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Old 06-24-2007, 07:10 PM   #1  
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Default Combining plans?

Hello,

I follow the weight watchers plan. I moved here about a month ago and have only been off plan for two days..I don't know what I weigh because I got rid of the scale before the move...my clothes seem to be getting looser...so, thats good

my optometrist at work has lost 50lbs on Atkins. Wow!! I know that I couldn't do it, most of what I love to eat is on the 'no' list, at least initially. I know I couldn't stick to that much of a food overhaul.

My q is this: I am going to a wedding at the end of July, that has inspired me to be on plan as much as I have... I was wondering if I cut down on my carb intake, would it make a difference? I use the bowflex and do various cardio dvds 3-4 times a week. I will admit to not being very consistent with it.

It could also be that I just don't feel good about myself today, so of course any fat I have is front and center in my mind these days. Maybe it's just mental?

i've never tried combining plans because many of them are contradictory, but any advice or experiences any one has had would be great!

Thanks much!!
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Old 06-25-2007, 10:45 AM   #2  
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Normally I would never reply to my own question, but I find it hard to believe I'm the only one who was tempted to take aspects of different plans and combine them, i.e. Wieght watchers and low carb.... !

Either this the best kept secret, or no one wants to tell me....
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Old 06-25-2007, 11:07 AM   #3  
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Honestly,

I don't think it is that abnormal to combine or blend plans. I lost most of my weight from many influences but never really following a single plan. My "plan" for the most part has been whole foods, low calorie, somewhat restricted carbs. A month ago or so, I decided to restrict my carbs further but even though I'm not sure I'd say I'm doing low carb, I'm definitely in the lowish carb range with restricted calories.
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Old 06-25-2007, 11:32 AM   #4  
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i know folks who do south beach and count points... it seems to work for them.
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Old 06-25-2007, 11:59 AM   #5  
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Thank you for your replies. After thought, I feel like I couldn't lower my carbs enough to make a difference while still being satisfied. I like to have a potato w/ my dinner, pasta on occasion, and a slice of whole wheat toast w/ eggs and bacon. I also love fruit.

Instead, I have decided to concentrate more on eating complex carbs, and making sure none of my meals are just carbs... I also do not eat white bread or white rice. I usually only drink water...

I'm doing ok, but like most people, I want it to go faster ( even though that's not always healthy). Part of me would love to do Atkins, but i know that I couldn't stay with it for ever, and I'd end up even more unhappy.

Thanks again for your help and replies. I"m still searching for what will work for me.
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Old 06-25-2007, 12:35 PM   #6  
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Optical Goddess View Post
Thank you for your replies. After thought, I feel like I couldn't lower my carbs enough to make a difference while still being satisfied. I like to have a potato w/ my dinner, pasta on occasion, and a slice of whole wheat toast w/ eggs and bacon. I also love fruit.

Instead, I have decided to concentrate more on eating complex carbs, and making sure none of my meals are just carbs... I also do not eat white bread or white rice. I usually only drink water...

I'm doing ok, but like most people, I want it to go faster ( even though that's not always healthy). Part of me would love to do Atkins, but i know that I couldn't stay with it for ever, and I'd end up even more unhappy.

Thanks again for your help and replies. I"m still searching for what will work for me.

well FWIW fruit and whole grains and complex carbs are what's so cool about SBD sounds like it might work for you!
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Old 06-27-2007, 06:58 PM   #7  
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I have been counting calories, eating more protein, tried the peanut butter diet, eating more peanut butter, eating lean cuisine meals, and eating submarines at Subway daily. I try to eat an apple a day, from the 3 apples a day diet. I started eating meal replacement bars but had no success with them. I'll try anything as long as it fits into my calorie count.

http://qazwsx27.blogspot.com/
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Old 06-27-2007, 07:56 PM   #8  
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Today i went to the library, and wow!! Who knew there were so many diet books! It was overwhelming. I checked out the south beach diet, but don't think it's for me. My favorite vegetables are starchy ones like corn and carrots. I do like greenbeans, but that's about it. I can eat stuff like california blend, but there are no vegetables that I really like... also, I'm not sure if I could deal with a list of haves and have nots...that type of thing usually makes me want to have what I'm not supposed to....

What I am considering: going w/ ww point system and just limiting my carbs, but staying w/ in my points allowance, or not counting points, but just eating smaller servings than I do now ( I measure my food out, so if it's a cup, it'll be 3/4 of a cup...

I fell off the wagon today and feel horrid, both physically and mentally. I swear I look like I'm pregnant!... this whole weight loss thing is wearing me out! There are so many plans! I have no problems w/ measuring and counting. I think I'd do better with that than I would trying to utterly eliminate or become stricter about certain foods.

SBD seems much more palatable than Atkins, but it still drastically cuts so much of my favorite foods out. Yes, this would cause me to lose weight because I'd be eating stuff I"ve never had or never liked ( like yogurt and a lot of vegetables )... I don't mean to sound like I have such a bad attitude, but I'm not feeling my best today and unfortunately it's showing a bit.

Thanks to all who helped me w/ my question
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Old 07-10-2007, 01:45 AM   #9  
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Optical Goddess,

You are not alone in trying to figure out what is going to work best for you! I, too, am trying to figure it out, and for me that often means combining aspects of more than one plan.

