Hi all,

So I had a baby in March and am currently breastfeeding. I also have pcos and that makes it harder to lose weight as well. I have tried every plan out there it seems and none of them have worked long term or I wouldnt be here again.

Currently I am just eating healthier and drinking more water. Lean protein, fruits,vegetables, low calorie dairy, whole grains minimal fats. I dont write down what I eat or count calories because I have tried that many times before and I have always ended up quitting for one reason or another.

Lately I have been having a strong urge to journal everything I eat and to count all my calories again.

So my question is have any of you had success with doing a plan that they have failed at before?

Thanks!

Yes, I'm having success in losing weight the counting carbs. I failed before because I cut out all carbs even fruits.

I use to journal all the time and failed at it several times but this time around is different I am more determined since being diagnosed with diabetes and having to have heart surgery sometime in the future.

I think to succeed after failure, you do have to do something differenty, but that something isn't necessarily your food plan. It could be your attitude, your belief system, your motivation, your stress level, your knowledge.... anything really.

I tried low-carb in the past, but I always cut carbs so low that I'd have blood sugar problems. I never thought to try moderately low carb.

I also had never tried "dieting backwards" (instead of deciding how fast I wanted to lose and try to make that happen, I decided what changes I was willing to make forever, and whatever weight loss resulted was my reward). Once I was comfortable with the changes I had made, I looked at what other changes I was willing to make. Focusing on making the changes (rather than on the results) because I trusted that the results would be positive (with or without much weight loss) gave me fewer reasons to give up.

For me, taking the failure out of weight loss was very important. I had to stop seeing slow weight as failure. I had to start seeing weight maintenance, even no-loss weeks as success. Seeing success where I used to see failure, has kept me moving (or at least pointed) in the right direction. I never have a reason to give up.

So yes, I think something has to change in order to succeed where you have tried but failed - but what has to change can be very unique to the individual. For some people, changing their food plan is the key. For others it may be a change of mindset. For others a new and different purpose.

Only you can find what component you need to change to make it work, and trial and error is the ony way to find it.

I've tried lots of things, and had success with nearly all of them, be regained every single time.

I agree with kaplods - I have to change my mind about how I view what I need to modify - which is change my lifestyle forever if I want to be healthy in my 50s and beyond.

I just wrote a long response and "lost" it == so here's a shortened version of it. First, congratulations on the baby -- hope all is well with everyone! I haven't tried any new diet, or any old diet either. Went to my PCP for the first time in about a year and discovered I had lost over 50 pounds. After giving it thought I realized what had happened was I had stopped trying to diet several months ago. I was going to see my doctor about weight nls surgery. But I've discovered the best thing to do is stop the roller coaster diet lifestyle. I've been making better food choices and I've been eating smaller portions. I've had pizza ocassionally - but two slices, not a whole pie. I've had Chinese food - but no buffet - only egg drop soup and chicken wings. So the secret to dieting is to stop dieting -- just use common sense.

Mary