I have tried South Beach Diet, Slim Fast diet and just eating healthy and walking. Nothing works! I tried to get Meridia from my Dr. but he said no...I am nervous about taking OTC diet pills... I don't know what to do! I am 5'7" 225 lbs. Any suggestions?

Welcome, nicola0086!

If you've ruled out an underlying medical cause (e.g., thyroid issues), the fact that "nothing works" suggests that you haven't given your diets enough time, or you are still consuming more calories than your body is burning. Although the type of food you eat does matter a little bit, when all is said and done you won't lose weight unless you reduce your intake of calories and increase activity levels to burn more calories.

There is no such thing as a majik pill, prescription or OTC. Save your money, and make lifestyle changes instead.

You'll find 100s of tips on this website, as well as support when you need it. Find a group, jump in, and ask questions, the more specific the better!

Good luck!

Really might be a good idea to ask the doc to give you a very general outline what you should be taking in. Calories, fat, carbs. Then you can use a site like fit day and see how you are doing. Takes a few min but every time you eat something put it on the site. Doesn't take long and you have everything in and you just pick what you have eaten off your list. You can then put in how much you have eaten. You will see pretty fast what you really are taking in. Then you can start to change how you are eating. For me, I found my fat and carbs were good but not enough calories. I just had to tweak things a big and eat a little less of this and a little more of that.

For me calorie counting is what works, and itīs kind of easy to understand, calories in and calories out. If youīre getting more calories you use you gain weight if you use more than you get, you lose (there are various calculators online to determine how many calories you should be having to lose). Sometimes the first pounds go off quickly, sometimes it takes more time but YOU WILL LOSE, just have to give it some time.
And journaling is very important, some people think they are having 1500 calories but itīs really 2000 or even 2500, so journaling is vital to really see what and how much you are eating.
And I think to be constant is the key..