I am not sure if I am posting this in the proper place. I hope I am. I am presently attending WW. I find it to be a good, healthy program but I am bored with it and I am so tired of spending the money on it. So I have come up with an alternative plan. Does this plan make sense to you seasoned "losers"?

My Plan:

1. Drink 8 glasses of water per day
2. Eat less, more move
3. Omit white from my diet (white bread, rice etc)
4. Include 3 servings of fruit and 5 of vegggies per day
5. Put away $15/week (my cost for WW) and buy new clothes every 10 lbs.
6. Weigh myself once a week

I think I am tired of being "on a program" and I just want to eat sensibly, but I know I need some guidelines to follow b/c I am not sensible where food is concerned.

Nancy

Sounds quite reasonable to me! The variables there are "less" and "more". If it's not working after two weeks or so, you might want to quantify those with actual numbers. I know that sounds like being back on a plan, but eventually you get the hang of doing it without counting everything.

Your plan is very close to SugarBusters or South Beach diets, or whole foods.

Mel

I am on the same type of program. Making your own program is great. It's kind of fun to design it.
I sat down one day and decided on concrete and achievable goals (weight, body fat %, etc). I also took the time to figure out what have been my obstacles up to now - ie why am I sabotaging myself?! That really helped to get me on track and to recognize when I was slipping. I am a binge eater. I'm not sure what your obstacles are but I found this part of the planning really helpful. The only thing I would add to the plan is to be really specific about how often you will move/exercise and what you will do during those times to make your workout effective. I am working with weights and cardio which is great to bring down body fat percentage. This is depending on what is realistic for you.
My trainer told me to drink at least 10 glasses of water a day. I think it has made a big difference.
Good luck achieving your goals! You can get there!

I don't like the diets where they tell you to eat this for this meal, etc. so making my own plan worked for me. The calorie counters do this all the time! It definitely looks like a good plan to me!

It sounds like a plan!!! I too don't like following anyone elses plan. I do my own thing, taking a little bit from here and there. No one knows me better then me, so yeah I kinda made up my own.

Good luck.

Thanks everyone for your input! I will tweak my plan a bit - I do need some structure to be successful.

Bikini dreader, I am interested in how you figured out why you sabotage yourself?

Thanks,
Nancy

That sounds like a great plan! But yes, you should make sure it's working and then use actual numbers for your calorie ranges and such if it's not. I don't like a plan where people tell me what to eat, which is why I do the WW Flex plan! I couldn't cut out white stuff completely -- I wish I could! I don't go to meetings, so I don't spend money on WW -- I just count the points instead of counting calories. You could do that as well without spending the money on meetings. It's working for me!

I wont go into full full detail but if my situation can be of any help I am certainly willing to share.. where do I start?

Well a little background about me is that I have a very small family - skinny and petite. I have been told I'm the big boned one of the family, combine that with friends in high school who didnt eat and a very confident exterior hiding an insecure person and you have a recipe for an eating disorder. Which is where I started not eating enough food. Some people noticed, some didnt - this was in high school. I worked in restaurants and didnt eat much, got skinny then would gain a couple pounds, get into the skinniness again, etc. Then I got sick with mono and gained a bit of weight, I moved to a new city and found it really hard to meet people. I turned to food and started bingeing. Eating every night like it was my best friend. I have always worked out so I was able to keep it slightly less noticeable but I gained a good amount of extra weight.

Anyway, over the past 8 months or so, I've been focusing on myself, reading tons of books (The Secret, The Taming of the Chew, Celestine Prophecy, etc) and found a few things otu about myself.

1. I'm trying to reach an unachievable perfection. This comes from feeling like I need to be perfect for my father, who I adore but who doesnt really tolerate mistakes and really looks down on you for them -he's mellowed out more recently. I have always felt like the odd one out. The one who has to memorize because she's not smart, who has to control her eating so that the big bonedness would not take over. So I think when I gained a bit of weight and basically went into hiding from people who knew me, I just gave up and thought I was a failure. Of course my family would think that's ludicrous but that's how I felt.

2. I was really negative with myself. I truly believed taht I would never succeed at getting back to my regular weight. I was always going to be heavier than I wanted to. Was never going to find a new boyfriend, etc. I didnt value myself.

