Anyone losing weight the super slow way?

Ive had it with diets.. Sorry even calorie counting. food and weight is becoming too much a part of my life and frankly i dont want it to be. im a pre-med student and i rather obsess over organic chemistry and most likely get an A. then do the same with weight and fail ..again. anyone else trying to lose weight really slowly? For example- cutting out meat, or cutting out soda, or fast food. just small goals like that? if so HELP please! ide love to hear how you have the patience to do that.

I have been trying to lose weight for the past three years. I have lost almost 60 pounds. The first 40 came off some what quickly, within the first year. The following year I lost about 15. I often found myself in the place where you are now. I would stop the calorie counting but kept active. I felt that I need to get away from the constant obsessing over food and calories. But each time the weight would slowly come back on. This past year I have been going up and down with the same ten pounds. In November I joined here and decided that the only way I am going to continue to lose weight and especially keep from gaining is to keep a watchful eye on my food and calories.

What I am trying to do now is do it in such a way that it isn't the most important thing. I track all my activity and calories. My biggest battle is changing my mindset that certain foods are good or bad. It leads me to feeling guilty and that guilty brings me to that all or nothing way of thinking. I am eating what I want, like last night at a party I had some chips, cheese, dips, etc. but by counting my calories I was able to prepare for it and I did go over my calorie needs for the day, but I was right back in the gym this morning. Before I might of said " F* it" and continued on with the poor choices. With working on this new attitude I am down 8 lbs in the last 7 weeks.

I know this isn't the answer that you were looking for. I just know that when I have given myself a break I end up gaining. I now know that I didn't need a break I needed more balance and to be kinder to myself when the best choices were not made.

Best of luck to you.

is 27 pounds in three years slow?

actually, i've been holding fairly steady the last year and a bit, but it really did take me almost 2 years to lose ~ 30 pounds. 

i'm definitely an advocate of the slow method.  i know--i mean i really know--i'll never be heavy again.  if i fall off the exercise wagon for a few weeks (as i have since early november), i'm not going to start packing it on again. 

Ive had it too with diets!!  i keep going because i have my own weight log thing as well as the cc one and i log down every single ounce i lose even if some weeks its not pounds i lose i can see for myself the numbers coming down, what frustrates me is i too have cut out fast food and i watch my husband tuck into fast food and i think to myself i will lose weight this week as i have been good and avoided all the wrong foods only to step on the scales and see either a gain or a very very small loss or none at all!! its very frustrating but i would stick with it if i was you, keep going! i would be a hypocrit if i said dont obsess about your diet because i know how hard it is not to obsess about it! i feel that all i ever think about is food, calories and the dreaded scales!

also on the positive side the slower the weight comes off the more likely it is to STAY OFF!!

im also going to try weekly weigh ins rather than daily as lately that has shattered my will power as i have been fluctuating so much!!

also...drink lots of water, my loss is speeding up a little since i started to drink alot more water!!

Good Luck!

I find eating a high carb diet--healthy complex carbs does it for me....I don't count calories and I'm still losing...Here is a sample menu...Feel free to email me if you have questions..

weekday menu:

Breakfast: all the oatmeal I want to eat (until full) with 1 cup of fruit

Lunch : home-made vegetable soup with a baked potato (all I can eat too)

Dinner: maybe a baked potato with cream corn

weekend menu (relaxed)

breakfast: sweet potato with honey (all I can eat)

snack: 1 cup of fruit

lunch: whole wheat pasta & pasta  sauce, with whole wheat garlic bread and maybe a salad

snack: maybe some organic ice-cream

dinner: a no cheese vegetable pizza (again all I can eat)

snack: chips and salsa or guacamole

I understand completely. I am doing it the smart way now...no more starving myself, starting and stopping exercise programs, etc. I have lost 30 pounds (as of today) since June 17th of this year. I feel great. I am following a slightly modified version of the South Beach diet. I found after detoxifying my body from sugar, I feel great. I have more energy, which causes me to get more exercise. We recently added cross country skiing to our regimen. I basically eat NO bread, but i have replaced anything I would have eaten with bread before with those zero carb flat breads or the zero carb tortilla shells, which do the trick. I make pizzas on them when I feel like having pizza, make rollups when I feel like having a sandwich, and particularly like eggs, cheese and veggies inside of them. My sweet tooth is curbed with the No Sugar Added fudgcicles and sugar free pudding. I LOVE cashews and enjoy them within reason.

For the first time in a long time I do not feel deprived. It is something I can easily follow, and I feel stronger and healthier than I have in many years. There is no more obsessing on what I can and can't have because everything I like can be made the South Beach way.

Just thought I would share.

I think that in your situation, maybe what would be the best solution would be to just cut your portions. Eat whatever it is that your whole family is eating but make sure to stop as soon as you aren't hungry. Lots of water with your meal will help you achieve the full feeling faster. Cutting out calories from drinks, at least for the majority of the time, is an easy way to skip calories without having to put much thought into it. And when you go out, try to opt for something delicious that isn't super high calorie. I'm not saying have a salad for your meal, but maybe choose the grilled chicken or grilled fish instead of the double bacon burger, or veggies instead of fries.... MOST of the time... We all need a greasy burger or some golden fries once in a while!

And just common sense with the sweets.. Have a small piece of pie, sure. But not 5 days a week, and not 3 slices at a sitting.

I think these are ways of being healthier without having to obsess and think about it all the time. I started out counting calories, and I'm glad I did, because now I have a basic knowledge of about how many cals are in different foods. But I remember when I first started, I'd DREAM about food and calories, no doubt from counting and logging all day! Now I do it pretty much the way I just suggested to you.

The only thing that ever worked for me was getting my daily quota of fruit & veggies - approximately 7-8 servings (Canada Health Food Guide), which is quite tough at first.  I don't cut out any food groups - for grains I choose whole grain options (higher in fiber) but do limit to 5-6 - servings per day, for dairy - eat low or no fat options (2-3 servings) ,  and protein - beans, nuts and leaner meats like poultry and fish (2-3 servings).  It's about making better food choices and having a balanced diet.   I started out making the "green drink" featured on Oprah from Dr. Oz.  One batch of that makes two drinks which are each 3.5 servings of fruit/veggies which is a big boost in servings for the day.  So instead of focusing on calories as much I focus on how many servings of each food group that I've had.  I've tried all kinds of diets and this is the easiest - it's not a diet, it's a lifestyle.  Don't worry it's actually that easy, there's no catch;)