What are YOU willing to stick with long term? Any program works, if you work the program. They all work if you adhere to them, they'll all fail if you don't adhere to them.

So, it's all about find what works for you and how much effort you're willing to put forth to make them work.

For me, I was finally willing to stick with something. That something was calorie counting. Built in portion control and accountability. I like the idea of having a calorie budget. Something to cease mindless eating and put the brakes on overspending my calories and taking in more food then I need. Counting my calories and wanting to get the very most from each one made me very choosy and particular with them and forced me to educate myself on good nutrition and what foods work for me and what ones don't. To me, it just makes the most sense and is the most reasonable and logical. And I am willing, more then willing to do this - forever.

But the truth is,, as brilliant as I think "my plan" is, the minute I stop making it work, putting forth that continuous effort - it WILL stop working. Not that I'm planning on ever, ever stopping, but just acknowledging the fact that healthful and mindful eating will always take thought and planning.

I like your suggestion, ringmaster. I am losing successfully on SB and find my accountability at 3FC. Our WW group is very small here and doesn't work into my schedule. I am really interested in whole foods and was already headed in that direction, so for me SB is a "plan" I can follow and acheive my personal lifestyle goals at the same time.

What I love about 3FC is that there are so many forums and so much support that we can find our niche honoring the individuals that we are.

Of those, I would choose weight watchers because you're not having to eat a certain food. I'm another vote for calorie counting though, free and easy peasy

Like others said... any of those will work if you really stick to them, so choose whichever is most appealing to YOU. And don't be afraid to change later if it's too hard to stick with and you find yourself "cheating" because you feel too severely restricted.

I tend to have more respect for plans that have you eat "real" food at every meal (so not slim-fast, although I did that plan in the past and had success) and plans where you have to prepare your own food (so not nutrisystem or JC)... just because those are the plans that most closely reflect what you'll probably be doing for the rest of your life.

As for me, I count calories, using free web sites to keep track (I've used sparkpeople, fitday, thedailyplate, and others). The only real expense for me was a $20 digital food scale to weigh out my foods. But I know enough about health and nutrition at this point that I know what foods to eat, I just need to make sure I'm eating the right amounts. If you need more guidance about what constitutes a healthy diet, something like South Beach would probably help you.

This morning I saw this clip from the Today Show and thought about this thread. They don't mention calorie counting but it would fit in that "flexible" category. It is interesting and helpful, IMHO.

Pick a diet to match your personality.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/261848...97137#32797137

I read somewhere that you shouldn't do anything to lose weight that you aren't prepared to do for the rest of your life to maintain your loss, and that made a lot of sense to me.

You'd have to decide if you like the food choices on any particular plan well enough to eat that way forever.

If you lose weight on any plan and then go back to eating like you did before, you will gain your weight back.

I've tried many different diets, and like someone else said, I don't want to be down on anything, because every plan will work for some people and not others.

If I was trying to make a choice from the options you listed, I'd probably try each one for a few days - not to see if I lost on it because nothing works that fast, but to be sure I liked the foods and that it worked with my personal situation (what does your family like to eat? do you have to go on business lunches? do you like to cook? how much time can you devote to planning and preparing food?).

You see, that's ME! It didn't matter WHAT plan I was on, either. I was never much of a bread-eater until I started LC'ing, and then that's ALL I wanted. When I was using Alli, I swear I would have gleefully walked around sucking on a stick of butter if I could have stomached it!

Now, having said that, I'm not trying to put down anyone at ALL for LC'ing, taking Alli, SB, or any other plan. Like so many have stated in this thread, you have to find what works for YOU...and be willing/able to stick with it long term.

For me, counting cals is so much easier...but that's ME.

Hugs,

Sherry

Another calorie counter here. I have done the others but prefer Calorie Counting for the reasons mentioned as well as it will carry over into maintenance and it is FREE !!!

I've just started calorie counting and I like it a lot so far. Like others have said I need to be able to choose what I eat, and I can't stand things being off limits for good. Its also something I think I could keep up with for a long time.

WOW, great post everyone. Thank you for your reply.

Counting Calories? I'll try that hope it suits me.

There are times that I am lazy and an emotional eater and definitely be a hard time for me to do this.

DO you have qualities same as me? If you have how did you overcome it?

It's hard for everyone at times. That's not a reason not to do something. Those times, you just have to try HARDER. Good thing is, eventually eating well, counting calories and the such becomes second nature; automatic - and just not all that hard at all. It becomes just what you do and who you are.

Losing weight is hard. Being fat is hard. Choose your hard.

