Diet ADD??
 

I swear, sometimes I have Diet ADD!! I can't seem to stick with a plan long enough to make it a lifestyle! I've been doing a liquid diet (with success), but I'm so BORED with it!

I've done so many different ones in the past. I'll stick with it for maybe three or four months, and then my mind and resolve start wandering. I've been looking at the Sonoma diet now....SHEESH another book to read!

Am I alone in this? Is there any hope for my wanderin' mind and expanding waistline??

Before, I would start diets and have all these plans for what I would do, what I would eat, calories per day, how I would write it down, how I would be perfect. I could stick to it for a couple of days or maybe a month, never long term. I never thought about long term or keeping weight off or my health, all I wanted to do was lose weight. When I changed the focus from NOT eating bad foods to eating GOOD foods for my long term health, it made a really positive difference.

I read a book (ooh another book!) that made the science of nutrition accessible to me. With four grandparents dying very young (diabetes, cancer, cancer, alzheimers), and my own ever-upward weight, I wanted to do something to ward off disease/effects of aging. Blueberries for the brain, nuts to prevent heart disease, spinach for the eyes, yogurt for the gut, tomatoes to reduce the effects of aging and protect from sun damage - it all made sense.

The day I read that book, I decided I was going to eat at least 10 of those super foods every day. I was concentrating so hard on fitting in all those foods (sweet potato, soy, tea, turkey, walnuts, oats/whole grains), there just wasn't time to fit in a lot of non-super foods.

The results were dramatic and immediate. I dropped a lot of weight quickly and my energy skyrocketed. That's all it took to stay motivated, just how incredible I felt.

I used to eat nothing but junk. Muffins and a full fat latte for breakfast, pizza for lunch, M&Ms and another latte in the afternoon, Taco Bell or Freschetta pizza for dinner. I didn't eat "a lot" - I eat more frequently now, but I ate nothing but garbage. Going from a diet of overly processed crap to practically nothing but whole foods was an amazing change.

If you lose resolve, you haven't picked the diet that you CAN stay with forever. It has to be something sustainable, something with foods you enjoy eating, something that doesn't make you feel overly deprived. I made changes to some foods (whole wheat tortillas in my quesadilla, less cheese) and found other foods I liked just as much (baked sweet potatoes, red peppers, fresh raspberries).

Good luck - I did spend 20 years searching for something to help me lose weight, so I definitely know the feeling of trying different things to see what's working!

Someone on another board I read just posted something about this recently:
http://www.addvance.com/help/adults/weight.html

I also found this study which says that many of the patients studied had ADHD (the higher the BMI the greater the correlation) and those with it had a harder time losing than those who didn't have it:
http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/art...i?artid=130024

Why not move around to different things if that is what works for you? It is all about finding what works for you and if that means constantly trying new things, then why not?

Glory: Just what is THAT BOOK??

Super Foods Rx: 14 Foods That Will Change Your Life. It really did change my life, good recipes too :)

Most of the foods have "sidekick" foods that offer similar, beneficial properties. For example, blueberries include strawberries, raspberries and walnuts would include almonds and other nuts. Pumpkin is hard to eat, but the sidekicks are carrots, orange peppers and sweet potatoes which are much easier to work in.

Beans -- reduce obesity
Blueberries -- lower risk for cardiovascular disease
Broccoli -- lowers the incidence of cataracts and fights birth defects
Oats -- reduce the risk of type II diabetes
Oranges -- prevent strokes
Pumpkin -- lowers the risk of various cancers
Wild salmon -- lowers the risk of heart disease
Soy -- lowers cholesterol
Spinach -- decreases the chance of cardiovascular disease and age-related macular degeneration
Tea -- helps prevent osteoporosis
Tomatoes -- raise the skin's sun protection factor
Turkey -- helps build a strong immune system
Walnuts -- reduce the risk of developing coronary heart disease, diabetes, and cancer

I'm going to have to check that book out! Thanks, Glory. Jen...a lot of the foods that Glory listed are foods that the Sonoma diet recommends, too.

Originally Posted by Glory87:
Before, I would start diets and have all these plans for what I would do, what I would eat, calories per day, how I would write it down, how I would be perfect. I could stick to it for a couple of days or maybe a month, never long term. I never thought about long term or keeping weight off or my health, all I wanted to do was lose weight. When I changed the focus from NOT eating bad foods to eating GOOD foods for my long term health, it made a really positive difference.