Starting at the end of last Feb (2006), my husband & I started a "healthier eating + getting more active" thing. I was essentially following Eating for Life, as I could never fully get on board with the exercise plan for Body for Life. It was so encouraging when a couple pounds were coming off each week. I started at 202 and by early April, I was down to 194.

The only problem was that I started having some health problems, not related to the healthier eating thing. On April 4, 2006, I learned, quite joyfully, that I was pregnant with our 3rd child. But the problems persisted. On April 10, during a re-check at the doctor's office, I learned that the baby was in my left tube, hence the problems I was having.

It was confirmed at the hospital that night, and they prepped me for emergency surgery. My tube had ruptured, and of course our little 5 week, 5 day old bean was lost. Due to the internal bleeding and other complications, I ended up with a large vertical incision rather than the tiny laparascopic incisions I was supposed to have. Because of that, I had a 6 week recovery that involved taking it easy and no lifting anything over 10-15 lbs. The first 3weeks I couldn't even really walk around a lot. The trauma of the surgery had caused me to lose some weight. I think when I got home on 4/12 last year, I was at 188. But of course that comes back on and it did.

Then I did the math and realized that our angel had been conceived right around the time that we started our healthier lifestyle. Then I second-guessed whether the weight loss was because of what I was doing, or because I was pregnant and didn't know it. Between the depression over our loss and the recovery, and then this knowledge, I really fell into a rut about being healthy again.

By sometime in the late winter, my weight had shot up to 210-212 lbs at times! I tried to officially start new plans at about 209. I tried South Beach two different times. The first, toward the end of March of this year (I think) lasted 3 days. I quit because I got sick of eggs for breakfast and salads for lunch. So much that I had an aversion to them and sought other ways to implement the SB principles again.

The second time was a little over a week after Easter. That attempt lasted 5days, and was somewhat more doable, but I just got frustrated (despite losing some weight) with the restrictions and quit again when a pizza craving grew too strong. After that attempt, I tried You: On a Diet, but within a few days of eating carbs again, I had gained the weight back.

I need flexibility in a diet plan. I need to not be told I absolutely can't have something, and that psychological thing causes me to fail. Even though most of the time, sugary goodies are not around, I like to know I *can* have a little break without it completely undoing what I've done. That's where Eating for Life was nice...the whole free day thing. But for whatever reason, I find myself kind of resisting going back to that, even though it is a good, sound, workable plan. More psychological stuff, I think.

I have had some success with the updated Slim Fast plan, and find it a good way to understand caloric intake and such. I was doing it before we went away on vacation on June 30, and was reaching a comfort zone where I was starting to sometimes substitute in even more "real" food at times, so I think I'm leaning toward calorie counting combined at times with Slim-Fast.

There are fantastic recipes in the South Beach cookbook. I plan on implementing those as well, even though I am not following the SB menus. They are healthy and delicious. And for exercise, I'm not sure what I'm doing. Exercise and water intake are where I am lacking, and I need to improve in those areas. Walking is certainly easy enough, but I want to mix it up some with exercise DVDs or something.

So, I understand trying to figure the right system for YOU out. I find that I keep certain aspects of plans. I try to stick to brown rice, whole wheat pastas, lower sugar cereals, leaner meats, more veggies & fruits...I read labels a lot more to look out for the dreaded "high fructose corn syrup." It's still hard for me to think of a meal that doesn't have a protein and carb combined (Eating for Life). Really, I'm kind of making things up as I go, pulling what makes the most sense to me or what works best for me, and using it.

Good luck deciding what you'll be doing! I honestly feel that no single diet is just right for every dieter out there. South Beach works great for some people, Slim Fast works great for some, Weight Watchers works great for some, Counting calories works for some, etc, etc.

Take care!


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Old 07-10-2007, 06:56 PM   #10  
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I think it is fine to use parts of different diets. Make up something that works for you. That's what I did.

Optical Goddess and Luvmyfam, I think you gals need to figure out a way to enjoy the huge variety of things that you can eat while loosing and maintaining a healthy weight. Don't let an innate dislike of broccoli or cucumbers keep you from being the person you can be....just like the Army - Be all you can be -
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Old 07-11-2007, 02:54 PM   #11  
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Hi, Optical Goddess--
I actually lost 47 lbs on Atkins. Then I "fell", and back came the 47, with friends!

The one thing that Atkins taught me was to get off of sugar. Now I use, MAYBE, 1 tsp. of sugar per week! (yes, I did say 1 teaspoon). Everything I eat now is either naturally sweet, like fruit and veggies, or I use aspartame-sweetened drinks, (which are diluted--aspartame tasts WAY too sweet now!), or no sugar at all.

Sure, Atkins was very successful for me, once, but after a while I got really tired of all that meat and cheese. I also got concerned about what it was doing to my arteries.

Now I do the WW points plan, mostly because I need some form of control over how much I eat. By counting them religiously every day, I can "allow" myself more of the fruit and veggies I missed on Atkins.

Finally, I just have to say, with the combination "training" I got from both Atkins and WW, I've learned to make better choices, that "count" for more, nutrition-wise, than just calories. For example, complex carbs, low-fat meats, tiny portions of cheese, etc.

I would suggest you look at what has worked for you in the past, modify it, and put some form of control on it so that portions are more regulated. You're right, there's a whole bunch of diets out there, and more come out every day. But careful, thoughtful choices will always stand you in good stead!

Good luck!


Susan
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