What plan do YOU do to lose??
 

Just thought I would do a quick survey? I have seen a couple of people post they count calories. That has always worked best for me if I could just stick with it!! ;)
Are you doing SouthBeach, Atkins, or just good old counting calories. I am a vegetarian but am still overweight because I like all the bad stuff and too much of it (pasta, cheese, etc...)In fact I sometimes joke I am not a vegetarian as much as a junkitarian! LOL
Just curious to see what we are all doing to lose-
have a good day all~
Laura

Hi Laura! I haven't had the motivation to really stick to it, but the only thing that has worked for me is almost a variation of the South Beach Diet in combination with others:

Eat 5 meals per day.

No Sugar

Protein-take in 100g-140g per day (supplements ok-but mainly chx/fish)

No dairy

Eating good carbs (i.e. salad w/o dressing, plain potatoes, green beans)

Keep total fat grams to under 30 per day.

Of course, exercising on top of this...but this is the food plan that has always helped me specifically shed fat but maintain the muscle needed to burn additional calories and fat too. 8-) Melinda

I'm kind of winging it right now. Just trying to be sensible. Seems to be working, except for when I am PMSing! :lol:

I Am Doing A Combination Of A Few Things....i Am Doing Weight Watchers...however, I Usually Dont Stay For The Entire Or Any Part Of The Meeting I Mostly Want To Weight...kind Of Like I Am Being Held Accountable...i Also Count Calories, And Watch My Fat Intake..uped My Protein Intake A Little...i See A Personal Trainer 2x Per Week And Run On The Treadmill 3-4x Per Week....its Working Slowly So Far

Over the years I have been on many diets , but find calorie counting the way to go for me. I plan my meals the nite before and keep a food diary, takes about 5 minutes. Keeping a food diary keeps me honest. I also think it is a healthy way , not having to restrict certain foods, etc, I stay within my alotted calories and am careful with carbs and sodium,

I am on a low-fat diet - works best for me :D And I am doing a lot of workouts (three times the week at the gym, lot of walking on the other days and weights lifting at home) :carrot:

intuitive eating with less than 2000 calories a day, try and stick to whole foods. Workout 3-4 times a day. I also drink mostly water.

I'm a South Beacher. It's the only diet that has ever worked for me that I could stick with longer than a month! ;)

calorie counting for me...with lots of exercise...well not necessarily this week but usually LOL

Doing what I've been successful with before. Eating 4-5 300-calorie meals a day - with an emphasis on protein. 60 minutes of exercise for at least 5 days/wk and something light the other 2.

Thanks for all the replies! It's interesting to see what everyone does. I am really gonna try to get it in gear. I have lost two pounds but I know it could be much better!
I have a few events coming up in the next month or so. I would feel so much better if I lose more.
thanks again!
Laura

I do calorie counting, and try to average 2200/cals/day or less over the week - some days much higher, some days much lower, but 2200/avg. I keep a food journal to keep me on track. I figure I can stay at this level to around 200 lbs, and then adjust the cals downward.

I'm a lifetime Weight Watcher, which pretty much taught me portion control ~ and what I generally do is:
1) eat approx. 6 times a day - breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, snack, dinner. I do this because my commute is long and then I'm at work for 8 hours on top of the commute. I eat breakfast on the train to work, and my last snack before dinner on the train coming home. My snacks generally consist of fruit and/or veggies and may have some protein included.

2) I eat pretty "clean" and incorporate highly nutritional foods into my day - think "superfoods", no refined sugars, hardly any junk food at all (and it's amazing because in doing this I have NO cravings!)

3) I still weigh and measure things according to WW points

4) I drink at least 2 litres of water a day

5) I move every day for a minimum of 20 minutes

So it's kind of my own plan, but I use WW as my guideline.

I have done WW in the past. I am now counting calories and working out min of 4-5 days a week. I try to keep within 1600 calories daily and drink my 64 oz of water. If it stick to it, it works like a charm.

the only plan that was worked for me in the past is WW flex plan and that is the one i returned to as of yesterday

it forces me to be accountable ... which is good

some days i need a swat team to keep me from binging and somehow justifying it as OK

You are all better than me, I don't even have a plan yet, except to start one. Which one I have no idea. My dh thinks I am crazy because I lost 30 pounds on WW last year, have since gained it all back, and he says I should go back to what works. My question is, am I not going back because I don't want to or because he says I should, hmmmm??? LOL. Atkins does not work for me and slim fast only works the first week and I don't know anything about SB - any suggestions?

I am just trying to eat healthy and with the right portion size and to excersies as much as my children will allow me to.

