I set up my own plan. I have always struggled with my weight, although I “carried it well” and was never enormous. But people were always shocked when I told them I lost 70 pounds. “I’d never have guessed that you were 250” was a common response.
It was a long, slow, gradual process, which made it much easier for me to change my eating habits and get accustomed to the changes rather than going really strict really fast or going on a “diet”. It took almost a year to implement all my changes, but I lost 70 pounds and kept it off for more than 2 years. Then I regressed and put most of the weight back on (long story), but I am back on my plan now, and have 30 more pounds to lose to get back to 180 (which isn’t my end goal, but it’s where I was before, so it’s a milestone).
Here’s my plan:
First, I just cut back on the amount of food I was eating. I didn’t change anything else, just ate less food. I found that I could usually eat about half of what I normally did and still feel full.
Second, once I was used to eating less food during my meals, I slowly started to replace my beloved snacks with healthier ones. I love spicy food, but instead of flamin hot cheetos or chips, I’d eat tortilla chips and salsa and peanuts with spices. I’d buy fruits and nuts instead of cookies, juice or fudge bars instead of ice cream, etc.
Then I started working on the meals. I tried to make my own food as much as possible instead of buying prepared meals or “kits”. I’d make chicken or ground turkey tacos instead of ground beef. Ground turkey burgers instead of beef. Veggies with every meal. I started using less cheese, stopped eating fried food, etc.
I cut way back on the amount of soda I was drinking. I used to drink about 5-6 cans of soda in one day, sometimes more. I have a hard time drinking plain water, but I think studies have shown that your body processes artificial sweeteners the same way as sugar, so I’d try to drink tea and limit my soda to one can a day at most.
I also tried to stop eating out as much as I could, it is very very difficult to find healthy food in restaurants. The kicker was going to Eat-N-Park and ordering grilled chicken quesadillas. It’s grilled chicken, salsa, tomatoes, lettuce, and some cheese. Can’t be that bad, right? Well, my wife asked for the nutrition information, and it turns out that it has (slightly) more fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, and calories than a basket of loaded french fries with cheese, bacon, etc! I also noticed that even the “healthy” sections of most restaurant menus are high in something. Maybe it doesn’t have that much fat, but is very high in sodium. Or it’s low in cholesterol and sodium but high in calories.
However, I would get fierce cravings once in a while. So I’d pick one meal once a week and say to myself “ok, this is your eat-what-you-want meal”. No limitations whatsoever. If I wanted a cheeseburger with loaded fries and a milkshake, or a pizza, or whatever, I ate it. The only rule was: Only one meal a week, no leftovers.
I tried a lot of healthy things, substituting the bad with the good, and stuck to what tasted good to me. I’m not a salad person, never have been, but I can put lettuce, tomatoes, etc, on a chicken sandwich or taco and get my veggies that way. I never counted calories, fat, or anything else, just tried to avoid foods that were high in the bad things. I tried to eat as much food in its “natural” state as possible, which means fresh meat, fresh fruit, fresh veggies. No heavy sauces, no fried, frozen, canned, or otherwise processed food.
Ok, this is getting too long so I’m going to stop now. Hopefully this will help you or give you some ideas! Good luck!
