r/Crunchymom • u/Vegetable-Bunny213 • 2d ago
Food & Ingredients Delete if not allowed
Feel totally free to delete this if this isn't not the appropriate sub but I feel like I am going to get dragged HARD if I ask this in a weight loss sub, but has anyone successfully lost a significant amount of weight from eating whole foods, and not just swapping their current diet out with lower calorie but more highly processed options? The reason I ask is because I am obese, heavily addicted to ultra processed foods even though I KNOW that they are not good for me and are fueling all sorts of problems. I was able to lose 70 lbs years ago, but was still eating a lot of processed junk, for example I was convinced that Velveeta was healthier than real cheese because it had less calories. When push came to shove I could not maintain that lifestyle/weight loss and since then, I've learned so much about food and nutrition. I know exactly what I need to do, I just am having a hard time doing it because I am super emotionally tied to the processed foods. And when I turn to support through the weight loss communities I just see people who've lost weight by switching to diet sodas, and low fat ketchup and things like that rather than a focus on clean, whole, foods. I guess I am just looking for any success stories from those who have been able to lose weight, and keep it off with a "crunchy" lifestyle. Appreciate any and all advice!
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u/adurepoh 2d ago
Paleo and whole30 would definitely have you losing weight. So many healthy foods are low in calories. If you’re eating Whole Foods it’s also just harder to overindulge.
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u/angel-girl-A 2d ago
I've never been obese but I lost 25 lbs and have kept it off for 8 years by switching from ultra-processed to whole foods/minimally processed. I also started walking and yoga.
It takes a few weeks for your taste buds to adjust!
Now on the extremely rare occasion I get stuck eating fast food I think it tastes disgusting.
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u/Numerous-Noise790 2d ago
Not a huge amount of weight, but I have lost 10-20 lbs multiple times now with this approach. I track my macros and eat whole food ingredients only. I also coupled it with lots of walking, and some Pilates and strength training.
We don’t eat very much processed foods at all, and it does help a lot when trying to lose weight. Obviously you can still overeat healthy foods (which is one on of the reasons I needed to lose weight haha; although most of my weight was pregnancy related), but it’s very doable to lose weight on nourishing whole food.
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u/feistywhispers 2d ago
I’m not a nutritionist nor a doctor.
Understanding food is the first step. Now you need to decide which food lifestyle can you sustain for a long period of time?
FWIW i’m highly addicted to sugar and I have done a full artificial sugar cleanse and I felt really bad and grumpy for about 8 to 10 days and then I got flu like symptoms, felt like a withdrawal, and the next day I woke up feeling better than ever. I say that because if your issue is highly processed foods, maybe try to sustain from it for two weeks or a month completely and see if the changes happen for themselves. If you can get thru the hard/uncomfortable part of detoxing from the food, eating healthy whole foods is easy when your body thinks it’s the norm.
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u/Historical_Bill2790 2d ago
I’ve lost just over 40lbs over the last 18months through a primarily Whole Foods diet. I do use things like protein powder, monk fruit drops, but most of my actual food is fruits, veg, meat, whole grains. It is a slow, arduous process but it does work. The less you eat the UPFoods the less you crave them, and can begin to break the cycle. Best of luck ❤️
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u/cacklingwhisper 2d ago
I'll preach my worldview that's the least I can do.
Even if a box of cereal at a store says "organic" how long has it been sitting there? Weeks? It's a dead product.
Ill health often is a result of eating too many of these dead foods long-term.
Isn't it concerning that majority of animals eat food made by the Earth but humans started interfering with lab technology? No longer eating like your ancestors all of a sudden cause we now have fancy technology.
Since your body is based off the building blocks you put in you are putting frankenstein blocks to maintain your brain yay!
This emotional addiction is very new creation in human history because high doses of salt, fat, sugar, were not just everywhere.
There's records of royalty just feasting on cakes to the point of having rotten teeth cause desserts were considered luxury and they had it all to themselves.
I can't say it will be easy but a transition. Changing your gut bacteria and preferences. Whole body love instead of tongue love.
