I've just been through exactly what you've described. I'd weighed about 88 kg for 15 yrs. Before that I'd dieted sometimes with low fat diets but they never worked: I always ended up binging on cheese sandwiches! So for 15 yrs, I ate whatever I wanted (except for sweets) and sat on 88 kgs (BMI 32= obese).
Then I moved to China a few years ago, and late last year heard about the Chinese proverb: "Eat heaps for breakfast, eat enough for lunch, and eat little for dinner". This was news to me because all my life I thought I had to eat dinner every day. So I started following that rule, still eating the same food I always did, including heaps of eggs for breakfast. I also started keeping absolutely no food in my apartment, apart for milk for coffee, and instead ate out for every meal. In China there's always many restaurants a short walk from one's home.
Winter arrived, with the cold, some snow, and occasional rain, and I started skipping dinners because I was too lazy to go out, and dinners were now just snacks. After a few weeks, I noticed I weren't ever hungry in the evening. Even when I ate lunch when the restaurants opened at 11:00am, then nothing else for the rest of the day, I still weren't hungry, as long as I had a big breakfast. After a few months, I noticed I didn't have much fat where there'd been some for at least a decade, so I weighed myself: only 80kg. I've since come down to 75kg (BMI 27), but have sat at that weight for 2 months. I now weigh myself every day because (for some reason :-) I always remember to.
One other thing: I stopped eating white rice with my meals. The restaurants I frequent around here probably think I'm a foreign oddity who pays for two dishes instead of just one with free bowls of rice. I still eat noodles or potatoes every day though.
All this weight loss happened without trying very hard: eating the same fatty food I always did, virtually never eating after lunch, not exercising except for a few long walks every week, and not eating rice with my meals. Just a few simple rules. One thing I've accepted is: If I want to stay at this weight, I'll never be eating after lunch time again, and I can live with that.
Then I moved to China a few years ago, and late last year heard about the Chinese proverb: "Eat heaps for breakfast, eat enough for lunch, and eat little for dinner". This was news to me because all my life I thought I had to eat dinner every day. So I started following that rule, still eating the same food I always did, including heaps of eggs for breakfast. I also started keeping absolutely no food in my apartment, apart for milk for coffee, and instead ate out for every meal. In China there's always many restaurants a short walk from one's home.
Winter arrived, with the cold, some snow, and occasional rain, and I started skipping dinners because I was too lazy to go out, and dinners were now just snacks. After a few weeks, I noticed I weren't ever hungry in the evening. Even when I ate lunch when the restaurants opened at 11:00am, then nothing else for the rest of the day, I still weren't hungry, as long as I had a big breakfast. After a few months, I noticed I didn't have much fat where there'd been some for at least a decade, so I weighed myself: only 80kg. I've since come down to 75kg (BMI 27), but have sat at that weight for 2 months. I now weigh myself every day because (for some reason :-) I always remember to.
One other thing: I stopped eating white rice with my meals. The restaurants I frequent around here probably think I'm a foreign oddity who pays for two dishes instead of just one with free bowls of rice. I still eat noodles or potatoes every day though.
All this weight loss happened without trying very hard: eating the same fatty food I always did, virtually never eating after lunch, not exercising except for a few long walks every week, and not eating rice with my meals. Just a few simple rules. One thing I've accepted is: If I want to stay at this weight, I'll never be eating after lunch time again, and I can live with that.