Yes, those reading the thread, keep in mind that all of us are following SOME rules...but most of us DIDN'T worry about following ALL of the rules.

The bottom line: You can ABSOLUTELY be a successful loser, without doing all of the things people tell you that you "should" do to lose weight...in fact, if you tried to follow the "shoulds", you'd probably end up confused anyway, since they all contradict eachother! Don't drive yourself crazy with the "shoulds", figure out what works for you, and keep on it.

I ONLY started losing weight when I turned my back on everyone else's rules. The ONLY WAY I could lose was to do just exactly what fit me. I had to accept that my body was unlike anyone else's body, and only I really knew what would help it to work better. Ironically, I came to this realization because of a post on here--I think it was Meg--that talked about the idea that we as obese adults are different from the "mildly overweight" population. I read that post and all of the sudden everything I'd been fighting made sense. Everything I'd been resisting seemed reasonable. Everything that confused me about my body suddenly made sense. When I accepted that no one's rules but my own would fit me, my body started changing.

I think the one thing that all the "losers" agree on, it's finding what works for you.

To add to my earlier post, I know it's easier for me to have no chocolate than some or no cookies than one so most of the time, when I'm at work, I'm known as the person who always says no. Maybe if I could have just one, I would...but that is inevitably harder.

I do occasionally drop my calories too low. If I'm going out for a big dinner or recovering from one, I tend to drop my calories a lot. Some people say it's wrong but it works for me.

It can really bother me sometimes when I see people worrying "forcing themselves" to eat if they're sick or not very hungry for a day or two. And no, I don't mean starving, I mean eating less because you're under the weather. If you're not hungry once in a while, why eat?

What's the secret to successful long term weight loss? It's finding out your own "dirty little secrets"

Keep 'em coming....

Excellent thread!

- I use my WW Flex Points! I use at least 1 per day. I feel guilty about this at least once per day.

- I eat at whatever time of day (or night) I'm hungry.

- I (nearly) fast before my weekly weigh-in.... I'm not psychologically ready for a gain week yet... but I'm trying to get ready for it because I know it will eventually happen.

- I weigh myself at home on days that I'm not supposed to. In the past, the fluctuations have driven me mad. But this time around I'm handling it much better!

Whew. I am so rebellious.

The weightloss rules I don't follow are:

1) Eating after a certain time, I have a healthy snack late at night to keep my metabolism ticking over night.
2) I don't ban carbs but I don't eat bread.
3) I don't always eat breakfast, I eat when my body tells me I am hungry which is usually about 10am rather than 7 am.
4) I drinks lotsa coffee.

Other than that...I am a diet angel


BOO X

For me:

I drink my weight in Crystal Lite almost every day and count it as water

I don't watch my sodium intake because my bp is almost always too low

I don't tend to have an eating cut-off b/c I stay up late and get hungry

I don't eat 5 meals a day I eat 3 some days all I do is snack continuously throughout the day

Right now that it is just me in the apartment I live off of frozen dinners, but they are almost all lean, smart, or fat free

I don't watch my fat intake that much but now that I don't have a gallbladder I eat less of them because of adverse side effects.

I don't like to exercise conventionally, I dance around my room for an hour and do random exercises. I get bored to easily to go to the gym and workout on one machine for hours.

I weigh myself about 3 times a day, everyday, but don't let the number control me because honestly I do it just to see what's going on. If I don't like the number I don't dwell on it. It's not that big of a deal.

I tend to eat pizza at least 3-4 times a week, but it is always within my calorie allotment so I don't mind doing it. If I couldn't eat pizza I think I would go crazy

That's me

I do have a cutoff time, but only because I was eating out of habit. Really, I wasn't hungry for 200 extra cals at 10pm, I was just bored and eating them because I always had...

I love carbs. Can't skip 'em.

I have an outrageous breakfast. About 420 calories worth of rolled oats, blueberries and flaxseed.

I love coffee. Usually I drink it with one cream and a Splenda. Maybe once a month, I will have a treat-- a Dunkin' Donuts large "regular" (for those of you outside the Northeast, a "regular" coffee means cream and real sugar).

I detest cardio. I'll lift weights for hours, but 5 minutes on a treadmill or elliptical is torture. Oh, the endless, droning boredom.

I eat a small breakfast, way smaller than my lunch or dinner.

I eat in front of the TV. In fact, unless we're eating out, that is where I eat every dinner. I eat lunch at my desk, while I work. I eat almost all of my snacks at work, in front of my computer, or in front of the TV. It's my relax time and I don't feel the least bit bad about it.

Me too! I've tried the mindfulness thing, with just focusing on the food, and I get the point of it, but it bores the pee out of me. I've just always been a multitasker. I've never been able to just watch tv -- I have to watch tv and read, or watch tv and surf the internet. So most of the time I'm eating, grading papers, and watching tv at the same time.