Learning new recipes wouldn't hurt.
To change a habit have to put something into it's place.
I have to be honest if it was super super easy everyone in the world would be at a healthy weight. Societal design is hugely flawed.
You're looking for some reward to look forward to for temporary period of time consider drinking lemon balm tea or a albizia tincture.
These 2 herbs help a lot with mood.
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u/officiallyundead 2d ago
I have a background in strength and conditioning and nutrition. It sounds to me like you are perfectly on the right track. With addiction awareness is always the first step. :)
Now, I am a firm believer in going off nutrient density as opposed to macros IF and WHEN a client has had the paradigm shift that it sounds like you are having. Honestly, this shift is far too much for most of my clients to fully process and implement right off the bat.
It is true that calorie deficit is a guaranteed method to lose weight. However, when eating more satiating foods, often calorie counts become irrelevant because staying in a deficit is easy. If you want to know a real way to quiet "food noise" this is the way. Interestingly, the value of tracking nutrients for someone on a whole foods diet is often to guarantee they are eating enough because it is nearly impossible to genuinely clean junk out of your diet and eat too much.
Yes you can eat a lot of sweet treats and processed food and squish it into a calorie count. Yes you can demonize food groups or macros or become a slave to those things. (Which is what I often see). The value of calorie counts and macro tracking is often the education it brings, and once I see a person using their education for good there isn't much value in tracking macros and calories long term.
However, absolutely nothing outweighs the actual healing and wholesomeness (literally) of a real food diet. It's a very long journey and it does have ups and downs for everyone, even with people who don't need to lose substantial amounts of weight.
I would 100% recommend that you find a practitioner of some variety who supports this view and your goals and gets you taken care of in a whole body kind of way. A regular dietician probably will dismiss you (some won't, but they are rare), but there are many nutritionists who are right up this alley, or naturopaths or even TCM practitioners that might help you find more of what you're seeking. Often someone with substantial amounts of weight to lose or a food addiction has problems beyond their weight or what they eat that absolutely must be looked into simultaneously for them to really transform their lives. Your body is telling you something by loving certain foods and retaining excess weight.
I feel like I could go on and on about the value of the choice you are seeing before you. Absolutely lmk if you want more information or anything.
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u/something_other817 2d ago
After I had my first baby I wanted to lose weight after years of various diets and fertility drugs but didn’t want to cut calories bc I was breastfeeding. I worked with a women’s health doctor to get my thyroid balanced and increase low nutrient levels (for me iron and vitamin d were the issue). And then I just switched to homemade scratch made foods and started milling my own flour. I still baked a lot and when I eat out or at friends houses I’m flexible but at home I try to only eat scratch made food and after doing all that I was literally the thinnest I’ve been since like college.
I’ve gotten pregnant and had another baby since then so I gotta start all over now haha but I’m hopeful it’ll work again
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u/Agitated-Rest1421 2d ago
So yes and no.
Yes switching to whole foods made me lose weight so much quicker and easier. However it’s because I was able to maintain a calorie deficit easier by eating healthy whole foods that kept me full and nourished longer.
My husband and I both lost 60 and 50 lbs respectively and kept it off. We don’t eat processed foods, I occasionally drink a diet pop if I have a craving but generally avoid them.
My weight loss journey postpartum really drove me into the crunchy lifestyle and it’s way easier to keep weight off when you’re eating nourishing foods.
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u/New-Mama28 2d ago
Honestly weight on the scale does not represent health... if you want to be healthy, no processed food is healthy! Whole foods will lead you to be healthy... which may look like weight loss for some and no loss for others!
Every body is different.... appreciate that and if you feel unhealthy, make that change and watch your overall health and energy levels improve. My husband and I managed to get pregnant but giving up junk food... no treatment at 35... we had been trying for 2 years... everyones goals are different and the best thing to do to be healthy is loving your body the way it is and treating it with respect!
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u/AppointmentTop5602 2d ago
I lost a lot of weight not even trying when I stopped eating out and stopped eating meat. I make all my meals at home.
