The key to keeping the weight off may be in understanding the caloric density of the different foods so you can reach satiety at each meal without filling up on high calorie foods.
I found this Presentation to be very helpful.
Good luck

I have used “MyFitnessPal” to keep track of goals, food intake and progress. The app has many tips on motivation, simple foods and recipes. I started withthe free version, then paid for a year subscription. At that point you can scan barcodes of the food you eat and the app keeps track of all your nutrition intake. The app will tell you what type of food you still need to consume for the day, etc. it’s a really good solution to help learn to keep track. After a while you know without the app if you are just overstepping your daily commitment.

I cut out almost all carbs. Eating a high fat, moderate protein, low carb diet allows you to fast once your body gets used to using fats as a primary instead of secondary food source.

I allow myself to eat between the hours of 10:00 AM and 6:00 PM. Nothing but water from 6:00 PM to 10:00 AM, and lots of it. It’s kind of Keto, and kind of low carb. I’m not super strict if my carb count goes up a little. I just try to watch it

Use a fitness app like my fitness pal to maintain a calorie deficit. Hi Fat diet won’t hurt you if the carbs and proteins are managed. Atkins biggest problem was it did not limit protein. Excess protein can be turned in to fuel just like carbs. Excess fuel gets stored as fat.

I have lost 15 lbs since thanksgiving, even taking time off for Christmas Eve, Christmas and football game parties.

A typical days menu is:

10:00 AM
coffee with heavy cream and stevia,
3 egg omelette with cheddar cheese cooked in 1/2 tbsp coconut oil and 1/2 tbsp butter
Baby spinach sautéed in the remaining oil.

1:00
Snack of nuts and cheese or meat and veggie lunch. Salad with ranch.

5:30
Italian sausage, peppers, onions, wrapped in low carb tortilla.
Some type of vegetable sautéed in a fat.

I will occasionally have an 8 oz glass of whole milk also.

I am completely satisfied and never hungry.

One note. Electrolyte supplementation and hydration Is a must. I learned the hard way.

quote:

Originally posted by kimberkid:
Quick up date for anyone interested!

It's been 3 months since I started Nutrisystem and I've lost 30 pounds ... Should have been more but the last 2 weeks of December set me back about 3-4 pounds, on the up-side (if you could call it that)
Since mid December I had several meals that were not Nutrisystem meals, in fact I've still got about a weeks worth left.

Even though I put on 3-4 pounds my portions were/are considerably smaller, but the meals themselves were richer and not the normal fare I eat ...

I'm still not at my goal of 165, but I've only got 11 pounds to go.

The trick is keeping it off ... without eating Nutrisystem meals!

Stay tuned!

Congrats! Hang in there.

quote:

Originally posted by smithnsig:
I cut out almost all carbs.

I've wondered several times what NutriSystem uses for things like their wraps and other meals that have a corn or wheat based component to cut the carbs ... maybe cauliflower?

Most meals and snacks have ~200 calories, some more but not many. Eating 6 times a day, 3 meals and 3 snacks I really don't get hungry and very rarely do I get cravings although it does happen occasionally, more often on my "cheat" meal which is once a week, its been a bit worse the days around Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years ... but I'm back on track now. I may do another month of Nutrisystem just to get to my goal.

Thanks for the tips SportShooter, Turning_gal & Smithnsig

quote:

Originally posted by Sportshooter:
The key to keeping the weight off may be in understanding the caloric density of the different foods so you can reach satiety at each meal without filling up on high calorie foods.
I found this Presentation to be very helpful.
Good luck

Interesting, that video seems to be in direct contrast to the Keto diet.

I'm not saying one is right and the other is wrong, just pointing out they are at opposite ends of the spectrum.

I'm 32 and weighed 208 pounds at my heaviest. I graduated high school at 150 and college at 175. My goal was to lose the weight by a vacation in March 2019.

Using the book bigger leaner stronger by Mike Matthew's and myfitnesspal app and the muscle for life website macro calculator starting in September I am down to 181.6 this morning.

Basically I have been eating a high protein lower carb 90 grams a day and low fat diet. It was difficult at first but only six more pounds to 175. Now it's much easier. This is all with only a diet change no exercise.

Then the weightlifting starts...

179 lbs this morning.

235 was my heaviest, 4 years ago. Lost most of it in the last 8 months doing Keto.

I ate a huge, fatty, steak last night, and a double helping of brussel sprouts. It simply WORKS.

I don't think I'd like any of the systems where you have to buy their food, etc. Especially as processed as it can be. I used a carb counter for a few months until I had the hang of it, and don't eat anything near what I used to, calorie-wise. Usually one big meal a day. I'm so busy at work that I go the whole shift without eating usually. Don't get hungry like I used to.

160 is probably where I'll stop.

None of my dang clothes fit anymore though!

quote:

Originally posted by kimberkid:

quote:

Originally posted by smithnsig:
I cut out almost all carbs.

