How do you maintain a healthy diet?

I eat what I want, when I want. Fortunately, "what" rarely includes junk, and "when" usually follows the pattern I've always had of eating at regular mealtimes.
 

Tommy said:
Thanks all. I neglected to mention that a few months after starting this experiment, I was able to discontinue the statin drug I had been taking. The doc said my cholesterol levels are now fine without it.

I am developing somewhat of a feel for the way specific foods come together. For instance, I know that when I have a breakfast of oatmeal, fruit, and yogurt, I will have to really focus on getting enough protein and healthy fats for the rest of the day. But at this point I think the record keeping will have to continue for a while.

treeguy64, I think it's great that your approach works for you and I greatly admire your active lifestyle. I have several relatives who are very happy as vegans, but I don't think it would ever work for me. It's too much of a struggle for me to get enough good protein in my day as it is.

I did try to create some "set daily menus" early on without much luck, but I may try that again. We do have some specific meals, particularly lunches and suppers, that we often go to offset nutrient imbalances.

I truly appreciate all of your thoughts and words of encouragement.
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My o/h has angina and the Doc wanted to give him statins. He refused as he doesn't like taking prescription medicine nor do I , haven't been to a Doc for over 20 years and so we looked at diet. Spinach and tomatoes were extremely useful in keeping cholesterol down,as were avocados. Five years on and he's going well. The pain he initially experienced with the Angina, has never returned. So fingers cross. You have done amazingly well so far and I know you will get on top of this and find what is best for you. ☺
 

Lc jones said:
One somewhat large meal a day and two very small meals (salad or soup), I limit myself to 1400 calories per day and drink 36 oz. of water per day. I also try to exercise daily.
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hi lc. does this work for you and do you snack on anything at all if you get hungry between meals?
 
During the COVID-19, I decided to walk 10,000+ steps a day, get on Weight Watchers and get back to being healthy. It has worked for me, and have found the Blue point system works in a way of keeping me conscious of what I am eating. Hope the heart doctor and all are as happy as I am.
 
Tonight, I had pizza and ice cream! Healthy cauliflower cheese pizza and Frozen Yogurt with chunks of chocolate cappuccino ice cream! Love Weight Watchers!
 
I am watching LIFE channel right now about a man that has eaten nothing but meat in his life. His parents never objected to his refusal to eat veggies. He currently eats five pounds of meat each day. He looks healthy and is interacting with counselors as i am writing this.
 
To follow up on the LIFE show he agreed to counseling and eventually agreed to try eating veggies. It was hilarious to watch him very slowly put green beans in his mouth and then broccoli in what looked like the Chinese dish beef & broccoli. He said looking at it "I have heard of broccoli."
He literally had never eaten a vegetable ever! He looked like he was in his early 30s. The show ended saying he has changed for the better.
 
Tommy said:
As we get older our metabolism slows down and some of us tend to put on weight. That's where I found myself a year ago, so I made the decision to try a personal experiment. I made a commitment to myself to clean up my food choices and to maintain a well balanced diet. No special exercise regimen, no fad diet, just that.

For the first part, I chose to seriously minimize my consumption of highly processed foods, refined sugars, fried foods, white flour, foods containing significant amounts of saturated fat, and alcohol. I found this to be much easier than it first sounded.

The second part involved keeping detailed records of what I eat. I don't know that many people could/would actually do this, but here I have two distinct advantages. One, I actually enjoy keeping records (an occupational hazard) and, two, my wife is an exceptionally good sport.

My dietary targets were to get less than half of my calories from carbs, less than 30 percent from fats, and at least 30 grams of dietary fiber per day. No limit on the total number of calories. I have to say, the results of my experiment fascinated and truly astounded me.

Initially, my daily calorie intake plummeted to around 1200/day. Eating the right foods in the right proportions, I just wasn't very hungry. After about a week, any cravings for junk food had all but vanished. By the end of eight months, I had lost over a third of my starting body weight and reached what I consider an ideal weight for me. I've maintained that weight for four months now. My caloric intake slowly increased to about 2000 calories per day and I sometimes have to remind myself to eat a bit more to keep from losing any more weight. And I've had to replace all of my size 42 waist pants with 36 waist.