Being lazy? - I stopped being lazy. Hard work was required to get the job done - so hard work it was. I was sick and tired of being fat. I made the decision to do what was necessary to be the best me that I could be. When things really, really matter to you, you somehow find the time and the strength to do them. No matter what. Accepting no excuses.

An emotional eater? I stopped that as well. Adhering to a calorie budget puts the brakes on that. You find things to get you through the rough patches OTHER then food. Because really, the only problem food solves is that of hunger. NOTHING else. Eating for stress causes waaaay more problems then it solves.

For me getting the weight off (& keeping if off) became a NUMBER ONE PRIORITY for me.

Again, anything will work if you decide to MAKE it work. Really. Weight loss is a doable thing for anyone and everyone.

One more thing. I find that planning ahead of time is essential to success. Eating healthy simply won't happen on its own. HAve a plan in place. Budget out your meals and snacks in advance. Plan out every morsel that goes into your mouth. Have the right foods on hand. You can google healthy menus or even more specific, 1500 calorie menus and get ideas from that. Start experimenting. Start looking around. Do some research. Be creative.

Bottom line - decide to do this. COMMIT to doing it Commit to make it work and don't stop till you do!


Don't dread this healthy eating lifestyle. GET EXCITED ABOUT IT and the changes that you are going to make and the transformation that can and will occur. Get excited. Get moving. Get committed. Get into it. Get determined. Get going......

Seconding rockinrobin's advice to plan. I'm writing my food plan every night for the next day. And it makes life so much less stressful. I don't face decisions about whether or not to have some treat -- if it's on the plan, I do; if it's not, I don't.

Another thing that helped even before I got the planning stuff working was making rules for myself. Anytime that I ate too much, either from laziness or emotions, I made a rule to prevent it the next time. For me, two rules had the greatest effect:
1. No eating in the car.
2. Eat nothing purchased at a drugstore, gas station, or mall.

I follow my plan and my rules because that's what it's going to take to get to healthy weight.

I'm a book person, so the other thing that helps a lot is reading. I continually have diet and healthy eating books checked out of the library. Even the ones with the diets that would never work for me have ideas and tips that are useful. The most useful to me so far were The End of Overeating by David Kessler and the books by Judith Beck.

And, 3FC helps a lot. Between my book reading and my participation on this site, I'm spending a lot of time focusing on my weight loss and doing it in ways that are pleasurable to me.

i agree with the above comments. luckily, after a few months, calorie counting does become second nature. HOWEVER, if, or more like when, you slip off track, you'll see how easy it is to fall back into old habits! you'll learn how to forgive yourself and move on. calorie counting also put the brakes on my emotional eating. you just have to be committed. you cant fudge your calories in your favor (i.e. fill that measuring cup heaping over the brim and then count it as a 1/4 cup, not counting those 5 potato chips). i used to do things like that at first, but then i realized that you're only sabotaging yourself. sure it feels great to look at the page and see that you stayed within your calories for that day, but when all those little "fudges" add up to no weight loss that week, it doesnt feel so great.

starting is the hardest part! once you get going things will get easier.

For me, I do best when part of an in-person weight loss support group. I've done well on Weight Watcher's and in TOPS (Taking Off Pounds Sensibly) is a non-profit organization. Similar in some ways to Weight Watcher's, but members can follow any plan they wish, and the dues are much cheaper than Weight Watcher's, and there are ways to "win" small amounts of money and free dues for weight loss. Some months, I actually made a "profit".

My husband and I were going to a local TOPS meeting, and were doing well.

In our TOPS group, hubby and I were persuaded to run and accept officer positions as co-leader (me) and treasurer (hubby). My husband had said he didn't want to run, but he accepted the nomination (and so I voted for him). The books were an absolute mess, and my husband spent hours and hours getting the books to balance. Some of the club members (only a few) weren't happy with the way he was doing things, and would gripe (mostly of the "I don't want to do the work, but I'm happy to tell you how you should do the job". It really ticked my husband off, and he not only resigned he told me that he wouldn't step foot in another meeting, and if I wanted to continue going, he'd wait for me in the car. I was pretty steamed too, and I ended up quitting too.

I've managed to maintain my weight, but I really haven't been very successful at losing more since we quit the club. A weekly weigh-in and in-person meeting really help me alot. It keeps me focused and on-track, especially because there are often group incentives, and the teamwork approach really motivates me.

I'm seriously thinking about rejoining TOPS. There's a different group that meets on another night (though I probably would never run for an office
again). Hubby was more comfortable in Weight Watcher's, but we really can't afford both of us going to WW (we're both on disability, and it would be a stretch in our budget for even one of us to go).