I've wondered several times what NutriSystem uses for things like their wraps and other meals that have a corn or wheat based component to cut the carbs ... maybe cauliflower?

Most meals and snacks have ~200 calories, some more but not many. Eating 6 times a day, 3 meals and 3 snacks I really don't get hungry and very rarely do I get cravings although it does happen occasionally, more often on my "cheat" meal which is once a week, its been a bit worse the days around Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years ... but I'm back on track now. I may do another month of Nutrisystem just to get to my goal.

Thanks for the tips SportShooter, Turning_gal & Smithnsig

I would submit that this is why diets are temporary and studies show that only 5%-ish of people who lose a significant amount of weight actually keep it off.

Why are you eating wraps? Using a carb substitutes and keeping caloric intake down around 1,200 calories (200-ish*6 meals a day) will only lead to one thing. Your body will adjust and start only burning 1,200/day. Then your weight loss stops. Worse yet, when you inevitably start eating like you used to (because you only tricked your body into eating fake wraps instead of learning how not to eat them at all), your body will still only be burning 1,200 cals/day...and you'll weigh more than when you started.

Calorie restricted diets ignore homeostasis. That is, your body will not burning 2k cals per day no matter what. It will speed up or slow down your metabolism based on how many cals you feed it.

If you've lost the weight, that's awesome! Calorie restricted diets will indeed show short term gains. My advice now is to learn how to properly eat whole foods and ensure the weight doesn't come back.

I didn't watch the Jeff Novick vid, but I'm familiar with him. He is in essence "low carb" in the sense most folks think of it. Most people don't think of broccoli as a carb, but it is. Keto goes too far imo and restricts all carbs. Most research show simple carbs (think broccoli) digests slowly because they have high fiber in them. As such, they don't spike insulin and lead to weight gain. Personally, I'm not a fan of pure Keto where simple carbs (fruits & veggies) are avoided. I'm more a paleo fan...aka Whole Foods basically.

where Jeff goes astray is that he ignores that your metabolism will speed up in the presence of huge amounts of calories. e.g. nuts. They are super calorie dense, but calories are irrelevant if you're eating correctly. Eat 5k calories of nuts a day and avoid complex carbs, you know what happens? Your body will start to burn all 5k of those cals from the nuts daily.

quote:

Originally posted by esdunbar:
I didn't watch the Jeff Novick vid, but I'm familiar with him. He is in essence "low carb" in the sense most folks think of it. Most people don't think of broccoli as a carb, but it is. Keto goes too far imo and restricts all carbs. Most research show simple carbs (think broccoli) digests slowly because they have high fiber in them. As such, they don't spike insulin and lead to weight gain. Personally, I'm not a fan of pure Keto where simple carbs (fruits & veggies) are avoided. I'm more a paleo fan...aka Whole Foods basically.

where Jeff goes astray is that he ignores that your metabolism will speed up in the presence of huge amounts of calories. e.g. nuts. They are super calorie dense, but calories are irrelevant if you're eating correctly. Eat 5k calories of nuts a day and avoid complex carbs, you know what happens? Your body will start to burn all 5k of those cals from the nuts daily.

I only watched about 40 mins of his presentation. From what I watched, it looks like his presentation was 3 partial days. I think what he's arguing is basically the opposite of what you just said. He is saying NOT to eat nuts and fats, and to eat vegetables (including potatoes) and fruit. He is definitely saying calories matter.

Correct, sorry if I wasn't clear. He isn't necessarily directly against Keto per say. He's a calorie density guy. He's looking at it from a whole different aspect than Keto. They have areas where they agree and areas where they don't. That's all I was trying to say.

Some of his stuff is kinda anti Keto in that he says to eat carbs. He then goes on to say eat certain ones (basically think whole foods), but only calorie light ones.

And yes, he's anti whole foods that are calorie dense like nuts. That's where his understanding breaks down. He's still at his core a calorie counter. There have been countless studies showing that calories are completely irrelevant in weight gain or loss. Anyone who still spews this concept should be ignored completely as science has proven this wrong. One of the greatest things we could do for the obesity epidemic is remove the word and concept of a calorie from our society completely imo.

quote:

Originally posted by esdunbar: There have been countless studies showing that calories are completely irrelevant in weight gain or loss. Anyone who still spews this concept should be ignored completely as science has proven this wrong. One of the greatest things we could do for the obesity epidemic is remove the word and concept of a calorie from our society completely imo.

Could you explain that a bit more? Aren't calories simply a way of measuring the energy contained in a certain food? I guess one could argue the way they calculate them, but some measure of energy content must be relevant. No??

The whole move more eat less is BS. It assumes that your body burns 2k-ish calories a day. That assumption is where it all falls apart. There have been countless studies that show your body will adapt to whatever you feed it calorie-wise, IF you allow your body to.

