Tips for transitioning off a diet

[Eanae]

So I've been on a diet and have successfully lost 15 pounds so far. The lowest I've been down to is 211, but due to the last one or two days surrounding new years I'm back up another 5 (I know this isn't really possible and through research I've found it's mostly due to binging on food you haven't been eating for a while due to your metabolism being lower from the dieting, and that the weight won't stay long when you go back to your regular dieting). But this got me wondering, what exactly is the best way to transition from being on a diet back into eating more "normally"? I do exercise and have plans to get out more during warmer weather which may help, but does anyone have any tips on how to introduce more indulgent foods back into your intake without putting back on all the weight in no time?

[kyod]

The biggest myth is people think you can just go on a diet, lose weight and then go off the diet. If you go off your diet and eat some of the same food before, you will gain the weight back. This is what causes yo-yo dieting.

Indulgent (unhealthy) foods should be consumed in moderation. Your "diet" shouldn't be a diet, it should be new eating habits you are going to live with from here on out. Indulgent food every once in a while won't hurt, but you can't go back to the way you were eating prior to going on your diet.

[Xno Kappa]

The biggest myth is people think you can just go on a diet, lose weight and then go off the diet. If you go off your diet and eat some of the same food before, you will gain the weight back. This is what causes yo-yo dieting.

Indulgent (unhealthy) foods should be consumed in moderation. Your "diet" shouldn't be a diet, it should be new eating habits you are going to live with from here on out. Indulgent food every once in a while won't hurt, but you can't go back to the way you were eating prior to going on your diet.

This.

[noblemountain]

Diet is a bad word...as Kyod pointed out, you need to change your eating habits for good. I am a fighter, I weigh between 205-215 depending on the day. I work a very physical job and am outside year round, therefore I burn calories like you wouldn't believe. There are days in the summer where I drop 15 lbs in a day, almost all of that being in water weight. I fight at 170 lbs, so 90 days before a fight I change my diet and cut down to 185 lbs a week before the fight. That last 14 lbs (you are allowed to weigh in 1 lbs over) is almost pure water weight that I cut the night before the fight.

I say all that to say this: don't focus so much on how much you weigh day to day. It is not important. Focus on how you feel, how your clothes fit, and how much energy you have each day. Exercise will be your shining light. I don't know your body type, so I don't know if 200 lbs is really heavy on you or just a bit overweight or what. Make sure you stay very hydrated. It will show up on the scale, but that's not important. Keeping your kidneys healthy and keeping energy in your body is important. You would be amazed how many people are dehydrated every day. I see people knocking back two or three or four sodas a day and not drinking any water at all. It is insane. I drink a gallon of water a day if I have very little physical activity, much more with intense exercise. It will clean you out and flush your system. Water is a goldmine when you're trying to get healthier.

One of my favorite things in the world is a nice steak or a great hamburger. I could never give those up. Instead of eating beef, I eat bison. There are a ton of bison farms all over the country and the meat is amazing. It is MUCH lower fat than beef and has a great sweet taste. (it also has the benefit of not being a commercial farming industry where the cattle are subjected to horrible conditions and pumped full of steriods) Find an online retailer or a farm near you and work something out with them (most bison farmers are small time guys who will work with you person to person)

[Matricide]

I don't know what kind of diet you were on that you want to get off of, but that's bad like people said. Your best bet is to keep certain things out of your diet (fried foods, other high fatty foods and things that have a ton of calories), eat stuff you enjoy but really focus on portion control which is key. Enjoy yourself every now and then, not every day, and when you do try to keep it healthy. Going out for a burger, okay, but get iced tea or water instead of coke, get broccoli with no butter as a side or even a baked potato with nothing on it -- and of course learn to stay away from calories from stupid shit like soda. Drink diet if you need the sweet fix.

edit; there are a lot of low calorie versions of stuff you like. hot dog - fat free/low fat vs normal is 40 calorie vs 120 or 140, low fat ice cream (weight watchers or fudge bars etc) are pretty low calorie, boca burger vs regular burger huge calorie difference. you can still put all the helpings on it you want. skim milk, 2% cheese slices, etc etc. every little bit of calorie cutting helps, and you don't have to 'get off your diet' since you will get used to it.

