What diets have worked for you?(long)

[craZ4HERKIE]

I have tried many, and most have worked, but you know how it goes....take off 15, put 30 back on! Weight Watchers, Atkins, Fat Free, portion control. Currently, I am trying Slimfast. Reason being, I have joined the gym, trying to go 4 times a week, as to not injure my poor, out of shape body!But I don't want to eat breakfast before I go exercise, I am scared it may make me sick. So I wait until I get back, sometimes I'll have a bowl of cereal or a SlimFast shake. I drink that while I am fixing Herkie's food, and most of the time I really don't want to eat because we usually go for a long walk after he has breakfast. I then head out to work at 2:45...and stop for lunch along the way...I tend to eat whatever I want...Subway, Mcdonald's...a salad from somewhere...but usually Mcdonalds...I am obsessed with Chicken Mcnuggets! I know you are saying...how can you lose weight and eat Mcdonalds? Well, whatever I eat at 3 pm is the bulk of my calories for the day, I come home on my lunch break so the boys can pee...this leaves no time to eat...so I drink another shake. I don't drink soda, if I do it's diet. I may have a snack at some point in the evening, to fend off starvation, because my job can be physical. I try not to deprive myself of something I want, and as of late...it's just been my meal of the day. But if I want to eat out at Applebee's, Texas Roadhouse...or somewhere nice on my day off then I do. I know that if I deprive myself of what I really want....then I will eat everything in sight to quelch that craving.

I am not saying I will drink SlimFast forever, or eat out everyday forever. In another 2 months...I am liable to be doing Atkins again! I seem to keep switching around to avoid being bored with the same type of eating. But what I am trying my hardest to do is incorporate exercise into my life. I know more than anything...if I exercise...then I can have the option to eat what I want( to an extent). So everyone pray for me that I can keep it up! Right now, I am only on my 2nd week at the gym, I am up to 2 1/2 miles on the treadmill, and then I do some weights after that. I haven't worked my way over to the elliptical (sp?) yet! I don't want to be totally embarrassed if I can only last 3 or 5 minutes. But I'll get there one day!

But I was just wondering what has worked for ya'll...so when I switch things up....I may have some more options! thanks for the input. Sorry so long!

 

[Boxerhelper]

Talk to your doctor

I am currently taking a prescription diet pill called Adipex (generic is phentermine). I am in the same situation, eating more in my truck than at a table and the gym not helping as I hoped it would. My weight porke dup to about 172 lbs and at 5'5" that is not good. When I went for my "Lady Exam" in June she informed my or my nearly 20lb weight increase. I told her that I knew it wasn't a healthy weight. I told her that I was working out 3-5 times a week and always very active and also suggested that maybe it was my thyroid gland (excuses we come up with) because my uh, err, monthly was very irregular and every 6-9 months without being on the pill. So, she sent me for bloodwork and imagine my horror when my levels were normal. My problem wasn't glandular, but it probably was more along the lines of not knowing when to quit. See, I have this little dh that can put down an entire pizza or an entire box of cereal in a sitting. He has bedtime snacks and eats crap all day. Well, I fell into the habit of snacking along with him. All the while he weighs around 150lbs at 5'9". Life's not fair, is it?
So here's my point if you can get your Dr. to prescribe it for you, provided you're in good health--blood pressure and all that stuff, the stuff works! I started the pills in June at 172lbs at nearly a size 14.....now, hold on to your knickers....I weigh 128lbs. and bought my first EVER pair of size 3 Tommy Jeans!!!!! Granted my boobs are in serious need of surgical inflation, but that's all thanks to having a child! Mother Nature can be a real hag.
My side effects have been very minimal and they pills are supposed to be habit forming, but I don't wake up in the morning fiending for a fix and there are days when I forget or I need to take cold medicine that I skip it. It's just one pill in the morning unlike infomercial where you have to take like 20 a day.
I'm in a size 3 and I still chow at McDonalds way more often than any person probably should!!!!!!

 

[Orionsmomma]

My endocrinologist put me on phentermine a few years ago. I ended up losing 72 pounds in just under a year. That was great! However...... when I stopped taking it, I went back to old eating habits and within a year, I had gained every bit of it back. If you do go with the phentermine, I would also suggest watching your eating habits, because it's not healthy to be on it forever, and if you resort back, you'll end up gaining all the weight back.

My stepsister (registered dietitian) made a pyramid for me and my stepmom to go by. Doing that, I lost 45 pounds, and my stepmom lost 60 some pounds. I would have lost more if I had stuck with it, but I didn't. I've just recently started doing it again, and I'm more than willing to share it, if you're interested.

Another suggestion that's helped me bunches... write down everything that goes into your mouth! It doesn't matter if it's 3 gummi bears, write it down. That way you can see everything you've been eating, and it's easier to cut that stuff out.

