So here we are following this life changing plan to help us lose weight and learn new life long healthier ways, what do you feel contributed to you chosing this plan over any other plan? How did you discover this plan? What part of this plan do you feel has helped you most? What part of this plan do you think has been the hardest for you? What advice/information would you give to any new member to convince them this is the plan they should follow? Why?!?!?!?

My aunt stumbled on this diet in a magazine. She decided she was going to try it after the new year and I looked into is as a potential buddy for her. It is a sensible program - honestly nothing really "new" here but the presentation of the diet is pretty good. The relative precision of the diet appeals to me - I respond well to rhythm and routine - the checklist nature of it appeals to me and mimics in a small way the old exchange system of WW which was how I lost weight before my pregnancy - the points system of WW is WAY too flexible for me. I get that I am in the minority there... but I really like having rules to follow - it helps me.

I don't think there is anything terribly difficult about this plan. I am starting to have problems finishing meals. I am not hungry - I have adapted to the water intake (even faster than in the past for some reason) and I feel successful as I sit here in pants that 2 weeks ago I couldn't get over my hips.

No one plan fits everone. I think that people who respond well to guidelines will do well on this plan. I also feel that if one has blood sugar issues this is an excellent plan - protein is a major component and equally spaced frequent meals train your body to anticipate intake of food so there is no need for it to kick into starvation mode and feed off your muscles. It also keeps blood sugar stable (as long as you choose protein snacks). I think MOST people would feel successful on this plan - but there are those out there who will not like being told when to eat. You have to be willing to approach the plan with an open mind and understand why it works. Otherwise - not for you.

My boss saw that Al Roker was doing it! He and I are both doing the diet.

I started dating a great guy and stopped working out about a year and a half ago. I blamed time constraints but it was an easy habit to drop in favor of good restaurants in good company.

I had been just watching what I was eating after I gained weight with quitting smoking. I was watching it go in, essentially. Want a cigarette? How about a pan of brownies?

I actually haven't purchased the book yet. I've been following what this website and the diet site tell me to do. I am extremely sugar sensitive so I liked that the plan would put me back on a healthier eating schedule. So far, so good!

Way to go Daisy and those new pants!!!

I totally agree Lafayette, with the comparison with "Want a cigarette" or "Want a pan of brownies" Who knew giving up sugar and bad foods would be so hard. This plan has really helped me learn things about my body, like my body seems to hold onto *salt* and *salty foods* easily so I am really having to push the water if I have any foods like that. Pushing the lean protein is really helping me too. My taste for the bad carbs is going away too so that is a plus in its self!

Having quit smoking and having lost a significant amount of weight in the past I can tell you for sure that it is WAY easier to quit smoking. With smoking, you just stop smoking - you don't get to stop eating - you have to change the way you eat... very hard.

I'm with Daisy on this. The structure of it is what I need to stay focused and it has also helped so much with emotional eating. I saw the book at my girlfreinds houe. She had just started it. It made so much sense to me and I knew that I could do it. But I know the biggest reason it has worked for me is the support and how important he stresses that. I've "fallen off" a few times and my new friends are the only reason I have gotten back on. It also follows most everything about what I have been taught about nutrition. No "gimmicks", no lose a zillion lbs over night. I'll just keep pluggin' away

Well, I think you ladies have about covered all the reasons. I saw this diet in a magazine, then found the book and then joined the 3 hr. diet on line where I met a lot of you wonderful women.

The support of all of you Lifetime Losers have helped me stay dedicated to this plan even when I wanted to quit, went off plan and gained, had to start over with the plan.....you were there for me with encouragement.

I just love this group and your right Donna you are all my friends.

Phyllis

I have been learning about nutrition and healthy eating & what I need to lose weight for about 40 years. Little-by-little, I have a personal plan that has evolved. One of the elements of my plan is 3 meals + at least 2 snacks. This is what originally appealed to me. However, now, I care most about this group of women. Whither they goeth I will follow.

Lynn

I'm with you, Lynn. This group has been the best thing for me. I stopped because of the chemo and the way my eating habits were going, I didn't feel like I could contribute. But I see now (hindsight being 20/20 and all) that we're in this for more than just losing weight (at least I am). You guys have become special friends and its great to know that I can get on here and vent out my frustrations - plus, for those of you who have continued to stick with it and are losing -- you have become my inspiration!!

Some of the best and most "real" friends I have I know only by words on a screen and love in my heart.

Hi everyone!

Last New Year's (2005) I had vowed to lose the weight I had gained. By March 2005 I still had not lost more than a few pounds. That is when I decided I was not going to be able to do it on my own. I felt I had an emotional eating problem and I went looking for books on that subject. I found a couple and I also wondered into the diet book section. At that time I saw the 8 Minutes workout series and I bought the one with "easy" movements. I liked that book because it addressed the emotional eating issue. The book referred to the JC website so I joined. Truthfully I never thought I would stick around past the 1st quarter payment. But, I got hooked up with the "Lifetime Losers" and the rest is history.

Most of the original LL gals moved over here. I kept my subscription to the JC site and also moved here. So, I now post at both spots. I totally credit the people at both sites for keeping me motivated and getting this weight off. So...from March 30, 2005 to now I have lost 26 pounds. It was extremely slow for me in the beginning. Then I picked up as I figured out how my body works in relation to food quantities. I just calculated that I actually lost at a rate of 1.5 pounds a week. (Not too bad). But still not a quick fix!!!!!

"What part of this plan do you feel has helped you most"? - The fact that it is very doable. You keep your hunger pangs at bay, you can eat pretty much anything as long as it fits with the calorie requirements. And, of course, the fact that JC stresses the group support!!

"What part of this plan do you think has been the hardest for you"? Nothing that is particular to this plan. All diet plans are hard !

"What advice/information would you give to any new member to convince them this is the plan they should follow? Why?!?!?!?" I would advise them to join this and/or the JC website and get hooked up with a group. That way they can get the encouragement! I would also stress the importance of keeping the metabolism fired up and eating every 3 hours does that! There is no banned food in this program so that makes if very flexible and doable!!

Hey Anita, how many of the LLers are still at the JC site?

I read about the diet in a magazine, then ordered the book from the library and was interested enough to go and buy it. I joined his website and was not as happy as I thought I would be at the time...when Donna told me of
3fc I came here and am very pleased with the warmth of the people and the help they bestow.

I find that the timing is the worst part for me. I am not a very organized person, and I work where I can't always eat exactly on the 3 hr mark, plus, cause I have a set lunch, I have to eat breakfast later ( not in the 1 hr after getting up)...yada yada yada...because of this, I have resined myself to know that it will take longer to loose, but to keep going forward, not back...I have started to use a smaller dinner plate...my sister got me 8 1/4" salad plates that I now use as a dinner plate...this helps alot with portion control if I am too lazy to measure...

I am still an emotional eater...that is the worst habit and I am really having a tough time breakinig that. But it will come!!! I am still hanging on to the rope!

Laurie, of the original it is just me and Karen. The rest are new but also very cool! Actually, we moved over and joined another group called the "Shakedown Cruisers". LOL! Donna also posts there!

Which Karen?