I've also dieted on and off for about 40 years (since I was in kindergarten), and this is my longest and most successful attempt, even surpassing prescription amphetamines at 13 (my previous "record" of 70 lbs lost, which I regained when the meds stopped working).
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Originally Posted by PStanley
How many carbs should I eat?
There is no perfect answer. Even for you. Pick a number and see how you do and how you feel. Keep a food/emotion/symptom journal so you can learn. I discovered that I lose best on low-carb. I lose very slowly on 1500 - 1800 calories of high-carb (and I'm insanely, painfully hungry). On 1800 calories of low-carb I'm far less hungry and lose more steadily. I fail (by my old definition of 24 hours of perfection) more often than I succeed, but I've "failed off" 88 lbs.
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Originally Posted by PStanley
Should I exercise?
Yes, but that doesn't mean that days that you don't exercise don't count. Exercise helps me more in feeling better than it does weight loss, but feeling better gives me more inner strength and stamina to stay on track, even if my progress is slow.
If you can find a warm water arthritis exercise program in your area, or a pool that keeps their water temperature in the mid 80's I highly recommend it. Even if you only tread water. I love our area's warm water pool (I did need a referral to my doctor). Our local therapy pool charges $5 - $7 per visit/class and some insurances cover the cost (ours doesn't).
My husband and I are both diabetic, and my husband wouldn't take his insulin either (I didn't realize this for a long time, because he usually gets up before me and goes to bed later. I never saw him take his meds, so I assumed he was taking it).
When I found out (realized we hadn't bought insulin and needles in a very long time), he confessed and said that he didn't like using the needles, and that by not taking the insulin he was "more motivated to eat right." He promised he'd start taking it again if his A1C had not improved at his next checkup.
His diet did dramatically improve, but his A1C didn't (it skyrocketed). So did his fasting blood sugar. I was so upset, because it was so dangerous for him not to be taking his meds, and I could see the increase in symptoms he was having.
Hubby isn't an organized dieter, he's just cut back on high-carb foods and cut out second helpings. I follow various exchange plans.
I say various, because I have to control carbs to different levels at different points of the month. I have severe PMS hunger and the only way to control it is to eat virtually no carbs during "that week."
I was very much inspired by the exchange plans I found on the hillbillyhousewife website (which explains 4 different calorie levels of 3 different carb levels).
http://healthy.hillbillyhousewife.com/foodplans.htm
I actually modified mine a bit to follow different plans as my needs vary. I don't lose as much on the higher carb 1800 calorie plans as I do on the 1800 low-carb plans, but I use the higher carb plans for situations in which low-carb is difficult (for example eating with friend's at their house or a restaurant they picked, or eating at a family gathering where I'm not bringing food to contribute).
I've lost my 88 lbs so far, on probably half a dozen different plans, including Atkins, South Beach, Primal Blueprint, and many variations of exchange plans.
You can tweak your food plan as much and as frequently as you want. In the past, whenever I quit one diet, it was always to gain weight (usually all I had lost and some extra on top of it) before starting another. I realized that had become a "tradition" that I had learned, and that I had to unlearn it.
Start experimenting, write down your experiments, and keep tweaking until you find a plan that you find successful and doable.