Dani-Mani
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,709
Jun 28, 2014 17:36:35 GMT
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Post by Dani-Mani on Aug 17, 2014 20:13:38 GMT
your story?
I finally made it out of the grocery store without grabbing ice cream today.
Baby steps, right?
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Post by ntsf on Aug 17, 2014 20:15:35 GMT
made portions very small of anything but salad and plain veggies. no soda, rare treats.
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Post by SockMonkey on Aug 17, 2014 20:17:39 GMT
Very low carb, lean protein, lots of veggies. As many fresh, raw veggies as you want. Portion control. Frequent, smaller meals. Exercise 4-5 days a week (30-60 min), including lifting and cardio.
And one cheat meal a week. Whatever I wanted.
Worked like a charm.
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MDscrapaholic
Drama Llama
Posts: 6,595
Location: Down by the bay....
Jun 25, 2014 20:49:07 GMT
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Post by MDscrapaholic on Aug 17, 2014 20:19:33 GMT
I've lost 14 lbs on Weight Watchers. When I grocery shop, I shop from the outer walls of the grocery store. I try to eat more "natural" food instead of processed. Sometimes I slide, though. It's okay to have a donut once in a while as long as you only have ONE lol.
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Oct 9, 2024 20:21:02 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Aug 17, 2014 20:20:09 GMT
I've lost 45 lbs since April. I have about 50 more to go. I found the Ideal Protein diet and it works for me. You just have to find something that fits you and your lifestyle.
For me, I know that I struggle with moderation. If cookies are in the pantry, I'm not going to be able to limit myself. So weight watchers doesn't work for me, cuz once I eat that cookie, I want more. So for me, I had to completely eliminate what was tempting. And this program does it 4 phases that reintroduces you back into more normal eating after the weight loss.
It's all in what works with your lifestyle, and telling yourself, "I may not be able to have that ice cream today, but I will one day."
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Post by KikiPea on Aug 17, 2014 20:20:12 GMT
YES, baby steps...1-2 lbs at a time. I started my journey on WW in January of 2012 and have lost 45 lbs. Still working on the last 15. It can be done, but you have to have something VERY strong as a motivator. An upcoming vacation, high BP and cholesterol did not work for me, but being diagnosed as pre-diabetic DID. There are no signs of that now and have just been able to drop my BP and cholesterol meds! If you MUST have something sweet (Which I ALWAYS have on hand), grab a no sugar added pudding or WW ice cream. It hits the spot and is not horrible for you.
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Post by Linda on Aug 17, 2014 20:45:33 GMT
I've lost just over 40lbs so far - still have 50-60 to go. I count carbs (okay, I do pay attention to calories also - aim for 1250-1500/day). I aim for 5 carbs for breakfast; 30 for lunch and dinner; under 10 for my am snack and 15 for my afternoon and evening snacks (so roughly 100-105 carbs/day). I'm diabetic so carbs are the most important for me to track to keep my blood glucose under control. I start the day (545) with an ounce of nuts or a string cheese or an ounce of cheese cubes (am snack). I'm too busy getting the girls out the door to eat a proper meal first thing so I start with a snack. Breakfast is usually between 8 and 9 and I have eggs 90% of the time - scrambled topped with cheese or sauteed veggies; an omelet with some combination of cheese, veggies or ham; - sometimes poached or fried although I find I'm hungrier afterwards so not as often. The other 10% is usually leftover meat from dinner Lunch is typically lunch meat and/or cheese or dinner leftovers. Sometimes I make a sandwich with Arnold Melba thin rye bread arnoldbread.com/products/sliced-breads/real-jewish-rye/melba-thin if I'm really wanting bread. I try and have veggies of some sort as well - cucumbers or carrots or leftovers Afternoon snack - fruit with cheese or cheese and crackers or more nuts or a hardboiled egg. Maybe a yoghurt as a treat Dinner - meat and lots of veggies with a very small portion of any starchy side dish (often just 1/4 cup - enough to taste but not over indulge). Evening snack - similar to afternoon I'll have a bit of a treat at the afternoon or evening snack if I've exercised alot - a 1/2 cup of ice cream or something like that Exercise has been key for me - walking in the evenings, swimming a couple of days/week all summer (sad - the pool is closed now) and I'll be biking again once school starts tomorrow. I aim for 30 min/day at least 5 days/wk and try and exceed it. I do eat a little heavier on the weekends - especially Sunday when I make a traditional English Sunday dinner most weeks but I've learnt to either have roast potatoes or Yorkshire pudding - not both - and take smaller portions. I'm enjoying roasting vegetables on the non-potato weeks. For me it has to be a life change not a diet so I'm trying to make sustainable changes
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Post by christaw on Aug 17, 2014 20:47:47 GMT
Marking my spot so I can watch this thread. I have about 25 lbs to lose and need all the help I can get.
