The Best Diet???

[Over43]

What has everyone tried? I lost baskets full of weight on low carb, but it messes with my digestion. Low Glycemic is bland...(Or I just can't fight the sugar urge...I am weak!!)

The majority of my "junk" calories come from soda, (I'm not a real pastry/cake/candy eater...) and I'm beginning to think soda is worse than cigarettes. (I type that half jokingly...)

In March I came across the N S Diet which is: No Sweets, No Snacks, No Seconds, Except on Days that Start with S. (No S Diet: No snacks, sweets, seconds, except on days that start with S.) It worked well, but since summer has started I have been less adherent to it, but when school starts back up I'll have more structure.

I have even tried the raw fruit and vegetable diet (years ago). I can't say it was bad, but then "they" installed an In-n-Out Burger about a mile from my home. That ended that pipe dream.

[Connie]

You're making me hungry!

[crazypotato]

I heard diet pop is just as bad if not worse than sugared pop.

From my experience, I hate diets so I don't go on them, but I find I feel better if I remember to buy those bags of frozen vegetables, and then eat a huge amount of steamed veggies every day and whole grains. I still eat junk food too, but I eat the good stuff first and I don't feel as tired or hungry. Also, the more I exercise, the more I crave fruits and vegetables.

A personal trainer told me to not eat cold cereal and milk for breakfast, but to eat more protein, like yogurt mixed with cereal and fresh fruit. Or in the winter a large bowl of oatmeal. Also snacking is a good thing. I don't avoid fats anymore like I used to. My weight is the best when I am going outside a lot for walks and when I don't have stashes of junk in my house, but have to actually get in the car and go out to get it.

[Jenamarie]

Counting calories. It's free, relatively easy (if you buy pre-made things like hamburger buns, or make recipes that come with nutritional information, and then measure your portions)

I've lost 20 pounds in the past two and a half months just by counting calories and doing regular, vigorous exercise. (Jillian Michael's and Biggest Looser DVD's with handweights)

Following the Word of Wisdom also helps. Whole foods, grains, veggies, few sweets, and I don't drink carbonated drinks at all unless I'm at a party and it's the only thing available. Even diet sodas have a lot of sodium in them, which is bad for your health.

[Roseslipper]

eating more fresh fruit and veggies, 3 small meals a day, 2 healthy snacks. and exercise. smoothies are good too u can make great smoothies that are healthy fresh fruits and put green veggies in it...spanish, roman lettuce, cuke, celery, etc etc. put some protein powder in your smoothie too. Good luck...Ihave a hard time with diets too. Ugh

[Wingnut]

Counting calories. It's free, relatively easy (if you buy pre-made things like hamburger buns, or make recipes that come with nutritional information, and then measure your portions)

I've lost 20 pounds in the past two and a half months just by counting calories and doing regular, vigorous exercise. (Jillian Michael's and Biggest Looser DVD's with handweights)

Following the Word of Wisdom also helps. Whole foods, grains, veggies, few sweets, and I don't drink carbonated drinks at all unless I'm at a party and it's the only thing available. Even diet sodas have a lot of sodium in them, which is bad for your health.

I'm starting to count calories again. You can kind-of eat whatever you want, but it's all about portion control. I also am growing a garden this year, which is great for green veggies or salad on the side. I've never been great at preparing side dishes to go with the main part of the meal, but tonight for example, I steamed some broccoli to go with dinner. One cup of broccoli (which is one serving) is relatively filling, but only has 30 calories.

There are a lot of sites out there that let you track your caloric intake. I really like this one, because you can input your whole recipe, ingredients and everything, instead of picking through a limited list of food items. The database at that site has fresh and prepared foods, restaurants, brand names and generics -- pretty much any food you want to look up, the nutritional value is there. They have over 110,000 foods and 380,000 recipes you can browse through, not to mention inputting and saving your own recipes.

[Suzie]

Wingnut, thanks for that link! I just bookmarked it, I think is great!

[rameumptom]

I find that the modified Bible diet works really well. You fast 40 days and nights. Weight will come right off. The modified part is that you can drink water....

Seriously, some studies have suggested that when a person fasts for 20 hours, it changes the metabolism temporarily so the body uses the foods eaten afterward for 2 days more efficiently. So, if you were to fast two times a week, you would see a definite weight loss, and still be able to manage a normal diet.

Of course, for me, I hate to diet and to fast (though I do fast every Sunday). So, I work on portion control, and snacks means fruits and veggies. If I eat candy, it is usually dark chocolate (good for the body), and I will only eat about one square.

[johnnylingo]

The best diet is no diet.

Just eat the foods you normally do, but cut the portion sizes. You could eat a kid's burger at In-N-Out, or eating 1 bun instead of 2, or split a french fry order amongst your family rather than getting individual portions. Try lower calorie replacements (like swapping soda for carbonated water with lemon) whenever possible, but never deny yourself delicious food, and never feel guilty about it. If you still feel hungry, you can eat fruits and vegetables, but once your mind gets used to it, you realize that your body doesn't really need huge portions.

Diets (and self-denial) usually only work for a few months, but eating the foods you love in smaller portions is something easy you can maintain your whole life.

[bl8tant]

What Johnnylingo said is true.

I've found that counting calories is helpful, but mostly because it forces me to account for what I eat. I'm more likely to pass up something if I think "but hey, that's another 200 calories or whatever."

Getting a divorce is also a great way to lose weight, but not one which I recommend.

[Wingnut]

I've found that counting calories is helpful, but mostly because it forces me to account for what I eat. I'm more likely to pass up something if I think "but hey, that's another 200 calories or whatever."

