Welcome! You'll soon find out, as I have, that this is a fantastic group of people. I'm just (re)starting out. I'm keeping my calories at 1800, water consumption at 64fl oz and 20 minutes of ANY kind of exercise each day. I personally found that I overshoot my exercise goal as long as I'm not expecting much out of myself. At the moment I'm alternating between my Biggest Loser workout DVD's. One day I do cardio max, the next I do power sculpt and I've been going for a mile walk each night with my husband around the neighborhood. I figure any movement at this point is an accomplishment.

I'm not on a diet. I count calories (1500) with an emphasis on whole foods, no - little dairy, red meat or wheat.
I track minutely using sparkpeople with a touch of dietpower
but
I come to 3fc for unparalleled support and accountability - the chicks here will support us through it all but they will tell it like it is if we're looking for excuses!

Also not dieting. Dieting is temporary word. I've completely overhauled, transformed and re-invented myself. Trust me, I needed to.

I'm going to copy and paste a post I've used again and again, explaining my "plan":

I knew the only way this weight loss thing would *work*, permanently that is, would be if I could find something that I could stick with LONGTERM, forever in fact, because not only do I want to lose the weight, but I want to keep it off - forever. It simply won't *work* if you dont' stick with it. Consistency, consistency, consistency. STICKING with it is of course the key. Lifestyle change. Creating a new normal. No going back to the old ways. Permanent, sustainable lifetime changes.

So of course finding something that I could stick with was essential.

Things I needed/still need to be on my plan:

- I could never, ever be hungry. Just not for me. I despise that feeling and need to AVOID it all costs. It would only set me up for failure.
- I need LOTS of food, volume that is.
- I love food, always will and need to get enjoyment from it. So eating delicious, very tasty, satisfying foods was a MUST.
- I am terrible with portion control. I have no boundaries. My intuitive eating button is totally broken or just missing completely. So I need to fake it. I need something that forces me to set limits.
- I want not only to be thin at this point, I want to be healthy. Strong bones & muscles, good vision, healthy hair and nails, low cholesterol, normal sugar levels, high vitamin count, lower my risk of cancers.

So therefore, let's see if I can do this with one breath - I eat frequently, every 2 hours or so, choosing low calorie/high volume items (veggies), lots of protein and fiber (to keep me full longer), I count calories (forced portion control/accountability), I eat foods with high nutritional values, I've found foods that I LOVE, not *diet* foods per se, food that any one and every one can eat.

I also set myself up for success. By ridding my home of the junk (very crucial in the beginning, and still is). I got rid of the sugar, the rice, pasta, bread, cookies, cakes, ice cream, etc... Sure I love the stuff, but I have no control with it. I figured I can not have it both ways. I simply can not have those foods in my life (very strict with it especially in the beginning, cold turkey in fact) and be that healthy, fit person I so longed to be. I have no control over them and realized I was just better off without them.

I keep my home fully stocked with tons and tons of veggies. I discovered fabulous ways to prepare them and now enjoy them more then the other garbage I was eating prior. Amazing how ones tastes change when you stop feeding it junk. Fruits and low fat proteins are my other main foods. I cook fabulous meals that my whole family enjoys. So finding yummy recipes that you like is essential. No reason to go off plan, when on plan is so good.

I also prepare ahead, as it is the ONLY way to succeed, IMO. Eating healthy does not happen by chance in our society. Therefore it MUST, MUST be planned out in advance. I know what I'm having for my meals and snacks days in advance. I pack food with me, taking it with me wherever I go, leaving nothing to chance. It's just THAT important.

I drink lots of water. It's something to do with my mouth, a delaying tactic and it keeps my tummy full.

And of course, there is the calorie counting. Would be no where without it. No where.. Since I don't know how to set limits for myself, counting calories is my answer. Counting and tracking my calories keeps me honest and keeps my food in check. Period. It's built in accountability and self-control.

Exercise has now become part of my life and is a big part of "my plan". I started out slowly and built up. Cardio & strength training. I make sure there is some kind of daily movement going on, 7 days a week.

Probably the biggest part of my plan though, was making a commitment. Deciding once and for all that I was going to "do this". I told myself enough is enough. I realized, once and for all that I didn't have to be fat if I didn't want to be. That it was something that I did indeed have total and complete control over. No reason on earth for me to waste another second of my life being miserable, worrying about my health and not living up to my full potential. Not being the very best ME that I could be. So I made a commitment to good eating and good health.

I follow Weight Watchers guidelines which means I eat whatever I want within my points. Technically you can adapt WW to any other plan out there because its more about balance, accountability and portion control IMHO. I eat more protein than carbs, for example, because that's what works for me.

I exercise about 3-5 times a week.

No diet... but here is my lifestyle plan:

• Protein with every meal/snack
• One protein serving to every carb serving
• No more than two carb servings in a meal
• Lots of veggies
• Carbs are whole grain
• Avoid sugar, white flour, etc.
• Exercise regularly
• Record all calories in Daily Plate

I am a calorie counter. Plan all meals ahead of time. I eat something 6 times a day, breakfast, snack, lunch, snack, dinner, snack. My snacks are usually 100 calories or less. Such as Non fat yogurt. Laughing Cow Light Cheese Wedges, Sugar Free Jello, Sugar Free Pudding, fresh fruit , there are many choices.
Do you have a jogging stroller? a good way to exercise with the baby.