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Post by chirpingcricket on Aug 17, 2014 21:00:34 GMT
I started counting calories a little over a year ago, and the next day, a co-worker told me about My Fitness Pal. It's a website on the computer and an app on your smart phone, and it *really* really really helped me. I try to avoid over-processed foods, and really watch portion size. Who needs a whole giant sandwich from Lenny's? Eat a third, save the rest for another day! I do allow myself some wiggle room -- I'm the type of person that I know if I couldn't have a single Hershey's kiss in the middle of the day (22 calories, so it's very allowable), I would feel deprived and give up. I allow myself enough room for some baked potato chips or a Hershey's kiss, or even a little cocktail at the end of the day of vodka and Diet 7-up (not bad with a twist of lemon or lime!). We're eating far more fresh vegetables and fruits. We have way less bread now than we used to, and I miss it, but it's worth it to feel better. The My Fitness Pal app is really helpful because it helps you calculate if you need to decrease your calories. You log in everything you eat, and it calculates how many calories you have left for the rest of the day. You log all of your exercise, and it adds calories back to your count. My favorite part!! I really need to exercise more to get enough calories for more elaborate cocktails. And of course, it's nice to look back at the progress I've made over the last year. That's fun.
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Post by epeanymous on Aug 17, 2014 21:38:41 GMT
For some reason the weight didn't fall off after my last kid like it did with the others, and I was pretty ticked off. I don't weigh myself usually, but I am guessing I was about fifteen pounds over my usual weight because I was up two dress sizes. I started taking an extra walk every day, only snacked on vegetables, and limited my portion sizes. It took about three months for the weight to come off, and it has bee about a year and a half now without it reappearing.
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Chinagirl828
Drama Llama
Melbourne, Australia
Posts: 6,653
Jun 28, 2014 6:28:53 GMT
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Post by Chinagirl828 on Aug 17, 2014 21:40:02 GMT
I'm still in the early stages but as others have said I need it to be a lifestyle change not just a diet. I'm also using the my fitness pal app. I count my kilo joules and for me so far it has been eye opening to see how much some of my past food choices have contributed to my daily allowance. I am still allowing myself to have the occasional piece of cake or chocolate and my brain is finally starting to understand how these can be part of an overall healthier lifestyle. I am definitely the type of person who will binge eat sweet treats if I'm told I can't have them and I did that in the first couple of weeks that I started using the app but the trick is to get back on the horse and treat the first day after a failure as a new start. I want these changes to be sustainable and to not make me feel as if I have compromised my life to be thin. So far it's working and I've lost nearly a third of my goal.
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Post by heartcat on Aug 17, 2014 21:40:06 GMT
For me, I finally lost a significant amount of weight by staying off the scale, not dieting, and adding exercise to my lifestyle. I did not set any weight loss 'goals'. I just decided to truly change my lifestyle and to adopt healthier, but realistic, habits.
I did try to be more conscious of what I was eating, to eat more slowly, and to recognize when I'd had enough. I'd put less food on my plate (I tend to be a plate cleaner out of habit more than hunger) but if I wanted more, I would eat more.
I did add more fresh vegetables to my diet, and will often just have fresh veggies for lunch instead of a sandwich or a more traditional lunch.
For me, when I had previously tried to lose weight in the past, I found that dieting made me feel deprived and made me fixate on food. I would be craving foods I wouldn't even normally want, or at least wouldn't want as often. Knowing I could eat whatever I wanted, and giving myself permission to do so, made me think of food 'less' and crave things 'less'.
Staying off the scale made it more about a healthy lifestyle and making changes I could stick with for the rest of my life, than about weight loss. I used to find it frustrating to diet for two weeks, exercise, then find I hadn't lost any weight. It was discouraging and instead of focusing on the positives like the fact that I'd been making healthy food choices and working out, I would focus on the negative, that the scale hadn't budged.
There are often reasons for that. Loss of fat but replacement with muscle. Where you are in your cycle. You can even see weight changes in the course of a day. So I finally decided that it didn't matter what I weighed. That wasn't going to be a barometer of my health or my success. And I stopped setting short and long term goals (I will be size X by Y event/date). Because I found it discouraging in the past to not meet those goals.
