It's almost diet season. Do you recommend one?

Yeah, it’s called “don’t consume more calories than you burn”.

That’s an objective that the diet industry makes billions from by selling methods to achieve it. How do you keep your calorie intake less than it’s output? Is it your habit to monitor daily intake and output, or have you just naturally found a balance that works for you?

I don’t adhere to a certain diet but I do try to eat as many raw foods as possible.

Eat less, excercise more.

Cut out sugar and most processed starches (corn, potatoes, pasta, white rice) and limit your intake of carbohydrates.

If you eat a plant-based diet, you don’t even have to count calories or check portions.

Then exercise several times a week.

Repeating myself:

Watch Forks Over Knives for the science behind the plant-based diet.

For an added incentive, watch Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead

@gailcalled you don’t have to exercise several times a week unless you’re an athlete.

Speak for yourself, bucko.

Several times a week is a lot. That’s like having a part time job, Gail

Is it? 20 minutes of stretching, bslsnce stuff, strengthening knees and lower back and using 5 lb. dumbbells, and 45 minutes on the tread milll leave me a surprising amount of time for other activities.

You have to really like going to the gym to want to go that often. I don’t.

I have my ten-year old treadmill in my basement and watch cooking shows and Jeopardy! I do exercises on a floor mat and have had the dumbbells for ten years.

Prorated, the equipment cost me $100/annum.

There is also the easy and cheap option of a brisk walk, weather permitting here.

It doesn’t take much to make a difference if you’re starting from a horrible diet.

I lost 5 lbs once simply by switching to drinking diet soda and putting Splenda in my coffee.

Just say “no” to anything deep-fried or served out of a window.
—That includes Starbucks. Have you ever looked up the caloric content of that 5-pump mocha double-shot Frappuccino with extra whip?

You don’t have to give up comfort food – just be smart about it. Instead of microwaving a box of TGI Friday’s jalepeno poppers, buy some fresh jalepenos, cut off the tops and scoop out the seeds, pipe them full of Neufchatel cheese (tastes like cream cheese, 60% less fat) and put them in the oven for ten minutes. It’s effing amazing.

Buy smaller plates. If you eat all your meals off dessert plates, you’ll eat less because your eyes will convince your brain you’re eating the same amount.

Don’t eat in front of the TV. Ever. Unless it’s plain popcorn, because chances are (if you’re American) you’re not getting enough fiber, anyway. And cut your food into smaller bites. You’re not a vaccuum cleaner, and your stomach doesn’t have teeth.

I work full time and am home-schooling my son. I don’t have time to exercise regularly. I’m still maintaining a 20 lb weight loss, and I’m never hungry. And I love dessert.

Buy a steamer, steam all your food. No bad fats, lots of water, no sugar, no fizzy drinks.

I’m the worst dieter ever. I suck at it.

I’m 5’5” and was 165lbs at my highest weight. I went on Atkins and lost 40lbs. I think that’s what ruined me for all diets after that. I was 124 lbs when I met my husband at 17 and, in the past 5ish years, I’ve been fluctuating between 130 and 145. I’m definitely a yo-yo dieter.

My problem is that I love food. I eat when I’m happy, sad, stressed, bored…you name it. I eat when I’m not hungry and I don’t enjoy eating really healthy foods. Raw veggies and no carbs? It’ll never work for me because I’ll give up within a week.

I’m scared to weigh myself now, because I’ve been really bad lately and my work pants from August don’t fit anymore. Not good.

My plan, starting next week, is to simply eat no more than 3 meals a day, no fast food or dessert, plenty of water, around 1500 calories per day, and exercise whenever I can.

I actually cheat every weekend, and eat whatever I want. Might sound weird, but I still lose weight as long as I stick to the diet during the week.

135 lbs is my goal weight. We’ll see how it goes. I’m disgusted with myself now.

Count calories and figure out how many you eat per day. Cut it by 500 a day and increase your exercise a little and you will lose about 2 pounds a week, until you hit the weight that that amount of calories and exercise equals to. If you count calories you will find veggies and whole fruits help you feel full without adding a lot of calories, which goes along with @gailcalled is suggesting. Eating what I think is probably obviously healthy to most people, eating foods that grow from the earth that have not been altered or processed, tend to have fewer calories than processed foods. Although, some fruits and vegetables are caloric like avocados and nuts. But, in moderation they have “healthy” fats and other healthful properties.

Get up early — from the dinner table.

Ha! I love going back to these old threads and reading my responses. Oh, how things have changed in two years.