Weight maintainence strategies...

[Boone]

I avoided 'weight loss' in the thread title... I think 'weight loss' is easy. Deprive yourself. You'll lose weight. And then you'll feel deprived and gain back what you lost.

Weight 'maintenance' is a lot more relevant. What kind of dietary or other habits do you implement that are sustainable long-term that result in you being at a more ideal weight for your frame?

For me, the answer has always been consistent exercise. It still is the BEST answer, but it's not always the most practical approach. I know it's the #1 answer, but I also know in a busy working lifestyle, it's also the most challenging aspect to incorporate into my daily life.

One approach I have embraced recently is how I approach my 'meals'. I've never been a breakfast guy. I have coffee for 'breakfast' - no sugar, no cream, just black coffee. I have never had any negative outcome from that approach. Recently, I have adopted a minimal calorie lunch. For the past several months, for my lunch-time 'meal' I have had Miso soup with some seaweed added as my 'meal'. I find myself satieted with this but it involves minimal caloric intake (20-50 calories total per day). I eat what I want at dinner, and on the weekends.

I am pretty enthusiastic about my results. I have trimmed way down with a gradual loss of a couple lbs per week. I have plenty of energy. And other than the adjustment of lunch-time expectations, it hasn't impacted my enjoyment of life overall. I'm essentially eating one real meal a day, with a psychologically gratifying 'meal' at lunch. I suppose this is nothing more than a somewhat extreme version of intermittent fasting, but it is working for me. I plan on continuing with it for the forseeable future.

Curious how others approach diet and weight management?

 

[RedWolf]

278 to 202 in 7 years. I was a 6.3 225 lb. LB in HS. My best weight was 198 after 11 weeks of hell at Fort Benning. Eliminated the crap food, sugar, cream, etc. Light breakfast and a reasonable dinner. I also walk a bit 2x per day. Also cut the drinking back.

 

[McD5]

One thing that's helped me is buying a Ninja Creami machine.

My biggest weakness is ice cream, and now I can eat high protein ice cream as often as I like.

 

[Skinsfan1311]

It's all about your diet.
You can't out-exercise your diet.
You eat it, you wear it.
That's what works for me.
Years ago I had GERD issues, so I changed my eating habits and, as an unintended consequence, (weight dropped from 230 to 190),and I've kept it off. Literally the only thing that I changed were my eating habits.
While the pics that I post in the Gastropub boards might say otherwise, I do eat pretty healthy. The biggest change, (other than giving up alcohol & caffeine for over 6 months ), was laying off the fatty fried foods & snacking at night. It took almost a year to lose the weight, and I wasn't trying to. When I started drinking alcohol again, I pretty much gave up beer. I still have an occasional beer. I love whiskey, but rarely drink alcohol during the week.

I exercise every day that I work.
No more heavier weights for me.
Light weights and cables, cardio every other day, (old man cardio where I walk fast swinging my arms like an idiot), around the neighborhood or at local high school track. Breakfast during the week is usually a banana, no-fat yogurt with a little granola, or preserves mixed in, or grits, or cereal with no-fat milk.
Lunch is usually leftover dinner.

 

[Mark The Homer]

Yes - my understanding is, you can exercise and work out until the cows come home, but when it's all said and done, it's 75% diet, 25% exercise.