First, I have lost 50 pounds in 6 months. And I definitely have the mindset that I have made a permanent change. This is not a "diet", this is a completely different way of relating to food.
For the last month, I have been shifting to being less restrictive. I lost the first 45 pounds by eating a very limited diet. Now, I am focusing on the positives. e.g. "I will drink 80 ounces of water." "I will eat 5-7 servings of fruit and vegetables." etc. As long as I am on track with these things, I let myself choose what I want to eat without prohibition*. (I do have exceptions - cheese and pasta are restricted. They are triggers for me so I have to be very careful and deliberate and mindful when I eat them.) I have lost 5 more pounds...
I have been thinking about maintaining my weight loss and the thought of tracking everything I eat every day for the rest of my life feels wrong to me. Doing it makes me obsess about food a lot more than when I don't track. I think I actually fall into a more healthy relationship with food when I am not weighing/planning/tracking all the time. Also, I have been successful without doing tracking consistently so it hasn't been reinforced for me. But I know there is research and a lot of anecdotal info that this is how maintainers succeed.
I was thinking that I would like to focus on mindful eating and just do some "check in" tracking where I track my food for a few days to a week once per month or so to make sure my assumptions are correctly calibrated. Opinions?
*This does not mean I let myself make unhealthy choices and binge, etc. I make thoughtful choices. It is less stressful and, I believe, more sustainable to accept that every food is "allowed".
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source https://www.reddit.com/r/loseit/comments/s6it5t/has_anyone_lostmaintained_weight_loss_without/
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