What hasn't worked:

south beach
counting calories alone: this worked when I was younger but never long term and now it no longer works
Alli
Dexatrim
Ephedra
Slimfast

What is working:

Atkins combined with metformin for insulin resistance and pcos. I went for 5 years gaining weight and restricting fat and calories and working out like crazy and never once did I see the scale go down. It went up from 215 lbs to 299 over 5 years. I did have a baby 2 years ago which I am sure did not help my weight loss. Now in 2 months with metformin and low carb I am finally losing weight and am now down 19 pounds. People are extremely misinformed about atkins if all they think it is is greasy bacon and no fruit or veggies. I'm now slowly adding in low carb fruit like strawberries and I've been eating veggies since day 1.

I wish I could be like some of you and just count calories so I could have everything in small amounts but my body does not tolerate carbs whatsoever.

The Hospital soup diet.....Gained everything back

Just spent an hour reading this thread. It's good reinforcement for healthy habits to hear over and over again that such and such doesn't work!

My aunt paid for online WW for me when I was in university. I basically lied to myself and massaged the numbers. I'd use a half cup of mayo and log it as a teaspoon. I'm excellent at denial. I tried Atkins in high school but I didn't have the discipline.

What's working now? A mish mash! I'm eating as primarily as possible (no organic meat until Dec when my butcher kills again), restricting carbs to under 20g, and keeping my base calories around 1000, but always eating most of my exercise cals. I swim daily and do kettle bells at home.

Low carb diets. Atkins I suppose. They are so hard to maintain and I felt so weak all the time. I stayed on it about 2 weeks (for die hard LC's that isn't long enough, I know). I just finally went off of it because I couldn't take the deprivation. The first few days of it I felt a hunger like I'd never felt before. I did lose weight, how much of it was fat I don't know. Anyways, what's the point in doing a diet you can't maintain the rest of your life? Or a diet that makes you so weak you can't exercise?

Skipping meals never worked out for me. I ended going to the doctor after trying to skip 2 meals a day.
Counting calories didn't work for me. At first I lost 4kg and then I wouldn't lose after that. I just couldn't figure out the right amount of daily calories.
Trying to eat healthy foods and not worry about any other method to lose weight. With this I just couldn't get the right portions.

What has worked:
Weight watchers and exercise. (when I have the motivation )

What didn't work for me...well I guess everything I've tried! Haha! Except calorie counting. It definitely works the best for me and I love it, but I have horribly disordered eating and am working my way through issues with food that have been set in stone from my disordered childhood eating. I have had the most success with calorie counting, but I know it's not for everyone. I just can't eat the things a book tells me to eat, but I do know to add veggies, complex carbs and have less sugar, less simple carbs, less starch, and more healthy fats, lean protien...I suppose the hard part is doing that on your own without a plan to follow. Obviously, my advice should be taken with a grain of low-sodium seasoning, because I have not had true success with calorie counting, as I'm still terribly overweight. My issues stem from compulsive overeating and binging and so I am pursuing therapy...

But here's what hasn't worked, for various reasons!

Weight Watchers: Basically calorie counting, for $20 a month and with a bit of emphasis on exercise and eating veggies and healthy fats. Easily done at home...for free. But that's my opinion. WW is structured, though, and makes it easier to watch your healthy food intake. Though, they don't only count calories, and that should be remembered. I believe they get their points values from a combination of calories as well as the nutritional value of the food...

Starving: This one's obvious. When I was a child I actually starved my way from 220 to 160. I ate maybe 800 calories a day and exercised 2+ each evening. Eventually the weight came back on as I became an alcoholic and started eating normally.

Diet pills: I have tried Slimquick(or whatever it is, with the commercials complaining about men's fast weight loss...) Zantrax 3. You should have seen me on Zantrax. Shaking like a chihuahua. I was in hairschool at the time and when the shakes would come on I'd have to hide in a corner, lest they give me a haircut to do. I had to bone up and do one once, the poor client was so concerned for my uncontrollably shaking hands! I managed alright though, got him out of my chair, and hid in the locker room until I could control myself.

Purging: I guess there's not much to say about this one. Mostly in my teens, I'd eat whatever and then throw it up. Lost some weight, but ultimately didn't think it worth it to be thin with no teeth.

Super low calorie counting: I'd try to drastically cut down the number I knew I should be eating, going from 2000 down to 1,200. Not entirely starving, but unmaintainable.

I stand by calorie counting, but I also urge people to not only consider the calories. 200 calories of apple is a much better option than 200 calories of candy. But again, not for everyone.

I think it should be remembered that most of the things that have failed us are starving, binging, diet supplements and other such nonsense. Any plan that asks you to eat a reasonable amount of food and gives you some options should not be frowned on. Some people need that structure and assistance in getting going, even if you have to buy a book to get going on it. People are also quick to debunk diets that they couldn't follow, even if it might be the perfect solution for someone in a different situation.

Most of the diets I've tried "work." It's getting off the diet and maintaining that causes the problem.

That being said, I didn't lose a thing on Weight Watchers prepackaged meals, south beach diet, counting calories alone.

Medifast, Optifast, and all meal-replacement products. Because I have a soy intollerance and couldn't lose weight when I was feeling so sick on this stuff.

