[SophieCormier]

Ok, so I REALLY need to work on my diet. It's UNREAL how much I think about food. I'm looking for a diet that will help me in that department. I can't count calories or points. I can do it for a few days and then I just give up. I'm looking for a diet that will help keep my appetite at bay but that isn't too restrictive. I was thinking of giving 17 Day Diet another try but I wanted to see what you guys think.

Oh, and I can't do the "just eat better food". I need some type of guideline or I'll just eat whatever I want... I'm not good with having that much freedom.

[Crissie]

This is what I'm doing and it does help me. Problem is later on. But to kick-start, on the first 3 days i do a "clean-up" - fruit, fresh veg, lots of water. No dairy, no cooked food. not even soup.

On the 4th day, you're noticing the changes. Your pants are looser. Obviously its mostly water-loss. But it makes you feel lighter. You sleep better. Your mind is clearer. Your skin is clearer.

On the 4th day, I hit the gym. 1 hour. no more. no less. 3 days per week.
My diet is very simple and boring, but it feeds my body what it needs and i loose actual fat -

salmon serving x 3 per week.
white fish (any really) all other days.
salads, salads, salads.
no dairy as long as I'm dieting and cleaning my body.
at least 2lt water per day.
no meat apart from 1-2 servings of turkey.
i dont eat chicken. no red meat.
fruit? everyone keeps whining about the sugar source. Its fruit. It has vitamins we need and I eat it whenever I need/want to.

last meal is at 6pm. that's imperative to have a good night's sleep.
salt is minimal only but then again (and thankfully) i don't like salty stuff.
all my food is fresh. no ready-mades from the supermarket.

hoped I've helped.

I've stumbled a few days here and there. But this summer i reached a whopping 73kgs. I'm now 66kgs. I WILL go back to my 57kgs.

PS - new clothes? like something in a shop? buy a size smaller. "hurt" yourself into action!!

[forreal]

For me the secret was to stop dieting. It worked without me realizing it until people started telling me I looked like I was losing weight. I had a doctor's appointment and decided I would let them weigh me on this visit -- my usual practice was to decline being weighed. I stepped on the scale and discovered I had lost 50 pounds. Really. I hadn't weighed myself in months. I was morbidly obese and had last weighed in at 385 -- this visit my weight was 330. I couldn't believe it -- but when you have so much weight to lose, it takes a long time for it to show in your clothes. But once it finally does show, it seems to go really fast then.
What had I done? I gave up on dieting -- because I never stayed on a diet for very long. So I decided to give up - I knew what healthy eating consisted of, so I decided to try to make better choices, and to eat when I was hungry, and stop when I was no longer hungry. I wasn't going to avoid "fattening food" because I figured as long as I limited my portions, those foods wouldn't do much damage. Portion control and making better choices was what it was about. I never weighed myself, I never talked about it to others, I just made better choices.
Right now I've run into some problems because DH is putting up road blocks for me -- he doesn't want me to lose weight -- "I love you the way you are" -- I tell him I have to lose weight not just to feel better physically and mentally, but I have health issues caused by my excess weight. So that's my battle right now --
So I suggest you give common sense eating a try -- it really does work.

Mary

[MadProfessor]

My solution had a few simple principles, quite close to these described previously :

- big fruit smoothie for breakfast [banana, apple, kiwi, dates, grapefruit, water]. The surplus is stored in jar to be a snack between meals during the day.
- other meals 80% vegs, / 10% meat / 10% egg, very diversified [at least 7 ingredients on the plate]. If you can, pay premium to get organic, they kill hunger better. Don't limit vegs quantity.
- vegs raw [maybe apart broccoli]. No grains, no nuts, no avocado, no potatoes, rice, etc.
- meat = fish only [and mostly raw].
- egg - one per day, not raw I'm having a total of 4-5 eggs a week
- last meal at 6 pm, then only water
- if you like coffee, one per day before noon is ok, black, no sugar, no milk
- 1 glass of water right after getting up, 2-3 glass of water before going to bed. Drink water all day long. No tea, no soda, no soft drinks, no milk, no fruit juices. No soups neither.
- eat slowly
- 7-10 hours of sleep in a relatively cool room, but being entirely dressed to stay warm
- no exercises apart some bike commuting and 20-30 minutes walks.
- one day in a week - eat what you want, and how much you want. Next day may be hard, but you have to get back on track.

[seidlere]

I actually used the My Fitness Pal app to track all calories and ended up losing about 41 lbs in 6 or 7 months. But you said you don't like counting calories.
So I just started Slim Fast earlier this week, because the lbs were slowly creeping back, and I've lost 6 lbs in just 5 days.
This may be something you could look into. I can't actually seem to eat all the food the plan wants me to, so this may help keep your appetite supressed.
The slim fast plan is called the 3-2-1 plan. You Have 3 snacks, 2 shakes or meal bars, and 1 balanced meal, (about 500 calories). So I've been doing a shake for breakast with my coffee, (cappuccino flavor is pretty good!) then a snack, around 100 calories, then for lunch I eat either a meal bar or a meal that's around the same calories, I think their like 200 cal. Then again a snack, then your 500 cal meal.
It hasn't been hard to stick to, so hopefully this helps!!!
Good luck =)