What a decision. I have failed sooo many times in my last attempts to lose weight, that I'm worried about letting myself down again. It makes me so sad, and stressed.
I know I need to figure it out, which ever I choose, I need to stick with it long enough to actually work.
Low carb has worked for me in the past, but now I'm married, and cooking meals for hubs, and kids, well, I just keep picking at the meal, while I'm cooking it. Im terrible with that. so eating spoonfuls of mashed potatoes to make sure they are "just right". wasn't low carb at all! (even though I had best intentions of doing better tommorow)
Low calorie (weight watchers) I just get carried away and exceed my points, and get lazy about counting them.
Wish I could just figure it out. Here I am, mid-February, no plan, and getting fatter looking for answers.
Thanks for letting me get that out!

I think it's such an individual choice, it's hard to say what would work best for you. I've done WW in the past and it worked well, but now I do simple calorie counting - I find it very easy to track the calories (I use an iPod app) and when everything i eat counts, I think twice about what I'm eating! Restrictive diets haven't worked well for me - anything "banned" is a trigger food, so I'm fairly sure low carb would not be good for me.

Whatever you do decide, I hope you can find something that is for life - I think once you adopt a lifestyle, you want it to be one you never have to give up!

Thanks!

I think either could work for you, but either one you'll probably have better success if you can stop eating those spoonfuls of mashed potatoes! Maybe that's the first step!

I would suggest getting the hubby and kids to join you. Eat healthy and in moderation.

Yes it will take will power to stop sampling dishes to make sure they are just right, but you can do it. I understand the desire to test for spicing and if that is what you do make it easier on yourself by using baby spoons (or any other small spoon) for testing and throw it into a sink full of soapy water as soon as you have tried your dish. You should never put a spoon that has been in your mouth back into a pot of food anyway.

If you are not tasting for spices, give it up all together. It isn't so important if there is the right amount of milk and butter in the mashed potatoes. Are the they right texture? Wait til they are on your plate to enjoy (in moderation).

Include more fish and lean meat into your diet, and with the buy in from others in your house, consider having a vegetarian night once a week. There are a ton of cookbooks with very hearty and tasty veggie dishes, and I am sure there are more online. Your family might even begin to look forward to vegetarian night.

Once all the food you serve in the house is food you are happy eating, then look to measuring out your servings, and journal on a site like Daily Plate or fitday, to keep track of calories. Add in exercise and you will be on your way to where you want to be in no time.

Oh and come back here early and often. There are many many helpful and supportive people here who will help and praise and sympathize and if necessary cajole you along your path.

Above all, know that a healthy diet (as in the food you eat, not the restrictive kind) in moderation in conjunction with movement will make you lose weight, and be healthier. You can get to who you want to see in the mirror.

The choice is which ever fits your personal life style better. I like low calorie because in order for me to be happy I need carbs!

Hope this helps

thank you everyone for the support and advice, yes, I need to stop "sampling" my cooking so much. baby spoons, great idea!
Getting the whole family eating healthier, would be a good thing for everyone!

Chew gum while you cook.

Right now, your habits are like a groove in your brain. Move the needle, make a new groove. If you have to chew gum until your habits reset, do it.

Along the chew gum line, I generally brush my teeth just before I start cooking something that I like to fiddle with and make sure it's tasting right.

Actually, I brush my teeth constantly as a motivator to stop mindless snacking.

I hope it's okay for me to put my 2¢ in here, seeing that I am a wls post-op'er. I did deal with the whole carb/calorie/sugar/etc/etc/etc dieting prior to surgery, like most post-op'ers.

I found, prior to surgery and even now afterwards, that snacking on something healthy while I cooked helped. Whenever I cook for my family (and I have 3 kids that love mac & cheese, tuna noodle casserole, chicken nuggets, fries, etc) I try to snack on some sort of fresh fruit or even veggie cuts, like cucumber slices or carrots. It's still very hard not to "taste test" everything, because that's how I grew up, learning to cook. I never measured ingredients, I just went by taste on whether or not it was right and ready. I also dealt with the typical mom syndrome of "clean the plate!" which of course was this - Your kids don't always clean their plate and you do not want to throw away perfectly good food, so you eat it even after you've had your own helping. Or two helpings. Okay, sometimes three, but really if it's something like broccoli, it HAS to be good for you and okay to overload right? LOL (Sorry for the humor).