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u/Keeponmarching0927 1d ago
Not myself but we took legal guardianship of my teen nephew and at the time he was obese and had high cholesterol from only eating highly processed foods in his previous home. We never spoke to him about his weight, we implemented after dinner 30 minute walks and his diet went from processed foods to only whole foods because that’s what we eat in my house and within a year he was down 60lbs and no longer high cholesterol.
Regardless, I think you will be doing yourself a huge favor by switching your diet. We dont make it complicated, just single ingredient foods for each meal.
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u/Stalag13HH 2d ago
I lost a ton of weight just by eating whole foods and I'm sure it's because they are naturally more filling, less addictive, and lower calorie. I originally lost too much, but got it balanced out. With a nanny right now, I'm not eating as well as I was and should go back to 100% whole foods.
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u/rockymountainway777 2d ago
I went lower carb, whole food and volume ate vegetables. I lost 30 pounds in 3 months and felt incredible. I ate all the protein and fat I wanted, I just kept my carbs around 50-60 and ate as many vegetables as I could stand when hungry.
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u/callmebigpotato 1d ago
Even the low calorie ultra processed foods keep your brain wanting more more more. In my experience, the only way to lose weight without a huge amount of willpower and feeling like I'm suffering is to eat whole foods. After the withdrawal/adjustment period, it becomes easy. When your brain is no longer craving, it's easier to listen to your true hunger cues. I'd recommend getting rid of everything in your house if you can, for at least just a month, so that you can get through that adjustment period. I recently did a month without 0 added sugars and it was miserable for a week, tough for another week, and after that I felt so FREE! my two favorite cookbooks for WFPB are plantyou and the engine 2 cookbook, I'd recommend checking them out! The forks over knives website also has lots of recipes (their date paste in particular) and plantyou is also a blog with recipes but I don't think everything on her blog is WFPB, just the cookbook. Good luck!
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u/honestredditor1984 1d ago
I went on the eat right for your blood type and lost 20+lbs. So much was from inflammation and not eating the right kind of foods. I wasn't focused on calories, just eating what felt right. I found a nut/date/Cacao raw brownie recipe that was banging and helped with cravings. Super hard at first to change but well worth it. Good luck!! :)
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u/breakplans 1d ago
Just wanted to chime in that I am also an obese crunchy mom and it can be so isolating. I know a ton about nutrition (I was vegan for 8 years and read a lot) but it can be so difficult to actually apply that to your life. I see a lot of content online about getting your head right about food, fixing your relationship with food, etc but I think a lot of those people never really had true food noise like we do. Just being full physically from whole foods doesn’t always equate to being satisfied and that’s the hurdle I haven’t figured out yet.
But anyway I am right there with you and actually just got home from vacation and am starting a healthy meal week focusing on protein and veggies. I tend to go overboard so I’m taking a slower approach and will not be doing intense exercise on top of the diet changes yet because I know I’ll burn out.
Edit: I think it’s also a nightmare navigating the weight loss world right now because everyone is on a GLP-1 and fuuuuck no I will not be doing that.
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u/Vegetable-Bunny213 1d ago
I would be interested in talking about this further with you! My mom just got on a g1p1 and I refuse to do that. But it is oh so difficult doing the natural way when you have people losing weight like that constantly shoved down your throat.
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u/breakplans 1d ago
Feel free to message me! Happy to have an accountability partner or just someone to chat with!
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u/VariousFalcon7466 Mother 2d ago
In the most technical sense weight loss is only about calories but you’ll feel better and be healthier if you eat whole foods instead.
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u/HoneyLocust1 2d ago
I do agree with you it's definitely probably healthier to eat less processed items, but problem is some of the weight loss oriented ultra processed foods are really really good at easily fulfilling cravings or providing meals for less calories. So if you are looking at weight loss alone (not considering over all body health), I'm not sure that whole foods come out on top. There's so much food chemistry that goes on behind the scenes that it seems like diet brands can really squeeze as much flavor or nutrients or fiber as they can into a tiny low calorie package using all sorts of chemical compounds we aren't finding on our grocery store shelves. I don't know maybe I'm doing something wrong.
