'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!

Great plan OP, hope this weeks going well so far, I always find the sunny weather helps with the healthy food and exercise,

Hi Pledding,

I have been following this principle for about two months now and am slowly but surely losing weight (about 10 lbs, and have just re-entered the 'heathy weight' zone in terms of BMI). I am useless at tracking calories, so this approach works best for me. It is not the fastest method, and there have been a few lapses, but overall I am happy with things and feel much healthier than I did before. My main tips are:

• keep at it. If you have a bad day (or two or three), just start again the next day. This sounds silly, but in fact I think there is often a tendency to self-sabotage and give up completely after a bad day, whereas in fact this is just a minor glitch in the greater scheme of things.

• cook/plan in advance: always make sure you have some easy healthy meals in the fridge/freezer for when you are hungry but too tired/bored to prepare something. I batch cook and freeze stews and soups.

• identify the time of the day of your downfall and think of ways of preventing it. I think my weakest time of the day was the immediate hours after work, where I would come home and just snack, partly because I was hungry, but also because I was having a rotten time at work, which caused a lot of stress. Now I take the time to have a proper meal soon after work (I eat at the same time as my teenage kids, who are also really hungry at that time of the day), which has stopped the snacking and seems to help a lot.

• cut down on (but not cut out completely) carbs such as bread and pasta.

• Have a little bit of everything, but just smaller portions. Don't cut out anything completely, but try to limit the quantity. So still have your friend's birthday cake, but just a small small slice. Same with the takeaway pizza - just have a small slice and stop there. Easier said than done, but it is possible and I personally find it easier to just have a small bit than to say no.

• similar to the previous, do not let it get in the way of social events/weekends out, etc. I have had visitors non-top for the past few weekends, and I have let things slip a little bit while they are there, but then picked up again during the week, and overall I am still losing weight.

• find exercise you enjoy, or go with a friend/turn it into a social thing. You could not get quite as fit immediately, but you will have more fun and will be more likely to stick at it. I love running, but hate gym stuff (weights, etc), so I go running by myself, but go to the gym once a week with friends and do the other stuff, and we sort of combine it with a chat and maybe a coffee afterwards.

I know that things work differently for different people, so just food for thought really, but I hope that something could help!