I checked "my own plan" because I lost weight my weight while working thru a medical condition called oral Lichen Planus which gives me mouth sores from spicy, citrus, any foods of hot temperatures and even rough textured foods. I gave up most fruits and veggies which made things very difficult. It's a long story. It's been going on for about 4 yrs now, it's an auto-immune problem and I'm worse in winter. I had no reactions to ice cream and doughnuts.... which is why I got so overweight.

I still go thru weeks where steamed carrots or corn is my veggie. The spices in salad dressings and condiments made for a bland diet also. I learned I can eat bare naked microwaved boca burger patties, canned rinsed black beans and steamed carrots and call it an evening meal. Mayo in small doses on lettuce and spinach salads (on a good week, on a bad week spinach was out... no tomatoes or any thing else just lettuce and mayo with steamed chicken). I do take good vitamins tho to help with the nutrients I'm missing.

I was cooking different meals for hubby for about 2 yrs before I decided to start limiting the sweets and fats I was eating and get serious about regaining my health.


Allie
Up a few from goal, but still maintaining 100 lost for 10 months now.

Count me as another Weight Watcher/calorie counter - turned do-my-own-thing. It was WW that helped me take off 40 pounds for the third and last time, and marked the beginning of a permanent turnaround in eating habits. I semi-maintained the loss with WW and then calorie counting, and since coming to 3FC 16 months ago, I've used calorie counting exclusively. (Odd isn't it -- one of the things I liked best about WW was being able to eliminate calorie counting. Now, one of the things I like best about doing my own thing is calorie counting ) I now eat far more protein and veggies than I ever have before and I strive to avoid almost all white stuff. I try to get on my treadmill at least 5 days a week; daily is better. My biggest challenge now is to get back to some kind of strength training without injuries. Still haven't figured that out yet, but I"m working on it.

Im a carb counter. I lost my 1st 100lbs on protein power. Ive maintained that loss for 3 yrs. I switched to Atkins because I couldnt find my pp book!! Ive been wittling away at the rest of it since then. In the last year I have tried different plans, because I was tired of Atkins. So I tried BFL and did very well, but that maintenance thing after my first 12 weeks didnt seem to click for me. Of course, I gained back the 12 lbs lost there. Then I tried ww, but Im too cheap to pay someone for their program. So I went back to counting Carbs....it has always been successful for me. I just have to learn to maintain better.

My Thin for Life and Eating for Life should arrive today or tomorrow from amazon, and checking with you ladies everyday is certainly teaching me alot. Ive maintained a large loss for over 3 yrs....I want to be able to say, Ive maintained a 160lb loss for alot longer! One day at a time.

you knew i'd check in eventually, didn't you???

wls... but now, it's the same sensible food choices as everyone else. tailored to ME!!!! and that means protein, veggies, some dairy, some whole grain carbs, other low glycemic index carbs, including dark chocolate...

and i MUST get back to the gym... clothes aren't fitting right.. drat.

I checked 'other' though I have tried many on the list in the past. I've lost my +/- 50 pounds on a traditional non-dieting plan taken from books such as those by Geneen Roth, "Intuitive Eating", Laurel Mellin's "the Solution", and others. The basic rules are eat only when you are physically hungry, stop when you are physically satisfied not 'full', and eat what you really want so there is never any feeling of deprivation. After legalizing all foods including the 'bad' ones, its amazing to watch the transition as you begin to reach freely for healthier, lighter foods. This does take along time but certainly does normalize one's realtionship with food in general.

Jan

Jan,

I think I've arrived at the same place and I share your sense of relief. Knowing that everything is "legal" is truly liberating. I must admit that it's still a new sensation, and I hesitate to declare total victory, but I don't think I can ever go back. Interestingly, our house is full of stuff that I was never able to have around before, and I'm not really tempted by it at all. The one thing I don't know is whether I'm setting myself up for a fall the first time some kind of crisis hits and I'm tempted to overeat, but I'll have to cross that bridge when I get to it. For now, I'm reveling in the freedom.

Any other maintainers want to vote?

You are right. ONce you have totally legalized all foods, you cant go back. And why would one want to? What is interesting is that once everything is legal to eat, the food no longer has the power, we do. Of course this is not a fool-proof system, life bumps do sometimes get in the way, but it sure makes one's food life easier and more pleasant in general. As to 'falls', there are falls, and there are FALLS. And for me, its usually not the food itself that causes falls, but rather periferal things in life that does. Stress, emotions we are trying to avoid, not enough sleep, etc.

