Hi friend, I know very well that if I go on a diet, I will certainly loose weight, but friends I don’t know how to sustain the result. I have a little fear in my mind that if someday I stop dieting then I will gain the twice as much as I reduced y dieting. Is my fear is true? And If I go on dieting I can’t eat delicious food for ever in my life.

blueeyes1032,

You absolutely can learn to maintain your weight once you have lost what you need to lose! That's the part that many of us have had trouble with, myself included, and it's the most crucial part. Many programs for weight loss include "aftercare" where a person learns to maintain their weight.

When I decided to maintain my weight for awhile, 3 months ago, after losing 43 pounds, I was really scared to begin. I think I thought I would be "struck fat" or something unless I kept "dieting" forever. I was wrong. I kept my weight just absolutely steady for those 3 months by continuing my program (calorie counting) and staying with my self-imposed limits.

You CAN eat delicious food, not only after you've lost the weight and are maintaining, but DURING your weight loss! The problem many folks have had, though, is that they over-ate that delicious food, and they ate it too often. So there will be a time during which you'll be "redefining normal"--learning how much is too much, learning what foods you just can't have around all the time, learning about better choices, and also, learning how to be more physically active!

Join in! You can do it, and you can look forward to success!

Jay

Hi and welcome to 3FC. I'm so glad that you are here.

That's just the thing about diets. If you want to keep off the weight forever, then there is no stopping. Just continuing. Most of us here look at this as a "lifestyle" change. Diets have a beginning and an end. You diet til you get the weight off, then you stop and go back to your old ways, gaining back all the lost weight and possibly more. BUT, if you make it a "lifestyle" change, one in which you resign yourself to doing forever and ever, with NO stopping, then there's no gaining back the weight.

A lifestyle change usually means that you add healthy foods into your diet and limit the not so healthy ones. It also means that you monitor your portions. Of course, it can mean different things to different people.

As far as never eating delicious foods, again, well, I never stopped. Everything I eat is delicious. I wouldn't have lost the weight if I didn't love what I was eating. The key is to find HEALTHY, low calorie foods that you love.

If you're speaking about the not so healthy, delicious foods, those can be eaten in small portions, every once in awhile.

Take a look around. Check out some of the different plans and see what interests you. But really, if you want to keep off the weight forever, and don't we all, then you need to find something that you can stick with forever.

Good luck to you.

G,day blueeyes I,m Julie from downunder I used to think the same thing and I have tried evey diet you can think off even pills, but then I found WW it works for me and I can eat whatever I want I learnt that nothing is forbidden but common sense and moderation is the key I stopped looking at it as always being on a diet lets face it DIET is a scary word for most of us but if we get into a head space that says we are changing our outlook on our eating habits and deciding to become more healthy then we are half way there. Remember everything in moderation stop stressing over the little things and look at the big picture life is hard enough without always worrying OOOOH if I put that in my mouth I,ll put on weight sure watching what you eat is important but so is enjoying life and you can still have delicious food just in moderation if you want chocolate have it but go for a piece of good quality choccy instead of a whole block. Take care

blueeyes
For heavens sakes no.

It is the reason we don't diet. Diets don't work. We have changed how we eat. Nothing is forbidden, just watching how much we eat of things is all it takes. I don't do the weight watchers plan but weight watchers has great snack cakes and fudge bars. They now have these sherbet ice cream bars. oh my gosh are they yummy and have 110 calories and .5 grams of fat. How can anyone do without snacks when things like that are available.

I still have a can of pop about once a week. I still have a snack cake ( weight watchers ) or a fudge bar ( weight watchers ) a couple of times a week. I have some kind of snack everyday. I think when we try to cut everyone out of what we eat that we really like. Sooner or later we are going to get tired of doing without.