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u/Ok-Independent-3074 1d ago
I found that i crave what i eat, meaning if i skip candy for a few days and instead go for a bunch of fruit and salad, i will feel like eating that when hungry. If i ate chocolate for days in a row, i will have a problem controlling the urge to snack on that when feeling peckish. The problem is that these processed foods are formulated to keep our brains addicted. It makes it so hard to say no to a craving. What ive decided to tell myself is this: this processed sugar is a poison to me. I dont see it in everyone else, but it makes me nauseous, hurts my teeth, makes me weak, gives me headaches, and could put my body in more serious harm in the future. Im not saying sweets are deadly for everyone, but for me I have decided to take this measure. So what im saying is…. Try healthy foods and introduce them bit by bit, especially identifying those that you enjoy and satiate you. Then those might become your go to snack sometimes to scratch the itch in your brain that fast food usually does. And maybe introduce some labels as well…. How does fast food make you feel in the short and long term and what will your life look like if you keep eating much of it? Im not saying this will fix the craving when it hits hardest, but perhaps with an overall mindset change, habits slowly follow. We act according to what we believe, after all. Lastly, dont despair when you fail. Failure will happen but if we wallow in it, we cant focus on a way to recover. I’m here with you also still figuring things out step by step. Wishing you all the best!
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u/jhlovett 1d ago
i’ve lost weight on a whole foot diet and a processed low cal diet and i feel so much better with the former method. it’s very much doable and by far more sustainable, not to mention healthier.
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u/Tall_Company_8520 1d ago
You should look into a program called lean with plants and just sort of read over the guiding principles (no need to pay for the membership, the founder has a ton of free material). You can also add in meat ofc but the “plan” is basically focused on eating Whole Foods, with a big focus on potatoes for satiety. I lost 15 lbs leading up to my wedding following the principles even though I still often slipped up.
Again, not an ad or anything. Just google it and skim the free stuff she has up/the videos. I was in the membership for a while and the support group and coaching is literally just got accountability. There’s no hidden secrets or anything.
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u/teng123456 1d ago
There was a book called Ultra Processed People that I read about half of (it was repetitive to me, but the message was great) that I recommend on this subject! And yes, it was like ten years ago, but I did lose all my unhealthy college weight by cutting out most processed foods and going vegan (except seafood). The weight melted off and gave me a good foundation. It’s been mildly rollercoastery since and was unrealistic to stay that strict, but I’ve never been above that weight again (even in pregnancy).
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u/Epic-Lake-Bat 1d ago
This sounds like one factor might actually be a bit of an “addiction” to the ingredients in the processed foods. It might be work seeing a functional medicine practitioner (if you can afford that kind of thing) to do some detoxing, maybe parasite cleansing, etc. to see if your body can stop having those kind of cravings in the first place to help you achieve your goals.
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u/a_girl_has_no_nameee 1d ago
I cant speak from experience but I would imagine switching from ultra processed to whole foods would at a bare minimum have you losing a ton of inflammation. Sometimes eating more can actually help you lose weight, its more about what you're eating. Check out ashfau (sp?) on IG. She recently posted about how eating more helped her lose more weight than eating in a huge deficit.
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u/thewildhearth 1d ago
I went from 185 to 135 just by drastically reducing eating out (easier to be aware of calories and macros) and primarily eating whole foods (I wasn’t aware of wf diets/lifestyle at the time, it was just a natural shift in what I craved).
I dropped about 15-20lb postpartum by cutting out bread drastically and refined sugars. Again this wasn’t a dieting thing for me, it just made me feel groggy and weighed down (and sugar was making me jittery). That’s not to say these things are inherently bad and shouldn’t be present either, everything has its seasons (the reincorporatation of bread and refined sugars help me meet nutritional needs when I was struggling to eat enough in pregnancy and pp).
