I'm really confused on how I should be dieting. I've only been on my diet / changed eating style for 5 days now. I've been eating a yogurt (fat free and low calorie) or nutrigrain bar for breakfast. Then a peice of fruit. For lunch I've been doing a can of tuna with celery, carrots, and onion powder plus some raw veggies with fat free dressing to dip in. Another peice of fruit in the afternoon. A salad before dinner, and then whatever my fiance makes for dinner (Usually a meat, a starch, and a vegetable). I've been drinking nothing but water, except for my morning coffee.

I really want to lose a lot of weight, but I'm mainly doing this so I can eat healthier in the long run. I'm also exercising every day for at least a half an hour.

I just don't know how I should be eating though. I mean, do I go for an all out, limit myself diet? Do I do the Slim-Fast diet (it worked for me before)? Do I forget about "dieting" and just shrink my portions and cut out the sweets and snacks, while eating more fruits and vegetables? What would be the most sensible way to lose weight? I really don't have the extra money to join a gym or Weight Watchers (which I would actually like to try).

Can you guys give me some advice on this? I've been eating like 1500 to 2000 calories a day...far from the OVER 3000 marker from before I changed my eating habits and stopped drinking soda!!

I think you should continue the way you have been, option #3: the forget the diet one. I've been doing that for about a week now, and my husband just told me this morning that he can feel the difference around my waist/lovehandle area.

To me, slim fast has always seemed like something that will come back to bite you in the *** later.

I tried the no carb thing, and it was too bizarre. So now, I think the limitation of really awful carbs (sugar, chips, etc) is the best way for me...with tons of veggies and fruit added.

My challange has been to find ways to get protein in without making it a huge calorie experience, having some protein I can snack on. I'm a big snacker, the 6 small meal a day thing is my best bet.

I think that intuitively your body can tell you what it wants, you just have to get your habits and worries out of the way! Sometimes I feel the overwhelming urge to snack on something sweet, and once I stand there and really feel it out, I realize that I'm thirsty. It doesn't all end that well, but it sure helps!

My fiance thought that too (what you said, #3). I was FREAKING out last night when I found out how much fat and calories were in the stuffed chicken things that he was making for dinner (He's a great cook and usually always cooks dinner). 20g of fat is A LOT. But, he said that eating a balanced diet and dieting is fine with him, just don't go overboard. I never really OVERate anything. I just made poor choices for my meals, I snacked a lot (especially on like cookies and icecream), and drank a TON of soda, and didn't exercise. It also doesn't help that I sit at a desk all day (I'm a secretary). So, yeah. I guess I'm just starting to worry a little about if I'm eating the right things, eating the right portions, and what I should be doing diet-wise, ya know?

Good for you for starting! I just started about 2 weeks ago myself. I think it's important to choose an eating plan you can live with for the rest of your life, and I think the best way to do so is to examine your eating habits and develop your own plan to combat the negative habits that you have. For me, I found that 1) I snacked mindlessly at work, 2) I overindulged in sweets, and 3) I overate when I got home from work. So I decided to combat these 3 habits by 1) eliminating snacks, 2) eliminating sweets except for holidays, and 3) not eating starches at dinner, just protein and non-starchy vegetables. I try to make healthy choices at breakfast and lunch but don't sweat it too much, and I exercise. This has been working very well for me--I've already lost 10 pounds. But I think what's making it work is that it addresses MY issues. I think if you honestly assess your eating habits, you can figure out what led to your weight gain.

Good luck!

Oh, I know what led to my weight gain....not caring about what I ate, not exercising, and different medications for my disorder. So, you've already lost 10lbs.? Great job! I'm just really excited about losing too. It's just like, "I want it NOW!" LOL

Don't know if you've seen this in the news today...but the NIH just revamped the recommended US Dietary Guidelines. It's just good ol' common sense...but also a GREAT baseline for a healthy LIFESTYLE change. There's a thread about it here in the Maintainers forum you may want to read - basically the recommendations are as follows:

Ditto to everything that has been said so far. The only bit of advice that I might add (and you may be doing this already), to is diligently measure and weigh your portions - at least until you are comfortable eyeballing a serving.

thanks for finding this, karen - i found a couple of references to this today at work, but none of the links actually worked, and i just didn't have time to find it!!!!

Well, I HAVE found myself measuring out my servings a lot more lately, which is a good thing. I can't do cardio for over 30-45 yet, but I'm getting there. I do exercise tapes at home, like Tae-Bo, Kathy Smith's Kickboxing, and some others. Yesterday I went for a nice, brisk walk with my fiance. I have a Pilates DVD and need to add some crunches, leg lifts, and push ups to my routine.
Most of it for me is just cutting out the sweets, the ice-cream, and other munchy foods and soda. I used to drink a whole sh*t load of soda!
I'm doing a lot of research too. I found a lot of things online and went to the library yesterday and got some weight loss books.
So, yeah, I'm starting to feel a lot better too. Thanks guys!

You may want to look at how you cook too. It is easy to fall into the trap of conveniece foods or frying everything. Think about broiling, baking, roasting meats and steaming vegetables.

If you don't want to follow a specific "popular" plan then thry to make sure you eat a balanced diet with a good dose of lower fat dairy products and fruits and vegetables.

If you want to have a treat then have 1/2 of what you normally have e.g. a smaller slice of pie or cake, measure out some chips into a small bowl and then put the bag away, split dessert with your hubby or a friend when eating out etc. And try to avoid eating fast food.

If you are just starting out then take one step at a time in making changes to your lifestyle, going "cold turkey" on everything at once is very difficult to stick to.

Here's a sample of a typical day for me:

Breakfast:
3/4 cup bran flakes
1/2 cup 2% milk
1 banana, sliced
1 coffee with cream and sugar

Snack:
1 cup fat free, sugar free yogurt
1 cup of herbal tea

Lunch:
Romaine lettuce with sliced cucumber, tomato, broccoli, 2 oz low fat cheese,
2 oz low fat ham and 1-2 tablespoons Renees naturally light dressing.
1 cup jello chocolate pudding (made with 2% milk)
1 apple

Snack:
1 cup cut up celery and carrots wit 1/4 cup hummus dip
1 glass Crystal light

Dinner:
4 oz grilled steak
1 cup steamed broccoli
1 cup steamed cauliflower
1 tsp butter (the real thing )

Snack:
2 tangerines or 2 cups of air popped popcorn tossed with 1 tbls butter and popcorn seasoning.

Hope this gives you some ideas

Good luck with your weight loss!

Thank you for the suggestions!! I've had some pretty good foods so far today! LOL

For breakfast, I mixed 1 cup of fat free/low calorie vanilla yogurt with a half cup of canned pineapple (in it's own juice) and sprinkled a little bit of cinnamon in it. Very good!

For lunch, I ate a Lean Cuisine meal. The vegetable roll with long-grain rice (Asian). It was SOO yummy!

The only time I ever had a problem with over-eating was at night. But, I've had my fiance's support, so he helps me satisfy other cravings at night! LOL