Hi I'm new around here but an old hand at dieting. I am 27 years old and can safely say that I have been on a diet for half of that. My mum was absolutely obsessed and sadly enough still is to this day about weight and looks, not only hers, but mine and my sisters as well. My sister was the tall athletic one, and I was the slightly shorter just as active but more stocky one. I would say my battle started when my mum started taking "naughty" foods away from me and replacing them with diet foods, and let my sister eat as normal in front of me, it was then I started to have a weight problem, I would just resent it, and go to my friends houses and eat the "wrong" things on purpose just so I wasn't missing out. I was never even heavy until then. During high school I put myself on really silly strict diets as a lot of girls do, but no matter how slim I was through my adult life I always heard that voice in my head "don't eat that!!! that will make you fat!" when I was pregnant I said "the **** with it!" and just ate what I wanted so now I am slowly losing my post baby weight, and regaining a healthy attitude towards food making it my friend so my daughter won't suffer the same vicious cycle. I think this site is absolutely fantastic, being 100% honest with ladies who are going through the same thing is sooo refreshing, it's not just pounds of fat we are losing it's harboured emotional baggage as well. with that being said I was curious to know what a typical day in your diet consists of, just so I can get some different ideas and mix mine up a little. A typical day for me is

Breakfast :cup coffee with a jarrah choco latte' sache and skim milk
3 weet bix or 50g high fibre cereal and skim milk

morning tea: 1 small apple or peach 1 cup tea skim milk no sugar

Lunch: 2 slices bread with a scraping marg 20g cheese or 100g tuna big salad with fat free dressing cup of tea no sugar

afternoon tea 1 small fruit or 1 coffee with jarrah sachet and skim milk

Dinner: diet soup sachet
lean cuisine or 100g cooked meat or 150g cooked chicken breast 3 serves veges/salad, 1/2 cup pasta or rice or 1 small potato
diet jelly for desert
cup of tea skim milk no sugar

I also have for breakfast baked beans and 1 slice toast or poached or boiled egg and piece toast

Can't wait to hear yours. ciao

I think that one of your biggest obstacles is going to be a change of mindset. You have to forget the term "diet" and make lifestyle changes. Diets begin and end-and you want to make changes for life. I know what you mean about having a mom obsessed with dieting-I had one too, and now realize she did it ALL wrong.
Are you exercising as well?

A typical day for me is...

Morning:
6oz lowfat yogurt, 830am
1 energy bar or toast with lowfat cheese, 10am

Afternoon:
Lean Cuisine, 1pm
Fruit, 330pm

Evening:
Lean meat (chicken, fish, beef), 2 vegetables or a ton of vegetables and whole wheat pasta, 7pm
100 cal snack (sherbet, graham cracker, fruit), 830pm.

I also spend an hour in the gym, 30 mins of cardio and 30 of weights. I build my calories throught the day and eat often so I don't ever feel too hungry. I try to stay around 350 calories for the morning, 400 for the afternoon, and about 600 or so in the evening. I drink 2 plain bottles of water a day and one diet soda, and then calorie free drink mix at night.

Thanks for your replies girls, It's good for me to see other diet plans, so I can adjust mine and it doesn't get repetitive. This is so much fun. My niece asked me last night (she's 11) does it suck being on a diet? I said "no it's great I'm losing weight and feeling wonderful! she smiled and thought that was great. Aphil, I walk with my baby for about an hour when I do , but it's one of those things with a baby, we will be active through the day together but it's not actually setting time aside to exercise as such, and weight training try picking up a 27 bl baby girl all day long and dancing with her and swinging her around in the park, I chase her we run and swim together,n when she gets older I will go back to more traditional work outs as for now we just have to adjust together, I was at fernwood (femal gym)when she was new that's how I went from 218bl to 180bl after I had her, when I am walking in the mornings I feel great she likes it and the day is started off with a good thing, it just can't be an every day thing at the moment and I think that is unrealistic for me anyway, but I am losing steadily 2.2bl or 1kg a week so I am happy. take care girls xx

I have been trying to take responsibility for my weight problem, and to stop blaiming others. However, my sister said something interesting the other day (she is a "normal weight" and always has been) that my mother forced me into weight watchers at 15, and objectified my weight and made it look like a much bigger problem than it was. But she always rewarded and comforted me with sweets and desserts, and made me feel that I was incapable of exercise. Now it is a big problem, so it became like a self fulfilling prophecy. Now I am at the point in my life where I am ready to say, however it's happened, it's my job to get my life back and get my weight to a healthy level.

My normal day:

Glass of water and a piece of fruit - usually a mandarin orange

a swim for an hour

porridge with skim milk and blueberries when I get back (virtually inhaled as I am pretty hungry by this point LOL

midmorning snack - fruit or Snack a Jacks mini rice cakes

I do a half an hour gym routine on my lunch break then:
lunch - salad of cucumber, tomato, celery, peppers, raw mushrooms and salmon, chicken or lean ham.

dinner - steak, chicken breast or tuna cooked in George Forman grill with veggies "fried" in a small amount of vegetable stock, with brown rice, quinoa or wholemeal pasta

fruit and yoghurt for dessert or a low fat chocolate drink with a small cube of dark chocolate