My own anecdata: Late in 2014, as I turned 50, I stepped on the scale and saw 295 pounds. I knew I had long been overindulging, but I freaked and decided to do something about it. As it was, it was starting to hurt when I walked.
First thing to go: snacks. I made a simple rule: don't keep snacks handy. It's way too easy for me to graze. The other thing I did was to greatly reduce my portion sizes. I found a couple of things: first, that if I still felt hungry after finishing a meal, I didn't feel that way a few minutes later. I also noticed that I didn't feel nearly as hungry in general as I thought I would. Keep in mind that restaurant portions often are big enough for two, sometimes three people. If I take half home, there's tomorrow's lunch or dinner. Win-win.
Occasional treats are not a bad thing, but I won't let myself fall into the trap of "oh, just one more bag of chips won't do any harm (lather, rinse, repeat)."
The first summer, I broke out my long-dormant recumbent trike, fixed the broken spokes, and got it back out for long rides, and I also rode a lot last summer as well. During this time, I found that I needed to eat more to support the rides, but I didn't gain weight, and my rides got faster through the season - very noticeably so last summer. Once it got too cold to ride, I had to readjust my eating habits again, but it still wasn't too difficult.
After 28 months of this, I'm down to 195. I'd like to get down to 170, but I'm not going to go nuts trying to hit the target. As it is, my knees and feet are very thankful, and I feel a whole lot better.
I've dropped ~50 lbs in two years nearly the same way, or at least the same net effect: a rather large breakfast every day, no lunch, and medium sized dinner. No snacks during the day, though I often grab something later in the eve.
The gap might qualify as intermittent fasting, but I do drink coffee with a fair amount of whole milk & sugar through the mid afternoon.
I am not eating any healthier, just less food.
For exercise, I started walking my dogs 4-5 nights a week in the evenings for a few miles (think closer to speed walking than regular).[0] I stopped losing weight when I stopped walking so often - the cold is getting to me this year, will resume in the spring. I'm seeing no weight gain though, because I haven't increased the amount of food I'm putting in.
Couple of things to add to your observations:
I've found that with time, a sensation of 'hungry' is just another sensation that my body reports - it's not an imperative to eat. And as I've adapted to reduced calories, this has largely faded.
For the periodic conference or social gathering, I'll and enjoy the excessive amounts of food. For longer events this might cause an uptick of a few pounds, but it settles back to the prior level within a week or two.
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[0] I know - in the US I should put the period inside of the paren (or quote). But that's illogical. I refuse.
I learned that if an entire sentence is parenthetical, the period goes inside the parenthesis. (This makes sense to me.) Otherwise the period is outside (when the parenthetical part is at the end).
First, congratulations on the weight loss. It's great that you're finding a routine that works for you. I offer the following as a friendly suggestion if you would like to take another step: please drop the sugar from the coffee. Sugary drinks are hell on your body and especially on your teeth.
Thanks - re: the sugar, I'm ... working on it. Some days more than others ;) All told, it adds about 100 calories to my day so intake wise it's not a huge thing... but you're right re: body & teeth.
Well, to be fair, a teaspoon or less of sugar in coffee is a good bit different than the 9 or so teaspoons that are in a can of soda. "Sugary drinks" can mean a wide range of things.
The problem is, the less fat mass you have, the less good you will feel restricting calories. Dieting down to 15-20% range is very different than dieting down to 8 - 12% range (for males). The additional fat mass is like having a constant drip feed of fuel. Some other factors matter too, like leptin.
First thing to go: snacks. I made a simple rule: don't keep snacks handy. It's way too easy for me to graze. The other thing I did was to greatly reduce my portion sizes. I found a couple of things: first, that if I still felt hungry after finishing a meal, I didn't feel that way a few minutes later. I also noticed that I didn't feel nearly as hungry in general as I thought I would. Keep in mind that restaurant portions often are big enough for two, sometimes three people. If I take half home, there's tomorrow's lunch or dinner. Win-win.
Occasional treats are not a bad thing, but I won't let myself fall into the trap of "oh, just one more bag of chips won't do any harm (lather, rinse, repeat)."
The first summer, I broke out my long-dormant recumbent trike, fixed the broken spokes, and got it back out for long rides, and I also rode a lot last summer as well. During this time, I found that I needed to eat more to support the rides, but I didn't gain weight, and my rides got faster through the season - very noticeably so last summer. Once it got too cold to ride, I had to readjust my eating habits again, but it still wasn't too difficult.
After 28 months of this, I'm down to 195. I'd like to get down to 170, but I'm not going to go nuts trying to hit the target. As it is, my knees and feet are very thankful, and I feel a whole lot better.