'Just' eating healthy and exercising.

[PleddingWanner]

Right, this might sound odd but I think I'm finally ready to "just" eat well and exercise.
In order to lose or maintain weight over the last 10 years I have had to calorie count or do slimming world. I think I'm finally ready to go it alone. I'm sick of tracking, counting, planning, logging.

For those who just eat well and exercise, can you please share any loose or general rules you tend to stock to - ie - only 1 portion of bread a day / one treat per evening / cardio 3 times a week etc.

Thank you!

I would also be interested in this as I am so tired of trying every plan or diet going!

Always start the day with 1 portion of fruit Along side breakfast

Exercise 3 times per week at least ( I do 1x pole dance class and go for a run 2 x per week for a few miles) and in between your exercise days do as much activity as you can even if it’s taking stairs instead of a lift or walking the dc round the park.

Limit alcohol as it’s soooo many empty calories ( I have 2x glasses of wine on a Friday and Saturday only! Unless it’s a special occasion I.e my birthday or Christmas)

Don’t do low fat products always go for full fat but have less of it

If you have bread at breakfast, try not to have it again that day

I try to follow 80:20 - 80% of the time I eat loads of fruit and veg, keep carb portions small, eat dinner from a bowl rather than a big plate, drink minimum 2 litres of water a day and consume no processed sugar (booze, chocs, biscuits, cakes, packet sauces etc). Cook from fresh as much as you possibly can and make extra so you can take it in for lunch the next day. 20% of the time I indulge - alcohol in moderation and at weekends only, maybe a slice of cake, maybe a bit of chocolate. Cutting way back on sugar was the key to weight loss for me, although I only mean processed sugar - I eat about 4 portions of fruit a day. It's fruit, it's got a lot going for it!

I walk 2-3 miles a day and go to the gym 3 times a week - mixture of weights, running, rowing, spinning, burning 400 - 500 calories a time

Any changes you make have to be for life, not for a fixed period.

@PinkHeart5914 you have it spot on and how refreshing to read someone else who advocates full fat. The other thing is definitely portion size. Just cutting it down a little each day will surprise you how much is necessary to be comfortably full.

Thanks so much for that! I definitely have a problem with refined sugar - I never had a sweet tooth but over the last 3 months or so it has developed into a full blown addiction. DP often has sugary snacks in the house which I find myself binging on - it's disgusting and I often feel ill afterwards. I want that to stop. I have also become very lazy and as I'm on maternity leave, if I don't have a reason to leave the house I won't. I need to build exercise into every day I think. It's getting me down.

Dinner from a bowl because portion size or types of food that can be eaten this way are healthier?

I'm with you on this Pledding. I'm 50 and must have been dieting around 35 years. So many books, diet clubs etc over the years. Occasionally successful to be fair, but the extra stone ( and half) creeps back. I'm tired of it.
Today I deleted a calorie counting app from my phone. I still have another to delete. You see the problem, having 2 different diet apps. It's time to stop.
I also love fruit but overeat carby sugary foods when they're around.

I've watched dh lose a few pounds without dieting, he changed his diet due to reflux, he has Greek yogurt or eggs for breakfast, salad and meat or fish for lunch. He has a lot less bread than he used to. And he's active ( I am too but he's a really good runner). Anyway his new way of eating is working for him, I'm veggie so my salads have eggs, lentils etc but follow the same Idea.

If you can ditch the dieting now and find a healthy eating style that suits you and your family, you'll be on a winner.

Come over to the Blood Sugar Diet threads. I'm using it and walking lots and seeing good results.

PutTheChocEggDown your username sums up my situation perfectly!
Is that the Michael Mosely 5:2 diet??

Full fat
Eat from a bowl
Eggs for breakfast
Lift weights

I'm liking the eat from a bowl idea, I must admit I hadn't heard that before!

No bread, salad for lunch, grilled meat and veg for dinner. Wine only at weekends, don’t buy any snack foods except one small snack to eat in afternoon (no snacking in the evening). I did this recently (plus 1 hour of exercise per week) and lost nearly a stone in a month.

Prometheus - wow, that's fantastic progress!
Would you mind sharing an example days food.please? What kind of exercise do you do?

Hi OP
loads of really good practical advice already, I'd add/agree -
Full fat but less of,
For exercise Body Coach HIIT sessions are great when you are short of time but I also love Jessica Smith on YouTube as her workouts are effective but gentler,
I can be a dreadful evening snacker but I've started to brush my teeth after dinner to stop me. I've fallen off the wagon occasionally but the snack has to really be worth me brushing my teeth IYSWIM?
Running. Just brilliant for clearing your head too! Even 15 minutes is good.
All the best OP it's really hard to break new habits and create new ones!

