream, then deduct it from my daily calorie budget, that works for me.

That's my weight management strategy to a T. Throughout this whole journey my motto has been: what's the LEAST restrictive eating and exercise regimen that will allow me to lose/maintain my weight? Everything else falls into place when I keep this in mind.

F.

Oh yes, I eat sugar on occasion, too, but for me I lose the best and am the strongest when my daily eating is very clean. Then I can have a special event or day where I just don't have to worry about sugar or junk, because it will correct the next week. The more infrequent I make those days, the better control of them and my body I seem to have :). I just came back from a weekend trip that involved pizza and icecream. It was loads of fun, including the food. And now I'm back to my normal clean diet and the weekend weight is coming off very nicely, indeed ;)

You absolutely must find what works for you. I switched up my thoughts on food and nutrition AFTER almost three years of calorie counting. I still calorie count, but cutting out the grains and sugar has made me lose better, with more energy, and less hunger. I wouldn't have done it if I didn't need to, but now I wouldn't go back. That's my body, one that has been fat for years and has inflammation issues to manage. Yours is different, and thus your plan needs to be accordingly different, too!

If you're doing a lot of lifting (I work out moderately five days a week with strength and flexibility training, so I do take in slightly more protein, too) upping your fat and protein ratios a bit could be excellent. But if you're interested in maximizing your health and getting into the 'sweet spot' with various nutrients for your body's needs, I have to give a shout out to "The Perfect Health Diet". Great stuff for maximizing nutrition. http://perfecthealthdiet.com/the-diet/

Lyle McDonald is also fabulous! http://www.bodyrecomposition.com/

Just some ideas :)

Originally Posted by tricon7:

Not going to "up" my calories and create a calorie surplus - unless I want to start gaining weight.

I wasn't suggesting a surplus. I was suggesting you could eat more and still be in a deficit.