[Lori Bell]

The fastest way to lose weight, (as you have already been told by some brilliant Chickie's) is to choose a good, decent plan, (that you can live with forever), and stick to it! I can tell you at least a dozen people (not here at 3fc, but personal friends/family) who decided to join me in my weight loss journey at some time or another. Some with a lot to lose and some with a little weight to lose who began, and quit and regained while I've been chugging along. Many people paid big bucks for programs, some crash dieted, and some actually went my route and counted calories. The only person who is still in the game is my sister and she is losing slowly but is doing AWESOME and looks great!

I also think that once you lose the first few pounds, you just feel so much more confident, that the "high" is like losing a boat load. I remember back my first coupe weeks, and even though it was like 10 pounds and I knew I had 170ish left to go...I felt "thinner", better, prettier, smarter...just happier in general. At that point, I realized it didn't matter how long it took, but as long as I kept going I was going to feel better about myself.

[Jacqui_D]

I am a calorie tracker. I started out as a calorie counter, but I knew it'd be too tedious for me to continue for life, so I started out counting and learning about the calories in the different foods I like, and after about a month, I gradually let go of careful counting and started just tracking. I am always aware of approximately how many calories are in something I eat, and if I don't know, I find out before I eat it. I eat 3 meals a day and 3 snacks a day between meals. I eat "girl" portions now, not the same size as my husband eats. Counting calories at first helped me figure that out too, what was an appropriate amount. I stay completely away from junk. The reason why is because it absolutely triggers my appetite, and I don't want that. No 100-calorie packs for me! Instead, I stick with a balance of complex carbs including whole grains; protein including lean meats and fish; and good fats including nuts, seeds, and salad dressing made with olive oil. I make sure I get my dairy in, because dairy is linked to losing belly fat. I eat LOTS of veggies and 2-3 fruits a day--the fiber helps fill me up. When you eat good, natural, whole foods, you don't feel hungry, especially if you eat every 3 hours or so. I do allow a very few sweetened and/or processed foods because I love them, they don't trigger my appetite, and they aren't bad nutritionally. I also drink only water (and lots of it) and hot green tea (with sugar--I'm not fond of sweetners). Soft drinks, diet or not, trigger my appetite. My day looks something like this:

Breakfast
1 hard-boiled egg
1 package of Quaker Oats Weight Control Cinnamon Instant Oatmeal (one of my allowed sweetened/processed foods)
A half handful of cut strawberries and a half handful of blueberries (to add to my oatmeal)
1 Activia Fat-free strawberry, blueberry, or peach yogurt (another allowed sweetened/processed food)

Snack
1 string cheese

Lunch
Large salad consisting of:
Romaine and red lettuce
Carrots
Fat free cheddar cheese
An 1/8 cup mixture of seeds (sunflower, soy, flax) with a few raisins and dried cranberries
2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil and vinegar mixture salad dressing

OR I might have a tuna sandwich made with fat-free Miracle Whip and whole grain wheat bread with a small salad with 1 tbsp of dressing

Snack
About ten almonds and/or walnuts AND
1 clementine orange

Dinner
4-6 oz of salmon
Lots of broccoli, cauliflower, summer squash, and/or brussel spouts
A slice of whole grain bread with a slight coating of Smart Balance butter

Snack
1 Activia yogurt

Hope this helps! Good luck!