I have tried WW in the past and I think it's a great program, but just not for me. I just don't have the time to write down every single little thing, especially trying to calculate points for things like meatloaf where you have to figure out every ingredient. But I think it's a great program for teaching portion size and lifestyle changes.

Currently I am trying Eating for Life by Bill Phillips. I love his philosophy and think that it's very reasonable and fits into my lifestyle very well. Basically, it's 6 small meals per day, a carb and protein at each meal, with 2 veggies added per day. It's designed to keep your metabolism up and your hunger under control. There's even a built-in "cheat" day!

Rowdieb, don't feel bad - you're not the only one without a plan. I mean - I have a "plan" (lose weight now!), but don't have a plaaaannnnn. These are the only two things that worked for me:

1) Weight Watchers. It helped me lose 70 lbs and it wasn't that hard. I was in the right frame of mind. But it made me tired. Tired of thinking about next meal, counting, journalling, etc. Sadly, if I don't let it consume me - I fall off the wagon. I'm an all or nothing type...

2) Exercise. I used to run - far and frequent enough that the food issue became negliable. But a worn out body forced me to cut back, and eventually I quit. Pretty sad when you could run a half marathon without blinking and now you can't run a block. Blah!

So - I'm aiming for a mix of the two. Sensible eating (which WW is...) and exercise. I'm toying with the idea of Atkins or SB, but am chicken. I don't know much about either, except the basic concept of no carbs/low GI foods. Am leary because a friend of mine did Atkins with great success, but gained back every pound (and more) the minute she started eating carbs. What's the scoop - are carbs out of the question forever? Is gaining weight back a common occurance with this program (I mean.. moreso than any other program?).

Intuitive eating and portion control is what works best for me. I also work out at the gym 4 times a week and do 1 cardio tape at home and i also walk. This is what works best for me. I tried the low carb thing and i just couldn't stick to it and i also tried counting calories and i didn't stick to that either. The key is to eat less and move!! :)

Hi everyone!
I am starting over again today! I tried SB last summer, lost 15 lbs in 3 weeks, then fell off the wagon. Most of that weight was from water retention I'm sure. I love fruit & carbs so I guess that's why that plan didn't work for me. The whole idea is eat pretty much as much as you want off of food list and you'll loose. Problem with that is when I fell off the wagon, I kept eating as much as I wanted of anything!!! Consequence, I weigh 7 more pounds today then when I started SB last summer! ARGH!
This may sound odd but I was watching a worlds strong man competition the other night, and a guy on there inspired me. He said you don't need fad diets to lose weight and feel great! No low carb, low fat, low this low that......just eat healthy foods, monitor calories consumed and calories burned! For me, the only time I lost weight and kept it off was watching calories and getting in a 30 minute workout 3-4 days a week.
So I am going to do combination WW & calorie counting with workout 3-4 days a week. Determined to do it this time!

Right now I'm so far gone that I NEED someone I have to be accountable to. I joined Metabolic Research Center because they guaranteed me that I would lose 50 pounds in 17 weeks. I stay on the program because it is hideously expensive! I'm a slow loser (on the scale) but after 2 weeks I had lost 10.5 pounds in fat and gained 7 pounds in muscle (according to this cool scale that magically differentiates fat, muscle, and water). So we don't see everything that happens when we diet, and I need someone to point out the obvious - TOM, muscle gain, don't eat cheese, etc.

When I finish this 17 weeks I may go to South Beach. I tried Body for Life, but my cheat days turned into cheat weekends, cheat weeks... I did Atkins years ago and lost a ton of weight. The problem is I stayed on induction, so when I ate "normally," my body said "Woooo hooooooo!!!! I'm gonna hold on to every carb I can!!!" On Atkins, I could eat as much as I wanted of yummy greasy things. So then when I ate "normally," I continued eating lots of yummy greasy things AND ice cream, etc. Atkins is awesome if you can do it forever. I couldn't.

Hello everyone

I am new this is my first post, I am currently at 167. I gained 10lbs over the winter, I would really like to be at 140.

I don't follow a plan but I am using fitday to count calories and I walk at least 4-5 times a week 2.6 miles. I have never been able to stick to any other excerise but walking. I try to eat as much veg/fruits as I can and drink plenty of water, I am not sure what else to do, I seem to be high in fats and carbs and low on the protein, I should increase my protein?

Any advice would be appreciated!
Glad to be here!

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I too do a combo. I use what I learned at WW with portion control and I'm keeping track of calories. I've found that no matter what I HAVE to write it down. That always makes me think twice before eating anything!

