Need a new strategy...suggestions?
 

Hi All,

I think I need a new strategy because calorie counting is just not working right now. It's become an unhealthy mind game of feeling guilty if I go over my calorie allotment, even if it's all healthy food - granted...sometimes it's not...but that's another demon I'm fighting. Can anyone else suggest another "plan" or way of eating that helped them lose weight and didn't involve weights and measurements (of food)? Or is calorie counting truly the only way?

Thanks!

why are you going over your calorie limits? if you are going to keep eating more food than your body needs, regardless of what plan you are on, then you won't lose weight.

What is your calorie limit? Can you post a sample menu and give some examples about when you find yourself going over? Is it a couple hundred calories a day due to hunger or a couple thousand on weekends due to outings?

This!

Is your calorie limit super low, so going "over" still has you in a pretty big deficit? If so, it's as simple as raising your limit! If your current goal is, say, 1200, maybe that's too low and you need to make it more like 1400 or 1500.

But the foods you're eating could make a huge difference. Perhaps picking foods, if you're not already, that you can eat MORE off for the same amount of calories.

The amount you're currently eating which you consider going "over" could make a huge difference in the advice you get.

No matter what plan you're on you have to create an energy deficit, i.e., more energy going out than coming in. So yes, I believe it boils down to calorie counting or some variant of it, such as Weight Watchers exchanges.

That said, I never weigh or measure my food. I loosely count calories and use the scale as a guide. I'm in maintenance mode right now, but did the same thing during my 55-pound weight loss. I've always believed it comes down to listening to your inner "truth teller" -- the voice inside you that KNOWS when you're eating too much. I'm far from perfect and still succumb to temptation on frequent occasions, but ultimately there's no substitute for commitment and willpower, IMO.

Freelance

It's due to hunger. I'm trying to eat between 1400-1600 calories every day. Here's a sample day:

Breakfast - 1/2 c Quaker Oats w/ skim milk, 2 tbsp dried cranberries, 2 walnuts or almonds. Coffee (black or with a splash of skim).
Snack - Baby bel light cheese round with green pepper
Lunch - 2 oz low sodium turkey on Joseph's pita (low carb, full of flax and goodness - only 60 cals) with mustard. Piece of fruit.
Snack - Fage 0% fat with 1/2 c blueberries - sometimes 1 tbsp of almonds. I often have another cup of coffee (black or with a splash of skim)
Dinner - Baked chicken breast with veggies and either rice or potato. Skim milk.
Post dinner - Heeeere's where I get hungry...I try to reach for something small or low cal, but I'm just so hungry.

Throughout the day I drink copious amount of water - I'm a thirsty girl - and I workout for 30 minutes at lunch. I don't have any other time to workout during the week. On the weekends I workout for 1 hour either Sat or Sun.

I have to admit that I did splurge quite a bit on my vacation a few weeks back and that was a no-no from which I'm still recovering...ha. Usually weekends are pretty basic. If I do have some pizza, I pair it with veggies and try to work it into the cal plan. Meh...

I did LA Weightloss about 8 years ago. There was no calorie counting, just eating servings and serving sizes. Pretty basic

2 Protein (6oz chicken or fish, 4 oz beef)
3 veggie (1C raw, 2C cooked)
2 fruit (1C raw, 10 small strawberries, 10 small grapes, 1/2 large apple, 1 small apple, etc)
2 Carb (1/2 C pasta/rice... 1 slice bread, etc)
1 fat (butter, oil, etc. THey'd always say, "save your fat for your salad")

They also had you eat their protein bars, but since you won't have that, you can try just adding some fruit/veggies if you're hungry. I thought it was pretty easy to follow. I had a little chart I made so I could record what i ate, and check off my servings as the day went by so I'd know I got all of my fruits, veggies etc. without looking at my food log. I didn't worry about calories, just about serving size and the number of servings. Maybe try this?

Thanks freelancemomma. I am also a "momma" and I would rather spend time with my daughter than measure all of my food. Although I'm getting the sense from all of your great posts that cal counting is where it's at and I should go find my big girl pants and put them back on. :)

Thanks twinieten!!! I'll try that.

you know whats funny? i know where you're coming from.

now, i might get some boo boo's on this particular post i am about to make, but bear with me.

also, taking my CURRENT strategy into account, please consider how long you have been aware of your food for, as i am comming up on my 3 year aniversary, and this is something i am VERY mindful of.


back story:
i started at 269 lbs. on weight watchers, which is point exchanges (except i never exchanged, simply ate my points). then i lost interest/plan changed. i did not exercise except for 1 hr of pilates a day. i was loosing well, and fast - while still having indulgences. my typical days would consist of breakfast- eggs/bacon, or a bfast sandwich, a peice of fruit, then lunch/dinner which was either carbs/protein/steamed veg or protein based salad. so i was having a very large salad instead of one meal- this lead me to lose 60 lbs.

then i picked up yoga, slimmed down a little, bla bla bla.

fast forward - 200 lbs- about 168 lbs i was calorie counting. about 1400-1600 a day, and here was where my problems began, closer to the mid 170's. i started binging. a lot, hard, often, i could no longer control my cravings, i could no longer control my food intake. i wanted to eat it all, and then the door handle. i developed a food obsession, a nasty food obsession. i was always hungry, because i was always thinking about how many calories i had left to eat in my "budget".

this lead to a regain of almost 20 lbs.

i stressed out, i thought about it, then i decided to try something new. mind you, i only started this new "idea" about a week ago, and mind you, i know what a serving/portion of something looks like. i know how much food i need to eat/ not eat to lose weight, but i am not counting. it's like a "loose" count.

like, i know if i have something carby- i need to have it with a very lean protein, one serving, and another meal that is VERY light. i eat the same thing for breakfast, similar things with a little variation for lunch, and similar with variation for dinner. but i don't count, i dont stress, i am intuitively eating when i am truly hungry, and i have seen the scale move 8 lbs this week alone. i even went out for dinner this week! mind you, this IS a tonne of water weight, but it is positive reinforcement.

current meal plan example:

bfast:
coffee (24oz)
skim - about 200 ml.

