Any particular diet that seems to work best?
 

I know this question has probably been asked and answered a million times on this board, but I don't have a clue how to find those posts, so please excuse any repetition! :)

Have any of you found a diet plan that really works and seems sensible for a life style change for you?

I have done MANY weight loss plans over the years, as I'm sure that most of you have as well, but I haven't found any yet that just seems sensible and normal for eating.

I have just started looking at the South Beach Diet, because I've seen a few people around this board talking about it. I haven't heard anything really solid about this diet before, but I'm wondering if it could be a good thing to try...

I kinda promised myself a while back that I wouldn't bother with any more diets, but would just focus on making healthier choices with my food while getting much more exercise. But I'm wondering if perhaps there is a diet out there that might be worth giving a shot. :)

i have been doing weight watchers for the past month, and while the loss is slow, i feel loads better and i feel like this is a method of eating that i can do for life. and for me, thats the vital part.
i know its just a dummed down version of calorie counting, but for me the counting got overwhelming. weight watchers have taken all the work out of it for me and it just slots into my life.

it was my doctor who recommended it for me, because the new programme (its discover here in ireland, which is very slightly different to the momentum in the states) is focusing more on heatlhy eating then moderation like it was before. she told me that she consistantly sees people losing lots of weight with them and maintaining it, because its so easy to manage and understand.

but as i have read here countless times, we are all different. what works for one may not work for another, we are not clones. although going by the sucess stories here, calorie counting seems to be the way to go.

hope this helps! you have lost 10 lbs, so whatever you are doing seems to be working great!!!

If you are looking for a weigh-loss plan that doesn't feel like a diet, then the South Beach Diet plan may be just what you are searching for.
On the South Beach way of life, we avoid white flours, white sugar, processed foods and high fat meats. The focus is on healthy vegetables, fruits, lowfat meats and cheeses, beans, and wholegrain breads and pastas. It doesn't feel like a diet, there is no "magic" formula, it's just healthy, sensible eating, that you can easily follow the rest of your life.

I`ve tried loads of things, and while I had good results with calorie counting, I found it hard to stick to long term. I now no longer eat carbs at night, which has made a dramatic difference. It helps to keep calorie intake low at night (while I`m just as full) and I no longer crave sweets at night (which was my most dangerous time).

I`m now eating 1500-1800kcal a day, and although weight loss is slow, I don`t feel either hungry or deprived.

The one you can really live with.

The one that works the best for any individual is the one that individual is WILLING to MAKE work.

For me, it was about stopping to diet and realizing and accepting that I had to change, overhaul and transform my lifestyle. I had to permanently change the way that I was eating. Create a new "normal". Institute and execute new healthy eating patterns and behaviors.

I chose/still choose calorie counting. The healthy eating ALONE never did it for me. Too easy too overspend ones calories and take in more then is needed to make that calorie deficit needed to lose and now having lost the weight, it's what I do to MAINTAIN my weight. Having a calorie budget simply puts the brakes on overeating. For me, it's the most logical. Makes the most sense. It's built in accountability. Built in portion control. It forced me to educate myself on nutrition. Forced me to find out what foods work for me and which ones don't. I combine that calorie counting with the healthy eating as I need to get the very most filling power, satisfaction and volume from my calories.

And yes, I can do it forever and ever. And ever. I don't look at it as a burden but rather as something that is essential to my health, happiness and well being. And once you get the hang of it, it's quite simple. :)

At first I was going to say that your plan to eliminate unhealthy foods and make healthier choices would probably end up being the best "plan". But then I saw this post and realized - my own efforts to do just that are largely along the lines of South Beach anyway! :) I guess I should get around to reading that book.

If I could give any advice that I've found helpful in the past 7 months that I've been focusing on getting healthy I'd say - make this round the time you finally make friends with your body, and decide to make choices that show that friendship. This will include exercise, sleep, relaxing activities, as well as making the time to make healthy food choices and prepare healthy food for your new "friend". Making this holistic change, rather than focusing on a "diet" with an "end goal", is making me feel like THIS time, as compared to the 50+ other times I've tried to "lose weight", is going to be the last time.

Good luck to you! I'd second the others here who have mentioned South Beach, because that seems to be largely based on avoiding processed foods/flour, which I think is at the root of many of our fat/weight issues.