Jan

I lost weight using Richard Simmons' plan which is essentially an exchange program. I have since incorporated Curves exercising into the mix.

I still watch the size of my portions of food, and maintain a healthy and balanced mix of foods.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

I voted "my own plan" because I took what I thought was the best of some different sources, and combined exercise with calorie counting, monitoring of all macro- and micro-nutrients, limited sugar and sodium, overall adherance to low-glycemic, high fiber carbs, spreading my calories over 5-6 meals, and gobs and gobs of water. I lost 77 pounds in 8 months, and have maintained that number for a month now. My focus has had to change abruptly because of a recent cancer diagnosis, but in researching chemo-supporting nutrition, I've found that my diet since March isn't far off the mark -- I'll just have to go lighter on the protein and a bit heavier on high fiber carbs for energy, and increase my fruit consumption also. I'm going to try very hard to stick to really nutritious eats during my 6-8 months of chemo; the body wants it -- hopefully my stomach and mouth will oblige!

This is an interesting thread, Meg!

I lost my weight unintentionally, and then had the fight of my life to keep it off. I was totally stressed by my husband's deployment to Kuwait. I didn't know how to eat by myself and frankly didn't feel like it. I ran a lot, did a lot of tae kwon do, and couldn't sleep. When I did eat, it was something like a mocha latte, or a bag of bugles, or 1/2 a banana and 1/2 a package of peanuts. I went out with friends a lot, but didn't eat much. I would drink some beer or have a couple of mixed drinks. I knew nothing about nutrition, and it seemed that I wrecked my metabolism a bit. When my husband returned and went grocery shopping, I almost gagged when I saw how much food he had bought. I could not imagine us ingesting all of that! I could not eat three meals a day and not gain, so I took up the dumbbells at home and started reading about nutrition. I had plenty of frustrated days where it felt like no matter how much I tried to exercise and eat healthily that I gained weight. Skipping meals or eating extremely low calorie, seemed to be all that worked. I was very low on energy and depressed about the whole situation. The Zone really helped me. I have been loosely following it since August. My weight stabilized, my metabolism seems to be more normal, and I'm going to start a more formal weight training program in the new year. I am here to tell you that maintaining has been much harder than losing! On the plus side, I have learned so much about health and nutrition. I think my husband and I will benefit from this hard experience for the rest of our lives! I also want to thank all of you for your insights and support!

I voted for "my own plan" although what I did was very close to what would now be called South Beach. Basically, I decided that I was going to have to cut way back on calories, so how could I eat so that I would not feel so hungry all the time? The first thing I did was replace my usual breakfast of shredded wheat with skim milk and a banana with an Egg Beaters omelet and a piece of whole wheat toast. That left me so full I barely even wanted lunch, so I applied the concept (more protein, less carbs and moderate fat) throughout the rest of the day. Most days I still have a large salad with some kind of protein - either hard boiled egg or tofu - and lots of vegetables.

I voted for "calorie counting" because that's what worked. For years I'd tried all kinds of fad diets, diet pills, and complicated rules about what to eat or not eat -- none of it helped at all, I just kept gaining. Then about a year and a half ago, at my highest weight, I decided to just honestly write down everything I ate for a week. When I counted up the calories I was horrified. Here I had been worrying about trivial things like diet vs. non-diet soda and then hitting McD's every day for lunch?? I decided I wanted to lose 1.5 pounds a week, calculated the amount of calories I would have to eat per day to achieve that, and then stuck to it -- I ate whatever I wanted, but once I reached my daily limit I just wouldn't permit myself to put another thing in my mouth. It was **** at first but by the end watching what I ate was no big deal at all -- it felt right to eat normal amounts of healthy food, instead of lots of grease.

I probably could have spared myself some misery by getting the help of a nutritionist instead of figuring this all out as I went along, but at the same time I'm proud of doing it on my own. Whoever knew I had willpower?

I know I'm late, but I'm posting anyway, since I'm a little different (like you all didn't already know that )

I'm an Atkins girl. I lost 75 pounds with it and then stopped working and therefore decided that McD's and pizza were ok for a while. Ugh! Needless to say, I felt like garbage and gained 10 pounds back because feeling like garbage made it oh-so-easy to stop exercising too.

BUT, when I'm not trying to drop stupidity pounds, I maintain through exercise and paying attention to nutritional values. I still keep things relatively low carb, but I focus mainly on what I'm getting out of my food. I found that for me, when I'm getting the right nutrition, the rest (calories, fat, carbs, etc.) works out just fine on its own.