It's easy to eat more than you need of any type of food. Count calories, it's really the only "sure" way.

I hate those stupid articles. "Replace your whole milk with skim and replace your fruit juice with the actual fruit and you'll lose weight!" DUH!
I also hate stuff like that Special K "diet"--replace two meals with a bowl of cereal and you'll lose weight! Um, DUH! What is Special K, 100 calories for a bowl of it with milk?
The only thing that has ever worked for me is a LOT of exercise (like for a long period of time each session on a very regular basis) combined with a diet that is mostly whole grains and fruit for carbs and moderate protein and low fat. I think some of us are just made differently and have slower metabolism and have to fight harder to lose it, and because of that, have never been able to regularly eat the kinds of stuff those articles say to cut out.
But the doctors saying "Oh just...."
I've been told to "just watch my carbs," "just count calories," "just cut back on the junk food," and so on.....NONE OF WHICH WORKED FOR ME. When I was younger and desperate to lose weight, I would basically starve myself and eat around 1000 calories a day while exercising up to three times a day. THAT worked. But I couldn't keep it up.
Okay....rant done. Sensitive spot with me!

joyc21- i sent you a message, but in case anyone else is interested, i got the spiral slicer on amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0007Y9WHQ/...hvptwo=&hvqmt=

this is the one i bought. it is really lightweight plastic and seems pretty flimsy, but so far it works great!

I'm the exact same way. I only eat candy around christmas when my mom buys my favorite, skittles and puts them in my stocking. I don't eat too much fast food, only when it's necessary, like the end of the month when there's no food in the house and I roll pennies and end up with a few bucks. Dollar menu, lol. I prefer salty to sweet, my mom's got the sweet tooth, not me. I'd be much, much bigger than I am if that were the case. I'm just a cheese freak and our lifestyle hasn't helped with nutritious food options. So I totally understand how you feel. It feels like you've made some good choices, but when you look in the mirror, it shows you something different. Just take it day by day, that's all you can really do. Good luck.

My very favorite was some article and one of the tips was along the lines of "replace ciabatta bread in your daily pannini with thin sliced whole wheat bread and lose 15 lbs in a year!"

Yes, because I am sure the majority of people eat ciabatta bread panninis every day. (It might not have been exactly that in the article but it was something equally out there)

ROTFL Yeah I love when they tell you to switch one type of bread for another. Ultimately bread = carbs no matter the type and if you're sensitive to wheat gluten then what?

Ugh yeah. It's those stupid articles that kept me fat for years. I thought: "well I already DO all of that, so I guess I'm just supposed to be fat."

Nope! I just needed to learn what a proper portion size is. I ate whatever I wanted, just counted it all.

That narrows out a few things. But what do you eat every day? Do you keep a journal and measure out everything? Post it here and we can take a look at it. Sometimes healthy foods...(like cheese) will add up REALLY quick because the portions are sooooooooooooo tiny.

A lot of them say that because certain foods are a common problem for many overweight folks. You're right that it's not as simple as "cut this one food out and your diet will make itself", though. I look at that type of advice as more of a starting point for many, rather than a one-size fits all diet solution.

i know how you feel!!! except for chocolate i don't eat any of those things and it's so frustrating when everyone else is like "i cut out soda and carbs and i lost 30 pounds!" Seriously, even when i live my whole life without that stuff i still can't drop ten pounds!

Did you ever think that someone out there may be benefiting from those tips because they haven't started a diet and do them?

You need to be realistic in seeing that there is no one size fits all solution.

Men lose weight faster because they have more muscle mass than women and it takes more calories to support muscle than fat.

I think the underlying messages is, that the author found THEIR weakness, their trigger food and cut it out, which changes their diet and lead to other changes that helped them lose.

I gave up sugar, which led to a snowball effect and now I'm pretty close to my goal 1.5 years later. That doesn't mean that anybody who gives up sugar will have the same results. I tweaked along the way, I exercised too, I sought out help when needed. But the trigger was giving up sugar.

My husband, on the other hand, doesn't have a trigger food. He just likes to eat, A LOT. So for him portion size is key. I can make a completely healthy meal but if it's tasty he'll eat all of it when it was meant for leftovers. So for him calorie counting means he loses.

Point is. Find your trigger. Re-examine your life and look at what's causing you to gain weight. It took me a LONG time to be truly honest with myself about my sugar addiction but once I did, well, the rest is history.

I agree, but the fact is is that it's not presented that way. In fact magazines make money on people buying the magazine for those articles. Doctors give you a standard line instead of evaluating you. You're paying them to help you lose weight and they pass off judgemental advice without knowing you or your history and you give them money to do it.

Yes, again I agree, if we all didn't want to have a "quick fix" we wouldn't even bother reading these articles. Still the authors are not honest. There shouldn't be an "underlying message". It should be bold print instead of tiny print at the bottom of the page or the commercial on TV.

I think that those articles do help people with those problems, sure. I just want to see articles that put things in perspective. Especially the article that tell you not to start a diet without consulting your doctor and then your doctor turns around andtells you the same thing in the article.

I too have a problem with pasta. I cut out all refined carbs, from my personal experience, its the first 1.5 weeks that are horrible, and now its much much better.
Max 2 when I cut out sugar, it took me 2 weeks to not feel really bad cravings.

I just follow the general principle-if a food over...and over again causes you to go over your calorie limit and you just know that you can't teach yourself to not go over the cal limit, it may be best to go cold turkey at least for now. I think that applies if its a certain food, but if someone overeats everything in general, that might be another thing. I find in general, its usually some food group.

there are many obnoxious diet plans, but thats how they sell-as the Only and Very Last Diet you will ever need

I like the tone of the lean gains guy, he's ambivelent about breakfast, but has had success skipping them.