Similar reason I couldn't lose weight with Nutrisystem, Chefsdiet, eDiet. Soy and also, too many carbs. I am also type 2 diabetic and PCOS

High protein diets - Not just good enough to cut carbs in order to manage blood sugar. Overeating protein spikes blood sugar as well since 60% of your protein is converted to glycogen.

Low fat diets - Hungry ALL THE TIME!

Not sleeping enough - I really need 8 hours a night, and sleeping less means I overeat the next day to stay awake and energized.

Over-training - Because it makes me too sore and achy to want to go back to the gym and I stay home in my pjs and drown my sorrows in snack foods.

hi there violetdolphin!!....yohoooooooo...coooooooooooeee.. i don't know how to send a pm here...or even if i can yet...being a new member....i think we have heaps in common hun...would you like to buddy up??...i am an aussie too, i love and adore cats, we are around the same weight and i am a homemaker too...what do you think??...hope you see this!!....cheers liz

Me me me me me! This is me! Anything that doesn't focus on calorie restriction/portion restriction hasn't worked for me either for the same reasons, my appetite is too big.
I did Atkins for a while and lost 20lbs but that was the end of that. For the life of me I just couldn't lose anymore. I stopped and I gained every pound back and then some. At 49 I'm finally realizing that I have to find something that works for me and something I can stick to for the rest of my life. I've had to bite the bullet and start counting & measuring. So far so good and I'm not deprived or feeling left out or needing a special menu when eating out. I don't know why I avoided counting cals like the plague before because It's so much easier to do in IMO.

This thread is a real eye opener for me. I think this thread should be in the newspaper.

Every diet so far!!!!!

I've tried them all, and my problem is staying with them. As most have posted, it's about counting your calories and monitoring your exercise. If WW or SBD works for you, then go with it.

I've finally realized that I have to have potatoes every once in a while. And pasta. Can't have them every day, but when I do, I realize that those are the days where I might not lose and might even gain a pound. But finding a way to have the foods I like incorporated into a balanced diet has been working for the week I've been dieting. Not very long, but six days longer than my last 10 attempts!

I love this thread.

Things that didn't work for me:

- Green tea diet pills (Basically just huge caffeine pills. Ugh what was I even thinking. Waste of $$!!!)

- High carb / calorie restriction (Never made it longer than 11 days in 20+ years of trying.)

- Wrapping my body in saran wrap and exercising furiously (THE THINGS I DID IN THE NAME OF BEAUTY LOL )

- Long term fasting (I still think one day fasts are healthy, but long fasts are never going to be a sustainable weight loss method for anyone.)

- Going vegetarian/vegan (Not really a weight loss method per say anyway, so I don't know why I expected this to ~magically~ make me lose weight? Calories, what are those?)

- Nutrisystems (Holy moly now that was some serious $$$!)

- A candy diet (Guess why this didn't work out hahaha.)

- All soup diet (Can't remember if it was cabbage soup diet or just soup in general. I do remember running out of toilet paper.)

Hmmm, I'm sure there's dozens upon dozen more I'm not remembering from my "dieting career."
Oh my word, in fact I just remembered one more!

- Dexatrim! (Back when it had whatever stuff it had in it. (I had to google it: phenylpropanolamine??) I remember it making me feel sick... yet another waste of $$!)

Wow! I just got here and luckily stumbled upon this awesome thread. (Four years in the making and still going strong.) It is nice to know that I am far from alone in my ventures.

Here is how dieting usually (doesn't!) work for me:

Cut calories/fat/carbs/whatever the current rage and grow tired of it in about a week. Then I say - I'll simply exercise more!

Three days of exercising more and I say - this sucks! I'll simply cut back on my calories/fat/carbs/whatever.

Rinse and repeat.

What hasn't worked for me:

-Trying to be very restrictive/perfect
-Trying to introduce too many changes at once
-Trying to lose weight very quickly with the expectation that every week the scale will drop evenly

What has worked:
-Weight watchers (online tracking with my phone)
-Ditching alcohol
-Introducing changes at my own pace (waited 9 months before starting an exercise program (although prob should have started around the 5 month mark)

Since my 20s I have gained/lost/dieted on and off, and I'm 40-something now. Most anything I have tried has worked as long as I was committed and stayed on-plan.

HOWEVER...

Two diets have worked really well, really fast for me: Slim-Fast (in the 90s) and now Medifast. This is a product of my personality, I think.

I have done Weight Watchers and I have lost on it. Slowly but surely, in a reasonable, healthy way. But I was obsessed with counting points, figuring out exactly what I was going to eat, how to "cheat" and still stay on plan, etc. Every single time I did WW I was obsessed. My mind was swimming in food and points and planning 24/7. I think for reasonable, level-headed people who are not prone to being obsessive or compulsive about things, WW is the best diet.

But for me, taking away my ability to choose what I eat, and in turn my ability to overthink and overplan and overstress, was key. With Medifast I set an alarm on my phone to tell me when to eat (6 times a day, and I only prepare one of those 6 meals). When the phone says eat, I eat. A shake, a bar, the mac & cheese, the cereal, it doesn't matter - I have to eat a Medifast meal. And that's that. It is automated and there is no need to think about any of it. And so I lose weight really well.

That's just me - I truly think everyone is different.