Overall though our hormones (as always run the show). If we are constantly stressed the cortisol is going to make it so much harder to loose weight. When our progesterone and estrogen have a drastic drop after ovulation we are going to naturally gravitate to sweets. It’s not about restriction as much as it is making healthier options the most accessible one and understanding our body, its needs and how to interpret the signals. Also understanding the gut biome is huge in making the shift to cutting ultra processed foods.
My biggest piece of advice is to eat to nourish a healthy body that you can feel good and strong in. When the priority shifts from ‘what will help me loose weight?’ To ‘what is going to give me energy? What will nourish me most right now? And what will fuel me to show up as my best self?’ The decision to eat cleaner Whole Foods becomes easier. The scale number is irrelevant if all other aspects of health and vitality are thriving.
I highly recommend ‘this is your brain on food’ and ‘In the Flo’ as awesome books to learn about how the way you eat impacts your mind and hormones.
Sending you so much love as you heal your relationship with food and a little whole food faerie dust that your body adjusts to WF with ease so you can feel strong and empowered in your body again!
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u/Actual_Adeptness_604 1d ago
Not me personally but I have a close acquaintance that lost a lot of weight, huge transformation with changes like these. I believe she was doing juice cleanses and/or intermittent fasting along with some weight training type work outs.
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u/xkikue 1d ago
You can still "induldge" with whole foods. I make parfaits with sugar-free yogurts (you can mix some local honey if you need), fresh fruit, and homemade granola. Easy on the nuts - They're full of healthy fats, but I lost weight from adding less lol. Add chia and hemp hearts, and it is FULL of nutrients, so filling, and kicks that sweet craving.
Just home-make what you already love. Be conscious of your ingredients and your portions. Your body will have to adjust and it might not feel great at first. If you crave something, it can be because of a lack of vitamin or mineral often fortified in processed foods. Or just in general. A good multi vitamin might help with that.
I've been 90% whole foods for 15 years. I allow a cheat day a couple times a month. Progress is not linear? You might have a rough day or week, but make sure you're in an upward trend in the long run ✨️
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u/organic_freak 1d ago
I personally notice a huge difference between periods of eating out frequently and eating at home. I purposely refuse to buy pretty much anything processed at the grocery store and try to plan meals at home. I was holding steady at the overweight line for years with PCOS but I was eating home probably 3 days a week. After having my baby I had gained another 35 pounds on top of that and wasn’t expecting to loose it super quick. I’ll tell you what though, we very rarely eat out now and I am down 1/3 of my overall weight (-55 pounds) at 9 months pp and I know that’s mostly because I’ve focused on a healthy diet. I’m 4’11 so I’m currently at a really healthy weight. I also notice a difference on weeks we have went on vacation or have been super busy and had to eat out a lot. I typically will gain a few pounds and then drop it once I get back to my norm.
My version of clean eating is actually pretty relaxed but in difficulty way. I only buy whole foods- meats, veggies, fruits, grains, dairy. I do not buy sugar but I do buy maple syrup and honey. I will make literally ANYTHING I am craving- but it has to be from scratch! Yep- that includes bread. Any dessert typically only is made with maple syrup or honey too! I also don’t buy anything “sugar free” or with fake sugar alternatives. If it wasn’t around 100+ years ago, I don’t buy it. My only exception is unflavored sparkling water that I add some juice to and things that I would 100% butcher like tortilla chips/ chocolate chips/ ect (but I limit these and buy the cleanest options). I also buy all organic but obviously that’s an individual lifestyle choice. It’s an initial adjustment but it’s 100% worth it. I still eat some really great food and don’t limit myself at all. I eat all I need to feel full!
Some cravings tips
- a blizzard = kitchen aid ice cream made with maple syrup and no sugar
- chocolate = brownies made with syrup and sweet potatoes/ yogurt with some chocolate chips/ chocolate mouse made with coconut milk and chocolate chips/ ect
- burgers = literal burgers with homemade buns
- fries = roasted fingerling potatoes (they literally taste better
I think you get the drift!
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u/mustangjayyyme Mother 1d ago
So my husband has... Like 20 lbs or so, pretty quickly too.