I Was On Ww But Now Am Switching To Calorie Counting. Basically Same Thing,just Counting Calories Instead Of Points.

I am on Weight Watchers doing a combination of the old Core plan (lean meat, whole wheat, veggies, fruits...mainly whole foods) but counting points for it I also manage to fit in at least 6 days of free weight exercises and 5 days of cardio, an hour total for each day.

Oh yeah and stop calling it a diet.....To be successful in the long run it needs to be a lifestyle change

I may be swimming against the current here, but I don't mind the word "diet". Nor do I think that adopting the phrase "lifestyle change" is any more likely to make you successful than the person who uses the word diet. It's semantics to me. Society has a way of creating words and phrases to categorize things only to decide later that those same words and phrases are now inappropriate and you are somehow doing something wrong for still using the prior term.

Some argue that the word "diet" is bad because implies there is an end point. I'm not sure there is harm in acknowledging there is an end point to the losing phase. The danger comes in not acknowledging that the end point of losing is the start of a new phase (maintenance) that lasts as long as you want to keep the weight off - hopefully for all of us that is the rest of our lives.

Let's not discourage new folks by making them feel they've done something wrong by using the word diet. As we all know, in this journey actions speak much, much louder than words.

Hope I didn't offend anyone! Those are just my two cents.

Arctic Mama, I just checked out her website. That has a lot of similarities with Intuitive Eating (IE) for which there is a 3FC forum. I think I like her (Amanda's) approach / explanation better

Yes, it a essentially intuitive eating, but with some really solid science behind it. The introduction of the Fat Break and Famine Busting is unique, based on her experiments and research, and the addressing of hunger and satiety cues was crucial for me - an emotional, bored, and habitual overeater. The book, which I got on Amazon, was well worth the cost.

But yeah, losing two or three pounds a week with no real effort beyond some walking? LOVE it!

CC, I kinda do get your point. Kinda. Although I don't think any one was putting the OP down though or trying to discourage her in any way whatsoever. This thread though would be totally ignored and unanswered (for the most part) if folks just answered what "diet" are you on? Because, as noted by all of the responses, most of us aren't on "diets". Terminology is important to many people. Changing ones mindset from "diet", where sooo many of us have failed on - to yup, the corny - lifestyle change - was a very valuable and needed step for many of us. So through passing along our own experiences in order to answer the question, I think we may have also been trying to HELP, not discourage, the OP. I know I've seen lots of good feed back from folks who have asked this very same question, using the same word - diet.

About the specific word - diet - well, actually in trying to describe it as I sit here, it's giving me pains in my stomach, I'm getting all tense. There is actually a lot of pain and sorrow attached to the word for me. It brings up memories of many failed attempts, horrible, horrible foods to eat, dread and deprivation. *I* also really do believe the very word shrieks of temporary-ness and not willingness to continue - the "good fight" once the weight is off. It just shrieks *to me* of "When do I get to get "off" this horrible thing that I'm on so that I can go back to normal?" *For me*, as corn-y and semantic-y as it may sound - LIFESTYLE CHANGE, or lifestyle - whatever - discovering that word, that phrase, that - mindset - opened up a whole new world for me. It made perfect sense to me. It was a "light bulb moment". I never did "diet" very well, but change my lifestyle, make this an adventure, something interesting and exciting and lasting - now THAT was something I could do! Once I wrapped it around my very slow brain that I was in "this" forever, well, that's the second I realized I had better make this delightful and fun and exciting. Something that I could look forward to, not dread. That's when I worked my tail off seeking out ways to make this work. That's when I came up with "my own plan", customized for me. That's when I became a "gourmet" chef. Because there was no way on earth I was going to do "diet" food forever. That's when I found the joy in this, instead of the sadness. And that's when I found success, not failure.

and using fitday

I don't disagree with you Robin, and I did not say that I thought people were "putting the OP down" for using the word or "trying" to discouraging her - sometimes we can discourage without trying and that was what I was addressing. She was making her first (and last) attempt to reach out to us and 7 people said they weren't on a diet and one told her to stop using the word. That's a lot of feedback over a word for your first post! I just was hoping that we could realize that whatever word she used, be it diet, plan, lifestyle change, etc., she was simply curious as to what others were doing to help them change their eating, how they were exercising, and looking for a way to connect to us. Sometimes I think we need to address the spirit of the post rather than get so focused on the letter of it. I promise, I'm not picking a fight! Just trying to clarify what I meant. I'll let it go now...

I guess when I responded to your post, that was what I was trying to get across - is that changing what I thought of as a "diet" TO A "lifestyle" was definitely one of the things that did indeed help me to change my eating and exercising.


CC, I was not disagreeing with you either, for that matter. I know you weren't trying to pick a fight. Of course not. And please know that neither was I.

You never, ever know what's going to "do it" for someone. What one catch phrase or idea will connect with someone. And that's why I think it's important for us all to just throw our ideas out. Every one's opinion matters here.