[TMunday]

Hi everyone. Many here know me already. And I have tried pretty much everything there is out there for diets that I could lol. But now that I am working on some other issues I thought now would be good to start up on everything together.

I have recently (this past week/second appt. next week) started counseling because I suffer from anxiety attacks, panic attacks, and depression. I am also pre-diabetic. I also have a problem that I only eat dinner at night and maybe a snack later. I am just not hungry by day.

Anyway, I am currently taking xanax... testing it out. It sure makes me sleep a lot! But I think it might be helping me. Not sure yet because the majority of my issues (anxiety and panic) haven't been around lately. But they (some of my phobias/fears are storms) are coming! I am not sure if my counselor and doctor will keep me on xanax or put me on something else yet. I am sure I will find out soon because these will be gone Monday.

Anyway I need opinions on what diet I should follow. My counselor (and my doctor) said no to Atkins or South Beach. I have done them both before though. Anyway I have done most diets out there already in the past. But I don't know exactly what I should do right now to make this work. I keep losing and gaining he same 5 pounds no matter what I am doing! I have owned, read, and tried I would have to say at least 90% of the diets and diet books out there lol.

I am an online member of Weight Watchers. But I am not so sure that will work as normal. I cannot attend there meetings so that does not help either. I can't decide if I should do Weight Watchers, just count calories, or if there is something else out there that I should try. I am open to hear (read) any and all opinions that you all have. Anything and everything would be much appreciated.

Thanks so much in advance.

[Sheila53]

Can your doctor set you up with a good dietician? A dietician should be able to tailor a plan to suit your needs.

While I know this is a cliche, I've found it to be true that any plan will work as long as you work it. In the past, my problem has been my unwillingness to work the plan, to stick with it, because I wanted that magic bullet that didn't require much effort on my part. But if you need something different because of medical reasons, then a dietician might be your best bet.

[TMunday]

Sheila -

Well, my doctors have went over my eating habits (when I was forcing myself to eat 3 meals a day and some snacks) and said they were good. My doctor said to eat like 1600 (if I remember right) calories a day to start and go down if I don't see a change. My doctor at that time (I have the same doctor just the time we talked about this) said WW didn't offer me enough food intake because I have killed my metabolism with all of the years of not eating. So it is slower then a turtle. They tested my thyroid and said it was ok. And did some other blood tests. All they came back with was pre-diabeties. And it was left at that. It has been months. I kind of dropped the subject with my doctors because I didn't feel they were helping me with it. Maybe the counseling will help with this too. I am limited to what I can do because of lack of insurance. But something has to work. I did follow the ww plan... but according to the docs I needed more then it offered. I have no idea. Sometimes I think I should see a women doc more then a man doc.

[CLCSC145]

Hi Tracy!

Sometimes it helps to figure out how much structure or flexibility you will thrive under.

For example, I get out-of-control obsessive if you put me on a plan with a set menu to follow or points to count. It becomes all I think about and the second I don't follow it to the letter, I feel like a failure. Right now I like a looser plan that forces me to make good decisions in the moment by reflecting on what I've already eaten and thinking about what events will be happening the rest of the day. A side benefit of having dieted for years is I have a pretty good sense of the calories in everything. I don't strictly count calories, but loosely aim for 1200-1500 a day while making sure I avoid processed/empty foods and stay hydrated. Pretty simple; no books or fancy complicated rules to follow. I try to think of how I think a thin person would eat and do that.

Some people need a lot of structure to help them stay on track. Go with your gut (no pun intended!) and do what feels right. There is no magic in any plan, so your best bet is to pick something that lets you eat foods you'll enjoy.

[TMunday]

CLCSC145 -

Good point! And yes, I struggle a lot of diets with menus. I don't use the menus because I am a picky eater. I do like to make a bit of the WW recipes and some of the South Beach recipes too. But some of the ingrediants I don't use. So sometimes it is a struggle because that sometimes ruins the recipe.

Everytime I follow WW I trend to gain more then lose. Maybe that is because you have to eat so many points each day! When I counted calories I did seem to do better! However, I think I tried to hard to get exactly 1600 calories (or whatever I was trying to eat in a day) in each day! Maybe if I take it easy it would work better.

I am hoping the doctor and counselor come up with some better meds for me too because all of this sleeping is for the birds! I take the xanax and within an hour at the most I am out like a light! But they did say after sometime of taking it that would change. And it appears that it is... but not fast enough haha.

Thankyou so much for making the points you made. That makes a lot of since to me! I think I am going to try it. I am going to save my money that I don't have to spend on WW and stick with fitday and just take each day as it comes.

Thanks for your help and ideas. I never thought like this. It is helpful.