My initial weight loss has been extremely rapid (this is something I expected; at my weight and with my pre-diet eating habits my weight bounces, it'll likely taper off and be harder to keep up as time goes by). I learned years ago that when I can keep on it by body loves paleo and paleo-like diets (like the Primal Blueprint, Whole 30, etc.). I transitioned into this diet for the first time back in I think 2010 or so when I realized I weighed 270 pounds. I had been a vegetarian for seven years and naively just thought I didn't need to work to keep weight off, and without bothering to look at a scale ever I just ballooned. I had to re-thing my entire ethical paradigm but once I did I realized it just wasn't worth it for me anymore and started eating meat again. And honestly I've never been healthier, even if it's still really hard to lose weight
When I say "really hard" to lose weight, I mean something a lot different than most of my other dieting friends, because on paleo my efforts are turned in an entirely different direction than they were when I was on my failed Just Count Calories And Follow The Food Pyramid diet. People devoted to pretty much any diet will wax poetical about how easy it is and how it required no effort; although I'm sure such people exist, they aren't the norm. The vast majority of people will need to work at it, no matter what diet they choose. And for most people that means counting calories and watching portion sizes.
I don't do either of these, usually. I have in the past counted calories just to get a ballpark figure of about how much I was eating, but in general I don't bother. All it does is stress me out. Maybe if I start getting down to my target weight it'll be necessary, but for now I just avoid eating trigger foods and that seems to work.
This is where the "really hard" part comes in. In dieting communities there's so much talk about "moderation," and in fact there are many people who are so dedicated to the idea that all we need to do is just eat less that they get really kind of self-righteous about it. I really wish I were the kind of person who could eat "just one" candy bar or "just one" serving of pretzels, but I'm not. If I try eating "just one" history has shown that my addictive response will just nag at me until I give in and binge eat for a night. The most frustrating part, though, is the assertion that my method of mitigating this addiction--by avoiding foods that trigger binge eating altogether--is "extreme" or something like that. It goes something like this (which is, by the way, a real story):
Other Dieter: If you ever want, I have a jar of M&Ms on my desk.
Me: Oh, no thank you.
Other Dieter: You know, if you never let yourself indulge, you'll just give in later and eat even more!
Me: Actually I'm a food addict and things like this trigger me into binge eating.
Other Dieter: Oh you just need to teach yourself more self-control. You're just setting yourself up for failure this way.
Me: I already know how I react to food better than you do.
Other Dieter: You're still setting yourself up for failure!
This sort of thing usually goes on and on with them pestering me about their fricking M&Ms or doughnuts or whatever until I finally give in--for social reasons more than anything--which triggers another binge eating episode. It's really stressful. I already wrote about that in "Free Food Is My Kryptonite." I have serious guilt trip hangups with people offering me food, and it's very hard for me to not eventually give in. It really sucks that people respect other peoples' food decisions so little that they do this sort of thing, but they do.
What's worse is if they find out their behavior resulted in a binge eating episode, they hands-down think it was because I was too strict with my diet without recognizing their complicity in triggering what--again--is a serious addiction. Pester a person who is trying to give up smoking by constantly offering them cigarettes, and people consider you an enabler. Constantly pressure an alcoholic friend to go to a bar and drink, and people consider you an enabler. But if you're prone to eating so much you literally can't bend anymore when you eat certain foods and it's all about your willpower because you somehow must be able to eat these things.
It's an interesting dichotomy, too, because the "moderation" dieters have often expressed jealousy at what I eat. The paleo diet is heavy on fat, which in my case means I'm eating real butter, fatty cuts of meat and chicken, lots of eggs, cheese, heavy cream, and lots of other foods they've been told are bad for them (dairy is not actually paleo but I do eat it). I can eat these things easily because my body will tell me when I'm full. Lots of other foods (wheat flour, sugar, hyperpalatable foods especially) I will literally not only eat until I can't physically pack any more in, but I'll feel like I'm starving because one of my reactions to wheat is giving me stomach pains that are easily confused for hunger pangs! So they get jealous at my ability to eat ribeye steak every week, while I'm actually kind of jealous at their ability to eat things like whole wheat bread (which is delicious but both makes me binge eat and gives me cramps).
Anyway, I'm going to go now as I need to pack my lunch for tomorrow (a nice artichoke/olive/tomato salad, rhurbarb crumble, my lunch box has another container in it so I'll have to find something to put in it) and make dinner for tonight (which I think will be coconut shrimp).