So now I just exercise and try to be more conscious of my food choices. I will eat junk food. I drink. Sometimes I would/will go weeks without exercising. That's okay. That is not failure. That is living in the real world. Which, for me, has been the only way I have lost weight and kept it off.
I am not sure of how much I have lost in the last few years. It has not been a quick weight loss. But it has actually been quite easy, and not at all stressful. I would guess between 50-70 lbs. I am no longer in plus sizes. I did not go into think thinking, 'I need to lose weight, I want to lose X pounds.' I just decided that it was time to be more aware of what I was eating, and to incorporate exercise into my lifestyle. I had always been healthy, no issues from being overweight, but I wanted to make sure I stayed healthy.
I know some people are more goal oriented and being disciplined helps them. But for me, not focusing on the scale, not tracking weight loss, and not dieting, was the only way I was finally successful at losing and keeping off weight.
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Post by PEArfect on Aug 17, 2014 21:42:29 GMT
Consistency is key!
I lost 80 lbs and kept it off for 5 years. I've probably gained about 20 lbs since my husband passed away in February. I'm avoiding the scales. I took measurements and was horrified. I can't believe how many inches I've gained. Now that my daughters are back in school I need to get back to healthy habits. It's just hard to find the motivation some days to do anything.
Daily (what worked for me) 8 hours of sleep plenty of water eating 6-8 small meals 5-6 servings of vegetables 5-6 servings of protein 0-2 servings of starchy carbs 0-2 servings of simple carbs 0-2 servings of healthy fats cardio 3-5 times a week, 30+ minutes weight training 3 times a week
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Post by hollymolly on Aug 17, 2014 21:56:46 GMT
Honestly, for me, it's 90% mental. I'm not doing anything now that was some new great idea I'd never heard of before. I have a plan, but it's not a diet. This is how I will eat for the rest of my life.
The plan works for me, but only because I was ready. Not motivated, I've been motivated plenty of times in the past. What better motivation could I have had than saving my marriage? Health? No. My job? No. I don't know how I knew I was ready, but I just was. This is the first time since probably my second diet that I haven't been full of fear that I will gain back everything I've lost plus extra, which was proven true every single time.
I have peace because I know if I never lose another pound, this is still the way I eat for the rest of my life. I started July 2, I'm down 21.6 lbs.
My Plan consists of 2 rules and a few guidlines. The rules are hard and fast, I don't break them. The guidelines are more fuzzy.
Rule [HASH]1: No sucrose, no fructose, no artificial sweeteners. I do plan to add back in fruit in the future, because it's healthy in moderation. I'm just not ready for sweet yet. The reason behind sucrose and fructose came from my doctor. Your body doesn't have to expend any energy to break them down, therefore it will use that first and not get to the stored fat. I need to be getting to the stored fat as soon as possible. Artificial sweeteners are my own personal addition to the rule. I think they are poison, and the over-sweetness would just make me crave sugar that much more. I can't say I'm 100% sugar free, because even though I look for hidden sugars when I buy groceries, and I don't order items that are obviously sweetened, I eat out too often and I can't worry about what I can't control. I'm more like 99.5% sugar free.
Rule [HASH]2: No Snacks. I eat 2-3 meals a day, depending on how I feel and how my day is going. I try to keep it at 3, but I'm not going to eat just to get a 3rd meal in (see guidelines below). I do not eat between meals. Ever. I didn't give up snack food because sometimes I have that for my lunch or dinner. I just don't eat snack food between meals.
Guidlines: 1. Only eat when I'm hungry, not because it's time to eat, not because it's convenient now and it might not be later, not because I might be hungry later and not have access to food. If I'm eating with others, this goes out the window. 2. Let myself get hungry. It's ok to be hungry, and, in fact, is probably good for us. Our stomachs weren't designed to have food in them all the time. This was hard for me, because I always saw hunger as pain, which meant something was wrong with my body. Letting myself get hungry helped me learn to equate hunger with eating. I spent my life eating for every reason except hunger. It's been good to get all the emotional eating off the table. 3. Keep track of every calorie I consume. I use an app called Lose It! I've missed a few meals when I was sick or when I ate homemade food that I just couldn't work out the calories for. If I find myself not wanting to enter a meal because I know I overdid it, well then I make myself put it in. I don't want to go back down the denial road again. 4. Average 1200 calories a day. I aim for 1000, but don't worry about going as high as 1499. I don't want to see a 1500. Some days I'm less than a 1000, but I find I lose more weight when my average is closer to 1200. Seeing the calorie count on things I used to eat, I'm sure I was pulling 3-4000 calories a day as recently as June. Wouldn't be surprised if binge days were twice that. And I thought I was eating healthy most of the time. 5. Eat whatever I want as long as I don't break rules 1&2. I can have McDonald's fries. I can have a couple of chips and cheese dip (a couple of chips, not a handful). I eat cheese like crazy. I eat bread, I eat pasta. I also eat lots of eggs. I eat a lot of salad without dressing. The dressings I liked were crazy high in calories, and the lower cal ones, I don't like them enough to be worth any calories to me. The key is watching my portions. If I have soup that says 220 calories per serving, but the container is 2 servings, I measure out one serving. Before, I would have eaten the whole container. The one time I had french fries (just because I could!) I ordered a small, and that was my whole lunch. One small order of fries: 226 calories. I don't eat crap food all the time, because I recognize that it's not healthy for my body. But I can as long as I watch the serving size.