Hello I am new.
I had great success between my second and third child on WW (I lost 50 lbs). So I cannot blame child # 3 since she is 3 1/2 years old, but I am currenly doing LAWL because I can bring my children with me to weigh in and for "counseling".

I previously did the Diet Center (early '90's) and lost 30lbs there-- Does anyone remember that diet? or at least the first few days of it I remember losing a lot of weight in those first few days, I wish I could remember it for days after days like today (I ate way too much!)

My DH and I tried everything, but when we came across Abs Diet in Men's Health, we stopped. It's basically eating Healthy (in regard to portion size and actual food intake)- whole grains, clean protein, NO REFINED ANYTHING, lots of fruits and veggies and for women PLENTY of calcium (it really will make you lose, ladies). I start every day with my coffee cup full of FF milk. I leave just enough for my coffee in the bottom. I then eat 5-6 times a day, small meals. Fats are low and healthy and protein is key. They have GREAT recipes too.

hello everyone, i am following SFL . simply for life . it is fairly new . only been around for 6years . i started 6yrs ago when the owner started in his basement did really well . lost 52lbs in about 9months but then got pregnant and just let myself go. i decided that i would finish having my family and then return to start over again. i am glad i have returned . i started up again 25january 2007 and have lost 40lbs as of yesterday . i do not think they have any in the USA yet but they have 44 franchises accross Canada and i just love it . They ask you what you like to eat and then give you a meal plan which is awesome . there are recipes that they give also . for me it is better than Weight Watchers because i do not have to count my points . and yes i have done weight watchers before a few times actually and can never seem to stick with the counting. i also eat 5 to 6 times a day which is good because i always feel full ; and drink 2 to 3 litres of water a day . and try to excercise 3 to 4 times weekly

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Hi everyone!
Thanks for all the replies. It is really interesting to see what everyone does to help in the battle of the bulge. I am still counting calories (so far lost 8 pounds!) Partly using Slimfast bars and shakes but not going over 2000 cals a day. Even at 2000 cals I can lose weight. I did a basal metabolism calculator and it said if I weighed 200 pounds it would take 2000 calories to maintain that weight. Since I weigh way more than that, I decided to start there than to alter my calories too low and put my body in shock!! LOL
have a good weekend!!
Laura:)

Superfoods, trying to eat healthier whole foods. Exercising and walking when I can. I just got out of the hospital (miscarriage and hemorrhage/transfusion
:( ) and it will be awhile to get back to normal but believe it or not I can't wait to go out and walk again. I was actually starting to enjoy it! Yeah!
Amy B.
280/265

I tried several programs in the past but this week I started Jenny Craig. I'm trying to figure out how to incorporate working out into my program now.

I think with most low carb programs, they are effective but many people tend to go back to their old habits(too many carbs) which of course will lead to weight gain.

When you reach your goal weight while on low carb you do reintroduce carbs but they should be good carbs and in certain amounts.

i'm doing a very low calorie diet because i know i can stick to it. Any other one allows me too much freedom and then i just binge.

I am doing calorie counting, at 1700-1800 calories a day.

I carefully plan my meals for the week on Saturday, shop on Sunday, and then follow the plan the rest of the week. I include the calorie-dense things I really like - chocolate, cheese - but focus on lots of fruits/veggies, whole grains, and lean protein.

I also exercise a fair amount - I jog 3-4 miles 4 times a week, and lift weights 3 times a week.

:cool: For me, South Beach Diet is the only thing that I can stick too!! I used it to lose 60lbs., but gained most of it back when I a. quit smoking and b. remodeled a house! So, now I'm back on it and I can really tell a difference in how I feel and I'm losing weight. Plus, this is the diet that my doctor recommended....

I am doing ww and I am working out 4-5 days a week. well atleast I was a few weeks ago. I am going to get back in the groove TODAY!!! Seems to be working. I have lost 7 pounds in 3 weeks

I'm doing Weigh Down and The Lord's Table. They emphasizes on having faith in God and not being a slave toward the flesh's temptation to food. There are no food guides, I eat what I want when I want providing that my body is truly hungry. I stop when I am full. I originally lost almost 40 pounds, but when I took the control away from God, I slowly started putting it back on. Now I'm back on track and am doing FANTASTIC!

I think you have to look at this as a way of life and not a diet. I find starting to exercise and than the healthy eating just falls into place. I exercise 3-5 times a week doing walking, Curves, and I rode a bicycle for the first time in 19 years. I make sure I eat healthy protein. When I start exercising and losing I want to eat better. I also try to not eat anything after dinner.