1/2c oatmeal + a fruit (blueberries, small banana, whatever is in the house).

snack:
peice of fruit. either berries, a grapefruit, etc.

lunch: today: about 4/5 oz salmon, and i grilled some mushrooms, some broccolli and a small zunchinni in pam this morning.

snack: handful of baby carrots, handful of snow peas.

dinner: tbd but it will be some lean protein/steamed veg, or a salad with ground lean turkey breast, and probably an apple with peanut butter.

i can guarantee this will account for a loss on the scale tomorrow morning for me.

What I am doing, is getting at least 120 grams of protein a day. it goes like this,
Breakfast: 30 grams with 15 grams of carbs (one serving of fruit) (usually i make a smoothie with protein powder, water, a splash of milk and 5 strawberries)
Snack: 15 grams of protein, 15 grams of carbs (usually 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 13 grapes) or 2 cheese sticks, 1 small apple etc.
Lunch: 30 grams of protein, 10 grams of carbs (usually Im at school so Ill eat another protein shake, a salad on the side, and half a can of cooked green beans- cooked or steamed veggies count as a carb)
Snack- same 15 to 15, like one egg and one egg white, with cooked veggies or one serving fruit
Dinner- 30 to 10, like lunch, but ill have a hamburger patty, or lean meats like fish and chicken breasts, Cooked veggies on the side, side salad, etc.

You get the picture. It is very repetitive, so you have to get creative...

BUT. I am NEVER hungry. And I mean never. Sometimes I have to eat like a cucumber because I get a little more hungry in the afternoon but I seriously have to FORCE myself to eat. Im not even sure how many calories that is that I am eating, All i know is that the weight is literally just coming off me. Granted, I am working out every day for about an hour, so I am sure that definetely helps. But if you are starving, Im telling you get some protein in your diet!!!

Good luck
xxoo

When I started calorie counting I was always hungry too. BUT I was eating less of the bad stuff I had been eating. When I started eating better foods - more lean meats, veggies and fruits, and fewer fatty foods and carbs - I got less hungry and could actually eat MORE because the calories were lower.

The protein thing helped me too. Also, not stressing about 5-6 small meals a day. That was driving me batty. Now I fast for breakfast. Sorta'. I have my coffee with milk or cream and vitamins and then if I get hungry, I have a little munchie, like almonds, a little bit of apple or a piece of string cheese. Not much because usually by the time I'm hungry, it's almost time for lunch.

For lunch I usually have a salad, or some other veggie, a little bit of fruit, and a protein like chicken or fish. Sometimes I also have a carb like pasta or bread. I don't know how many grams of protein I eat.

I eat lunch super early because I get to work super early, but then I eat dinner late because I wait for my husband to get home and we have a family dinner. The period after lunch to dinner is very difficult. It's the point of my day where I tend to lose focus and eat everything in sight. So in the afternoon, I made my snack bigger, and to include a protein. So I'll have a veggie (like raw carrots or green peppers or something), yogurt, fruit and a hard boiled egg or cheese sticks.

Then standard dinner including protein, veggie and carb.

People seem to think that skipping breakfast is the end all metabolism killer and maybe it is. I just felt like I was "wasting" calories on breakfast when I wasn't hungry, didn't want to eat and didn't feel like I needed the calories. Then in the afternoon when I was really hungry and needed the extra calories, I had none to spare and was famished.

I've been tweaking my diet to get through the day without that horrible hunger (I can handle hunger, but this was bad), and I've been doing the skip breakfast and load up in the afternoon for about 2 weeks now. So far, it's helped with the hunger. Fewer, larger meals seems to be key for me where hunger is concerned. Only time will tell if this is what gets me losing again.

I found that calorie counting didn't work for me. I also felt it was a mind game, but more of a discouraging one because I found I was hungry more than often. From when I did it, I have a fair idea of what foods have what amounts of calories in them. I don't log them everyday to find out now. I just eat what I eat and stick to my exercise plan. I know what foods I should and shouldn't be eating and while I try to stay in a low calorie diet, I don't strictly watch it. It seems to be working for me.

Seriously, this board never ceases to impress me. You guys are amazing! Thank you thank you for the advice! So, I'm starting to think that maybe it's still a little about portion control, but not so much measuring and logging. The tip about protein is really helpful. Next time I'm extra hungry I will reach for a protein instead of a fruit/veggie/carb. It looks like I'm starting to form a new plan that could work.

I want to especially thank those who shared their stories about when cal counting failed for them and why. Lately I feel like a diet failure and didn't consider the fact that maybe after an extended period of time certain lifestyle strategies might not work.

In other news, I just tore it up on the treadmill for the second time this week. Even if that doesn't make a difference on the scale this week I feel pretty freaking good that I can run like a *bawssss*. Haha.

couple of things i can think of
I think you need more veggies and fiber. a really big salad or something with only a little dressing, no cheese, maybe some chicken or something.

another thing is maybe take half of one of your snacks (about 100-150 calories) to eat about an hour after dinner or so. try to have a big gap in between eating dinner and going to bed.

another thing i notice is the coffee. caffeine gives me all kinds of insane cravings..so maybe try cutting back on the coffee, too. recently i stopped drinking coffee and you need a few days to sleep or go really gradual with it but i think its worth it.