We are all different and what works for one may not work for another. I cannot tell anybody else what to do, but only what worked
for me and what did not work.
My situation was that while I was not obese I had been gaining weight every year since my mid-50's. My waist size had gone from 34 to 36 in about four years, and a few years later I was pushing a size 38 if I wanted to be comfortable in my pants. The trend was not my friend. My BMI had gone from being slightly on the low side for my height to being at the edge of the high side of normal.
Here is
my experience with various ways to eat and control one's weight. YMMV.
1. Low-fat. Did not work for me. I actually gained a few pounds. I could not maintain it as I was always hungry, fighting my body every inch of the way.
2. Calorie counting. Did not work for me. No weight gain, but no loss. And, again, I was fighting my body's signals constantly.
3. Vegetarian. (milk and eggs ok in my version). Did not work. I fought my body's signals though not nearly as fiercely as with 1 and 2 above. I seem to need some meat about once a day. I do eat more veggies and fruits now and it left me with some very good vegetarian recipes.
4. Give up added sugar. Worked OK. Lost 10 pounds. Then stopped losing.
5. Lower-carb. (Carbs less than 100g a day). Worked better than the above and I lost another 15 pounds on it after giving up sugar in #4. Gained about 5 back. But after that it held steady.
5. Slower-carb. (As laid out in
Always Hungry). Lost another 10 pounds. So far the best. I am at my lowest weight in at least 15 years. It seems maintainable. I actually fit into some of my older size 34 pants again. I'll let you know more in a year.
Note1: All of the above, with the exception of low-fat, at least stopped my weight gain, but I needed to lose also.
The above may seem rather helter-skelter, but I assure you I did each methodically, with knowledge of how they were supposed to be done, over a period of the 6 years since my retirement. No jumping about from one to another after a few weeks. My shortest time was on low-fat. After three months I had gained another 4 -6 pounds, IIRC, so I quit it.
My story. Take what you wish and leave the rest.
I note that Gary Taubes's NUSI institute has basically gone belly up because the research wouldn't back up his theories.
