What hasn't worked:

Slim Fast

ANY diet pill, and I think I've tried most of them

Anything advertised on an infomercial at 4am

Weight Watchers

Pre-packaged foods

Herbalife - ok it worked, very well actually, but when I stopped I didn't have any idea how to maintain

6 Week Makeover - also worked, very very well, but since DH and I had different plans, it was a huge pain to plan 12 different meals/snacks every day so we didn't stick with it long.

Atkins - why I agreed to this is beyond me, I don't like meat.


What works best for me is taking portions of several plans and combining them. I currently eat vegetarian, count calories, follow plate size recommendations from the Sonoma Diet, don't eat much dairy, and have cut out refined flours and sugars like Sonoma/South Beach recommends. I never ever feel deprived and I'm slowly losing weight - which is how I want it, so I don't gain it back this time!

For me, what has not worked is being under pressure to only eat a certain amount of calories a day. The problem is when i eat out i have not much of an idea as to how many calories are in the meal i choose. So at the moment i am simply being very careful with what i eat and portion sizes. Have cut out cheese, butter and cut down on milk and bread. When I eat pasta i tend to eat a lot of it! so at the moment i am enjoying delicious small baked potato for lunch with huge salad and only lemon/vinegar dressing - no oil! Am also finding that adding Encona hot chili sauce to most of my meals causes me to eat more slowly and therefore I am full by the time I have finished and am not craving more..... oh, finally I am finding coming on this website everyday an absolute god send!

Oh man, what haven't I tried?

Super Super low calorie diets. I'd lose but gain it all back in epic binge fashion, plus some.

Slim Fast. Same as above.

Starving. Same as above.

The only thing that works is knowing how much I'm putting into my body and how much energy I'm expending to burn those foods.

Hydroxcut- I was sick for hours every time I took the pill
Lemonade diet/fasting- The most I could ever do was three days and I just felt horrible.
Fat Smash- I do think it is a very good diet and that it would work really well for a person who has lots of motivation but really needs to start from scratch with their diet. It also slowly brings in new foods and teaches people how to eat in moderation. I just can't do nine days of fruit and veggies with nothing else, so since I couldn't get past phase 1 I could never really finish the diet.

What does seem to be working so far is calorie counting with some exercise added in.

Everything BUT South Beach. It's the only thing that has ever worked and taught me the right way to eat for life. I could write a novel about everything else I have tried in the past. Some of them so goofy that I can't believe I fell for it.

Wow! How stupid am I? I was perusing this thread, not realizing it was so old, and came across this post of mine.

I've just spent about a year eating healthy trying to lose weight without counting calories. And the result? I've maintained. Not that that's a bad thing, but it's not getting me where I want to go.

So, welcome me back to the land of logging my calories every day!

Oh my gosh, I am so happy to see Weight Watchers on so many lists.

I don't think I was giving WW my 110%, but it just wasn't doing it for me. I tried for A YEAR, yes A YEAR. And I lost maybe 2 pounds in total? I even tried 6 months with meetings, epic fail. The only thing I lost was A LOT of money. Actually, I got a 5 pounds star once... gained most it back, and never got a second. LOL

Sometimes, I honestly felt - the points were too low. I think maybe that's why I would end up stuffing my face as soon as the weekend hit. I had 25 points a day, using the 50 calories a point idea, thats only 1250 calories a day! That's not enough for me!

I will admit, I still pay $15 a month or whatever it is for the online weight watchers, simply because I like their recipes.

Something else I tried, was PGX Daily, it helped with feeling full and cravings, but after one bottle I never really lost any weight - and it was expensive so I gave up.

I also tried Fitness Essence, it obviously didn't work or was too expensive otherwise I would still be on it - I don't remember, lol.

Calorie counting works. I lost 50 pounds with it, got bored and thought - hey lets mess around and try other stuff, it's been 3 years and I have nothing to show for it. Calorie counting and exercise, that's it. Simple and free.

well lets see i tried...
1. hydroxicut hardcore
2. lipo 6
3. green tea pillz
4. ww
5.slim quick
6.ferenhight

well thats just to name a few.. some of these made me really hyper and i wouldnt be able to sleep at night ..