Good luck!

 

[kelseighgirl]

Holy Cow!!!!

From 172-128 since June!!!! WOW!!!
Reading your post I felt like I was telling my own story. I went from 125-148 in 4 years. Might not seem bad but I really am not happy at 148. I am 5'3 and it doesnt look bad, BUT I feel very self consious about it.
My big problem was with the job I do...sometimes you were lucky if you were able to eat and if you were it might just be a bag of chips or something. Very unhealthy, and sitting in a car the majority of the time doesnt help either. Funny you should say about blaming your thyroid...I just went to have blood work done on Fri for the exact same test!! hehehe!!
I also have a husband who is 5'10 150lbs so I know how you feel.
I have a drs appt on Wed so I will be discussing this medication with her for sure!!!!

Thanks

 

[Kosmo's Mom]

Jessica,
Sounds like you have the gym part going well for you. Also keep in mind that the body requires rest to repair itself after a good workout.
The best way to burn fat is to boost your metabolism.
To boost your metabolism try to eat 6 small meals a day instead of 3 big meals. Your Slimfast drinks could be 2 or 3 of those small meals so your halfway there!
When blood sugar levels spike after a big meal all fat burning stops. Eating small meals throughtout theday levels your blood sugar.
Another way is weight training. The more muscle you have the more calories you burn even at rest. For that reason weight training also boosts metabolism.
So many people starve themselves to try to lose weight but when you don't eat you are sending a message to your body to shut down any fat burning going on & your body goes into conservation mode. Therefore your metabolism slows down.
Any weight loss seen in a starvation diet is usually is water loss & not fat loss. Muscle is made of 90% water so they are also losing muscle too.

I am in no way an expert but I have read alot in trying to keep fit & healthy.
Hope this helps!! Good luck.
Keep it up & you will be cruising on that eliptical machine in no time

 

[Boxerhelper]

Pills aren't for everyone!

Please don't misunderstand my pill story. I am aware that when I stop taking them I will rebound some, but I'm VERY aware that stuffing my face was the culprit. Eating habits are so important. You have to know when to stop. Everyone has eaten to they literally feel like they are going to burst....and there is no excuse for that. Portion control is a major factor, have a small bit of everything not huge amounts of your favorite.
In my first month of meds, I cut out ALL sugar, went low-cal, low-carb, and watched the fat. I ate high protein and hit the carbs only when I needed them. I quit weights and hit a 45 min cardio-program. The eliptical machines at the gym in aerobics mode kick your ass, but it's the best thing for you.
You really have to get and keep your heart rate up! You need to sweat! Simple, non-sweaty workouts are nearly a waste of time.
I also had to let go of most of my beloved Coca-Cola!!! I drink 80% water most days. I do have a soda almost everyday, non-diet....I'd rather drink water than diet pop!! And many say that they only drink diet with 1/2 a caolorie or no calories. You need the water to flush your body and rehydrate healthy cells, diet pop doesn't do that! I lost 15 lbs the first month from excess of all of the bad things. It wasn't water weight that so many pills cause. I simply had to stop over-eating....I love to eat, but you've got to remember that you have to change habits. Know when your stomach is content, even if your taste buds and your brain are fiending for cheescake after a satisfactory meal. You don't have to give everything up, just learn to live with a taste. A bite of cheescake isn't going to tip the scales like an entire slice. FYI: There are 20-30 grams of fat in one little slice of cheescake...and I was eating one every night after a huge portion of pasta carbonara. This dish is the equivelant to eating 20 strips of bacon!
SO that's how bad my eating was!!!


A note for Kelseighgirl: Phentermine is categorized as an amphetamine so you may want to check if that is allowed in your career field--even if it is a prescription!!

 

[littleone]

Hi,

I'm on South Beach since July 9th and have lost quite a bit of weight without feeling deprived. It's similar to an Atkins program, I'm now on a combination of Phase 2 & 3 (depends on if I've overindulged a bit). You start with a 2-3 week induction (Phase 1) that limits you to protein, low/non fat dairy, lots of veggies, but no starches/bread/sweets/liquor. You have 3 meals a day, 2 snacks & dessert on this plan - it's basically the theory of small amounts frequently, but you don't have to weigh/measure anything but you do need to be aware of the glycemic index of a food. Low glycemic (good) would be something like a string cheese stick, turkey, berries, low fat yogurt, high glycemic (bad) are things like cookies, cakes, refined flour, etc. It's an easy plan to follow since you don't weigh/measure foods, they tell you if you're hungry - eat. With Phase 2, you add back fruit, some liquor (if you enjoy a drink now and then) and whole grains. With Phase 3, it's your maintenance program or as they term it "eating for life". If you find you gain a bit on Phase 3, either go back to Phase 1 or 2 depending on what you feel. I workout too (mostly weights), you do need to eat something light before you go, otherwise, you can't fuel your muscle to do the workout and run the risk of injuring yourself. Pace your workouts, you should give yourself 2 days of rest between them in order to allow the muscle time to repair and rebuild and be sure to drink lots of water to help your body flush out the lactic acid that builds post workout (this is the burn of sore muscles post). Take it slow and you'll do fine.