I agree with the other ladies here who say it's all a matter of personal decision, trial and error and what works best for you in the end. And unfortunately it may take several attempts to find the right food diet but don't forget the exercise diet as well.

Snacking is okay, as long as you do it in moderation with the right snack food choices.

Good luck and do let us know what works best for you!!

If you can keep discouragement from turning into careless eating, you don't have to figure everything out from the start, you just have to start.

There's no magic to either plan, and you can lose all the weight you want to following one plan for the duration, or following multiple plans, alternating plans, etc.

Of the 80 lbs I've lost, I've lost some of it on Atkins, some of it on relatively high carb calorie counting, some of it on South Beach, some of it on Neanderthin, and some of it (my current plan) a low carb, calorie controlled exchange plan (about 1600 -1800 calories). I've experimented (and probably will continue to experiment) with different proportions of the exchanges, for example right now I distribute my exchanges like this 2 starch, 2 milk, 10 protein, 6 veggie, 2-3 fruit, 2 milk, and up to 6 fat exchanges.

I do lose better when I limit my carbs (and I'm less hungry too), but if I want to plan for a high carb day, I just exchange some of the protein exchanges for carb exchanges (in exchange plans the protein, dairy, fruit and starch exchanges have about the same amount of calories).

I have noticed that I can eat quite a few more calories (at least 300) on low carb than on high carb (and am a lot less hungry).

I've also noticed that the more carbs in my diet, the more water my body retains. The morning after a high carb day, the scale can shoot up 5 lbs or more, and it can take a couple days of low carb eating to get rid of that water. This really doesn't impact on true weight loss, but it can be discouraging if you're not expecting it.


A suggestion for mashed potatoes (that the whole family may enjoy) is to combine a bit of mashed potato into cauliflower (my recipe from my blog below)


http://www.3fatchicks.com/diet-blogs...shed-potatoes/


It's not an original idea, there are a lot of recipes (I found out) on the web that combine the potatoes and cauliflower. It's much closer to "real" mashed potato flavor than mashed cauliflower alone, and it's a little higher in carbs and calories but not by much.

Exactly what I was going to say!! A healthy diet is better and more satisfying than anything else you could do. Its about lifestyle change. And your family can get involved as well and it will benefit ALL of you!!!!! Plus, with so many other "diets" once you stop them, you gain the weight back. So concentrating on simply eating healthy has greater benefits in that way.

This poster gave excellent advice!! Good luck to you too, hopefully those pounds will be dropping in no time, no matter what method you choose.

i'm so sorry you've hit a rough patch

so many of us have been there, so we mean it when we say that we get it

i really really really like what kaplods said below (and her blog in general too )

you do not have to know how it's going to work for you for the long haul. i'm a super-flighty ever-changing person, and long-term "routine" is kind of a joke for me, if not an impossibility.

right now i find that if i buy a healthy assortment of foods, brainstorm some super low-cal/carb/point meals i can throw together, and then sketch out the following days plan the night before it does me HEAPS of good.

it sounds like you need some big hugs and a few days of feeling on track to remind you that you CAN do this. because you absolutely can! i'd say try to eat really clean for the next couple days as you hammer out a plan for the next few weeks. eat more veggies, get a quick walk around the block in, and read the boards for recipes and "plan" ideas.

they say it's a journey -- and it really is! (even the one millionth time around) so much to learn about ourselves, from ourselves, and from all the freaking experts here at 3FC

I do South Beach and count my calories. Its working out for me. On South beach, u r eating healthy carbs and its not too limiting. And counting my calories helps me so I don't overeat.

I'm a past South Beacher and had success with it, but for me it was too easy to just stop eating that way. Like you, one bit of mashed potatoes generally did me in. This time I'm calorie counting and finding it much easier to sustain. And I don't have to cook anything special and therefore I don't have to stay away from anything I've cooked. I couldn't cook one thing for the family and eat something different for myself. I might have the strength to do that for a month, but not for a lifetime.

That's been my experience.