[Mizango]

Hit the gym. I hate the "diet" word, get your portion size under control and you should be good.

[Ratatapa]

Like Rocko would say in undergrads : Diet is for girls real mens do gym!

[wop]

Gastric band is the answer.

I've heard all these bullshit too many times, at the end of the day, the spirit is willing-but the flesh is weak scenario.

Only way to stop those calories going into your gutter is via gastric band.

[Gergall]

This.

x2

Only way to stop those calories going into your gutter is via gastric band.

No, the band is not a guarantee either. The patient can, and often does, find ways to cheat and consume huge numbers of calories despite the band. My wife and I both know people who maintained or even gained weight with the band.

[wop]

I still find having willpower + band = win.

[isladar]

If you have willpower, what on earth would you need a band for?

[Caiyuo]

Expands your willpower.

[isladar]

What'll they think of next.

[Nevex]

Here's the harsh truth about diets: they're not temporary treatments. If you want to keep your good results, you're on a diet forever.

[Heavencloud]

One of my favorite things in the world is a nice steak or a great hamburger. I could never give those up. Instead of eating beef, I eat bison. There are a ton of bison farms all over the country and the meat is amazing. It is MUCH lower fat than beef and has a great sweet taste. (it also has the benefit of not being a commercial farming industry where the cattle are subjected to horrible conditions and pumped full of steriods) Find an online retailer or a farm near you and work something out with them (most bison farmers are small time guys who will work with you person to person)

Grass fed beef isn't near as bad as the commercial stuff. I get it locally (1/4 a cow at a time lol), it's really lean meat. I should try bison though, is it expensive?

also, OP: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Macrobiotic_diet

essentially what I use, cut nearly all sugar & processed foods = win.

[wop]

If you have willpower, what on earth would you need a band for?

reassurance?

[quannum]

if ( $calories_consumed > $calories_spent ) {
store_fat();
} else {
burn_fat();
}

[Syntex]

Sugar and its substitutes are the enemy.

You can lose weight by doing nothing more then cutting your sugar intake and watching (somewhat) how much carbs you eat.

I have been doing this and have lost weight steadily over the past 6 months with no added exercise, add a gym workout or a walk here and there and you will expedite you weight loss.

But like others have said, its just making better choices because if you were doing things right in the first place you wouldn't have been overweight because eating like that got you there so you CAN'T go back to that or endup where you were again all fat and depressed.

[Eanae]

I've cut out sodas completely. So going from drinking a bottle of mountain dew or more a day to none has helped rocket my weight loss. I put on 50 or so pounds during college and have only lost about 15 of it so far. I've been trying hard to drink my eight glasses of water a day but it's hard to fit them into my day and usually end up with 4-5 glasses a day. Calories aren't really as big of an offender for me as sodium is. I like a lot of salt heavy foods like frozen chicken products which are easy for me to cook or extra salad dressing with my salad. I refuse to pay for a gym membership because I love on a good 100+ miles of hillside trails that do perfectly fine... when they're not covered in snow, ice, and mud. Carbs is another thing I was looking at. I'm eating between 150 and 250g of carbs a day, and there is no way I could get down to ~25 for a "low carb diet". I won't not drink milk, or eat bread and dairy products. That's NOT happening. I've been trying to substitute things where I can, and I am losing weight, though at this point in time I assume it's mostly water weight and not so much the body fat. People have said they've noticed I look thinner so who knows. As for my body type, I'm about 5'11" and currently weigh around 211 pounds (back down to where I was before my new years drinking spree). My BMI is 29.43. Ideally I want to be around 170 or 175 so I have some work to do.

[noblemountain]

Grass fed beef isn't near as bad as the commercial stuff. I get it locally (1/4 a cow at a time lol), it's really lean meat. I should try bison though, is it expensive?

It is a bit more expensive than beef. I get hamburger meat for about 5.50 a lbs and steaks are a good chunk more. You can also work out 1/4's or 1/2's for much less since they don't have to butcher the meat for you. Even grass fed beef is 40% higher fat or more than bison and it just doesn't taste near as good.