Hi I'm Di.
I need to re-think my whole weight loss stratagy because time and time again I have failed miserablly. I want to find a solution and stick with it. In the past I've been pretty undiciplined. I have tried WW, Jenny, Atkins and South Beach. Usually I lose a fair bit of weight and get bored and gain back more than I lost. I'm always tired. I know excercise will help. I really want to LOVE excercise but it's so hard to get moving.
So, I guess my question is. How is everyone effectivly losing weight? I'm in my planing stage and I want to come up with a clear stratigy by the end of the week. Previously, I've never had a plan. Just implusively joined what ever program I've come across. It's been expensive and unsuccessful and I'm so tired of being a yo-yo LOL

Any thought? I could really use lots of insight.
Thanks

Take a minute to think about what made you unsuccessful in the past. You've tried different programs and always gotten bored with them, which leads you to go off plan and gain back the weight. So what is it that you find boring? Is it the structure of having only certain things to eat? The pickiness of having to count calories or points? If there is something concrete like that which you have learned you do not like, it should be simple enough to find a plan that doesn't hit that trigger for you.

Personally I am on Weight Watchers, and would never think of doing anything else. Counting points is more manageable for me than counting calories, and the flexibility of the plan is what keeps me here. WW also has a sister program to Flex called Core, which doesn't require you to count anything but has a more restricted world of food which you can choose from.

It's highly individual though, and I think before anyone can share anything with you beyond info on what has worked for them, we'd need more information about you - about what YOU think it takes for a WL program to be sustainable, about what YOU are looking to get out of it, about what kinds of foods YOU like to eat. Some people prefer having a list of foods to work with but not count anything; some people do well cutting out groups of foods; some do well just counting calories. It's highly individual.

As for exercise, it's the same - experiment with different things until you find something you truly love, something which doesn't feel like exercise at the end of the day because it's so enjoyable. Or, if you can't do this, suck it up and move anyway In order for this journey to be a success, you have to be committed to sticking through it even when things get boring, even when you really don't want to but know you should.

Instead of dieting, try changing your diet by means of multiple small changes, such as swapping full fat milk for skimmed, sugar substitute for sugar, low calorie versions of your regular foods, low fat spread instead of butter. I'm sure you can think of plenty more. The key to these changes are that they are manageable, they are not drastic and therefore you are more likely to stick with them. It's kinda stealth dieting, if you know what I mean.

This worked for me, but don't forget the exercise too!

First of all I would have to say the first few letters in dieting are the reason you shouldn't. You have to think of it as a lifestyle change. This is truely what you are doing. If you don't change it permenantly you will always go back to your old ways.

I agree with AJ113 you need to take baby steps. Try switching to healthy foods little by little. Starting putting some ground turkey or chicken in with your ground beef 1/4. The next week 1/2 and 1/2 it...then 3/4 and in a month you can eat ground chicken or turkey instead of ground beef. You have just trained your taste buds. This can work with just about any food.

As far as the exercise goes. The best thing to get you started is just to walk. Invest in a walkman or Ipod and get some music that you love to move to and get going. Before you know it you will have walked farther than you think. Also, invest in a pedometer, this will help you track how far you are going when you need to push just that little bit extra. Both of these items can be used no matter what "lifestyle" plan you choose.

Drink lots and lots and lots of water. This is key no matter what you decide.

Lastly, if the pounds are bothering you, take several measurements of yourself (upper arms, thighs, bust, don't forget neck and ankles!) This will really help, most of the time the weight loss is slower than the inches so when you weigh in and get discouraged by the number you will be jumping for joy with the inches lost...and that is what will get you into smaller sizes and keep you motivated! Hope it helps and this is for you!!!

I agree with tigerlady that walking is the best exercise, certainly at first if not permanently. It's easy,cheap. low impact, and you can do it almost anywhere.

Another vote for lifestyle changes here. I count calories because I needed help with portion control and accountability for what I ate. I also needed to keep a food diary (Fitday) because I needed to hold myself accountable for every BLT.

The posters above had some good advice. Analyze why you get bored, and look for a plan that you can do forever.

Keep trying. I have found that this is a journey, one where we will make wrong turns occasionally, but that if we keep at it, we WILL get there

Counting calories and walking worked for me. I've since added weight training and an addiction to bicycling.

WRT changing lifestyle ... find all the posts you can by Glory87. Fabulous work and she explains it well.

I count calories and can't imagine doing anything else.

Thanks everyone for the great advice and suggestions.
I walk a lot but you can't walk very fast with a 4 and 7 year old with you.
I've been thinking calorie counting will work best for me but my biggest problem is the night time bindge eating in front of the TV with hubby.
This may be an odd question but how many calories should one eat to start seeing the pounds come off. I remember when I started Jenny Craig they gave me what I thought was a rediculiously high amount of calories. I'm just wondering if there's a formula or something.

wannabe --

I'm a calorie counter too, for many of the reasons mentioned above. If you want to get a sense of the number of calories to eat, check out the calorie counting forum here: http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=172

Read the sticky on frequently asked questions at the top of that page to get you started. It's here: http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=120806

And nighttime eating gets many of us. Here's a recent thread on that topic from here in Weight Loss Support! http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/showthread.php?t=146156

Great
Thanks Heather!

Have you thought of the No S diet? Try the website by the same name. It's helped me to not graze all day, it's helped me get my snacking under control, I still have to work improving my weekend eating, but it has brought sanity back to my eating. God Bless.

Another calorie counter here. I lost, and have kept the weight off for 7 months now. I simply changed my diet. I eat healthy. I eat smaller portions. I plan, plan, plan....did I say plan???? I keep a journal of what I eat. everything. I was amazed at how many calories i ate a day! It keeps me going. I make a menu for a week, including snacks. That helps a lot too.

exercise is great to help you lose and tone up. My exercise of choice is walking too. Kids can't keep up or walk fast enough? go to a tract and let them play in the middle while you walk. But walking will be good for them too.

Good luck, you can do this, ya know!!!

For me, the success lies in how I think about eating choices, planning, and exercise. I am using the Beck Diet solution to change my long term thinking of eating. It is a daily short course in "how to" end sabotaging thinking, like "this can't work." or "Its too hard to lose weight." It works with any diet. There are probably other psychological programs out there too, so I would recommend you investigate and consider whether it would help you stay in for the long term. Good luck!

I'm a WW too and have found success this time....I think it's more of your attitude and determination that will help you stick with any plan. Positive thinking is also essential.

Try adding as much variety as you can so you will not get bored. Make your meals more colorful. I know I got bored when I was just eating the everyday things before I started WW....so that can happen no matter what.

For night time snacking, if I feel the urge then I pop a piece of sugar free gum in my mouth. Once in a while that doesn't work and then I get something healthy like broccoli or carrots.

Plus you gotta move! Exercise in anyway you can!!! With my kids (I have a 2yo, 4yo and a 7 yo) we go swimming a lot, bike riding (I have a trailer that I pull the younger 2 in), walking, etc. Even just getting down on the floor and playing with them can give you some sort of exercise