Hey everybody,

I'm sorta new to this whole dieting thing. I fell off my healthy eating bandwagon in June, so I've pretty much been eating out 2-3 times a day which is HORRIBLE. BUT for the first time in my life I actually drink water, maybe a bottle every other day? (which is REALLY low, but I normally drink pop, and just pop every day, which is horrible, so I'm proud I am drinking water semi-regularly for the first time in at least 3 years, but more like since I was 12) I also lots of tea now, fell in love a few months ago.

Anyways, my main goal is to magically find time to make foods at home. I am a picky eater, but over the last 3 years I have learned to eat more foods and expand my pallet, but I still hate many veggies, some forms of meat, grains, etc.

My main question (back from the tangent) is how do you know what diet is good for you? I'm sure I don't have the will power to stick to a specific diet, so I'm thinking more like, change my lifestyle to eat at home more, while cutting out certain foods, or calorie counting? I currently do mainly cardio at the gym, and will be adding strength training in a few weeks when my ankle heals from this pulled ligament. My main problem area is the stomach, and everything else gains weight evenly.

With all my rambling done, any advice for somebody like me with a busy final semester of university lifestyle?

Honestly, it's all trial and error.

I've run the gamut: HFLC/Atkins/Keto, Weight Watchers, Calorie Counting, Clean Eating, Intuitive Eating, etc.

You have to find what works for you and stick with it.

For me, it's a mix of the above. I primarily do Weight Watchers, but I am very carb conscious, eat minimally processed foods and try to stop when I'm full. Some days are better than others.

True, I know everybody is different. Is there a good site that anybody knows of that sort of introduces all these different kinds of diets on one page for a comparison? I'm probably going to start with just eating at home as a goal for now.

There's "The Great Diet Comparison Infographic" on a site called Greatist. It's a very basic runthrough of 20 different diets, and would probably be a decent starting point.

Ultimately, though, the only way to really know what your body needs is to make changes and see what works for you.

Girl you gotta cut that soda habit and fast! If I could do it then ANYONE can do it! Water never touched these lips I swear. I drank diet sodas so I made it my mission to give up artificial sweeteners. I switched to seltzer and black coffee. I won't lie, it was like torture for a full 2 months. But it was the best thing I ever did for myself! Now I still drink diet soda but only a couple of times a month, total moderation! And the thought of sweetened coffee makes me gag. If I can do it, anyone can! You don't have to like it, you just have to do it until you like it.

Cooking at home is fun, I love it and make time for it. But most of the cookbooks out there now are all about time saving tips and easy prep meals! Jamie Oliver has a 15min meals book I think as all popular chefs do. Some things that you can do to make things easier at home are:

- use frozen veggies - they're easy to steam and serve, or throw into pasta, soups and omelettes.
- Cook on Sundays - soups, stews, casseroles all freeze very well. I always have frozen cups of lentil soup on hand.
- Buy a whole supermarket roasted chicken - the meat can be used for sandwiches, pasta, salads, wraps, and the bones can be thrown in a pot with veggies and made into stock.
- Keep a week's worth of hard boiled eggs in your fridge - they keep really well and are great for adding to salads or eating as a snack.
- KISS it's a saying I use to keep me in check it means "keep it simple stupid." A grilled chicken breast, some simple roasted veggies and a bit of rice is my go to dinner, it's fast and easy and tasty.

Can't help you on the diet front, I'm vehemently against dieting. Diets are the cause of more weight gain, anyone who's been on a diet can tell you that. Consider yourself lucky that you're not down that road and stay off it. Just eat real food, stop eating when you're full and keep active. Take the stairs instead of the elevator, take a walk during your lunch break. Do a few squats during the commercial breaks. It's the little things that add up to big results.

Lluvia, I'll check that out! Thanks!

Wannabeskinny,
I'm definitely increasing my water intake. I need to work on it more though. I find the easiest way for me is to just always have a water bottle on hand. I find that I am more likely to drink little by little because I'm so thirsty all day, and it's just there at the ready.

As a full time student working 5 days a week, I don't have a lot of free time. I try doing stirfry alot, I make brown rice in a pot and then just meat and veggies in the pan with minimal extra virgin olive oil. Sometimes I add spices, like paprika and cumin.

Unfortunately I am extremely picky, I hate hard boiled eggs, and any meat on a bone makes me want to throw up (I love meat, but I'm borderline vegetarian because of this)

A diet will lead to permanent weight loss if said diet involves lifestyle changes which are sustainable in the long term. I know people say avoid the use of the word "diet" and talk about lifestyle, and I get this to a point, since there are psychological, physical and environmental aspects (such as willpower, exercise, clearing the kitchen of bad temptations) that are important as well... but I don't think diets are always bad.