I think that's it. No sugar, no snacks. Keep track of what you eat and don't eat that much of it. Get hungry. Nothing groundbreaking.
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Post by chaosisapony on Aug 17, 2014 22:00:43 GMT
My biggest obstacle that I still struggle with is to stop eating when I am full.
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Post by atomicdog on Aug 17, 2014 22:19:29 GMT
My only tip would be on the weighing in part. Too many weigh in either every day, or if it's weekly, on a Monday. Try your weekly weigh in on Friday. We tend to really work hard Mon-Thursday, so if you weigh in on Friday you can see results and stay motivated. If we're going to be in social situations, it's usually on the weekends. Then, Monday is not good and you've set yourself up for disappointment first thing in the week.
Watch your calories - try to do as much cardio (30-45 minutes at least 4 days a week) and let yourself have a treat every now and then.
Good luck!!! You've got this!
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Post by KikiPea on Aug 17, 2014 22:23:15 GMT
I weigh buck nekkid, no food or liquid first thing on Saturday AM before my cheat meal.
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Post by anxiousmom on Aug 17, 2014 22:25:32 GMT
The biggest change I made was SO simple it was stupid that I hadn't done it sooner. I started eating breakfast. Up to that point, I generally skipped breakfast and apparently that is a big fat no-no. After I started eating in the morning, I started losing weight.
I hate traditional breakfast food (except for grits lol,) so I eat "regular" food. A lot of times I will eat peanut butter sandwiches or left overs from the night before.
I have no idea how much weight I have lost, but I have gone down at least 6 sizes in the last two years.
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Post by hollymolly on Aug 17, 2014 22:54:38 GMT
I weigh buck nekkid, no food or liquid first thing on Saturday AM before my cheat meal. Me too! Except for the cheat meal part. And I weigh myself most days that I'm home and not on the road. But only first thing in the morning, naked, after I pee, before I consume anything. Also, after I shower unless for some reason I don't plan on taking a shower right away. I've tested it several times, but I tend to weigh a couple of ounces more before my shower. I can't imagine that I'm that dirty, but whatever, I just weigh after.
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Post by freecharlie on Aug 17, 2014 23:04:15 GMT
I lost 15 pounds one summer because the kids and I went to the pool two to three times a week. Apparently swimming and walking in the pool was really good for me and I wasn't eating as much because we were at the pool.
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Post by nesser01 on Aug 17, 2014 23:05:00 GMT
In 2 years I lost 68lbs. The main thing I did was cut out junk food and processed food. I also cut my portion sizes. I don't deprive myself because I still eat pasta and bread, and burgers, I just don't eat tons. If I am craving sweets I am usually satisfied with a small portion or a bite or two. The thing is I don't keep junk in the house. If I did. I would eat it.
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craftchickapowpow
Full Member
My Circus My Monkeys
Posts: 206
Jun 26, 2014 16:12:18 GMT
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Post by craftchickapowpow on Aug 17, 2014 23:10:00 GMT
I lost 30 lbs o. WW. If you follow their program you will lose weight.
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Post by renateb on Aug 17, 2014 23:18:43 GMT
I've lost 25 since May. No real trick or secret. Diet and exercise.
No soda, no artificial sweetener, no eating after dinner. Portion control is the major change. Really paying attention to portions and filling plate with healthy stuff before putting on the mash potatoes. I cook most nights and have not really changed what I cook - I've changed how much I eat and if it's not as healthy of a meal I might have a snack of veggies and hummus while cooking or something like that. I avoid but didn't give up snacks, I still enjoy a cookie, a donut, or ice cream but not every day.
