[grateful]

Hi everyone... I am once again starting the weight loss journey. I am tired of being fat, and have a hard time sticking to diets because:

• I get hungry
• I don't want to count points or calories.
• I want to eat GOOD foods!

All of these things are not new to anyone, I'm sure. But I just wondered what diet program works best. I'm considering the South Beach Diet, but I am very concerned about sticking with it during the 1st 2 weeks. However, I know that carbs are the major problem with how I eat. I'm definitely a carb addict. I do enjoy proteins, though, so I'm hoping that would get me through it.

I've tried Weight Watchers, and had some success but grew very tired of counting points. It was very hard to know what points were in home-prepared meals.

I've tried SlimFast, and had success with that as well but it is kind of boring.

I need to lose a lot of weight, at least 80 pounds and preferably more. I work full-time (with 1 hour of driving added) and have a 3 year old. Cooking complicated meals is not an option.

What do you think? I'm really wanting to get started on this by the New Year!

[BellaLucia]

South Beach is a good diet. I lost 80lbs in 5 months on it. I only regained the weight due to medication for a mental illness.

[aphil]

Honestly, no matter what plan that you choose, you are going to have to watch/count SOMETHING-whether it be calories, Points, carbs, portion sizes, what foods/ingredients are allowed.

You say that you tire of counting calories or WW Points and the like...but you also say that you are tired of being fat. You simply have to choose which one is the most tiring to you.

Losing weight and keeping it off is a sacrifice...but it reaps many rewards.

We all simply have to accept the fact that to do so, we have to make a permanent lifestyle change-a lifestyle different than the one that made us fat. It includes watching our diet in some form, and exercise in some form-and accepting that to lose and KEEP it off, we have to do it forever-not just for a few weeks or months, as in a diet.

Good luck to you,
Aphil

[CountingDown]

Aphil said it well. Change IS hard. But so is being overweight.
I hear a little bit of me in your post. When I started this journey, I thought keeping a food journal was "obsessive" and not something that I would ever do. But, here I am 6 months later and 50+ lbs. lighter. I wouldn't give up my journal for anything. It has been a huge key to my success. It keeps me honest with myself.
Though it may not be right for you, I'm going to share my experience with calorie counting.

Calorie counting is something that makes a lot of sense to me. Any "diet" that restricts foods is something that I cannot do for the rest of my life. All foods are POP - in moderation - which is what I needed to learn. As someone who has lost several hundred pounds over the last 35 years, I needed to figure out how to change my lifestyle. Losing weight is hard, but maintenance is harder for me. This is the first "non-diet" I have ever done. The changes I am making are something that are permanent. There is no going back. Every little change I make is something that I really think about - if I can't do it forever, the positive effects will be short-term. It only took me 50 years to learn this lesson - I can be pretty dense sometimes - LOL

[JennyJ]

I'm a huge proponent of counting calories and doing calorie cycling. You could also count portions, though (each portion equivalent to your palm size or size of a fast) and go for 6 a day, provided you're eating healthy foods.