[onthedietagain]

Hi, I want to say that I love this site and I am visiting it weekly, sometimes daily, but don’t write much.

I was struggling with my weigh a lot, as many of you ladies here. I never crossed 140 lb, but it was very VERY difficult to maintain. I did try many diets. Low carb, law calories, cabbage soup, fasting, juicing, running 3 miles per day on empty stomach ….well they all worked , but as soon as I stop being on the diet, I would gain it all back.

Last year I had to have hysterectomy. I was so scared of gaining even more weight due to menopause (at 36 years old). I had to think hard and re read all my diet journals to see what I can do to LIVE my life without dieting and do not gain weight or obsess about food or constantly deprive myself.

I must mention that I hate exercise, I love carbs, I love all kind of meats and sea food. I love sweets. I am also emotional eater. I get upset – I eat. Did I mention I LOVE my red wine? Oh, and I have desk job as well.

I had great success on low carbs, but I can not make it my lifestyle as I love my carbs too much to ditch them. I had great success on counting calories, but I can not make it my lifestyle, it is boring and annoying (to me!). I had great success on 18 hrs fasting, but I can not make it my lifestyle as I am a little dizzy and my stomach makes loud noises at work when I am fasting.

My success comes after my surgery last spring when I realized I need to combine all above in my own plan. From 136 lb last April I wend down to 121 lb now
I didn’t exercise 1 day, except my walks with dogs. I don’t count carbs or calories or fat or anything else. I didn’t eliminate any foods I love out of my diet. Here is my plan:

7 am – coffee with 10 % cream and Splenda
1 pm – salad (with some chicken/ turkey, olive oil and all kind of raw veggies)
7 pm – pasta with chicken/ or mashed potato with steak etc., always with the big salad….my desert is 8 oz red wine.

So, I am sort of fasting from dinner at 7 pm until lunch next day.

I do not have carbs for lunch (except a little from veggies in my salad) , which brings total carbs per day to the lower number. I don’t like fruits, so I basically do not eat them (just recently I read that fructose is bad for weight loss!). I love berries, so I always put them in my salad for lunch.

I do not eat “bad” food (chips, ice cream, cake etc) except Sat and Sun. I always gain couple of pounds over Sat and Sun, because I eat all I want for lunch and dinner, but my weight is back to 121 lb by Tuesday/Wednesday.

Another adjustment I made is no snacking after dinner.

I hope it will give some of you an idea for your own diet or hope that this battle can be won! Ladies, who are getting older and worried about menopause, don’t be, it’s not so bad (from my experience) and you don’t have to gain weight because you are in it.

Cheers!

[Lecomtes]

Hi! Thanks for posting. I love my red wine too, haha, but only on Saturdays right now due to trying to watch the weight!