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This is bad advice that I followed in my 20s. I leant into CICO philosophy hard, which led me to eating tons of processed foods with added sugars. What this l

This is bad advice that I followed in my 20s. I leant into CICO philosophy hard, which led me to eating tons of processed foods with added sugars. What this looked like on the regular was months of weight gain, followed by months of weight loss where every food was measured in calories and I went to bed starving dreaming of marshmallows. It’s not how we’re supposed to be. Ever since I cut out the processed foods and refined sugars and stick to as unprocessed as possible (think rice, potatoes, legumes, fruit and veg) my weight has settled without me even having to think about it, and I hardly ever get hungry enough for it to impact my mood even if I’ve skipped multiple meals. Honestly, following CICO was one of the biggest mistakes of my twenties. The only downside of my current diet is how much time and money it takes to manage, and the upfront mental cost of learning recipes rather than buying a frozen pizza or something similar.

stevenhuang 3y ago
You followed CICO but ate unhealthily. I don't know what you expected. It should have been beyond obvious you'd need to meet some baseline of nutritional requirements or you'd not be satiated and feel like crap all the time. The point of CICO is to remind yourself even if you eat healthy, if you eat more calories than you lose, you won't lose weight.
- simmerup 3y ago
  Nothing is obvious until you learn it. I got my five a day which is the extent of government communication on the topic of nutrition. > The point of CICO is to remind yourself even if you eat healthy, if you eat more calories than you lose, you won't lose weight. And the point i’m making is that if you eat mostly unprocessed food you won’t have to worry about it. It becomes difficult to put on weight because your body moderates your appetite
  - fwn 3y ago
    That's great if it works for you. While I have never eaten a lot of convenience and/or overly processed foods (the category is a bit vague), I often overeat despite cooking from scratch. I think it gets worse as I get better at cooking. I overate on a fantastic goose I made last weekend, for example. My takeaway from our parents' post was that while CICO is sufficient for weight loss, it alone is not sufficient for well-being.

stevenhuang 3y ago

You followed CICO but ate unhealthily. I don't know what you expected. It should have been beyond obvious you'd need to meet some baseline of nutritional requirements or you'd not be satiated and feel like crap all the time. The point of CICO is to remind yourself even if you eat healthy, if you eat more calories than you lose, you won't lose weight.

simmerup 3y ago
Nothing is obvious until you learn it. I got my five a day which is the extent of government communication on the topic of nutrition. > The point of CICO is to remind yourself even if you eat healthy, if you eat more calories than you lose, you won't lose weight. And the point i’m making is that if you eat mostly unprocessed food you won’t have to worry about it. It becomes difficult to put on weight because your body moderates your appetite
- fwn 3y ago
  That's great if it works for you. While I have never eaten a lot of convenience and/or overly processed foods (the category is a bit vague), I often overeat despite cooking from scratch. I think it gets worse as I get better at cooking. I overate on a fantastic goose I made last weekend, for example. My takeaway from our parents' post was that while CICO is sufficient for weight loss, it alone is not sufficient for well-being.