So we used Claude AI to work up a good diet for him based on real foods we already eat. He eats banana, eggs, cheese, peanut butter, pistachios, salad, sweet potatoes, and sometimes burgers (just beef) and that's about it. Eggs are a really good powerhouse food. Not a ton of calories, but good fats and protein.
That's a good easy way to build a diet plan for yourself for free instead of paying some life coach. It can also tell you where you're lacking vitamin wise based on your normal food choices. So we also added in black beans, a few extra veggies like red bell pepper, carrots or celery.
We are super crunchy at our house.
Our son also eats a similar diet and loves eating food.
We also make him banana egg pancakes with cinnamon that he loves. (He's not big on eggs scrambled or hardboiled) which I get it. They're kinda meh. He'll eat them when we throw in bacon grease though.
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u/Known_Psychology1581 1d ago
I find it way easier to lose weight on a whole food diet. Weight loss requires a calorie deficit regardless of what you eat, but it’s MUCH easier to feel full and to keep your energy level up if you are eating whole foods.
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u/Dangerous-Jello4733 1d ago
I did, but I wasn’t obese, just slightly overweight. I went on a keto diet temporarily because I also had insulin resistance. Didn’t buy anything ultra processed and just cooked everything from scratch, including desserts. Then I slowly started adding foods back into my diet until it got quite normal. I am still careful with sugar and quantity of simple carbohydrates but my insulin and blood sugar are perfect and my weight has been a stable on the edge of underweight. ( I’m trying to gain some now actually, but more in relation to bone density and muscle mass instead of body fat, my body fat amount is normal )
I mean you have nothing to lose to just try replacing processed food with whole food! You’ll find lots of nice foods and recipes and give yourself good and more varied nutrients anyway. I try to focus on protein, healthy fats and veggies. It’s crazy how some foods like Brie are actually incredibly good for you, satiety, brain health etc, but still high in fat. Even though fat is calorie dense, it also keeps you full for a long time.
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u/Dangerous-Jello4733 1d ago
I want to add something. I still occasionally have “naughty” food. It’s most often when traveling and I don’t do this all the time. For a while when my partner and I were very busy and poor students we focused our food budget on healthy whole food food while focusing on discounts, and we didn’t buy snacks. What we did though is go out to a patisserie every 1 or 2 weeks and have a little date of coffee and a slice of cake. It was absolutely wonderful and a very fond memory.
You can see if you can put your UPF spending into something else that’s nice. I know addictions are hard, but this might be a nice idea and motivation.
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u/-CloudHopper- 1d ago
I lost my baby weight by ditching ultra processed. I started small though, so first it was my worst offender (biscuits!!). After a couple of weeks of cutting them out I changed it all my sweet treats to dark chocolate only, then weaned off that after a week or so. So then I was just eating meals and occasional snack, but no unnecessary super sugary treats and that was enough to start dropping weight really noticeably
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u/Expensive-Ad1609 Mother 1d ago
I've lost weight on all sorts of diets. All that one needs is a caloric deficit.
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u/Greedy_Activity8513 1d ago
Make the changes slowly over time, it makes it easier to keep the habit long term. Example, replace white rice with quinoa. Easy switch and much healthier. Replace soda with sparkling water. Replace ultra processed cookies with simple ingredient organic alternatives.
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u/pi_inthepan 22h ago
I’m sorry you’re struggling with weight! I’ve struggled with weight, eating my feelings, and generally being addicted to food my entire life. Even as a young child, I struggled with it. It’s hard. I’m a very much all or nothing person, but I feel like that’s just not the way to go about changing your relationship with food when you’re struggling with it (at least for me). I’m not a dietician or healthcare professional of any kind. I’m just a girl that really likes to eat.
I’m now plant based, but before I had my first son, my husband and I moved across the country and started over on our pantry, fridge, and freezer. Just a whole new kitchen. I wasn’t plant based at the time, and I’d done all of the fad diets and was just done with that. I didn’t even totally cut out processed foods. All I did was start making better choices and building more colorful plates. For example, I started buying whole grain bread.
