[dragonwoman64]

Originally Posted by Beach Patrol

But HOW to apply that simplicity? But the basic bottom line? "the perfect diet is the foods you'll eat"

I wish I'd read this post years ago, really I do. Would have saved me money spent and time wasted.

[SouthLake]

It sounds like South Beach might work well for you. It's worked well for me because it really has helped me get past the cravings for sweets and carbs that dominated the rest of my life. And, after sticking to it for awhile, I find my tastebds have totally changed.

I've also found it to be fairly stress free and easy to follow. I don't feel like I have to plan as much as I do when I'm counting calories, and I never feel hungry. I also don't feel guilty for having an extra snack on days that I'm hungrier than normal. While I rarely count calories, I do "audit" days here and there to find that my calories are staying in a good range without a lot of effort on my part. Plus, the focus on LOTS of vegetables leaves me very full and satisfied.

Budgetwise, it works well too. DH and I spend on average about 60 bucks per week on groceries, and do all of our produce shopping at the farmers market (save some bug bucks there!) We tend to make our meals 2/3 veggies, and 1/3 lean protein. I'm not as strict about it as the plan suggests- I'll still have chicken thighs or legs if I remove the skin. I also indulge in some center cut bacon, which tends to be as lean as regular turkey bacon, but actually tastes good. (sorry, tukery bacon is fine, just don't call it bacon!)

A typical day for me looks like
Breakfast: 2 eggs, scrambled with 2 slices of center cut bacon and half a cup of broccoli

Lunch: leftovers from the night before and some salad

Dinner: bbq chicken thighs, green beans, cauliflower au gratin and a glass of milk

Dessert: half a cup of sugar free icecream

Snacks: cheesestick, veggies and dip, fruit

My big rules are atleast 4.5 cups of veggies a day, lots of water, and limiting my grain selections to only whole grain, no sugar added, and no more than a few servings a week. When I stay on plan, it's simple for me, I get in my groove, and I generally don't even crave the things I shouldn't have. (I do, however, crave veggies!!) It is difficult for me to get back on plan though if I go off for more than a day.

[sleeplessinlife]

I have a blog and a FB site on the 17 Day Diet with OVER 10,400 people and a private board for support...here's what I tell my gals:

You can't just keep starting over everytime you mess up. You'll never have 17 days (or 51 or 60 or 100) where there are no birthdays or holidays or events...so those "bad days" and "cheats" are still all part of the diet...you really need to try to wrap your head around this or you'll never stay on track and you'll struggle with this forever!!!

ALL DIETS WORK....it's staying on them that matters...as much if not MORE than what's on your plate.

So don't beat yourself up...just know this is part of weight loss...try not to BINGE...but there will be bad days..there will be events...there will be holidays...there are cupcakes around every corner and sometimes let's face it...we're going to indulge..but you YOU DON'T START OVER - it's all continuous...you just accept that's part of the diet...stay off the scale a day or so and that's the end of it. PLEASE

TRY TO REMEMBER THIS:

Successful dieting is not AVOIDING these things but learning to successfully recover from them!!!!

One slip-up doesn't justify a crime spree. If you ran a red light, would you break every other traffic law for the rest of the day? Of course not. (Okay, maybe a couple of you would :-) ) similarly, if you splurge on a piece of cake, don't use it as an excuse to eat whatever you want the rest of the day or the remainder of the weekend. Eat the cake, get over it and move on.

Don't dwell or beat yourself up over it.

One meal doesn't define your diet, so don't assume that you've failed or fallen off the wagon.

A "diet" has a beginning and an end. A "healthy lifestyle" is continuous.

Think in terms of a healthy lifestyle. Otherwise you will yo yo diet yourself into eternity.


Everybody wants the quick weight loss but no one wants to make LONG TERM changes. People who didn’t pay any attention to the scale as they gained weight are now obsessed with weighing! (By the way the scale is only one way to measure progress, and not the most accurate. Your BMI which gives you an indication of WHAT you’re losing (fat, muscle, water) is much more reliable.) Your percentage of weight loss is MUCH more accurate. But few take the time to even worry about those things – they want the weight off NOW but can’t take a few minutes to figure out what’s going on before quitting because it’s just not working fast enough! And, I promise, my quitting, it won’t work at all that’s a guarantee.

ALL DIETS WORK....it's staying on them that matters!

There are keys and tricks to get around these things..I can't post my site or solicit it here..but trust me, there are WAYS.

Quitting is a choice and I can promise you won’t lose weight if you quit. If you continue, regardless of what speed you’re losing, you will eventually lose. This is not magic, it’s science.

Good luck to you...and believe me, you are not alone and you CAN do this. I just want a way to help you but I can't figure out how! LOL I"m sorry.... but if you look under 17 Day Diet on FB and the site with scale with feet on them, and 10,500 people, you will find me.

[RavenWolf]

I was in the same boat as you. Just couldn't get started. I was overwhelmed. And I was VERY addicted to sugars/carbs.

On 1 January I quite drinking Mountain Dew cold turkey. (just wrote a blog post about that here. I can tell you it was hard, but I did it. Now I drink a cup of coffee in the morning and water the rest of the day. My coffee now only has two servings of my creamer, and no added sugar. (I used to put probably 200 or more calories worth of sugar in...yikes!)

I also cut back greatly on white breads, pastas and rice. I feel so much healthier now, have more energy and don't get that "crash" I used to get.

A big help to my weight loss was going to water. In the beginning, I couldn't stand the taste of plain water, so I added Crystal Light (which I now can't stand!) or flavored with cucumber slices or lemon juice. Now, I love plain water and mostly drink it that way.

A lot of people I know easily drink most of, or all of their daily calories in a day not counting their food.

You can get started. You can do this. My advice for you is to start increasing your water intake and decreasing other calorie beverages. Look up low calorie meals and subsitute those for what you currently eat.

If you eat out a lot, start cooking more.

Get out and move. If you start craving something really bad, get out and walk. Vigorously. As fast as you can. (Even if it isn't that fast at first.) When you get back, you may find that what you were craving isn't worth undermining the effort you just put forth.

I used to not be able to control myself around chocolate. Would eat waaaaay more than my share. Now? I can eat one fourth of the bar and save the rest. Trust me, if I can do it, so can you!

Weigh and measure everything you eat. Increase your fiber and protein intake so you will not feel hungry. Accountability is key here. You coming here is going to help you tremendously.

You can do this. Starting today. And we are here for you!