Another rule I don't follow is eating a certain number of meals or snacks every day. I eat whenever I feel like I need to, as long as it fits in the calories for the day. I can't imagine feeling hungry and NOT eating because it's not a certain time.

LisaMarie - we may have been separated at birth. I am also an internet-surfer/tv-watcher...otherwise I just end up...bored.

I love this thread!

I will consume nonfat milk and yogurt, but the cheese is the real thing. A little bit of real, quality cheese goes a long way flavor-wise.

When I want something sweet, I'll have something sweet. And that is almost everyday. Chocolate pudding, root beer popsicles, and biscotti are some of the most common choices.

When I am hungry, I eat. Usually a hard-boiled egg or string cheese and some fruit. I do not believe in starving myself. When I do, I binge.

I save half of my daily calorie allotment for dinner. I eat what everyone else eats, but I never have seconds.

If an occasion occurs and I want to go off plan, I do. I do not beat myself up for it. It is simply an occurance in my life, one of many. These changes are for life....and that means that sometimes I will have fries or pizza or Doritos or tiramisu or creme brulee....none of these have been permanently detrimental to my weight loss. I enjoy them in moderation and then I move on.

I am in no rush to get the weight off. This ain't the Indy 500. It will happen as it happens, in the context of the rest of my life. Some weeks I lose, some weeks I maintain, but the trend is what is important to me, not the speed.

Midwife reminded me in another thread...

I don't eat fish or other seafood, or eat it only VERY rarely. I just don't enjoy cooking it and don't particularly enjoy eating it in healthy preparations. I get a craving for salmon about once a month, but other than that, it isn't part of my diet.

I also eat in front of the TV/computer. In fact I'm eating right now.

I also eat in front of the TV. DH and I bought a coffee table that raises to table height for just that reason. We don't even use our dining room table as our coffee table is our eating table. I just can't stand to just eat, I need to be doing something else as well.

I don't count how many glasses of water I drink although I tend to drink plenty of fluids.

I eat after 7pm. Last night, I ate after 9pm.

I exercise every day while I've read places that you should have a rest day. I think rest is important for muscles with heavy weight lifting but I can certainly walk every day.

I eat carbs and lots of them. My daily intake is probably somewhere around 70% carbs. I eat lots of fruit.

I eat chocolate. I fit chocolate into my eating plan whether it is unsweetened chocolate almond milk (!) or dark chocolate pieces, it is there. It is actually a sweet that I can control myself around.

I eat a small breakfast as it is hard for me to eat a lot in the morning.

I snack constantly throughout the day, grazing when I feel a bit hungry.

I eat out at least once per week and I don't worry too much about portions or calories. Although I do try to avoid things I know that have tons of calories (fried foods, heavy sauces, lots of sweets)

I don't buy "diet" foods

I weigh myself 2 times per day, morning and night.

What I eat is more important to me than the amount of weight I lose. I know many people have goals that they want to lose 2 lbs per week indefinitely. If I don't lose or even gain, I don't worry too much because I'm ok as long as I'm eating the foods that I feel are good for my body. Of course, if I'm not losing or gaining, I have to deal with that issue but that is really secondary.

Honestly, I really don't know too many weight loss rules so I don't know which ones I'm not paying attention to

Wow, I kind of feel like I'm the picture of diet rules looking at you guys! But maybe I'm not, let's see what I can come up with:

1) I don't do non-fat dairy. Hand me a ff yogurt or cottage cheese or a glass of skim milk and I will promptly toss it away. I try to stick to 2% dairy, and I make room for it in my Points allotment. I just don't believe in fat-free dairy, that is one place I can compromise.

2) I don't buy into the "the best time to exercise is on an empty stomach" theory. Screw exercising in the morning, that just leaves me exhausted and dizzy from low blood sugar. The evenings work best for me and I figure as long as I'm exercising I'm doing something right!

3) I don't beat myself up over poor decisions. Sure, 17 of yesterday's 28 points came from chocolate... Oh well, time to move on! It was a poor choice and I know exactly why it happened, that's that and forward I go.

4) I CANNOT weigh myself every day. I guess I'm a rule-follower here, but if I could weigh just once a month I'd probably do that instead of once a week. The scale does not define me -- and when I start to feel like it does I start hating the process I'm caught up in and then fall off track. Not working.

5) I don't do diet convenience foods 99% of the time. 100-calorie packs? Please. I can get more nutritional benefit out of a rock if I squeeze it hard enough. Lean Cuisines and Smart Ones and stuff are fine if you're really in a pinch, but again, I can get way more calorie bang for my buck out of stuff I make at home, and far less sodium.


.... that's all I got for now