Okay...so my best friend came over to use my scale the other day. I blew the dust off it so she could use it and weighed myself. I now weigh more than I have ever in my life...unpregnant. Actually, I weigh ten pounds less than I did the morning I went in labor for my son when they weighed me at the hospital.

So, I have to do something. Sell me your way of eating. I NEED HELP!!!

Avoid alot of processed and pre-packaged foods.
Cook what you can from scratch, and learn to lighten things up.
Enjoy what you eat, but not too much.
Exercise a bit each day, and make what you do count.
Drink water, not soda and juice.
Enjoy non-food hobbies.

That'll be $19.99, check or money order.

I'd pretty much say what Wolf Goddess just said.

My WOE is a lower carb exchange plan, I adapted from the hillbillyhousewife website.

http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/

(the healthy eating tab, and then the dieting on a budget tab)

I basically took their higher protein 1200 calorie exchange plan and added 8 flexible exchanges (that I can use on milk, fruit, bread, or protein servings) and 3 more vegetable servings (optional).

I bought an exchange reference book (exchanges for all occasions) cheaply on amazon.com. I didn't even buy the most current edition (I bought the 3rd, edition), though I may buy the pocket-sized edition (the 4th edition) to carry in my purse (or maybe the book, The Official Pocket Guide to Diabetic Exchanges).

I also use online resources if the food isn't listed in my book, or if the computer is closer than my book, I just type in the food I'm wanting to look up and the words "diabetic" and "exchanges," (without the quotation markes)
into the google search box.

I love exchange plans, because they're flexible and make blanced eating "hard-wired" in. I need a lower carb plan for my insulin resistance (even too many fruit servings can trigger cravings and hunger), but if the insulin resistance is resolved, maybe I'll be able to include more carbohydrate-rich servings, without having to completely overhaul my diet. I can figure out the exchanges for almost anything, but it's easiest to eat whole foods (because they're easiest to calculate/count). It's like a built-in encouragement to eat more foods in their natural form.

Another plus in exchange plans, they're all pretty much modeled after the diabetic exchange plan, which hasn't changed much since it was developed in the 1950's. Or rather, the number/distributions of servings for each category
has changed over the years, and according to specific plans, but the exchanges themselves have remained the same. For example some plans may recommend more bread servings and fewer protein... which is why I like the hillbilly housewife site, which illustrates three different carbohydrate-level plans.

Because the exchanges haven't changed, most exchange-based cookbooks are virtually interchangeable. There are a few exceptions, but they're usually fairly easy to "translate," for example the in the DASH diet (developed to reverse high blood pressure) the exchanges are a bit different. Their protein exchange is equivalent to 3 protein or meat exchanges in other plans, and they've added another exchange for nuts (an ounce of nuts, I believe is 3 or 4 exchanges, in most of the other plans).

I collect cookbooks (usually from thrift stores and garage sales), so I pick up cookbooks with exchanges calculated whenever I see them (I just make a quick check, usually explained in the first chapter), to make sure the exchanges are similar. Some cookbooks I have or are on my wishlist on amazon are - any Weight Watcher's cookbook published before 1994, most diabetic cookbooks, DASH books, the Healthy Exchange cookbooks by Joanna Lund (although she relied heavily on name-brand processed foods), Richard Simmons' cookbooks....

Calorie counting is the only thing that's ever worked for me.

I can eat what I want, and cc has been leading me to want healthier things.
No joke, they taste better.

AND I've lost 90 pounds (and hey, the year's not over yet!)

Is that a good sales pitch?

If I was you the first thing I would do is give up hockey. Those pucks, blades and sticks in the face do add up on the scale.

Oh wait a minute....blood does have weight....the loss of blood versus the weight of a puck....

humm....

I better think on this and get back to ya.

Thanks, Gary...you're right, though...hockey is exactly what my problem was. All those night time practices and games = pizza, chinese food, McDonald's and concession stand food for dinner which = at least a ten to fifteen pound weight gain.

I have to say I was expecting a bigger response to this post, actually. I'm wondering about people experiences with Nutra System, Weight Watchers, South Beach, exercise videos you love, etc. I'd love to hear more of people's experiences and successes with the plan they're on.