Where you get in trouble are the diets that don't set yourself up for that sustainable, long-term change. If you're on one of those diets where you eat only pre-packaged foods/shakes provided by a diet company, you're not learning how to eat "out in the real world", so to speak. Also, diets which are too restrictive will blow up in your face the moment you lose the weight, since chances are good that once you've stopped eating next to nothing, your regular portions will cause you to balloon. EVEN THEN, I've heard that people have succeeded with these with strong support groups and by supplementing these diets with knowledge of how to maintain their weight once they've shed unwanted pounds... but usually I hear these styles of dieting are the worst when it comes to yo-yoing.

That's why I recommended the infographic. It differentiates between "quick fixes" that generally lead to getting all the weight back, versus diets that involve more long-term lifestyle choices that can be maintained (even if the results may not be as dramatic right away). Even then, though, there's a strong personal factor... for example, I refuse to do WW because the point-counting would drive me berserk. I don't find it sustainable, but a lot of people find it teaches them a great deal about how and what to eat in the long-term.

Hi there!

Well, I think it depends on each person. For me, when I work under demands that are too specific, I go neurotic at first and give up the first time I go out of line. What works best for me is a loose idea of what I should be doing so I'm not caught up in my mistakes. Hopefully, my way can help you sort out your own a bit!

What's been working for me is kind of following what I know. I mean, it's not unknown that fruits and veggies are better, that my beloved chocolate should be a once a month thing and never more than once a week (though it's been a bit hard), that soda shouldn't be prioritized over water and natural juices and etc. Of course, I don't follow the ideal diet, but I try to keep in mind that any changes I have been making are already much better than before and that, though I need to be radical, I don't need to be neurotic about it, either. There are situations where I shouldn't hold back too much, like social encounters, or, for example, when my little cousin came over and we ordered her pizza to cheer her up about moving away.

But, when I started researching about just how important calorie deficiency is and how important it is for your body to receive the right nutrients, I did start having a different outlook on food. The more I see it as nutrition and not pleasure (as I used to), the more I feel better eating healthy, and the more inclined I am to choose what's better more and more often.

Good luck! (:

I can't agree with Wannabeskinny more; kicking soda was vital and yet sooooo hard for me to do. I went the same route she did in cutting down. Soda to diet soda to fizzy water to water. I always drank my coffee black so that wasn't a problem.

I tried a lot of diets before I went paleo. I tried Atkins, Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers, South Beach, and more I'm probably leaving out. I tried Intuitive Eating but it just didn't work for me but I know people on these boards have had huge success with it.

I think it's like people here have said, you just have to settle on a die that fits your lifestyle. And like Wendybirdx mentioned, the calorie deficiency is vital to any weight loss regime.

I think I'm going to start with the following rules in my life:

No pop more than once a week.
Only Juice allowed is Oasis.
Drink at least a bottle of water a day

Cook 3x a week
No more than 1 fast food meal, every other day.
Remember to use Myfitnesspal as much as often
Workout routine Mondays and Thursdays, Zumba Tuesdays


Knowing me, full time school, 3 jobs, there's definitely going to be fast food until I get my life fixed up. Hopefully by changing these small things I will be on the right track to being fit!

As mentioned previously, that's way too much soda! That's definitely gotta go. Fast.

You seem to be very picky about which foods you like so it's hard to give you suggestions on what you should be eating. Maybe come up with a couple different lists of foods. 1 list for foods you absolutely cannot stand, and 1 for foods that you are unsure of/think you may not like. You may be surprised that some of the foods you think you may not like actually taste pretty good when cooked in certain meals.

If you post those lists I think people would be able to give you a better idea of some easy and nutritious meals for you to cook at home. Hope that helps!

If you plan some of your meals in advance, you can bring food with you so that you do not have to fall back on fast food in a pinch. I think you are off to a good start, but you will be feeling much better after cutting out soda and fast food entirely. It is hard, but once you do are finally able to do it, you do not crave it anymore and it gets easier!

The best diet is the one that you can follow long-term even after you have lost weight. You may during maintenance eat a bit more food but at your height you won't be eating all that much more.

You might take a look at the book The Diet Fix by Yani Freedhoff where he discusses the fact that it is important to have a diet that you can eat and be truly happy with it. If you aren't happy with it, then you won't stick with it long-term.

Well, you kinda don’t and this makes it harder. My advice is to sort your metabolism, see if you have any allergies or if you’re intolerant to something – gluten and dairy are popular – and start adding more fresh fruits and veggies in your diet. Work your way then into cutting sodas and processed foods while doing your best to eat as little sugar as possible. This worked for me and it helped me stay on track more than a fad diet could have.

You don't ever have to find THE "right" or "perfect" diet for you, because there isn't one.

Diets are like regular shoes, not magic Cinderella slippers or soul mate Princes. There isn't just one out there for you.

Try as many as you like. Experiment and tinker, make your own from scratch, learn from each as to what works well and which aspects you like and don't.

The plan matters less than having a plan, even if it's a different plan every day.