Eat veg with every meal including breakfast
Snack on fruit
Never be hungry
Eat as much fruit and veg as you want
Small portions of protein and carbs and fat
And on weekends alter that pattern slightly, wine, chocolate etc. So you don’t feel bored with what you eat.
That regime works for me.

Stick to natural foods. The vast majority of my meals are made up of fish, veg, eggs (lots of eggs!) and some cheese and fruit.
I'll have bread maybe twice a month, and limit alcohol to 1-2 times a month.
Friday night and Saturday night I'll eat more of a treat meal, but it's usually still nutritious. For example, tonight I'm having jerk salmon, brocolli and Caribbean rice and peas.
However, when I go out to eat (approx four times a month) or go on holiday I eat anything I want.

You have to train yourself/get into the habit of eating nutritious food and then you don't really want anything else as you feel so good eating these foods.

I was able to stop dieting/calorie counting/point counting and 'exercising' two years ago (except for walking everywhere) when I went LCHF (Low Carb Healthy Fat).

Read the marvellous book "Why We Get Fat" by Gary Taubes and he explained exactly why we get fat .

Tried it initially for a month (because I didn't believe it would work and didn't want to give up my comfort food carbs). Well, it blooming well worked like a dream, didn't it? I loved never feeling hungry, ever, and losing loads of excess fat weight too.

Here I am more than two years have passed living my dream of being slim (size 12!!! from a 24) and 10.9st from 17.9 and even better, I have maintained this easily for just over a year.

Why? Well it seems that processed carbs (and processed food generally), particularly the sweet ones in my case, cause my appetite to increase and I can't stop eating . Add to this the fact that exercise stimulates appetite. And top it off with the fact that a typical low fat diet does not satiate you for long then you're hungry quickly. It's a triple whammy. I dieted for four decades like that but just ended up fatter.

It seems that fat DOESN'T make you fat after all (but don't use processed seed oils, they're a chemical shitstorm and toxic to body over time). Excess sugar, particularly fructose and glucose get laid as fat in body because liver can't cope with too much.

Nowadays we have normalised eating too much processed foods and snacking is normal. When I was growing up in 60's we never ate between meals and I would have a cooked breakfast like boiled eggs with soldiers. Cereal was not common in my house.

OP, have a look at www.dietdictor. com for lots of info about low carb lifestyles, there are many types to choose from. It's been an essential resource for me and I'm still doing it for myself. Best of luck whatever you decide.

Oh yes, I've never missed my 'confort foods because my moods have improved so much - I'm no longer on the extreme blood sugar highs and lows so I don't need comfort foods any more

I've lost 24lbs since the start of March and my 'plan' is very simple. I start the day with porridge and some fresh raspberries, I drink at least 2 litres of water each day, I walk at least 10,000 steps each day and tea is a recipe from The Hairy Bikers Diet books. Lunch could be a bagel thin with olive oil spread and marmite or a portion of cereal. I snack on a chocolate rice cake or kiwi fruit / pineapple etc. It fits in with family life, I'm not fixated on 'treats' and it seems to work. I'm aiming to lose a further 12 lbs. I feel confident and I'm loving food. Best of luck to everyone. I really feel that enjoying your food is a key to being successful, resenting 'having to' eat certain foods isn't positive.

Thanks all!

Tomorrow my plan is - porridge with fruit and seeds for breakfast.

Eggs on toast with Spinach for lunch

Some sort of vegetable curry for dinner

I will have a couple of pieces of dark chocolate as an afternoon snack with a coffee if I feel I need to.

Will aim to get out for a walk depending on the weather, and will do some hula hooping too!

All sounds bloody lovely! Enjoy

Sounds like a plan OP!

This is what I do:

Don't skip meals, especially breakfast
Cook from scratch
Eat 1-2 portions of fruit/veg with each meal
Don't have stuff in the house that I'm likely to binge on
Regular exercise (running/HIIT class)

And if I'm being especially good:
Drink more water/limit caffeine
Limit alcohol

Pledding great plan

Amiga Are you me? I've read so many diet books over 30 years its unreal. I'm still 20-30 pounds overweight. If I was 20 pounds slimmer I'd be very content with that ... but its just not happened. As yet.

I decided its because I've not been revolutionary enough! I've been too stuck in my ways.

1. Less bread. Not none, but less.
2. Less or no alcohol.
3. Lots more cooking - I've bought loads of healthy food cookbooks so I can experiement more.
4. "Lighter foods" in the evening - vegetables, fruit, etc. Just made a fab veg. stir fry tonight.
5. No 'banned' foods as such, occasional treats if it feels right.
6. No obsessing. Enjoy food and eat regularly.
7. Look after myself and enjoy myself - spas, swimming, light walking etc.

Boom boom.

I'm doing this for 3 months and see where it takes me.

Could you ask your DP to keep his sugary snacks somewhere you can’t find them? It’s so much harder when temptation is in arms-reach!