Sorry, that sounds confusing. What I want to know is: is there a diet I should pick for losing weight which will make it easier to maintain my weight loss?

I absolutely hate the idea of counting calories--I'm afraid it will make me completely disordered--but, I don't know anymore. I sort of feel like I have to do what I have to do.

What I have done in the past was follow a potion control program --based on the Weight Watchers program of the mid-80's which in turn was based upon the diabetic portion control program.

When I followed the program in the late 80's I lost 80 pounds and kept it off for about 10 years.

The last time I used it, I lost 40 pounds....maintained for about 4 months, and then, suddenly, gained it all back about as fast as I'd originally lost it. (At the rate of a pound or two a week.)

So, now what?

I am really scared to begin. I'm afraid of the whole re-gain and yo-yo thing. Hence my question.

Any thoughts from you who have been there and are still doing it?
Thanks for any advice you can give me.

I lost over 60 lbs. following Richard Simmons' healthy eating program, using the Foodmover. It is essentially an exchange program, which is what I think Weight Watchers was using back in the 80's. It stressed portion control and advocates a good mix of veggies, fruits, lean meats, etc.

I've also been 'maintaining' that weight loss for quite a while now. I currently focus on controlling my carb intake - being very careful of the baked goodies that contributed to my weight gain.

I'm very happy with what I am doing.

If you have any questions I would be happy to explain it all further. Or you could get more of the details by checking out Richard Simmons' web site.

At any rate, I certainly hope you find something that works for you. Best of luck to you.

Well, that's why i don't do diets but many do and it works for them. I'd say just change your life style. Eat better and healthier, drink water etc. It's working for me so far. And, instead of being on a "diet" I'm doing something I can stick with as well as maintain and not have to worry about putting on weight after the diet.

Any decent weight-loss program should include a maintenance program. The best weight-loss plan is one that you can stick with--that is, it fits with your particular lifestyle, including whether you have a family, whether you like to cook or not, what kinds of foods you will eat, whether you can stand to count calories or not, and so on. But there has to be a maintenance plan that you use after you finish losing. And, you have to stay with it "forever" if you hope not to regain.

No one likes to hear that. I sure didn't. And lo and behold, I regained.

So when you look for a weight loss program this time, check out the transition and maintenance part. Keep in mind that you are probably always going to have to restrict some foods, no matter what plan you are using.

Jay

Yup, what Jay said! She's a wise wise woman!

I'm no maintenance expert, although going on 5 years so I do know a ting or two! In my honest opinion you should choose a plan that will work for you long term being maintenance is forever, so I'd go with something that will work for YOU day in and day out to reach maintenance & beyond.....

Maintenance is not a one size fits all, you have to find something that will work best for YOU & if you continue to do it day in & day out & you can be a maintainer! If something no longer works, you may have to tweak things along the way & be flexible.

Bottom line, I eat healthy 80% of the time & 20% not so much (for sanity sakes ) & I exercise daily & this keeps me at my maintenance!
Depriving myself of things I enjoy, would not work for me long term since I'm a I still want my cake & I eat it too kinda gal! ~ Wendalyn

Ditto what's been said.

I count calories myself, and yes sometimes I feel disordered and obsessed, but I'm finally just kind of accepting it. Typically I love it because it's so easy with the apps and tools now days. I'm a little OCD and tracking my cals is kinda fun for me.

But I do love to induldge so it's a balancing act as well. I like the freedom calorie counting give me, because nothing in restricted, all things in moderation. But I don't have to rely on my messed up sense of portions to tell me when to stop eating because I'd eat forever if you let me. So there are pretty simple rules to follow.

It's honestly been a rocky road for me in maintenance, but it's almost a year and I'm still here. Yes up 10 lbs, but only 10 and been stable there for a while. Now I just have to commit to losing it again if I really want to. If I do I know exactly what to do.

Regardless, the plan has to be sustainable for you and no one else. Good luck!

THIS^^! Only I don't exercise daily...I run 2-3 times/week for 10-15 miles weekly.

If your like me..."A rebel without a clue", then you will NOT want to follow anyone else's "program" (atkins, southbeach, ww, etc.). I started calorie counting, but quickly graduated to portion control. I find portion control works just as well as the counting did and is much easier. I agree that counting can sometimes lead to OBSESSIVE thinking about food!

Basically...you should eat the same way during weight loss and you plan to eat during maintenance. If you never ever ever ever plan to eat a slice a pizza...then you should not have one during weight loss...but if the situation is reversed and you DO plan on having a slice before you die, then you should incorporate it into your weight loss eating. Also, nothing beats good ol common sense when it comes to learning what's right for you to eat.

I think Wendalyn nailed it when she said there's no one plan for everyone....so you'd probably do best to find what works for you.

I agree with what others what said here. Your system should be one that works for you for life.

What we are doing while losing is LEARNING a new way of eating so that we can maintain the goal weight for life. Not much point in adopting a really radical diet to lose the weight and then trying to maintain the loss after "getting off that diet".

Anything that will work for the rest of your life would be your best bet. Especially a way of eating that lets you incorporate treats as part of your plan. The downfall for most of us who lose and regain is that we didn't learn how to manage our intake for life--we thought we had it made after losing the weight, and went back to our old ways.

