Lately, I've been restricting my calorie intake with some pretty cunning nuance, and it's been going pretty well. I started when I saw myself balloon to 97kg, and a couple of months later I'm hitting lows of 88-ish. Pretty neat!
To accomplish this, 95% of the time for the last couple of months I've basically eaten the same 2 or 3 healthy, low calorie meal options for dinner and stuck with them every single day. Food is so cheap to get delivered here, it's just far easier and cheaper to have professional restaurants do all the work for you and calculate the calories. I can get a healthy baguette style tuna sandwich for about $2.50 - including delivery (Left image), or a couple of sides and drink on top for $4. But the majority of the time I get the same healthy beef wrap with a side of pumpkin and cauliflower, and an extra bowl of Chicken for a total of under 600 calories (right image).
Occasionally I'll get myself a Beef Phở or something else, and sometimes I'll go out for a meal without restriction with friends. But, the vast majority of the time, I've wiped out any expectation or desire to feel anything from food other than the joy of reducing hunger. I'm pretty content with it in practice.
I realised years that 'dieting' in the sense of prohibiting myself from certain food groups; carbs, fats, etc., just wasn't for me, and exercising just made me more hungry and prone to eat more. So for a while now I've been slowly kind of working on small, comfortable changes.
I've slowly grown to drink water over cans of soda - this one was easy. I just went cold turkey no problem. But at the same time, I don't prohibit myself from them. Sometimes, on a sweaty-ass, tiring day, I'll grab a can from a shop fridge. These days I tend to find I have one or two sips and I'm sugar'ed out, pour the rest down a drain. It served its purpose.
I can't remember the last time I ate chocolate, it was just phased out of my habits. Again though, I'll definitely have some if I feel like it.
I suppose this kind of method is easier for some than others. Many people, perhaps most, have cravings that I just don't experience. I can't personally think of anything I couldn't just cut out entirely with any real difficulty, but at the same time, if I suddenly changed into some Keto diet or some shit, it would fail within days simply out of boredom of putting all the effort in.
The key for me is to make a smooth transition from one lifestyle to another without my body really noticing, which is why I'm technically allowing myself to eat whatever I want, while simply encouraging myself towards the healthy end.
One thing I remind myself often is the concept of appeasing my gut bacteria. In short, your gut bacteria is a population of microbes not native to your body, but an essential symbiote helping you to digest your food.
Depending on what you eat determines which specific bacteria holds the majority steak (heh) within your gut. If you live a life of McDonald's for example, those bacteria who crave salty, carby fries and burgers will grow dominance and, when hungry, demand more and more. This signals straight to your brain and lo and behold, you're at the nearest McDonald's again.
But by switching the food out slowly, the minority party of leafy green and and fruit-loving bacteria starts to gain more seats, their voices heard more and more until you find yourself craving watermelon.
This is legit science by the way, I'm just writing about it like a child. It legit works for me. I find my desires have changed dramatically from Fast Food and Chocolate Ice cream, to Ugly Oranges and Cereal.
Legit the best fruit ever.
Speaking of fruit, that's the best thing that's happened to me. Obviously my calorie intake is way below the 3,000 calories I need to maintain status quo. Oftentimes less than half. The hunger I feel occasionally can wreck me if I'm not careful. It's not just hunger, but it's shakiness in the hands, weakness, even a loss of appetite which spirals out of control.
To circumvent this, fruit is an absolute saviour. All I do is get myself a couple of ugly oranges and voila, I feel like a new man, with only a comfortable level of background hunger. Fruit is rich in Fiber which not only helps digestion push everything through, but it's generally harder to digest so it makes you feel full for longer than something high in carbs.
It's really fast too. I remember feeling pretty bad after not eating for way too long, and a couple of ugly oranges set me up for the entire rest of my work day and all the way until my healthy wrap at 7pm.
It's like a frickin' life hack - and you can pretty much have as much fruit as you want.
Not for Everyone
Yeah it's not like I'd recommend this lifestyle to anyone really. I'm not really that into food generally, and I even tend to forget to eat. My terrible lifestyle habits are what made this re-jiggling of my diet so easy for me. It works in a kind of way catered uniquely to myself. Somebody like my girlfriend who LOVES food and needs to constantly try new things in an eternal search for the perfect meal (and somehow remains hot), couldn't survive 24 hours doing this.
But the fact is, I'm eating fewer calories than I need, It's sustainable for me, and I'm eating a way healthier balance of food and nutrients than I have in years, while still allowing myself the occasional Ice Cream or Taco.
It's also not gonna be possible for people in the West really to live a life of perpetual delivery food, with the delivery itself costing an arm and a leg, and restaurants charging absurd prices for the luxury of health.
One thing I would take out of all my blabberings here though:
Never underestimate the power of fruit
A fruity lifestyle was the true gamechanger in this whole project. Even if you don't like 'em, just keep it up and that gut bacteria will make you love it in a week or so.
The fibre in the fruit is essential though, so juicing everything probably isn't a great idea, since then you're just drinking sugar without the 'feeling full' substance that's the whole point.
Other than that, don't ask me for advice. I've spent my entire life actively eating the exact opposite of what I'm supposed to eat. Hardly an Expert in the field ;D
I'm a dietitian. And I'm very happy to look a post on feed here. It's really an amazing thing to share experience and encourage others to get free knowledge about their food.
I'm glad you haven't screamed NO!! in disapproval of my methods, as a professional, then haha
😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 I'm just happy you talk about food. At least you think about it 😂 😂
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Indeed calorie reduction is essential for maintaining healthy weight and lifestyle.
Your method is practical and achievable. It is easier to start with simple things before moving to complex ones. Thanks for sharing.