 

[BeckyNC]

I would also suggest South Beach. My dad's been on it since May and he's 67, so the loss of weight is going to be slower due to slower metabolism, but he's lost about 15 lbs and looks better than I can ever recall! I have another friend who went on South Beach in March and lost 13 lbs in 2 weeks. He has kept it off by continuing to follow the South Beach principles. His wife has lost, too, though more slowly. Another friend of mine followed the Schwarzbein diet (book called The Schwarzbein Principle, I think). He lost a lot of weight and the "diet" is also simlar to South Beach. The SB diet sounds really good, from everything I have heard, and does not put you at risk as medication might (don't get me wrong, I am not poo-pooing the medication route). The positive side of SB is it teaches you to moderate your eating habits (what you eat).

 

[craZ4HERKIE]

Thanks for all the responses everyone! I guess I am going to have to get on that elliptical after all! Now, mind you I do sweat on the treadmill...I raise & lower my speed & incline throughout the walk, and this seems to help tremendously, because when I am on, about after 10 min I feel like I have shin splints! But as I warm up, the pain goes away. Thanks for the tip on drinking water to flush out lactic acid littleone, now I know why my muscles are sore after I hit the weights! I usually try to alternate so I can let my body repair...if I work the arms today, then I try to do another area tomorrow. As far as pills go, it's probably not an option for me, as I've had high blood pressure before (don't know what it's like right now) need to head to the Doc! I tried the Metabolife a few years ago, and with ex-BF I tried Ephenidrine (sp) I think it still had Ephedra in it then. But on both of those I felt so FUNKY! So if at all possible, I will stay away from those! Another draw back for me is that I don't eat veggies....I can't keep them down, everyone says it's physcological, and it may be, but I've been like this since I was a baby. The only veggie I eat is lettuce for Caesar salads! And french fries...do they count? My Doc has mentioned Gastric bypass, yes my weight is that extreme! It was 318 at the start of the year, I am down to 286 right now! But I am definitely trying to avoid that route! So send me some vibes people! Way to go on your weight loss BoxerHelper....a size 3! Amazing!

 

[2BoxersnOhio]

kinda long sorry :o

Hubby and I have been on Atkins in Jan. 5th. (in the last 3 weeks we've really blown it, bad time of year to be trying to lose weight ). I had lost 50 and he had lost 135. We both have put back on 10lbs in the last month or so. I'm kicking myself for it. I still don't look that bad because I am still 40lbs lighter than I was a year ago and the same for him.

Here's our before and after.

We both feel so much better.. we just need to get back on the bandwagon.

Regardless of what diet you decide to try, if you deviate from that, you WILL gain weight back. That's why it's always a running joke if you lose 15, you'll gain back 30, etc. It's not because the diet didn't work. It's because during the diet you trained your body to eat a specific way and once you've lost all the weight you want to lose, you eventually start eating the way you used to.. the same way that caused you to gain all that weight to begin with. We've told ourselves from the beginning that we knew we wouldn't be able to go back to the way we'd always eaten because the weight will come back on, it's what caused us to get fat originally. And right now, we're living proof of that. Gaining 10lbs in a month isn't something to be proud of.. especially when you've worked so hard to lose it all. I had gotten down to a size 8, I weighed the same as I did in high school but in high school I wore size 11/12's. Right now my 8's are fitting like 6's

This is also why it has to be a LIFESTYLE change.. not just a "diet".

Personally I'm not fond of any "shake" diet. Only because you drink shakes to get your nutrition. Seems to me that once you get down to the desired weight, you'll stop drinking the shakes and start eating normal meals again.. thus causing you to gain weight because your body had been deprived of it for so long. Hubby drinks shakes in the morning, only because he's not a big breakfast eater to begin with (but has to have something in his stomach or feel sick for the rest of the day).. so he will likely continue to drink those even when he gets to his desired weight.

Everyone has their opinions about dieting. Can't tell you how many anti-atkins people decide to voice their opinions to me.. but once I tell them my diabetes is under control now (I was up to 74 units of insulin a DAY), my cholesterol is finally normal (both bad and good numbers), my triglycerides are normal, etc etc (basically all the bad numbers are down and all the good numbers are up), they have a hard time arguing with cold hard numbers :D

Whatever you decide, think of the future as well and remember it has to be for the rest of your life. And we're here for ya :D