I am still losing the last couple of pounds this time but think I have learned to eat well in a way that will last me for life--calorie counting. It is freeing and comfortable for me. It's like having so many dollars to spend every day and how I spend it is my choice as long as I don't go over budget.

Bottom line: acquiring a new relationship with food is as important as the weight loss itself. Ask yourself: Can I eat like this for the rest of my life?

the best diet for you is the one you will follow. I found for myself after a lot of trial and error that Calorie Counting works best for me and ,yes, I still count calories to maintain. I find Calorie Counting less of a problem than having to shop in the fat ladies store again.

You've been given lots of good advice! I've been in maintenance all of a week, so I can't really give any sort of "expert" opinion. I lost my weight via calorie counting and will continue that forever. While I get that it can occasionally feel like a drag, I prefer to think of it as empowering. It gives me measurable control over my food intake. I like that.

I also wanted to suggest that you take a look at the book "Thin for Life" by Anne Fletcher. It takes a look at the strategies successful maintainers have used and was very encouraging and helpful for me. Yes, we are all different and have different methods of weight loss and maintenance, but there are some things that are commonalities that might give you some ideas of what maintenance might look like long term.

Good luck!

Ditto the others.
Change your lifestyle for good. Nobody can tell you what the best way is for you because it has to be something you can stick with for good. For example, I went the vegetarian route- because I really like it. A person who hated it wouldn't stick with it. Find some activity that you can stick with.
If you don't change your habits permanently, you won't change your body permanently.

I did the WW exchange program many times in my life. The first time I started at around 220 and I lost 80 pounds, kept it off about as long as it took to lose it. Gained it all back +30. The 2nd time I lost around 60 pounds, kept it off about as long as it took to lose it. Gained it all back +40. That continued all the way until a few years ago. I finally figured out that the definition of insanity was doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. It wasn't the "program" I used, it was ME. I just gave up, didn't care, done, sick of it... This time I counted calories, but it didn't really matter how I got here, my goal this time was not the number of pounds I lost, but keeping off every pound I was lucky enough to lose.

I did calorie counting and weighed and logging everything I ate with the calories listed and totalled at the beginning of the day. This gave me a plan to follow for the day. A typical day was 1500 cals. If I ate something off plan I tried to subtract about 100-200 cals for the next couple of days to make up for it.I included "splurge" days (usually on the weekend) once a week which totalled 2000 cals.

I got to know what my body needed to lose weight, how many cals were in typical food items I eat, and what size portions were.

This very fussy (for me) approach did lead to a much easier maintenance. Now I don't have to do most of that, as long as I eat mostly foods I'm familiar with. I still look new things up in my calorie counts book. If I find the scale moving upward with "regular" eating I weigh and portion things for a few days to make sure I'm not erring there.

I did have a 5 lb. regain during the winter so I went back to the tedious stuff for about 3 weeks to lose that. And I did.

This is what works for me. As most of the other replies have said you have to find what works for you. There is a lot of trial and error and tweaking, just like in the rest of our lives.

Dagmar

I am nowhere near maintenance, but I learn the most from those who have been there/done that.

You guys are just amazing.

I too like calorie counting. I learned a lot from Weight Watchers, and I like some of the structure, like the free fruits and veg allowed, but no way can I punch in fat, carbs, fiber and fat into my little Weight Watchers calculator to get points for every other food item. It's just so much easier to look up something in my little Calorie King counter book and be done with it.

I agree that calorie counting is something I can live with forever. What I do now is not much different than what I'll be doing when all the weight is gone.

Thank you all.

There are several thoughts racing through my mind.

1) I get that whatever I do to lose the weight should be sustainable. That is sensible. I've read enough to know that essentially, you can lose weight on any diet. As long as your calories are less than your body needs, you will lose weight--some calorie threshholds are better than others. (For example, going too low makes the body conserve your excess fat more than if it doesn't feel completely deprived.)

2) Nonetheless, a "twinkie" diet of 1500 calories, though probably fun, isn't sustainable for the rest of my life--it isn't compatible with my being healthy in the long run.....

3) I love what Lori Bell said "It's not the diet, not the food, but the person, the mind-set, the committment. That sounds right, too.

I'm reading something right now that suggests my goal shouldn't be to lose weight, necessarily, but to make eating and food issues into non-issues. Food has two legitimate roles in our lives. The first is personal: providing the body with nourishment for growing and providing fuel for activities. The other is social: it offers opportunities for social celebrations, and bonding.

If food is being used outside of those two roles, it is being used inappropriately. The thing to do is not diet, per se, but discover what it is food is doing for you--and find something else instead, something appropriate. Hard to explain, but the cliched example is "eating to calm emotions." There's lots written about that--and it is fairly clear that something else, say exercise or meditation or prayer may be more appropriate responses to being upset.

I can certainly do a lot to reduce the inappropriate roles food plays in my life.

But I don't know it is reasonable to assume that I can make food into a non-issue for the rest of my life. Perhaps that's unrealistic and dangerous--and I shouldn't expect it (even as I do everything I can to minimize the importance of food in my life.)

4) There are many, many things food does for me. And because of that, I do understand that any approach I take should be, will be unique to me.

Thanks again everyone. I apologise for indulging in this incredibly long reply (even for me!)