That sounds like a good focus... I've done that, too, and yes, it does help (altho I submit that NOTHING helps me during that TOM...)

Originally Posted by :
I read a book (ooh another book!) that made the science of nutrition accessible to me. With four grandparents dying very young (diabetes, cancer, cancer, alzheimers), and my own ever-upward weight, I wanted to do something to ward off disease/effects of aging.

That's my main focus, too. My hubby & I don't have children, and we'll be responsible for taking care of us well into our golden years. I don't want to be some statistic in a nursing home, sitting in my own poop because I couldn't go to the bathroom on my own & no one was there to help me... :cry:

Originally Posted by :
Blueberries for the brain,

OMG! For some reason, that particular sentence just had me ROTFLMAO!!! "Blueberries for the brain"... Tee Hee!!!

Originally Posted by :
nuts to prevent heart disease, spinach for the eyes, yogurt for the gut, tomatoes to reduce the effects of aging and protect from sun damage - it all made sense.

It DOES all make sense, altho there is no solid evidence that these foods prevent anything, I do believe that what we eat has a direct effect on our bodies and minds.

Originally Posted by :
Going from a diet of overly processed crap to practically nothing but whole foods was an amazing change.

I'll bet! Isn't the energy level just awesome? I felt that way last summer. But alas, after eating some junk when I was injured & couldn't exercise for 4 months, the weight crept back on & now I'm finding it harder to get back to my "way healthy" lifestyle... :?:

Oh, and BTW... thanks for sharing your wisdom & that book - I think I will definitely purchase it! :)

I have ADD in all aspects of my life it seems like, I think it's becoming a cultural thing. My problem is close, although my "plan" has been the same for about 2 years now, it seems like some days I can stay focused and on plan really easy. Then others I am in some kind of rut of bad eating that I just can't seem to stop. Like my brain is afraid the world's supply of ice cream is going to run out so I'd better eat as much as I can. Then, just this last week it "clicked" again and I feel like I could go forever without fast foods or sweets. I just can't explain it, it is on again off again with me, wish I could hang on to that "click" feeling with more permanence but I just have to hope I can hang on to it longer this time.

Originally Posted by Jen415:
Am I alone in this? Is there any hope for my wanderin' mind and expanding waistline??

Yep. Stop the diets and make permanent lifestyle changes you can live with.

Been there done that with the diets. They only made me fatter. When I decided to simply change my lifestyle, drop the diets and count my calories, that's when I finally dropped the weight.

In fact, read this right here, hon. One of the most informative posts I've seen. I hope she doesn't mind me 'using' her ;)

This is exactly what I did. And those veggie burgers are awesome! I make a mock "Big Mac" on occasion.

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/show...00&postcount=2

Thanks for the book recommendation Glory. Steven Pratt has 2 Superfoods books. I put them both on hold at my library. :)

Jen, I get bored with the foods I eat (really, I guess I mean the meals). I find it easier to lose weight when I stick to a small number of types of meals (that I know are tried and true). But then after a while I have to switch because I just can't eat the same things all the time.

I've seen glory's list before, and from a common sense point of view it looks like a great way to eat. really healthy and tasty. I eat a lot of those foods, not all (like salmon and walnuts).

you can put pumpkin in red beans and pink beans, my mil does that and I do like it.

anyhoo, it makes sense to me that any way of eating that is too much the same all the time is going to get boring (that said, bf can eat the same things all the time and it doesn't bother him! haha)

Originally Posted by LLV:
In fact, read this right here, hon. One of the most informative posts I've seen. I hope she doesn't mind me 'using' her ;)

This is exactly what I did. And those veggie burgers are awesome! I make a mock "Big Mac" on occasion.

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/show...00&postcount=2

If you like the veggie burgers, have you tried the steak strips? They make the best "steak" soft tacos. I love them!!!

Thanks for all your responses. It's nice to know I'm not alone!

I can already think of areas I have changed in my lifestyle, such as my exercise. I also know that I do better when I eat more protein and less sugar.

The one thing I think everyone agreed on: counting calories. Because in the end, that is all that matters--calories in, calories out.

Thanks, y'all!