Oh no, I don't take your comments negatively at all. I do dislike counting calories, I try, I write things down, used a variety of online tools, then I just stop. I have been able to really focus and did count points years back, it worked well for me at the time, but never have been able to regain that level of control. Following points for me at the time was kind of a religion, and that worked, but I did have to believe in it heart and soul and felt like I HAD to write down points almost as much as I HAD to breathe. Otherwise, it just seems like a chore I don't want to deal with.
Good tip on the chicken sausages, I don't think that's it, because this has just been a stall forever at this point, and that's definitely not a staple food for me. I did finish the package, so for now I'll just leave them out and see.
It's always an internal fight for me, I LOVE food and trying new fun dishes, and great restaurants, I don't often eat out just to grab something, I want it to be unique and good, and I truly enjoy the experiences, but I don't love having this extra fat. So I constantly struggle with, do I want to lose the weight more than I want to enjoy that part of my life? I truly have not found a way to enjoy restaurants the way I do AND count calories. I do have to make a choice.
I felt the Primal eating style would really help me balance both desires, but sadly, it's not, but at least I maintain. And I really have given it quite a while. I went 7 months hard core, then it fell apart a bit and I started having too many non primal items, so I decied to try something else, so I followed a carb cycling diet to a tee, I lost 3 pounds the first week (low carb week), then nothing for the next 6, and deemed it was not worth all the planning and portioning for no results. Then back to primal for the past few months, and I just stay the same.
I'm looking at a diet right now in Oxygen, that is certainly healthy and is close to how I eat (minus the fatty pork of course), and in smaller amounts with lots more veggies, it gives portions and amounts of everything, so if I follow it as written, I guess it has built in calorie counting. Once I get past the first week of September, I will be more free to focus on preparing meals, and hopefully can wrap my brain around reducing portions. I'm thinking either I need to re-think a WW style but I might need the structure of all my meals planned out for me like this magazine diet has.
Sorry for the long post, and thank you and everyone for all this fantastic insight, this has been a life long struggle for me, I was never the right weight my whole life.
I've done different kinds of diets, primal, paleo, low carb, low fat (way back when, Susan Powter) and for me what works best was recognizing when certain foods just made me plump up (Like a chicken not from Foster's Farms) and watching my calories. Cycling really seems to help. Also, I absolutely have to measure cereal of any kind and corn oil is out.
Dela- The problem you may be encountering is the chicken sausages. It may not be the calories, the carbs, or even the sodium but rather some other preservative that is the culprit. I can't tolerate dough conditioners, well I can tolerate them but I really hated being obese. I really feel the issue is the sausage. Often there is hidden soy in those and soy is not my friend because it is an estrogen source and it inhibits your ability to use your own thyroid. Avoid processed meats for a while and see what happens. Also, if the meat you get says that they are adding sodium and 'other flavorings' that could be MSG which in some people induces insulin resistance which can cause weight gain in some people (notably, me.) Btw, it doesn't matter if its organic, if it says 'flavorings' and is processed it does make me fat, no matter what. Have you tried adding coconut oil to your diet? Coconut oil really helps up my metabolism.
Have you checked out Sandra Ahten's free podcast called The Reasonable Diet, it has helped me with my all or nothing thinking and with accepting the fact that my body requires a certain amount of calorie counting, not just to keep from eating too much, but from eating too little of the right things. You might want to look into why a simple thing like calorie counting (in a world with digital scales, disposable tupperware, and fitday) bothers you so much? Is it that you don't want to tell yourself what to do? Or is it that you just really don't want to feel crappy (as we all do in a deficit during weight loss.) and this is your way of avoiding it? Because, I have got to tell you, everybody feels crappy during weight loss. Its just a fact. I was working on that yesterday. I always know when I have hit that feeling. I am a bit hungry and sluggish but I push through by using mental strategies that help me tolerate it: 1. I know that I don't ever want to be obese again 2. I love having my feet not hurt from being overweight. 3. I know that this is not forever. 4. and the most important part is I know that what I am doing is working because of how I feel.
I really hope that helps and I hope I'm not stepping on your toes, if that last bit was not relevant to you, just forget about it.