If you only eat 1,200 calories a day, your body will eventually slow your metabolic rate, your heart rate, your breathing, your mental function, etc to only use 1,200 calories per day. If you feed it only 1,200, it will NOT continue to burn 2k per day indefinitely. You'll get cold easier, you'll have trouble focusing, you will breathe shallower, etc.

Likewise, if you consume 5k calories a day, your body will burn it off...if you eat the right thing. Hormone levels control how much fat you store. Calories consumed have nothing to do with it.

A calorie is simply a unit of energy food gives off when you burn it with a flame. However when you consider a calorie from the 3 macro food groups (fat, protein and carbohydrates), your body has very different physiological responses to the three. That is why calories are irrelevant.

It would literally be like saying how deep you breathe will determine how long you live, all while ignoring that one group is inhaling anthrax and the other normal country air. It's not how you're breathing, but what you're breathing that matters...all while having people running around breathing shallowly and still dying from anthrax while we say, but a breathe is breathe! No, calorie is not a calorie.

Read Dr. Jason Fung "The Obesity Code" and he will blow your mind with these studies.

TLDR: Simple Example: Type 1 Diabetics

If you have type 1 diabetes, you will die. Your body will wither away into nothing and that will be it. No matter how much you eat, and how little you move, you will not be able to keep weight on and your body will become emaciated and you'll die.

How can that be? How can they literally not gain any weight even if they eat 10k calories a day? If calories in vs calories out controlled weight, type 1 diabetes would be impossible.

Simple, type 1 diabetes is a disorder where your body lacks the ability to tell itself to store fat. Essentially the body cannot create insulin.

If you have no insulin, you won't store fat. Eat foods that don't trigger an insulin release and you won't store fat...no matter how much you eat.

That's over simplified, but it shows how hormones control weight, not calories.

quote:

This of course is the right answer. I would highly recommend making an appointment with a good nutritionist who will target your needs specifically. He or she will actually give you a shopping list for the week and recommend meals. Once you establish a baseline about what foods you like and what works over the course of a month or two, you can keep those shopping lists and menus and simply reuse them or reinvent them indefinitely.

Go with a nutritionist and eat real food and forget those tv diets.

This!

Resurrecting this old thread just to finish it off... in addition to my other health problems arthritis started really bothering my knees.

Initially I was on NutriSystem for 6 months or so and went from 211 pounds to around 180 ...
Since then I got down to the 170’s but then got back up to 185 and went back on it.

The problem is, after a while it starts tasting like cardboard, with whatever seasoning you want to put on it ...

Anyway, 3 months I was back to my 175-ish but I didn’t stick to the plan as strictly as I did initially.

Sometime mid 2019, I was back to eating my wife’s cooking and slipped back up to 180 and got back on the program for another 3 months, but again not sticking to the program and that 3 months of food lasted about 6 months and was down to 170.

Now it’s been about 9 months, long enough since I’ve ordered, NutriSystem kicked me off the plan and all I’ve been doing is watching my portion sizes, and eating a snack in the morning & afternoon ... Also, lunch is my “big” meal of the day

I’m down to bouncing around 160-165 and have re-assessed my target weight to 150, so I still have a ways to go, but I think I can do it.

All in all, NutriSystem was expensive but I don’t think I could have made it on my own ... just grabbing a meal from the assortment of prepackaged meals that I’d picked out made it simple and I could do it without having to think about it.

By the way, my uncle started on the Atkins diet food plan which you can pick up locally instead of having it shipped to you once a month ... but he said both NutriSystem and Atkins started tasting like cardboard after a few months.

quote:

but he said both NutriSystem and Atkins started tasting like cardboard after a few months.

I've been on modified diet plans most of my life. Some work well for me & some don't. I currently weigh within 10lbs of HS graduation, nearly 60 years ago. Yes, still too damn fat but making headway.

A few days ago I had a fast food "chicken sandwich" that tasted remarkably like a toxic waste dump.

I spit it out, threw it out, and made for home cooking.

After comparing Nutrisystem and MediFast, I went with the latter. About half the food is tolerable and some of it is actually not bad. It’s a combination of calorie control (less than 1K most days) and Keto.

I followed the directions for a full 30 days. Honestly, no real cravings and surprisingly, I wasn’t really hungry.

Lost about 35 lbs. in that 30 days.

-Rob

quote:

Originally posted by chongosuerte:
... I’ve been doing the ketogenic lifestyle now for several months. I’m down 41 pounds. I’m not hungry, I don’t eat processed stuff, and it’s easily maintainabile. Cutting out sugar has some undeniable benefits.

The wife and I are at 2.5 years. There are so many benefits to keto. However, it's a ton easier if your spouse does it with you. I'm glad you called it a lifestyle because it's a change of mind rather than a diet.

My wife and I tried it and the food is garbage processed junk. There is nothing nutritional about the food, it is simply a way to get a set amount of processed calories into your body.

We lasted a week and I couldn't handle eating all that processed junk and set it back.

A good number of years ago I tried the stuff. tasted like crap and got a full refund.