I started working out heavily to lose weight, but also to "feel better." I succeeded at both points, but it took an extremely long time to hit my goal weight. L

I started working out heavily to lose weight, but also to "feel better." I succeeded at both points, but it took an extremely long time to hit my goal weight. Looking back, it's clear I was eating too much to compensate for the additional work I was doing. I gained half of that weight that I lost back pretty quick because I couldn't keep up the strenuous exercise routine. So, the next time I instead focused on my eating habits and skipped formal exercise entirely (mostly just went for walks instead). I had much more consistent and predictable weight loss week-over-week and now I'm about to surpass the goal I had the first time I tried in 1/3 of the time. It really came down to small portions -- I didn't have to give up many types of food, I just didn't eat nearly as much of it as I would have in the past. This echoes experiences from people I know. They start out with a strenuous exercise routine and it's fun in the beginning to push yourself, but most people can't sustain it. Or they get injured and that sets them down a path of being lazy and gaining the weight back.