I'm 47 and have been on everything but WW's thru the years . . . I've starved on all of them (excepting illicit prescription amphetamine use in the blurry 70's - YOWZA! Got too old for that tho'! LOL!) LC/Atkins Lifestyle means never having to say you're hungry or deprived. Can be challenging to stay on this wol with the prevalence of processed foods but sooo well wort it. My total cholesterol has plummeted - good way uuup & bad triglycerides bottoming out . . . energy level is fantastic and the weight loss is like none other in this mid-life hormonal **** I live in.
I too have tried the low fat diets and stayed hungry all the time. I developed diabetes 2 yrs ago and my doctor told me I had to watch my carb and sugar intake...I asked about the Atkins diet and he told me that would be a great lifestyle change for me to follow. I was in denile for the longest time that I even had diabetes but have come to my senses. I started doing low carb on Jan 1, 2008 and I have lowered my cholestoral from 219 to 176 in just three weeks of doing Atkins.
As a teenager,I tried Ayds candy and Dexatrim. Couldn't really stick with it for any significant weight loss. (I was 5'7 and 135 lbs. at the time, I wasn't fat , I just thought I was).
Sophomore yr. of college I did WW and lost 31 lbs. and eventually went back to my old ways of eating and gained it all back.
1992, was put of Phen/Fen , was working out 6 days a week at a gym, lost 90 lbs. in 7 months . Stopped the pills and immediately started the process of regaining the weight. Within a yr. I was back up 50 lbs.
In 2002, got put on Prednisone and began to gain 10-15 more lbs. per yr.
June 24th 2005, got a new hepatologist, that recommended I do Low Carb, hence why I ever started Atkins. I reached my goal of 145lbs. on July 5th 2006. After 6 months of maintenance, I went to Calorie counting for 6 months. CC does work, I abused it and eventually gained 6 extra lbs. Which I've now lost 4 lbs. of by doing 1500 cals' a day combined with keeping my carbs at 35 carbs a day. This seems to be working for me right now.
I want to be lily. She is my hero. And she has a pair of size five jeans that are baggy. PLUS she has the most freakishly attractive family on the planet. You can even tell her grandsons (toddlerish) are going to be stone cold foxy. If I didn't love her so much I would hate her due to my envy. Check out her work out routine. Unbelieveable.
I have been on South Beach for the past month and I adore it. My husband and I just booked a cruise in March, so I'm switching over to Atkins until then. After the cruise I'll be going back on South Beach because from previous experience I know that Atkins is just not something I could maintain long term. I've tried before - lost 30lbs really quickly - but gained it back when I gave into my cravings. I don't seem to have the same cravings when I'm on SB.
I have tried every diet plan out there and probably a couple that weren't on the best seller's list.
Here is some of the questions I asked myself when I changed plans again recently:
1)What are my current needs?
2)Is this a plan that I can lose weight on safely?
3)Is the philosophy behind it well tested and grounded?
4)Once I have lost the weight, can I keep it off with the maintenance plan that follows this plan?
5)Am I happy with this 95% of the time? Am I glad I made this decision?
I think, if you ask these questions first then whatever plan you choose, including if you decide to switch for whatever reason you decide, then you will be making the right choice----for YOU.
I was on SB for a while and it worked ok but just didn't stick with it. I swiched to atkins and like it better, less cravings, easyier to stick to for me.
I have done WW a couple times with decent results, but I was a little too flexible with my Flex Points, lol. On WW it was great to be able to eat foods that I really enjoyed, but my problem was not going back for seconds!
I really like LC because I no longer have the cravings like I used to. The hardest part for me is giving up the things I am used to eating WITH my low carb choices, like milk, ketchup, sweet 'n low, etc (oh and caffeine!), but I am working on it. It is by far the best WOE for me.
I've been on and off Weight Watchers for the past few years and didn't really lose any weight. Well, actually, I'd lose 5-10 pounds, then plateau, then give up and regain 10-15 pounds, then do it all over again a month or two later. That's how I've managed to gain about 30 lbs over the past four or five years even though I've been "dieting" most of that time! The advantage to WW is that you can eat stuff you really really want without going off plan. Like white bread. or a slice of birthday cake. If you plan your week well, you can have about anything once in a while. But my problem with WW was that I hated keeping track of every single thing (It takes a lot of time when you're busy) and it never really worked that well anyway. Also, I was always, constantly, very, very hungry. To the point where I could obsess about food and not get my work done. That was another reason that I couldn't stay OP for more than a couple of weeks.
When I decided to try Atkins last spring, I thought I could do it with out keeping track of food, but that's not really working out either. It's the little stray carbs in cheese, salad dressing, coffee cream, that are tripping me up, I think.
But I think WW can be a good plan for some people and Atkins is obviously working very well for other people. Everyone just needs to find the one they can do. I'm sticking with Atkins, even if it means tracking all my food to banish the stray carbs.
I've been on every diet you can think of. WW, SB, LC, and a ton more. I even started taking phentermine for a few months, but I know it is only a short term fix. I recently tried WW and had no luck with it, just because some of my friends are losing with it, dosen't mean I will. I have always lost on LC. I will finally beat my scale this time. I have been back to my LC lifestyle since Monday 1/28/08, and I already feel so much better and in only 5 days. Christy