There is no reason for anyone not to be able to keep the weight off. Why? Because as we have gone on this journey, we have changed how we eat. There is nothing to " go back to ". We don't think about food the same way. We don't eat the same way. We don't do without. We watch what we eat, watch portion sizes. We think ahead, if we want something that is high in fat or calories or whatever, we plan that. Eat less for a few days so we can have that snack or that meal. It is what we eat all week that makes a difference, not what we eat on one day.

Oh, Blue Eyes, my kindred spirit....I feel exactly the same way. I believe we have all been on diets that "worked" only to find out the hard way that maintaining a healthy weight is a lot like maintaining a healthy relationship in that it takes committment and a willingness to work.

Gramizzle,

Jay

I'm not going to lie, the odds for permanent weight loss are not good. For myself, I dieted - lost/regained, lost/regained for 20 years, always regaining more weight than I lost. I eventually broke the cycle by permanently changing my eating habits for the rest of my life and I have maintained a 70+lb weight loss for nearly 3 years.

It was a lot of work to lose the weight, it is a lot of work to keep the weight off. Most days are pretty easy, but I still struggle.

As for your fear of not eating delicious food again, that is completely NOT TRUE for me. I did quit eating a lot of food that was completely unhealthy for me (soda, fast food, packaged baked goods), but I LOVE the foods I eat every day (baked sweet potatoes, kashi waffles with natural peanut butter, Fage Greek yogurt with blackberries, grilled salmon, fresh sweet corn on the cob, roasted cherry tomatoes with sea salt).

When I do indulge, it is WORTH it. I don't blow calories on a crappy Hershey's bar, I have a piece of excellent dark chocolate. I don't blow calories on a waxy Oreo, I split a molten lava cake dessert in a restaurant. I don't blow calories on a boring old Klondike bar, I have a decadent gelato from Whole Foods.

I absolutely love to eat, love food, love cooking shows, love restaurants - none of that changed and I still enjoy that aspect of life. I just enjoy it in gorgeous size 6 clothing.

Only YOU can say if your fear of regaining weight is well-founded. Can you make permanent changes for your health? Can you establish new healthy habits, can you find healthy recipes online, can you convince your family to eat healthy meals, can your manage portion size, can you manage all the temptations we are all faced with EVERY DAY, can you fit exercise into your life on a regular basis? If the answers are YES - you have a good shot at permanent weight loss. If the answers are NO - you probably won't be able to keep the weight off.

Glory is right--it means changes! But they are not impossible. Only you can work out what needs to be done... and then do it.

Lots of people have succeeded!

Jay

Aww, you don't need to stop eating delicious food just to lose weight! Diet is NOT an acronym for Don't Imagine Eating Treats!

Infact, many of us here do not like to even think of it as a diet, but rather a lifestyle change. This *will* be something you'll be doing forever.

Once you maintain, you can obviously eat more, though it is still important to watch what you eat and keep track (at least in my opinion).

A lot of people just start "dieting" and then they stop once they lose the weight, and that is why they gain so much back. It's a lifestyle change because you can't revert to your old habits if you want to keep your success.

Back to the delicious food bit, there will be some things that you will even stop craving once you get into your lifestyle change. For instance, I used to love, love, LOVE chips! Now? I will crave them occasionally, but it's a rare incident. I used to love fried things. Now? All the grease just disgusts me and if I DO eat something fried, I usually end up dabbing off all the grease/oil/lard! There will be foods that you will realize are just not worth it. Why eat 900 calories (in one meal, no less) of fast food when you can eat an enormous salad with grilled chicken and honey mustard dressing, a piece of fruit, a bowl of cereal, a piece of toast, AND a 1/2 cup of ice cream (with the exceptions of Haagan Dazs, Ben & Jerrys etc) all for the same amount? Now, I know ice cream isn't the healthiest thing on earth, but I don't think it's necessary to remove from your diet