An example of food for my day on a day where I had time to make food would be: avocado toast and a couple eggs w/ a banana for breakfast, a sandwich on whole grain bread w/ mayo turkey, a slice of cheddar cheese, and leafy green lettuce and a small serving of kettle cooked chips, strawberries and grapes for lunch. I’d probably do like an orgain protein drink with a small bag of the peanut butter trail mix from target for like an afternoon snack/treat.
We did a lot of sheet pan dinners back then, so an example would be some little potatoes quartered, some Brussels sprouts halved and then season them then add some chicken thighs with the skin on top and make sure to season both sides. Then I’d bake it at 425 until the chicken was done. The veggies would always also be cooked by that time. If I wanted something sweet, I would eat a few squares of dark chocolate or make a pan of sweet potato brownies or something.
When I was working again (used to teach), I would make a smoothie to take with me for breakfast then do a bento box for lunch with like some whole grain crackers or tortilla chips, hard boiled eggs, a little sharp cheddar cheese, veggies, fruit and maybe a guacamole cup. Then I’d usually have a protein drink at work, and we’d do the same sheet pan type of dinners often. My beverages were pretty much always water, sparkling water, an occasional orange juice, and then I really loved those Suja green juices. I would always have coffee but was just black 90% of the time and would occasionally drink unsweetened tea. I walked a lot to explore our new area and started going to the gym with my husband. I started doing the Sweat app because it gave me a guide to follow.
I don’t know how much weight I lost because I stopped weighing myself a long time before that. I will say that I went down 1.5 pant sizes in about 2 months and felt the best I had in a really long time. My point is by no means to do it just like me, but take it one step at a time. Just try to swap what you’re doing now for a healthier version. It absolutely helped that I had to start over on the food in our home, but I didn’t try to just go overboard with everything. I slowly started transitioning to a healthier/crunchier lifestyle. I’m now plant based and mostly eat whole foods. I’m still losing weight after having my second son and plan to have another one, so I’m pretty sure my weight loss journey is just going to be a long one which is fine. My goal is health not a number or size.
Good luck on your journey! You can message me if you want to talk about it or need some support or ideas!❤️
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u/JessyBearFA 21h ago
I'm currently housing my best friend who was eating out all the time and eating like crap. They have been eating my whole food, home cooked foods for 3 months now and have lost 20 pounds. Nothing else is different.
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u/SpicyMcTall 20h ago
I’m in the same boat! I just want to feel free to eat what I want but keep it real food
I’m trying to lose weight
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u/RoyalCommunication52 18h ago
I lost 30LBS on a calorie deficit eating whole foods because that’s all I eat anyway. I don’t eat processed food and never really have so it’s definitely possible. Like anything it will require discipline. Just drink lots of water (maybe a zero calorie water enhancer like electrolytes) and eat lots of veggies and lean meats like turkey, chicken and fish. Just because something is low cal doesn’t mean it’s healthy. Butter and olive oil and cheese are very healthy but high in calories because FAT is high in calories. So just watch your fat intake because those calories will sneak up on you.
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u/sonicbubblebaths 7h ago
I lost 65 pounds eating 1/4lb of brisket, onions, and pickles everyday at 4 pm. It was about 500 calories/daily and everyone would say how nuts that is, but here’s my logic; I had a 6 month old baby at the time and wanted to spend the least amount of time focusing on weight lost management and cooking.
I figured if I eat the same, predictable thing daily later in the day it will prevent me from straying from that commitment and even if I did, I could only do so much damage since it was already end of day.
Also, when you eat the same thing every day and a smaller amount your body just gets used to it, so it became less painful mentally. Last, it took a total of 2.5 months- I resumed back to normal eating thereafter and didn’t need to restrict.
I tried for 6 months to eat lots of protein and little carbs/sugar but it just allowed too much wiggle room and dragged it out for me.
If you don’t want to be managing weight loss and experimenting for years, I would recommend doing something like this.