3. I was really unhappy with my job and being away from my family so food was comfort to me.

With all this in mind, I realized I needed to make some huge changes. I decided I am quitting my job and going to Europe for a couple months this summer. This would be the first time I have made a big decision like that by disregarding what I "should do" or what would be the "perfect decision" and giving myself a break from life to do something I want to do. That's a huge step for me.
I turned my thinking around and started believing in myself. I made a goal and I assume I am going to get there. I definitely have to follow my plan but I know that I will reach my goal. I used to hope for the best and expect the worst. This comes from a lot of unfair treatment with my family. One sister who always got the better end of the deal and when I piped up I got the "life isnt fair" speech. Well that attitude to expect to be dissapointed does nothing but foster dissapointment. Now I expect the best (all inthe book/movie The Secret). And this has made a huge change. Good things are happening to me and I'm noticing. I'm losing weight and I'm excited about reaching my goal because it is no longer a diet or something that I'm fighting to follow. It's what I want to do as a natural path to get to my self again. It feels amazing.

Im not trying to give a sob story at all because I had an amazing childhood and I love my family. Everyone has things that affect them in life. It's what you do with those experiences to improve your life that is important.

I called this year :the year of me. I think I really needed the time to figure myself out.

If that helps anyone I'm happy! I love reading about other people's experiences and accomplishments.

Hi Nancy,
Truthfully I feel a little guilty giving any sort of advice since I did the WW thing, in fact I lost 30 pounds with it, but then over a 3 year timeframe gained it all back plus a few. I'm just now getting started again. I'm rambling...sorry. My point is, that I too think it is a great program, but in recent months, I've tried to get back into it, and it just hasn't held my motivation for more than a day or two. I except total responsibililty for that, but I do think there is something to say about "boring" peice. I think your plan makes incredibly sense. And as long as you are flexible, then why not give it a shot.

I too have developed a new plan. My plan isNo snacking because I realize it is a trigger for me to overeat. I'm going to do this for 2 weeks to help "detox" myself.Don't eat off of my kids platesWeigh myself dailyEat more greensEat sensible meals Drink lots of water.

Have a great day and good luck

I kind of think that is too hard to follow...if at any time you feel like you need to adjust all that...it's okay. I find calorie counting the best to do...and just moderation of anything you want to eat. And I wouldn't take anything out of my food choices unless I was never going to eat it ever again.

But that's just me. It sounds like a good weight loss program, though.

I agree with gamerchick. If you take out the whites you better leave them out forever. Once you get down to your goal weight and start eating them again I think the weight will be right back on quick. Deffinately cut them back. Make the portions smaller and add more veggies. Other than that your plan sounds great! I have tried it all and the only thing that works for me is writing down everything I eat. Down to the bites I try as I'm cooking. It all counts. I wish you well.

You've been on weightwatchers for a bit, you may have learned all you need to know from them and are ready to move on. I'm currently dieting by myself (most recently attended LA weight loss, but now I'm doing South Beach) I love the freedom of dieting on my own. If I feel like I'm retaining water, I just don't weigh myself for another day and if I slip up with dieting, I don't have to explain myself to a counselor. I just eat right the next day.

All of your ideas are sensible. If you have 5 vegis and 3 fruit, you probably won't be hungry enough for junk.

Can I join you in doing #5? Sounds like a great way to afford a new wardrobe.

...just my 2cents worth...

I too was on WW and like you, figured I could put the money to better use so I did my own weight watchers program...still journaling my food, counting points, weighing myself etc just not going to meetings. After doing that for about 3 months (and still losing weight) I re-evaluated and figured that personally I couldn't see myself tracking points everyday for the rest of my life so I moved to trying to keep track in my head and sometimes using fitday to track my intake and calories...and after about another 2 months moved to just eating sensibly and proper sized portions (I'm veggie so will still use fitday on occasion to check I'm getting enough protien etc). Its worked for me. Its been a year since I started and am still losing.....

I wanted to say thanks again to everyone who responded! Your feedback is great. I am going to "tighten" up my ideas and try this on my own. I am feeling very motivated knowing that lots of people make it work on their own. Thanks!

Nancy