Weight Watchers: I lost 50 pounds on Core once and I have no idea why it stopped working. Probably I stopped.
Atkins
Starving - VLC
Fasting w/help of diet coke & cigggies (Yes, I did quit - 1993)
Fit or Fat
Carbohydrate Addict's Diet
South Beach
Sonoma Diet
6 week makeover
Counting Calories
Vegetarian
GI Index Diet
Potatoes Not Prozac

Right now I am combining South Beach with a bit of Weight Watchers Core. Basically it is following SB but giving myself a little wiggle room for healthy off plan food (mostly fruits). Maybe I'll call it South Core.

SlimFast. Tends not to work if you eat the whole box ;-)
Hydroxycut. Didn't lose a pound.
South Beach. Now don't get me wrong, phase one worked great. But when I had to plan on phase two, I just regained everything.

Our bodies are so unique...what is perfect for one person is a disaster for someone else.

My list is very short:

1. Stupidity. Three different times (in my teens, mid-twenties, early thirties) I just tried what "sounded" like a diet. Cereal for breakfast. Salad for lunch. No dinner. My blood sugar plummeted, I was starving, and I felt utterly miserable.

2. The GI Diet. My blood sugar skyrocketed and I had migraines. I also had major gastro issues. (I know now that was because the GI Diet encourages a lot of “good carb” whole grains, and I’m wheat intolerant.) Despite how horrible I felt, I stuck to that diet for 3 months. And gained 25 pounds!

I considered, but never actually tried, both South Beach and Atkins. But no fruits or cheese? You have got to kidding me. Not gonna happen.

What HAS worked (and is working again) is a personally modified low carb plan. Almost no grains, and fruits & veggies in moderation. And I try to eat "whole foods" as much as possible...nothing refined or processed. This works great for me, but I have a horrible problem with patience. That's why I fell off the wagon the last time (after losing 80#).

I've lost weight on every diet I've tried with the exception of Weight Watchers (gained weight on that one, oddly enough) but none of them were sustainable and the weight didn't stay off.

Diets that didn't work for me in the long term include

Low carb diets. Lost weight fast but felt nauseated all the time.
Fasting. Made me feel weak and spacey.
Any diet plan that has a set menu.
Slim Fast ( a chalky ersatz milkshake is not my idea of a meal)
Skipping meals.
Diet pills.

What has worked is moderately low calories and no forbidden foods (if I know I can have something I don't crave it). Oh, and lots of walking.

What has not:
Any low carb diet. I just love carbs too much.
Any diet where there is a definitive list of 'good' and 'bad' foods.
Any pill or fast (too good to be true type diets)
Intuitive Eating- wanted this to work so badly, but apparently I can tell when I'm really hungry versus not, I gained 20 lbs with it.

Weight watchers worked for me initially ( lost 80 lbs) but for some reason, every new attempt failed, I think it's because I was tired adn bored of it. I also thought I had too few points per day.

Although I'm new to calorie counting I enjoy it and it does seem something I can stick with. It's free and easy, and as far as what foods I eat, it's up to me. I do use some Intuitive eating principles iwth it, which is probably one reason I chose to do it. If I want something I work it in. I also refuse to eat foods I find repulsive ( beets ).

Lately I've also been trying a little 'game' with myself. I had an English Muffin with my breakfast, so I'm going to see if I Can go with out one for the rest of the day. If I eat a 100 cal package of craisins, no more craisins for the day. I have my 'go to' foods, and this may be a way of getting more variety and probably more balance to my diet

Green Tea and Acai suppliements - Did nothing, didn't even give me an energy boost lol.

Thermobol - I took the maxim dose which some people have bad side effects from, I had no bad side effects but it didn't do anything to improve my weight loss or give me more energy.