Trying to decide....
 

So I have been contemplating with myself what I am going to do to lose weight. I know Atkins works for me, I have done it in the past, BUT I hated it, and I blew up like a hot air balloon when I stopped it! So, today I started a low cal diet, I am giving myself 1500 a day, and I did good today. I will also be working out, or excercising as much as possible. So I was wondering if you all thought that would be a good plan, or if I should try something else...any suggestions?

Yanno......
 

Yanno.......you can look at WW online....and they had a free week trial......it is so ingenious of WW the way the pts. are allocated based on what you weigh and they go down as you do......it is really cool....and doesn't shock you into the low calorie, possibly lower metabolism thing......I know people who have lost a ton and maintained that way......just a thought. :)

I did atkins for a long time and I lost about 25 pounds and then I had a piece of bday cake and it was downhill from there and I went from 200 to 255 in like 6 weeks. I gained all all 25 pounds back plus another 30. It was horrible. I would not recommend that to anyone. I am doing the low cal and I give myself between 1500-1800 a day and then 2000 on saturday. I was doing Weight Watchers and I lost 15 pounds but I just started counting calories a few weeks ago. I did it for a few days and I lost 5 pounds in 1 week then I got sick and fell off the wagon but I started again today and I ate 1400. So I think that the low cal thing is good. and just try to eat alot of low cal things and fruits and veggies and whole grain breads and pastas

Calorie counting and exercise is my plan of choice. I do work hard to make sure my calories consist of good quality foods that my body needs and doesn't just want.

Keep a food journal
Join a support group, even if it this board.
Find someone to help you stay accountable
Be honest with yourself and forgive yourself but don't make excuses.

Best of luck to you. :hug:

Counting calories was really hard for me at first because I thought that 1200-1350 was a LOT of calories to work with and I would eat all kinds of junk during the day at work and then realize that it was 3 o'clock and I had 100 calories left and nothing substantial in my belly. I have since discovered the wonders of vegetables and fruits in lieu of the refined sugars and carbs and found myself a lot more satisfied. I learned that for the same 250 calories, I could eat 1 Hershey's bar OR a cup of california medley vegetables, an ounce of cheese, and 5 slices of smoked turkey breast. Guess what's more satisfying!!

It really depends on your needs. If you prefer some in-person group support and accountability, then Weight Watchers is great. If you like one-on-one in-person support and portion-controlled meals, Jenny Craig is a great way to go. If you don't want to spend the money on programs and don't need the additional support, then counting calories is a great way to go. You can use Fitday.com or other programs (e.g., dailyplate) for free.

Journaling your food is always helpful because it makes you accountable for what you eat. I like to eat small meals every three hours because it keeps my blood sugar on an even keel, and makes it so I'm not hungry. When I feel hungry, I tend to grab anything. Also, logging your exercise keeps you accountable, too.

Losing weight really is a case of eat less and move more. You just have to find something you can live with for the rest of your life so explore all your options. You're going to do great!! We'll be seeing less of you soon, I'm sure. :)

Only you can decide what's a good plan for you, based on your needs and likes. All "diets" work, as long as you stick with them. So the key factor is of course, is finding something that you can indeed do - forever, because that's just how long you want to remain a healthy weight for. The problem with most diets, is that we go on them, lose some weight, go off of them and then resume our old habits. Realizing tha was a key component to my weight loss success. I needed to face up to the fact that whatever I would choose to do, it would have to be for the long haul.

I simply love good old fashioned calorie counting. It's my version of portion control. It helps keep me accountable. But IMO, it's absolutely vital to make those very nutritious, satisfying and filling calories. I stick to veggies, fruits and low fat proteins. So for me it's a COMBINATION of healthy food, PLUS calorie counting. Add in some daily exercise and it's a plan that "works" and is doable for life.

Good luck to you. :)

I'm a calorie counter but I try to keep the South Beach principles in mind while I'm doing it. SB is a really healthy way to eat but I also need the structure of doing it within a set number of calories.

I'm on 1200 a day, which regularly gets me flamed, but you definitely need to do what works for your body and give yourself the time to figure it out.

Hi,
I think each person needs to find what works for them. I am another person who counts calories and exercises, and it seems to be working. When I started out at your weight, I was eating about 1800 calories a day and have worked myself down to between 1400-1600 calories a day right now, I am thinking I am going to have to lower this to 1400-1500 from now on, to keep loosing. Personally I could never do 1200 calories a day, I like to eat, and my body feels miserable when I only eat 1300 calories.
For exercise I stared doing 2-3 minutes on the elliptical, and have worked up to 40 minutes a day.
So find what works for you and don't give up , before you know it the weight will come off.
cheryl

What rockinrobin said. Any plan that restricts what you eat is going to make you lose, but the problem is trying to make yourself stick with it. This has to be a lifestyle change, and you know better than anyone if you're willing to stick with Atkins or Zone or WW or South Beach for the rest of your life.

I personally am doing WW, and I do feel like I could stick with it for the rest of my life. One thing I especially liked about it was that when I was doing low carb, I felt like I couldn't eat like a normal person. Whenever I went to someone else's house for dinner or my friends and I went out to eat I had to check it against my mental list of foods I could and couldn't eat. Made me feel like there was something wrong with me and I couldn't wait until I was thin and could eat like a normal person. But that's just me. With WW, I can eat whatever I like as long as I have the points for it. I could blow all my points on an extra large Dairy Queen sundae if I wanted to, but I'd feel like crap and be hungry in a while. It gets be a game for me, what food can make me feel most satisfied with the least amount of points, and that's how the plan is training me to eat.

You know better than anyone what you can live with. When I was starting out on this current journey, I researched like crazy any weight loss information and read diet/weight loss reviews on epinions.com, blogs, online magazines. I went on websites like theweighwewere.com and read magazine articles that had weight loss success stories to see how other people had done it, and I decided that I felt the best about WW. If you want a place to start out, 3fatchicks has a bunch of diet reviews here.

Your plan sounds great. Many people here have lost weight by counting calories and exercising.

I follow the Southbeach plan, but I also count calories. The Southbeach plan has taught me how to eat healthy and pick better options for my calories and counting calories has made me aware of how much I consume on a daily basis. I aim for 1600-1800 calories a day. So far, I can lose on this amount, but I imagine that I'll have to lower that number one day.

I use 3FC for my group support and accountability. Honestly, I don't think I could find any better than this crew here. Please keep posting with us. I look forward to seeing your ticker move to the right!

I have tried virtually every diet under the sun. What I'm doing now is calorie counting, making low GI choices in everything I can. I'm averaging 1850 calories and am losing, so I'm going to stick with that.

Everyone's right - it's about finding something that works for *you*, and what works for me or Rhonda or Robin may not necessarily work for you. In saying that, there's sure to be something that works for you and your lifestyle that wouldn't work for me.

Good luck!

I'm a calorie counter, too. I don't think it's a matter of you finding the perfect diet. I think it's a matter of finding something that just clicks and works for you. When that happens the weight will come off and it REALLY won't seem THAT hard. Yeah, it's tough, but bearable, and it DOES get easier (especially after a GREAT clothes shopping trip for smaller sizes!).

Good luck!