The down side is coming to understand just how difficult it is to maintain those nutrient ratios. Many good fiber sources come with a lot of carbs. Protein is often accompanied by high fat content. I'm wondering if there is a good way to maintain a healthy nutrient balance without having to record every single thing one eats.
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I got on Weight Watchers and I had to track everything I ate, kinda like what you did. I have done it for 4 months, lost 22 pounds. Basically, I need to eat more vegies, proteins, and healthy desserts and snacks. I love roasted vegies and add a little meat to them. And I love bread, so I include a slice of garlic bread with the roasted vegies and that is allowable on WW. I get full and never lack what I want. Lots of fruits and vegies and I love corn on the cob with parmesan..
 
Not as much as I'd like to. My brother and SIL are bad influences when it comes to food. Filipino dishes are super tasty but not healthy yet we choose them over bland, healthy food... hehe Many say YOLO tho I don't believe in it, but I'm all for enjoying food that makes me happy. Life has a way to balance it for me with our sponsors at work providing only healthy salads, fruits and nuts for all frontliners.
 
Five years ago I was diagnosed with a liver disease and my doctor put me on a Paleo diet. It has worked wonders for me! Not only did I repair my liver (got rid of all inflammation, softened the scarring and went from a stage 3 to a healthy liver) but I lost over 50 pounds. I have maintained this lifestyle now going on 6 years and I don't miss a thing. I eat no refined sugar, no processed foods, no white potatoes, flour, wheat, rice or oats. There is no calorie counting or portion limitation involved.
At first, I cried and thought I could never do this but when your doctor tells you that death is a certainty with this disease unless you make huge changes, you tend to listen.
Now I can't imagine going back to eating the way I used to. I have a lot of energy, too.
And I have learned how to choose my foods in restaurants so I feel no limitations there.
 
LindaB said:
Five years ago I was diagnosed with a liver disease and my doctor put me on a Paleo diet. It has worked wonders for me! Not only did I repair my liver (got rid of all inflammation, softened the scarring and went from a stage 3 to a healthy liver) but I lost over 50 pounds. I have maintained this lifestyle now going on 6 years and I don't miss a thing. I eat no refined sugar, no processed foods, no white potatoes, flour, wheat, rice or oats. There is no calorie counting or portion limitation involved.
At first, I cried and thought I could never do this but when your doctor tells you that death is a certainty with this disease unless you make huge changes, you tend to listen.
Now I can't imagine going back to eating the way I used to. I have a lot of energy, too.
And I have learned how to choose my foods in restaurants so I feel no limitations there.
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Congratulations on your restored health and weight loss! How wonderful that you and your doctor found an eating plan that works for your body!

I moved to a WFPB (whole food plant based) diet 6-1/2 years ago. Lost 20 lbs fairly quickly, which brought me back to my HS weight and the size I'd been most of my adult life, and it's been relatively easy to remain here.

Low oil and added fats, zero meat or poultry, almost no dairy, maybe a small serving of fish once a month, one or two eggs a month - often less, but plenty of vegetables, fruits and whole grains. Like you, I mostly avoid potatoes (except orange-fleshed sweet potatoes), white flour and refined sugars. This works for me because I LOVE almost all vegetables, fruits, berries, leafy greens, beans, tofu, hummus, nuts and brown rice.

Dairy, flour and sugar restrictions get lifted during my cookie/pizza party season, which runs from Thanksgiving - Christmas. After all, a gal's gotta live! :cool: 🎉
 
I try to eat more produce, less fry food, and smaller portion. To me these are easier to do than exercise. Lately I've been less active due to heat and covid and felt like I put on weight so I tried to exercise about 5 times a week but after 3-4 weeks I quitted.
 
Some tips I've learned over the years...
Find the plan with foods that you can enjoy and continue with (currently I'm back on the Dukan "Lite")
Weigh daily - preferably after "ahem"
Monitor and record your daily food ( currently I'm recording just carbs and calories)
Exercise daily - 30 minutes walking with my dog, plus some yoga-pilates and strength training
Get involved with a group (like this one) to keep motivated.
Draw line graphs to record your weight loss!