So yes, your fear is based on some very real facts, but you don't have to lose weight without maintaining. There are so many people on this forum who have lost and maintained - it's a new journey every day and we're always here for support

i think the biggest thing is not to think of this as a DIET. Diet are boring, not fun, stressful. Yes they get the weight loss done but at the cost of your sanity. Because by the time you have reached your weight, you are so tired of "Diet" food. You need to start thinking of this as a lifestyle change. You are going to learn how to cook healthy and DELICIOUS foods. Also you may have small indulgences but you start to learn what is better for you and one you are really into the cahnge...you will actually start craving healthy food. trust me i use to bring chips to lunch everday....now i'm craving celery with my fat free ranch...very yummie. And guess what..i have chocolate every night (pretty much). But instead of sitting down with a whole bar or bowl of chocolate..i have bought rich imported dark chocolate that comes in small squars...one square is 60 calories. And i sit down and relish my one square everynight...and it satisfies my chocolate beast. Just find the method of liefstyle change that works for you. Some of us here count calories, others do WW, and other are on atkins etc. Find what works for you. If you know that you have to have at least a small amount of carbs a day....well then atkins wouldn't be for you...but if you find that you couldn't sit down and count calories, than maybe atkins is a good thing for you. Browse around here...lots of great info and help. Good luck on your "lifestyle" change

well i thought i was the only one that felt this way!!

i have a huge fear that i will be dieting for the rest of my life!!

which is the truth because it you can't eat EVERYTHING that you want and not hold anything back then is a sense you are dieting! i know i will never be able to eat what i want, when i want and however much i want of it!

but as they say, "nothing tastes as good as being thin feels"

Instead of "dieting for the rest of your life" (how depressing!), try thinking of it as "thoughtful eating" or "mindful eating".

We absolutely can't eat what we want, when we want, and however much we want -- if we want to keep the weight off. Many of us just aren't wired correctly for intuitive eating, so instead we make thoughtful choices based on what our minds decide, not our stomachs. And it doesn't seem quite so depressing to make a commitment to mindful eating for the rest of your life, does it?

But long-term weight loss maintenance IS possible -- just look at the posters on this thread! And it's so incredibly rewarding that I guarantee you'll be adding up all that you've gained in your life, not given up.

I lost 200 pounds and have kept it off for 30+ years. I eat delicious food every day. I am not on a diet - and didn't lose the weight by dieting. I lost the weight and maintain the loss because I made lifestyle changes. I was amazed to find dessert and junk food are not required daily to sustain life. I learned new ways to prepare foods. I leaned what foods are never coming into my house again, but I will have a TASTE of them when I am out, I learned to exercise (the key to keeping weight off). I have found that once I got away from the white sugar, flour, pasta and rice I not only felt better, didn't crave it, and actually didn't care for the taste anymore. If your current food choices are not supporting your weight loss efforts, they need to be replaced with better choices that will. What food plan you follow is up to you and I do wish you luck. Lifetime weight maintenance is possible, but not if you let the wrong food choices take over.

This may sound a little blunt, but:

If you believe that you will have to eat not-delicious foods vs. delicious foods for the rest of your life, then yes, your fear is true.

But it doesn't have to REMAIN true.

What I mean by this is that you really have to find a plan that works for you and will allow you to enjoy nice, tasty meals low enough in calories for you to lose weight. Doesn't matter what kind of plan, it just has to be sustainable for a life time. And foods that allow us to lose weight are definitely not bland, especially if just take that extra step once to find out what can make them exceptional (spices, for instance, if one isn't too fond of some foods 'as is').

If you keep it to boring foods, it's a given that one day, you'll give up and regain. That's the major problem--that, and thinking that we can "eat like before again", when evidently, what has made us fat once will make us fat again.

On the other hand, it doesn't take that much to turn things the other way around. After all, I managed to turn myself from a veggies-hater to a veggies-lover, so I sincerely believe this lifestyle change thingy IS doable.

And whatever happens, I hope you will find a way of doing it that suits you and that you can keep (and enjoy!) forever.