Happy New Year All! I am totally new to this group (two days), so I am still figuring out how to navigate the site and find things. I happened across this site with a Google search for online weight loss support groups. I have struggled with weight my entire life, and in the past 25 years have been below 200lbs for maybe a couple weeks at one time. At 54 years old, I have reached the age where the effects of lifelong obesity can’t be ignored. I have tried it all. Weight Watchers, fad diets, vegan, plant based, all the books, weight loss pills, and Doctor prescribed pills, and just today had my final $100 monthly payment pulled by Healthy Wage. One year, $1200, and I am now 5.4lbs heavier then I was when I joined that challenge last January. Sigh…. I really thought money would motivate. But I aimed to big, and for too long with that challenge, so here I am. I found the “Winter to Spring Challenge” thread and decided that would be great places to start… short term, small goals, repeat. Wishing success to us all in 2019!

Hi MommaSue Have you considered the south beach diet? We are all so different and differernt things work for us but I find when I eat healthfully and not many starches I do well. Anyhow, wc to 3 fat chicks! You have come to the right place to find motivation and support. There are so many nice threads here.

Fad diets don't work. They are typically very restrictive, and make promises like "lose X lbs in Y days." If you want to succeed, you need a good diet that you can stick to forever.
It's possible to eat a healthy vegan diet, but vegan diets are restrictive and hard to follow. Vegan diets make it more difficult to get enough of certain nutrients, so you have to plan very carefully. From a health perspective, there's no need to avoid foods such as eggs and fish.
There are two types of weight loss pills, the pills that don't work, and the pills that have dangerous side effects. Both are a waste of money.
HealthyWage offers prizes for losing weight, but it doesn't look like they actually teach you how to lose weight. No amount of effort will make you lose weight if you don't know how to lose weight.

I suggest looking into the Mediterranean diet. It's healthy and balanced. It's not too restrictive, so it's easy to follow. The diet consists of normal foods that you can find in any supermarket, so it's not expensive.

Thanks for the suggestions! At one time, years ago, I think I had two copies of The South Beach Diet, but never actually followed it. And the Mediterranean diet is one I know I never tried, so I guess saying I have tried them all was a bit of an exaggeration, but it sure feels like it. I'm currently leaning towards vegetarian eating again. With the exception of chicken and fish, I really don't care for meat anyway. I've tried the vegan and plant based lifestyles before, but I have a really hard time giving up cheese, so vegetarian it is for now. Down five pounds on the Winter to Spring Challenge today, slow start, but I'll take it! Best wishes to all!

way to go MommaSue!

The Mediterranean diet allows you to eat cheese, but in small amounts. Many cheeses are high in saturated fat, so it's bad to eat too much of them. Some cheeses may also be high in sodium.

When you eat fish, try to pick fish that are high in omega 3.