Have a great day!
 
I do a low carb high fat diet diet and normally walk 2 miles every day. I am motivated to maintain it because diabetic complications is not something I wish to experience.
 
For those who like keeping records, MyFitnessPal.com is an easy way to do it online (free.) It has thousands of foods listed and anything you track will show calories, fat, sugar, protein, carbs, sodium plus a running pie chart to show proportions. The foods you eat regularly will stay at the top of your page, so most days you just put a check mark by your food and it logs.
 
Della said:
For those who like keeping records, MyFitnessPal.com is an easy way to do it online (free.) It has thousands of foods listed and anything you track will show calories, fat, sugar, protein, carbs, sodium plus a running pie chart to show proportions. The foods you eat regularly will stay at the top of your page, so most days you just put a check mark by your food and it logs.
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I’ve been using that app for years. There’s a premium (paid) version that I’ve never found the need for, but if you’re looking for more bells and whistles they’re there.

I originally used it to lose the 40 pounds of menopause weight I gained. I calculated how many calories I needed daily to get to my goal weight in a year, and then set that calorie amount as my daily goal. I also set what percentage of those calories would come from carbs, protein and fat.

once those settings were in place it was simply a matter of logging everything I ate and the app kept track of those percentages and the calories I consumed, so I was always aware of how close I was getting to my total daily calories and also whether I was either over, or deficient, in the carb, protein and fat categories.

More recently I’m using the app As a meal planner too. I figure out what I want to eat for the day, log those foods and amounts into the app first thing in the morning, and see where my total calories end up. Then I tweak the foods as needed to make sure I’m within both the allowed calories and the macronutrients. That way it shows me whether or not I have any discretionary calories available for that special treat or piece of chocolate or an extra serving of something. It’s a really handy app.

For those who don’t use their phones for everything the way I do, there’s also a desktop version: My Fitness Pal
 
Forty pounds! That's fabulous, Ronni.

I don't have a cell phone so I don't have any such things as apps, but I keep the site in favorites on my computer and it's instantly ready to use.

Logging our food seems to help most people eat better even if they don't try to keep within certain numbers. It's the awareness of what we're eating that usually makes for better choices.












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I don't do anything except, every time I eat something that's too much or all wrong I take a 2 mile walk on the beach...almost immediately. Not a power walk...just a consistent pace with an occasional running for the frisbee with the dogs. My daughter timed the distance on her app from my starting point to a 2 mile marker (aka someone's lavender beach house...easy to spot when I've finished 2 miles).

Time flies by when walking on the beach. I wear my tennis shoes and stay on the hard sand when I'm serious about it
 
I'm the kind of person who can eat whatever he wants. The only problem with that is, I get really fat when I do so. :ROFLMAO:

Just kidding. I only eat two meals a day and try to make them balanced and healthy, plus I avoid snacks. That keeps my weight under control — especially if I work out a few times a week. I hate exercising, though.
 
I discovered a way to lose weight and keep it off, but only started recently after watching a documentary featuring Michael Mosley, the renowned science journalist who was in Australia for his series to tackle our fastest growing chronic disease: type 2 diabetes.

So now I jump on the scales every morning to keep my weight in check. If I over-indulge one day, I re-adjust the next. It has now become a habit and the weight is slowing coming off. Having a sweet tooth is tough but the amount of sugar I was eating every day was scary.

https://www.sbs.com.au/ondemand/video/1951757379791/australias-health-revolution-s1-ep1
 
I follow the keto food plan and once I got back on it am feeling so much better. Today I was full of energy. Carbs are just bad for me. As soon as I eat them I feel heavy, like I can't lift my legs to walk. Irritable and depressed. So high fat, moderate protein, low carbs is pretty easy for me.

I will occasionally go out to eat with my bf and my favorite food is Chinese. I will just eat whatever and get right back on it after that meal. We do not go every week so it is okay. Other types of restaurants, I can usually order low carb meals. But we don't go out that often.
 

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