Lots of fruit and veggies. I like raw, so stuff is cleaned and cut up and ready to grab and eat. Grocery list includes lots of cherry tomatoes, cauliflower, sugar snap peas, carrots, apples, strawberries, blueberries. I cook up a dozen hard boiled eggs so they are ready for breakfast. I also have a Greek yogurt (plain) every day and stir in my own fresh fruit.
I really dislike gyms, so my exercise has been walking and cycling. I cycle about 100 miles a week and walk about 25 miles a week.
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maurchclt
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,646
Jul 4, 2014 16:53:27 GMT
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Post by maurchclt on Aug 17, 2014 23:30:19 GMT
Congrats to everyone! Lots of great advise and success stories here. I lost 60 pounds on WW and have maintained since 1998.
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Post by lilbug13 on Aug 17, 2014 23:48:35 GMT
A couple of years ago I made the decision to change my life. I started watching my food intake with My Fitness Pal and began the COuch 2 5k program. It was SO HARD, but worth every single bit of it. I lost 50 lbs, went from not being able to button my size 14's to a size 6 and have never looked back . I worked hard to make good food choices and MFP was instrumental in that. It was very eye opening to see what wasted calories I was eating. The C25k program taught me that I love to run, something I NEVER, ever expected.
I know there are certain foods that make me happy and if I cut them out, I would have given up. The biggest one is my morning mocha from Starbucks. Knowing this, I incorporated it into my food options for the day and still stayed within my calories. Through the entire process, I had my mocha each morning, and I stayed happy.
Another big change I implemented was that there was NO eating after dinner was done. I found that I would snack until bedtime and that was a recipe for disaster.
Planning your meals also is a big help. I packed my lunch the night before so that I didn't run out of time in the morning and end up with and "oh well" attitude.
Another big help was that my BFF and I did this together. Even though she is half a state away, we had a weekly Thurs. morning weigh in where we texted each other pictures of the scale. We also got onto each other if we noticed the other one hadn't exercised. We did not let the other one make any excuses.
Here's a before and after.
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Post by tampascrapper on Aug 18, 2014 0:10:10 GMT
For me it's a mental shift. I can't say I'm on a diet because then I feel deprived and will pig out or when I slip, I'll say screw it and give up. So I just started eating healthier.
I gave up flavored creamer and switched to unsweetened vanilla soy milk in my coffee I do add a little sugar though.
For breakfast, most of the time I have oatmeal with the same soy milk.
I gave up soda except for maybe 1 a month.
I realize that I don't like to cook, so I stalk up on Morning Star veggie patties and frozen veggies. It's easy enough that I will eat that instead of ordering in lunch like most people at work or stopping to get something on the way home from work.
I don't eat after 7pm and I don't keep any junk food or snack stuff around because I know I will eat it.
I have started doing about 20 minutes of stretches a day. I know I need to add in more exercise but I am happy with all the small steps and I've lost almost 30lbs.
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caro
Drama Llama
Refupea 1130
Posts: 5,222
Jun 26, 2014 14:10:36 GMT
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Post by caro on Aug 18, 2014 0:48:12 GMT
Congrats to all of you on your lifestyle change.
I did the same thing last year. I gave up artificial sweetners first which included diet coke. I also gave up all soda. I drink water and unsweetened iced tea with lemon. I infuse my water with fruit or cucumber , love it !
Then I got serious with food. No sugar, no white flour, no dairy and no processed food. I eat fruit, veggies, eggs, lean protein and healthy fats. I drink almond milk or Coconut milk in coffee , and steel cut overnight oats.
When I follow this plan, I feel great! And I lost 25 lbs.
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Post by lindah on Aug 18, 2014 0:53:34 GMT
Kudos to all of you who have done so well. It is inspiring. Thank you!
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Post by femalebusiness on Aug 18, 2014 1:00:46 GMT
Fat free Fudgesicles are only 44 calories. I can eat two a day for only 88 calories. They are so good and they satisfy any sweet cravings.
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Post by AussieMeg on Aug 18, 2014 1:10:13 GMT
I have just started back on a 1200 calories per day diet (300 calories per meal plus another 300 per day for snacks).
It's hard, I think about food constantly. The first week I lost just under 1kg (2.2 pounds). The second week (last week) was a blow out. I only lost 0.2kg. I knew I wouldn't lose much because I ate WAY over 1200 calories most days.
If I was exercising as well I would be losing more.
Last time I did this diet I lost approx 1kg per week.
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