Has anyone maintained 'low calories', long term?

[Watchkeys]

Inspired by the low carb thread asking the same question. I wonder who has stuck to a 'low calorie' diet, and kept the weight off. If so, how? If not, what went wrong?

I’ve been keeping to my maintenance calorie target, and kept the weight off, for nearly 4 years now.
I just continued logging everything on My Fitness Pal after working out my TDEE. I don’t deny myself anything, I eat cake or chocolate if I want, I just hold back a bit on the next couple of days so it evens out.

Yes..

But every time I discuss this here the usual lot come over to tell me I've got anorexia. I most certainly do not - I eat one meal per day and 3/4 cups of tea/coffee

I eat 1000 max calories per day, breastfed two children for 18m and hold down a full time job on this

I'm about 8 stone. If I eat above this, I'll put on weight. If I cut 100/200 then I lose weight

I'm hoping to do this - currently trying to lose a stone so doing 1200 and logging in my fitness Pal. I thought once I've lost the stone I might try to stick to 1500 which I don't think would be too difficult.

I would say I eat low calorie, but I’ve never been overweight.
I’ll often miss one meal of 3, as I only eat when I’m hungry.
A typical day might be apple and yoghurt, home made fish curry with tomato based sauce and green veg.
Won’t always have rice with it. I might have a chocolate bar.

Yesterday I had feta cheese in lettuce leaves parcels, with cherry tomatoes, for breakfast. It was delicious!

Stuff like feta is very tasty, but you can’t gorge it the way you can cheddar, I think.

Sometimes I eat more, but this is typical.

I always have pudding when I’m out!

I walk every day and try not to eat too much UPF’s. Also cold water swim all year round which burns lots of calories afterwards as you’re warming up.

Yes for several years, I was skinny but not healthy. 0/10 do not recommend.

My relationship with food is much better now that I know what my body needs intake wise and don’t deprive myself. If my jeans start to feel tight I just skip the takeaways for a few weekends and go for longer walks ☺️

That's low... how do you make sure you're getting all the right nutrients? Not knocking you at all, if it works, it works.

Yes because I'm 5 foot and if I over eat I get fatter ..

I have spent a lifetime limiting my food or making sensible choices I like to call it ..

I believe it's all a choice and I choose to do it because I don't like being fat.

Can't go lower than 1500 long term. If truly motivated (usually by an upcoming event or trip) I can maintain that long enough to lose the weight. I did it gif a year once to lose a significant amount - after a few months it's second nature and I can manage the odd higher calorie day without going off the rails for weeks.

My daughter probably eats 1500/day or less all the time (ie not to lose weight). She's not as active as me though snd currently chained to her desk as mid A levels.

@Watchkeys I home cook as much as possible unless buying a soup

Dinner last night was coconut lentil dahl - 457 calories

Tonight I'll have M&S vegetable soup 240 calories with a 6 inch baguette at around 270 calories - 510 calories, smidge of butter - 7g around 50 calories

Don't get me wrong, I'll have a Chinese once a month but I'm just not a hungry person

I used to be 11st 6 - I'm 8 stone bang on now and have been for a long time

I was able to exclusively breastfeed each of my children for 18m on roughly the same diet - I probably ate a little more with the bf but it would have been 2 slices of toast max

I don't drink alcohol or eat biscuits with my hot drinks

I think that this is what thin people must do (without the actual logging) and it must be great to be able to do that naturally

You can. I can eat a whole pack of feta in one go. That why I'm fat.

I watched a tv program about preventing aging a few years ago, and there was a section about ultra low calorie diets for longer lifespans. A couple was shown who has been doing it for 40 years or so. They ate one meal in the morning, and a tiny snack later. They then walked a lot - but taking care not to exercise too much. They one meal a day was quite odd as they needed to ensure they had all the required vitamins and minerals - think oatmeal, strawberries and mackerel!

And they looked very slim, but very well and youthful. They were in their 70s but perhaps looked 50s.

@nibblethekibble

But that doesn't make sure you're getting the right nutrients, and it sounds like you're not.

In a more general sense, this thread is very quiet. Says all we need to know about how successful calorie counting is. Thanks all.

I'm as healthy as can be, and I've eaten this way for a long time

I'd imagine I'm getting my nutrients

@nibblethekibble

Yes, lots of people who are deficient in x/y/z nutrient feel fine, until they break a bone incredibly easily, or develop a skin condition that won't seem to heal, or start struggling with debilitatingly low energy, or... well, the list could go on and on. If your main diet is as you listed above, get a list of essential nutrients required by the human body, and check you're getting them all. You might be a ticking time bomb.

Following for inspiration as I consistently fail at calorie deficits.

There's other ways...

What do you consider low calorie, and what’s long term? You only need to eat a couple of hundred calories below what you’re using to lose weight, no need to eat a really low calorie diet and honestly that’s not easy for most people to sustain for long anyway

@BuffaloCauliflower

I was asking the question of anybody who lost weight by their own definition of 'low calorie', and have kept it off for what they consider to be 'long term'.

Not long term at this point but was 8 stone consistently pre-dc with no dieting, just naturally didn't consume many calories. Post dc I've had to work out that having a big bar of choc means I have to skip a meal to balance out the calorie intake if I want to maintain. I've had to undo all my eating habits, because pre DC it didn't matter at all if I had a big bar of choc every week, never gained weight. I don't particularly like skipping meals and going hungry for the sake of some chocolate, but a life without chocolate also has little appeal..

Just 150 cal a day deficit would allow you to lose 14lb in a year

No it wouldn't. Not in any reliable way at all. It would depend on how you ate it, what you spent your time doing, how healthy you were, and what our hormones were doing. You might lose twice as much. You might lose nothing.

I did say a deficit.