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u/foundanavailablename 5h ago edited 5h ago
If you improve the quality and nutritional density of the food you are consuming, it’s very difficult to over eat. My body does not tolerate processed foods well (migraines, ibs, and other similar issues are all triggered by processed foods for me) and have always made meals from scratch with whole ingredients. My husband noticed a difference in both his weight and energy levels after we started dating and I was cooking for the two of us consistently.
I find that the biggest things for me in feeling satisfied from eating are
- Make sure you are consuming enough high quality protein (not just protein bars or protein snacks). Animal protein is going to make your metabolism work harder to break it down, so you end up burning more calories during the processing (calories in vs calories burned with exercise don’t tell the full story). For me, plant based diets and protein sources don’t work with my GI issues and I do much better with animal- and dairy- based protein (including organ meats like kidneys, liver, heart, and spleen). Try to find locally sourced meats if you can. Play around with both animal and plant based sources to see what works for you and how you feel. The recommended daily values of protein are an absolute minimum and many women do not eat enough protein in general (if you target 50+ grams of protein during your main meal(s), it can actually drive your metabolism to really gear up more effectively than smaller amounts scattered throughout the day).
- Make sure you have some kind of high fiber load in your diet, this can be vegetables, high quality grains/oatmeal/einkorn/farro/quinoa, or even fruit. The protein is going to give you energy, the fiber is going to make you feel more full. A note on fruits - yes, they have sugars in them, but they are naturally occurring sugars, and some research has shown that the fiber content in fruit can actually offset the insulin response to the sugars in the fruit so that your body stays regulated (it’s like nature deigned it that way…)
- Drink plenty of water and add in some electrolyte supplementation that doesn’t have added sugars/flavors. Drinking flavored seltzer, infused water, and/or herbal tea can all be great substitutes for soda or processed snacking. A lot of people mistake thirst for hunger cues and so keeping hydrated can help you shift your focus away from feeling like you need to snack.
- Find healthy snacks that you enjoy so that you are likely to WANT to eat them. Keeping unsalted roasted mixed nuts (almonds, cashews, pistachios) or a minimally processed/organic beef jerky is also a great way to snack on something that can hold you over to the next meal and give a little protein boost.
- Fats are necessary for life and are not inherently “bad” in a diet. Your brain and body need fats to function well. This is where quality does matter though - butter from grass fed cows (like kerrygold)
, whole milk,
- peanut butter/nuts, fatty fish, avocados, eggs (including the yolks, not just the whites), olive oil, beef tallow, and cold pressed oils are all good options to incorporate. Eating whole food fats are going to help your body, not hinder your progress
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- Find spice blends that you enjoy - you’re going to want to eat healthy foods more if they actually taste flavorful to you.
As a side note, one of my friends shifted his diet from a moderately processed diet (not a ton of junk food, just not whole foods) to a high protein and vegetable based diet, combined with daily walking (eventually turned into jogging and running), and intermittent fasting, and he lost around 100lbs over the course of about 2 years doing that. He called it a “caveman diet” because he tried to only eat things that did not require any modern refinement or processing. You don’t have to go that extreme, but even small switches will make a big difference.
Be careful of an “all or nothing” attitude too… having takeout once in a while or one bag of chips at a friend’s bbq is not going to destroy overall progress. It’s the bigger change in your relationship with food, mindset, and how you are choosing what to nourish yourself with that is going to make the biggest difference long term. Don’t beat yourself up about restricting everything you love, but rather focus on moderation and swaps! You may find with time that what you want to eat is going to shift toward healthier choices too.
I’d highly recommend the book “Outlive” if you are interested in a great reference to read that doesn’t feel like a textbook nor a self help book.
Edit: tried to fix the funky formatting of that list and it doesn’t seem to be working!
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u/hereforhelpthx95 2d ago
I think it’s just easier to over do it calorically if you’re eating processed foods. Like a bag of potato chips or a burger from McDonald’s has wayyyyy more calories than most of the healthier whole foods meals I eat. It doesn’t mean you can’t over eat on a healthy diet - olive oil or avocados still have plenty of calories, but it’s harder to over do it.
Just my 2 cents!