[PinkVS]

I need some diet ideas.I have tried the Fat flush plan to hard I raided my fridge later in the day...Eat to live I need meat....The la shape diet was actually easy but it promotes herbalife and BLAH they are to pricey......I feel very satisfied with meal replacements but its not practical or healthy in the long run kwim?With any food based diet,I just want to pig out.Something about the shakes helps... ANy good diet book I could go out and buy?

[CountingDown]

Pink - take my advice or not, but this "mature" chickie that has been on many, many "diets" over the years finally lost weight by NOT dieting.

Seriously, don't start any plan that you can't do for the rest of your life - otherwise, your results will be short-lived.

Take some time to browse around 3FC - check out the different forums. There are many plans that work - the real key is to find what works - for YOU!

Spend some time reflecting on why other diets have failed. What are your trigger foods? What foods do you not want to give up? Then, pick your plan.

For me, calorie counting fit. I'm not into deprivation, and the minute you tell me I can't have something - I want it all the more.

I think a "food based diet" is best in the long run. The key is learning to eat to live, and not live to eat. I found that eating "whole foods", lots of veggies and few highly processed foods really helped. I need protein every time I eat. I eat 6 times a day, and plan, plan, plan. When you are eating "real food", what triggers your binge eating? Is it a specific type of food? A place? A time?

You CAN do this, but taking time now to find a plan that fits is worth it!

[JamieJo]

Inituitive Eating sounds like it might be right for you! I'm reading the book right now and loving it!! There are also some threads on this website for that "nonprogram."

I have also done well on Weight Watchers before but of course, gained the weight back which is why I"m here!

[bargoo]

I have tried many and lost weight but couldn't maintain. I found calorie counting works best for me. It is reliable. flexible and free.





i

[Thighs Be Gone]

Counting down makes a lot of sense and I agree with her whole-heartedly based on my own experiences. You can do this and it is worth it. "Diets" just don't work. You eventually go off of it and the weight FLOODS back on quicker than it came off. The only thing that works is life-long changes that in sync with your own body.

[msroboto]

Look at the ABS plan from Men's health. I've been doing it and have been very successful with it. I don't count calories. I just try to eat better food all the time. Low-fat no fat for most dairy and other things. I think that it might be similar to intuitive eating but I'm really not sure on that.

I had to plan plan plan in the beginning but after a few weeks it becomes more natural.

The plan calls for a cheat meal a week and this can be helpful in sticking with a plan forever.

I went into this to change the way I eat forever not just until the scale reaches a certain number.

http://www.menshealth.com/cda/articl...10cfe793cd____

[PhotoChick]

I also agree with what CountingDown said.

I don't diet. I don't believe in "diets". A diet is something you start and stop. A diet is something you "cheat" on. A diet is something that ends and then you go back to your old way of life and gain weight again.

The ONLY thing that works is to change your life to be more healthy.

For me that means calorie counting, eating whole foods and avoiding processed foods as much as possible, and exercise.

I am not forbidden to eat anything. I don't have to eat vast quantities of something else (like grapefruit or chicken breasts or whatever). I eat healthy foods in healthy amounts and I exercise at least 5x per week.

That's what's helped me to lose 75 lbs and keep it off.

.

[xdominic89x]

Just make sure you find a plan that you can do and something that works for you. Low carb would never work for me. I find that calorie counting and eating 90% whole foods works for me. It still allows me to treat myself and not feel deprived.

[Schumeany]

Add me to the calorie counter list. It is the only "diet" (although it really isn't a diet at all...) that I can imagine being able to maintain/modify to work for the rest of my life.

Some of the keys I have found are:
1. Eat lots of whole foods/veggies/big salads to stay full.
2. Eat at least five small meals a day -- I do breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner...and sometimes a small snack before bed.
3. Eat protein with EVERY meal/snack -- it keeps you from getting too hungry...and mostly it keeps me from feeling hungry at all.
4. Remove most of the refined sugars/refined carbs from your diet...at least in the beginning few weeks -- cravings go WAY down.
5. Have a cheat meal, not crazy cheating, but not on plan, at least once a month and maybe once a week.
6. NOTHING is off limits, so you never have to feel like you CAN'T have something...you just have to decide if it is really worth using up a high allotment of the days calories.
7. Plan most of your days in advance...you don't have to know EXACTLY what you'll have each meal, but know about how many calories you will be having, and if you know you will have a bigger than normal dinner/lunch make sure to pre-plan the other meals around that.
8. While I was losing weight, I liked to cycle my calories -- that is have higher calorie days and lower calorie days that averaged over the week to my daily target -- it keeps your body from lowering its metabolic set point, and it gives you "up" days to look forward to -- I have not really been doing that in the ten pounds or so sliding into maintenance, but I did it for the first around thirty pounds.

Good luck!

[Shannon in ATL]

I echo the sentiments already expressed by the calorie counters. I've tried diets over my life but never actually stuck to any of them, and I've watched family members yo-yo up and down with them. Since I started tracking calories and eating better food I have felt so much better and have more energy. Even now in maintenance I'm still doing the same things - counting calories, exercising, eating several small meals and snacks, protein, protein, protein... Like already said, I'm not dieting, I changed my lifestyle and habits.

I'm not a 'never eat xyz again' kind of person - if I felt I couldn't have something it would make me crazy.

Good luck to you!

[purpleorc]

What ever plan you choose you must say to yourself "is it one I can live with for the rest of my life". For the first time in my life I have taken over 120lbs off from my highest weight this is because I do not feel deprived, hungry and nothing is forbidden. What is this magical "diet" I use this term lightly as I think of it more as healthy eating I count calories.

So I eat regular 5 or 6 times a day so I am never hungry. I eat far more regularly than I ever did when I was at my highest weight but the key thing is that I am eating 95% of the time healthy wholesome foods that are not processed. I have the occasional meal off plan but it is only that meal and not an excuse to eat carelessly the rest of the day.

Counting calories may not be your path to losing weight. It may be low carb or south beach. So take time to look at the different eating plans on here and see which you are able to do. Do not be afraid to change plans if you are finding that one doesn't work for you. One plan does not fit all as users here on 3fc would agree with what worked for one person to lose weight didn't for another.

[etherence]

I too am an intuitive eater. I am going to warn you, weight loss is slow on the plan, but that is because intuitive eating seeks to resolved the complicated relationships with food that we have. But like most others have said out there, everyone is different so you have to find what works for you.