>>687518I know you don't want to hear 'low-carb', but it's the only thing that finally worked for me. I've struggled with obesity my whole life and have gained and lost staggering amounts of weight multiple times.
The only diet that keeps me satisfied while losing weight is avoiding sugar and carbs. With other ones I will get faster results but I will be going on willpower alone while constantly counting calories and being hungry. The success is great but then the weight comes back once I get comfortable having "made it".
With a fatty, low-carb diet I never have to count calories and I'm never hungry between meals. The weight came off gradually and slowly and has stayed off. And I'm not dissatisfied with my diet or suffering from strong cravings for what I can't have. I actually just have the bad thing now and then if I want it. I usually feel a little sick afterward or find it didn't taste very good and didn't finish it. Temptations are usually more about nostalgia than anything. Because when I eat fast food or junk food my body recognizes it more as a drug than clean food.
I'm rambling because I'm sorta baked, but it's a really great way to eat. I mean, no other diet could I get away with being stoned. The munchies aren't really a thing, and if I get them I eat nuts or cheese or berries and cream or really anything without worry of weight gain because my body just doesn't even have a pig-out mode anymore. That's what carbs do to me; I eat a lot and then want more in another hour. Always snacking, never more than 90 minutes away from the next food excursion. I really feel like a normal person with a normal relationship to food for the first time in my life.
But it was years before I was ready to give up the carbs and sweets. I tried low-carb several times before it finally took. You have to have to find the foods you love within that system. It's not difficult, it's just a change for so many of us. Cereal, sandwiches, juice, pasta, fries, cookies, rice, pizza, beer… those are very common things a lot of us love. But they're also making some of our lives too difficult. I really did have a problem. I would eat entire pizzas to myself. Add in alcohol and things really went off the charts.
I have several pizza tricks now when I have the craving. And if it's real bad I just eat real pizza. But I'm not going back. I don't have to be obese. I love eating this way. It's better, it's fresher, it's even cheaper believe it or not. Turns out when you eat two or three meals a day rather than 5 or 6 your money goes further. If you're a smart shopper and know how to cook you'll have an even easier time. I load up on cuts of beef when it's $5-$6/lb. I buy fish off the boat. I get the good bacon when it's on sale and freeze it. In-season produce.
If this shortens my lifespan because of cholesterol and arterial blockage I don't care. I'd rather be thin and eat well. I've tried the vegetarian thing and I did not enjoy it. Every other way of eating causes me either displeasure or weight gain.