Hi everyone! So I've been around here for a few years now, I get heavy into working out and eating well for a few weeks, then I fall off of plan, and its 2 or 3 months later and then I feel the need to get back on 3fc and on plan. The positive thing is I haven't been gaining wait, I've been maintaining but still not losing.

I think what is hard is that I don't see results. I can work out and eat on plan for a week or two, and not see any results on the scale or in my clothes at all and I get frustrated and I quit. I was wondering what has worked for all of you not to just stay on plan, but also to lose the weight. What IS your plan??? What has worked for you in the past. I am 215 right now and I wantto be 170 by Christmas.

For me, WW is what finally clicked. I just love it. I really didn't have to change my lifestyle much and now I am in the best shape I have been in in about eight years. I feel great and have a lot of energy. I also started walking when I started the program, which has morphed into running. I am going to do a 5K at the end of this month and a 10K in October. I had just failed on South Beach after being on it for three days. I hated every minute of it. I kept telling myself that I could do it, but I just couldn't do Phase 1. I love WW Flex because I can still eat all the foods I love. They aren't bad; I just was way overeating before. Now I enjoy what I want, but just eat less of it. When it came down to it, being told I couldn't eat certain foods anymore just doesn't work for me. Being given the permission to eat what I want, but staying within a certain caloric range did work for me. I love that I am in charge of my weight loss with WW. I make better choices if I have the freedom to eat all the bad things. It's when I read that I can't have those foods at all for two weeks that that's all I want, is those foods. Good luck to you! I hope you find what works. By the way, I don't attend meetings or do it online. I just got the info I needed from friends and I do it on my own; maybe that is why I love it so much. I am only accountable to me.

yes, it is very hard. i man it sucks when i work out and then i feel so great then i look in the mirror and see the fat still on my body. Its also hard when all the things you want you know you shouldn't have.

Thats why when you keep up with things and you are successful then its all that much better.

it is hard, especially if your brain cant keep up with your body changes like mine! I just go to the gym and count calories. I get into a routine, its easier not to break my plan. When i think about breaking it, i just think about how awful i feel when i gain, and how determined i am to lose weight, and all the things i have promised i will do when i am at my goal. I think about my health (both mental and physical ) and i remember that being fat is hard too.

After a few weeks, I think you just get into a groove, and it becomes habit. I am a calorie counter and I do 30 minutes of moderate cardio every day and strength training (with resistance bands at home) every other day. For the first two weeks, it was torture to drag myself onto my exercise bike or turn on an exercise DVD, but I just made myself keep at it, and now, closing in on two months later, I find that I just, well, do it. It has become part of my life -- just like the calorie counting. In the beginning it was a pain -- now it is pretty much automatic. I hardly have to look up the calorie content in the food I eat any more. I just know it, and I track it. If you keep up whatever plan you are on, STRICTLY, for, say, four weeks, you will notice a difference. Even if it takes a while for the scale to start moving down, you will notice that your clothes will fit better and you will have more energy. That is incentive to keep at it, and those pounds will come off. You can do it. I just spent a week and a half bouncing around the same weight. It was driving me crazy, but I kept on plan and low and behold. this morning I was over a pound down -- and I tried on a cocktail dress today for a party I am going to and the 12's were too big! I needed a 10. Two months ago, I was bordering between a 14 and a 16. It felt great, and all the frustration felt so well worth it.

im exactly the same at the moment. i keep giving up because i dont see scale results. But i do feel different, more confident and happy, thats why when i stop, binge, i realise im not happy doing this so i come back. So far i have been back for about 2 weeks i think, but im determined this time. I have got a buddy i talk to on PM, joined a couple of challenges, and im trying to stop myself weighin in every 30seconds.
the best thing is your back again, trying to come at the diet from different angles may help , like WW, or creating a workout plan of your own to stick to, or joining a fitness group. I think for some people foccusing on exercise is the cure, not on numbers, but on making sure the exercise is done. thats what my main issue was anyway.
good luck

Like mamaspank, it didn't click for me until Weight Watchers. I've been on every diet under the sun and have eventually "fallen off" but pretty much maintained the same size range with the exception of a time in college when I lost a lot of weight by going to the gym all the time and eating tiny fat free portions.
After I had my daughter, I found myself chubby and the old tricks that I used as a chubby preteen didn't work anymore.
Weight watchers makes the most sense to me, and it's very easy to stay on plan once you've started.

I too, tried South Beach several times. It was expensive, time consuming(cooking) and not effective. I believe counting calories or WW is really the only way to go. I try to stay within 15 to 1600 calories a day. Everyone I know who tried atkins or SB gained it back and then some...

I've been counting calories and making small goals. Sometimes the scale doesnt move for 10 days even when I'm perfect! But if I measure my success with mini goals it helps me stop focusing on the scale.

I also only had success with Weight Watchers. i go to meetings and find the support of the group is a huge key to my success. Also, I would pick up the Beck Diet Solution. it's not a diet, it's a book of cognitive behaviour therapy to teach to you stop sabotaging thoughts, etc. It's a fantastic book.

For me, these would be my key things:
-weight watchers - meetings and the tools they give you
planning your menu
-writing down what you eat so you are accountable
-getting regular activity and using any opportunity you can (ie taking the stairs)
-believe in yourself. Assume you will succeed
-stop negative thoughts
-congratulate yourself for every and all healthy choices; however small you think they are. It is an accomplishment to leave a bite of cake on your plate
-dont think of food as bad or something you can't ever have. depriving yourself will lead you to binge.
-vegetables fill you up and are super low calorie!
-make sure your goals are realistic so you wont get dissapointed only because you expected more than was possible.
-drink water

I have had success with both CC and WW. My current plan is CC but in the past I dropped 65 pounds on WW. This time around I found WW and the points system making me crazy for some reason. Like insane. When I did WW before I wasnt working at home and had a lot more support and used it like a religion. At home, where the fridge haunts me all day, the CC became more of a mental thing for me. 1677 calories or 30 WW points lol.

You can do it chica. But you need to find a plan that works for you - so I rec'd doing research and locating it.

Another Weight Watcher here. It has been by far the best plan for me. It's easy to follow, and I don't feel like I'm obsessed with what I'm eating. It's taught me a lot about portions, and I never feel hungry or deprived. The fact that it is such a simple program is a huge reason I've had such success with it.

Also, working out. I just have to work out, or I don't lose. Or at least, I don't lose as fast as I like. Plus, working out makes me feel like I'm doing something good for myself, and that keeps me motivated. Find a workout plan that you enjoy, that doesn't feel like work. I like to run and do Wii Fit. I also set work out goals, like right now I'm trying to work out for at least 5 hours per week.

Another thing I do is listen to Jillian Michaels' podcasts while I'm at work. She has a lot of cool advice, and just listening to someone talk about working out and eating right keeps me in the right mindset.

Self confidence and believing you can do it are key. Even if you don't see a loss, stick with it, and know that you can do it. So maybe you don't have a loss for a couple of weeks, you may see a big loss later on. However, you'll only see that big loss if you stick with it.

Valpal- thanks for saying this. I have been getting very frustrated that I a doing everything right and i know i am geting healthier but the scale hasn't budged for over a week!
I thought that it may be that i wasn't eating enough calories. I' going to keep up with this and try to stay positive.