Reading through the introductions made me wonder how you all are going about losing weight.

Are you following a plan? Counting calories? Just cutting out certain things?

I've tweeked Lean For Life (Lindora) so that it's something that I can live with.

My plan respects 3 rules:

1. Health Canada's advice of eating between 5-10 servings of raw legumes/fruits/day (1 serving has the equivalent size of one fist) + 2 liters of water (the first rule is for improving my health)

2. Calorie counts (the second rule helps me to keep track of everything I eat, to be organized and very strict, in order to avoid binging). I started at 1300-1400 cal/day and now I'm at 900 cal/day.

3. My style of life (I never liked to eat breakfast in my life,I just drink coffee in the morning, so my diet plan respects this. For breakfast and lunch I only eat fruits and legumes, the most important meal of the day is dinner. This rule is made to respect my own habits.)

I follow Weight Watchers. I think overall they have the normal, healthy plan of diet and exercise. They also encourage you to follow their healthy guidelines, some of which are at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day, at least 2 dairy products a day, at least 2 servings of oil (healthy fat) a day, drinking all of your water, getting a balanced diet, etc. Its pretty much what I see most of the calorie counters on here doing because the overwhelming majority are trying to eat healthy as well as lose weight. I just count points (determined using calories, fat, and fiber) instead of calories.

In addition, I eat mostly whole foods. I have, on average, one piece of processed food per day. I make a lot of recipes at home and freeze them. For instance, I've been eating soup a lot lately, but I haven't touched a can! I rarely go out to eat, but that is because I hate spending the money on it and I hate thinking of how clean or unclean my chef and waiter were....

I am doing WW and taking Alli. Thought this combination may work together. So far so good.

No problem with the Alli because I am making my WW meals and snacks low fat.

Keep up the good work VEK and Missy. 12# is awesome. and Modkittn...all I can say is .....WOW

900 calories a day is pretty low. The minimum recommended for any woman is 1200 calories. Is there a reason you are going so low? How about upping the calories and introducing exercise into your routine?

I follow South Beach and love it, love it, love it!

My first focus is health, then weight loss. I eat whole foods, turkey and chicken, veggies, fruits, ff yogurt and milk, whole grains such as steel cut oats and bulgar wheat, olive oil, nuts and seeds. I don't eat any processed foods or bread. I eat between 1400 and 1600 calories a day and I exercise 4 days a week. This has helped me lose about 1-2 lbs a week.

And I was planning to go down to 700cal/day.
I do exercise. One hour of bike/day plus 3-4 walks per week (2km each).
I can not exercise too much or too vigurosely because I have asthma.
I know maybe there are not enough calories but I'm sooo ugly being fat. And soo depressed. And I have no more clothes...I have 2 garbage bags full of nice clothes that I stored in my garage since 2005 (because they are too small now as I grew fat) and since that day I didn't buy nothing to wear anymore. Excepting 2 pairs of elastic jeans for pregnant women. (And I never been pregnant, but my belly looks like I'm in the 9th month with triplets). I was always telling myself that I will buy new outfits when I will get slim...So, right now I only have a few of XXXXXXXXXL old and colorless t-shirt and some gross stuffs that belong to my hubby...

Eating less than you should to lose weight will only slow down your metabolism! You can use a site like FitDay to determine how many calories you should be eating (for your height, weight, etc) in order to lose a healthy 1-2 pounds per week. And keep up that exercise! I have asthma too, but I was able to build myself up from only being able to casually walk for about 1/2 mile to jogging for 2-3 miles. It can be done! Trust me, I know how you feel. At my absolute highest weight I was over 230 pounds and miserable. You can do it! You just need motivation and a little bit of will power and a lot of patience! Maybe you should consider seeing your doctor and discussing your weight loss efforts with him/her?

I go every day on FitDay and I keep track of things I eat/do. I am afraid about what you've said with the slowing down metabolism. But I still feel energetic. Jogging was always something I hated (even during my teenage years when I used to practice martial arts). But I love iceskating and biking. And when the summer will return I will jump back into my swimmingpool!
Thank you!

I'm not following a specific plan, I suppose. My dh and I are both choosing healthy foods (haven't had a morsel of junk food in a little over a week!) and I have started to exercise. I have been a junk food fiend who never, ever exercised. Right now, this "plan" is working for me. If/When I plateau, I might consider looking into official plans. I know this is going to be a long journey, so I am willing to do whatever it takes (as long as it's healthy and safe) to lose this weight!

I am not a calorie counter, so it is hard for me to give you advice. It is hard anyway, since I am not a doctor or nutritionist But once the day picks up on here, I'm sure some of the calorie counters will respond to you and help you on your way.

When you don't eat enough food for your body to be able to function during the day, your metabolism will slow down. Since you are starving your body, it can't metabolize at a higher rate because it needs what you have just to function. Here is a good article on calculating calories for weight loss. Good luck!

Vek, it's true about eating too few calories effecting weight loss. I didn't believe it, but I've seen it with my own weight many times. I follow LFL and it tends to be around 900 calories a day for me because I just don't pick the higher calories foods that I'm allowed. They aren't my favorites. Now, a few times a week I force myself to eat those higher calorie allowed foods to get my count up to 1400 or at least over 1200. I have found that eating less than 1000 knocks out the appetite, but it doesn't work over time.

If you are afraid to up your calories over all, just do it every third day for awhile. Increase the calories with healthy foods like fruit and beans. Fat is fine too, but I've found that I can never mix fat with refined carbs or fruit or I won't lose. That may just be me.

People on this board have mentioned Jillian Michaels book a lot in terms of understanding calories and weight loss. I think I'm going to borrow it from the library since it seems to address this concern we have.

Calorie counting (right now 1800-2000) with exercise 7 days a week (just started this in the last 12 days and will likely drop it to 6). At the moment the average weight loss is roughly 2.5 lbs per week (but it's varied, so I'll adjust it perhaps in a couple of weeks).

Vek, the only real problem with going to 900 calories is that you have nowhere to go. I see that you're close to your goal, but, once you've reached your goal, how will you maintain it? Your body will get used to functioning on that, and gaining weight back will be very easy. This is how I dieted perhaps 20 years ago. I would lose 20 or 30 pounds, then gain 40 because you can't eat at 900 calories forever.

Like others here, I'm not a doctor, or a nutritionist. I'm just remembering many failed diets. How about you consider a slight increase in food intake (to at least 1200) and do some skating. You might stall for a week or so, but after that you should still lose.

I'm a calorie counter! My plan evolved over time. Right now I also try to eat healthy and strive to get enough fiber and 7 servings of fruits and veggies a day as well as calcium. I also monitor my protein intake, trying to get 25% of calories from protein (helps for weight lifting). When I was losing I ate 1800-2000 calories/day (higher when I weighed more).

My exercise also evolved over time and now I usually work out 5 times/week, a combination of cardio, weights, and yoga.