I’ve never been successful on a ‘diet’ long-term. I’m one of those crazies who feels the second I’m on a diet, I start to rebel. What do you mean I can’t have that??? Pfft! I’ll SHOW YOU!!! ***start shoving food in face repeatedly*** you can see how that worked out for me!!! So many times I read encouraging words like “just do it!” “just commit to it” well, like most of us, I ‘committed’ to a diet every Monday morning, and by Tuesday morning I was ready for a cheeseburger. That wasn’t working. Sure, it took me til I was FORTY and at 325 to realize ‘wow this isn’t working quite the way I wanted it to”

So, my plan was to ‘cut back’. That works for a while, you can lose a bit here and there but calories eventually start creeping up and up and up…. So I made a deal with myself that I could eat whatever I wanted, as long as I stayed within XXX calories. It was so liberating and freeing!!! Chocolate cake??? I ate it! Of course I verrrrrrrry quickly learned that that 700 calorie piece of cake was pretty much ALL I was going to eat that day hahahah. You learn to budget quickly. Your eyes eventually turn to things that are lower calorie but dense & fill you up – hey turns out that’s healthier stuff!! Go figure ;) a 250 calorie chocolate bar for a snack?? Hmmm no thanks, I’ll spend 70 bucks for an apple instead thanks. It’s my CHOICE, no one’s making me do it. I choose how I ‘spend’ my calories. Overall, I’d say I eat 90% healthy foods, 10% so-so foods, and for years it was the complete opposite. I also looked within myself a lot, figured out WHY I was eating the way I was, made peace with myself, and just threw my hands up on trying to fight some things -- snacking at night??? no can do! Tons can, I can't. But I can eat 1 bowl of cereal and tons can't do that, so it's just doing what works for YOU!!!

So my vote is for old-school calorie counting and having some FUN! I SO make a game out of it, like I’m spending $1,500 to $1,800 every day heheheh

We're all different. I can't lose when eating carbs so low-carb is what I do (Atkins at first, now a bit more along the lines of modified {higher calorie} *******).

Wow, it just astericked out the name of the diet I typed! LOL must be a dirty word on this forum. Anway, the word is very similar to "atkins" but starts with a K. Basically low carb and low fat. It wasn't a cuss word, I promise. LOL.

I like Weight Watchers. It works well for me with the simplified counting of points rather than calories (I get too obsessive counting calories and I find it to be a bit of a chore). And I can eat things I really enjoy if I have enough points (like chocolate or pasta). It's a simple program and I find that I'm not restricted by type of food which works best for me in the long run as it seems more of a lifestyle change than a "diet." I can do this for the rest of my life.

But like the others have said, any program that fits best into your lifestyle is the one for you. You have to find one that suits your eating habits and your personality. Not all of us are good calorie counters and not all of us want or need the restrictions of a low carb diet. That's why I prefer Weight Watchers for me. I find it very easy and it's a good fit for my lifestyle.

I agree.

I'm on Weight Watchers as well. I've had great success in the past on WW, and I'm doing well on it so far again. It fits my lifestyle and I find it easy to work in treats. So for me, this is definitely a plan I can live with.

The key for me is journaling/tracking what I eat and staying within my points. If I try to track "in my head", I invariably go over in my points and gain weight. And when I've stopped counting points (essentially stop counting calories) altogether...that's when I've gained weight back.

To be totally honest, I chose calorie counting as my method of weight loss because it is FREE. No books to purchase, no fees to pay, no special foods to buy...Just Free. My only investment was...well, my health. I requested a nice food scale for Christmas, I use a free date book sent to me from my insurance agent (to log my food), I already had measuring cups and spoons. You can find the calorie count of virtually any food for free on-line.

I think about how much money I wasted over the years on plans and books and pills and powdered drinks and I am ashamed. Nothing worked long term because I always gave up. I decided llong ago I would never spend another dime to lose weight. I rather use that money for new tile floors! (And new skinny clothes!).

I'm with Trazey.

I haven't tried "a diet" in years. I think I started on the yo-yo too young, and for years, any "diet" made me uncontrollably binge.

So, for years I would try to lose weight by "cutting back"... but honestly, my version of cutting back was two donuts not three... sure I'd have a week or two here or there where I ate less and moved more, and occasionally I'd go down ten pounds, and so I had convinced myself that was the only way I could lose-- the problem was that my general trend was still up, up, up.

So, I decided to count calories.

I started by eating a lot of lettuce and chicken breast-- no bread, pasta, rice, etc. Nothing that I could smear butter on. Nothing I could eat by the handful. And not too much fruit.

But, as I've tracked my calories, I've gotten way more adept. I'm finding more and more foods that I like and that leave me satisfied and that stay within my calorie count too.

I write down my calories on fitday every single day. If I have to guesstimate, I guess high. I also set my calories low so that I'd have "wiggle room" in case I was accidentally estimating low on foods whose calories I was unsure of.

So, I really like calorie counting. It seems simple and it gives me total flexibility. But I also don't make myself crazy trying to be exact don't to the very last calorie because I think that would be much harder and make me nuts.