First, thank you all for all of the replies I have gotten!

Wolf Goddess: Your check is in the mail


Any books or resources you can direct me to for info on guidelines for this? Honestly, I've never counted calories before.

Kaplods: The calorie exchange thing sounds totally confusing. I have to admit to myself...if its complicated, I know I may give it a shot for a couple days, but then I'll give up. I know myself. It has to be simple.

TheDailyPlate.com is a good resource for counting calories, it's very user friendly.

Counting calories is working for me, knowing that I can eat anything I want doesn't make me feel deprived, and when I don't feel deprived, what I actually want to eat is good for me.

I would say WW or calorie counting. Because you could have anything in moderation. Nothing is off limits.Because if you are like me, if there is something I am not allowed on a plan. That is what I will want.

Definitely calorie counting (or WW, which is basically the same as long as you're doing their Flex plan). I can't seem to get it together right now to get the baby weight off, but I did lose 110 pounds by doing my own version of WW (basically counting points instead of calories but eating anything I wanted in moderation). If you're like me and you can't stand for things to be forbidden (that just makes me crave it more), then calorie counting is the way to go because you know you can have whatever you want as long as it fits into your calorie budget for the day. That makes you go for lower-calorie, healthier things anyway because you want to get more bang for your buck. It's a nice idea to try to eat all healthy whole foods but it's not always easy to do and for some of us it's too hard to completely stick to that. I tried that for years and I couldn't make it work. I can't do the "all or nothing" thing.

Tech I remember those "game nights" well!

I am not sure if my way would work for you but if you click on the "MY JOURNEY" link at the bottom of my posts you can see what I did.

I was successful at it because I wanted it!

I have to admit, in shame that I am up 13 pounds from the 170 when I posted my 1 year anniversary. I am coming up quick on my second year too

All I can say is the way I did it worked for me.....and it would have continued to work for me....my plan was fine for me...I failed to keep up on the plan....simply because I got LAY-Z...I got, as they say....too big for my britches

You know it takes effort just like I do...

I felt so wonderful when I accomplished my goal...which in all honesty was about 5 pounds less than realistic for me...

Rather than "sell" you my way of eating I would rather "sell" you the feeling I had working toward my goal and finally reaching it

This baseball dad deserved that feeling...

Hockey mom's do too!

Have a great week-end and go treat yourself to some

I use a very simple plan: it is a PORTION-BASED PLAN. Originally, this came from the diabetic exchange plan, but this is much simpler and very similar to the pyramid portion/servings plan, which you can base on a set # of calories each day ie 1200, 1500, 1800, etc. I have many charts for this from a book called "ACTIVE WELLNESS" and an exchange book I purchased many moons ago, called 'EAT & STAY SLIM' by Better Homes & Gardens.

For example, most days my smaller 10" dinner plate looks like this: 1/4 plate lean meat, 1/4 plate grain/starch carbs, and 1/2 plate veggies and/or salad. That's pretty simple. For the day, I may have 3-5 vegetable servings, 2-3 dairy, 5-7 grain and/or starch servings, 3-5 fats (or less if I can), and about 5-7+ ounces of protein portions a day. This is just a basic guide and I do vary it according to what I want to eat each day.

BTW, I agree that Weight Watchers Point Plan is similar in principal and very easy to use for those who (like myself and you) hate tracking every single calorie. I have incorporated some ideas into this plan from the Whole Foods and Volumetrics as well. Actually, I use any good ideas from any plan I hear about, if it helps me (ie lower fat versions of everything).

Like the CC's posting here, I am trying to learn to eat what I like, just in smaller portions ... as in 'Eat good food -- just less!'

I'm not good at counting or anything like that... I get a little lazy about it. I use Diet To GO.. they ship me food.. I eat their food... I lose weight. Although it is kind of expensive... the food is very yummy and way better than anything I eat on my own!

I am doing WW. It is really easy and as long as you track and stay in your point allowance you can have anything you want to eat. I actually find it easier to eat at fast food restuarants than sit down ones.