That's the biggest reason (right now) that it's helpful for me. It was like when I used to be really irresponsible with my spending habits, and would repeatedly overdraw my bank account with my debit card. I cut up the card and started using only checks, and ones without carbon copies, so that I had to record the transaction in my register, but I also had to actively think about exactly how much I was spending every time. That curbed my spending habits pretty quickly.

[Jenamarie]

Yup, the accountability thing is a big reason why I love calorie counting. It's made me much more concientious (sp??) of what I eat, because if I'm going to eat 300 calories in a meal, it's going to be a *good* *filling* 300 calories. Not a small bag of chips that'll have my stomach rumbling again in less than 10 minutes.

[Guest]

"Everything in moderation" is my diet. Avoid the "See-food" diet (I see food I eat it).

Things to help me:

Use lunch plates or smaller - especially for dinner.

Eat small meals. When you're at a restaurant, pack 1/2 of the food. Its okay to eat something every 2-3 hours.

Don't eat anything 2 hours before bedtime.

Don't drink anything except water unless there's something special going on.

Sit down for meals, savor every bite, eat when you're hungry, stop eating when you're not hungry anymore.

Before you put something in your mouth, analyze what you're getting out of it - milk gives you calcium, vegetables give you vitamins and minerals, meat gives you protein, candy gives you bad teeth.

[Cassiopeia]

I find that the modified Bible diet works really well. You fast 40 days and nights. Weight will come right off. The modified part is that you can drink water....

Seriously, some studies have suggested that when a person fasts for 20 hours, it changes the metabolism temporarily so the body uses the foods eaten afterward for 2 days more efficiently. So, if you were to fast two times a week, you would see a definite weight loss, and still be able to manage a normal diet.

Of course, for me, I hate to diet and to fast (though I do fast every Sunday). So, I work on portion control, and snacks means fruits and veggies. If I eat candy, it is usually dark chocolate (good for the body), and I will only eat about one square.

That isn't how it works. When you deprive yourself of food on a regular basis your body slows its metabolic rate and stores the food you do eat in the event you do it again.

My daughter is a certified personal trainer and she recommends that people plan three meals a week where they eat what they want and as much. She said that encourage both mind and body that all is well and it doesn't slow down your metabolism.

[Guest]

That isn't how it works. When you deprive yourself of food on a regular basis your body slows its metabolic rate and stores the food you do eat in the event you do it again.

My daughter is a certified personal trainer and she recommends that people plan three meals a week where they eat what they want and as much. She said that encourage both mind and body that all is well and it doesn't slow down your metabolism.

Cassiopeia is right.

But, the LDS habit of fasting 3 meals on first Sunday of the month is a way you can trigger your body to process food more efficiently. Not the 40 days one.

[crazypotato]

If you exercise heavily in torturous boot camp style for many hours a day, then you can wolf down large amounts of high calorie yummy foods. My husband came back from basic training with no visible body fat and muscles like a rock all over his body. He was eating several thousand calories a day.

I hate dieting. I would rather work out for hours and then eat eat eat. My problem sometimes is I don't eat enough calories so then I feel really tired and sluggish.

[kimiko]

Honestly, I think the best way to "diet" is to not "diet" at all. If you really want to lose the extra pounds, get into shape, etc., then your best bet is to make lifestyle changes.

I constantly hear about people who went on "such and such" diet, and lost a ton of weight. As soon as they reached their goals, they went right back to eating the crap they were before and gained all, if not more, of the weight back.

Lifestyle changes are the answer. Make commitments to gradually improve yourself. Don't try to change everything at once. Start small, and let a new lifestyle change become a habit. It isn't going to happen over night, so be patient.

[pam]

Cassiopeia is right.

But, the LDS habit of fasting 3 meals on first Sunday of the month is a way you can trigger your body to process food more efficiently. Not the 40 days one.

Never heard of having to fast for 3 meals.

[UrbanFool]

I lost over a hundred pounds on Weight Watchers, and then lost about 60 pounds with Dr. Phil's Shape-up Plan. I can't believe I opened an EATING thread on Fast Sunday. I guess I'm a glutton for punishment.

[Dravin]

Honestly, I think the best way to "diet" is to not "diet" at all. If you really want to lose the extra pounds, get into shape, etc., then your best bet is to make lifestyle changes.

I concur. Thinking of a diet as something you go onto and then get off of once you reach a target weight is asking for rebound weight gain. A diet (as in what foods you eat, technically if all you eat is Pepsi and Twinkies such is your diet) is ideally something one is prepared to do indefinitely, which means you may have to choose slower weight loss in the interests of sustainability.

[pam]

I like WW but I'm one that REALLY needs support when doing something like this. I was working in an office where there were about 20 of us doing it. Lost 20 pounds in 2 months and I noticed such a difference just in the 20 pounds. Plus I honestly started craving salads.

Just going to meetings with people I don't know just doesn't do it for me. I need to constantly be around people who are doing the same thing so that I'm accountable to many people. Besides the fact that others are watching everything you eat during the day. :)

[UrbanFool]

I joined eDiets. I guess the site is a lot fancier now, but we had challenges so we were all competing with each other daily. There were numerous challenges to meet your own needs. I've no doubt that my membership with eDiets had a lot to do with my weight loss.

[Cassiopeia]

I can't believe I opened an EATING thread on Fast Sunday. I guess I'm a glutton for punishment.

yeah what were you thinking?

[Guest mirancs8]

You know... I want to be just like Karl Lagerfeld!!

Just like him I want to squeeze my soon to be little tush into those as he so elequently put it clothes designed for “...very, very slim boys—and not men my age." Yep he's got the secret alright! Apparently you have to have a permanent flow of, get this, diet coke in a bottle that costs $64 entering your mouth too!! You have to hand it to the stud muffin he lost 90 pounds in 13 months on what I would prefer to call the "copy the runway model" diet

I'll have to check with him... since I'm a Pepsi girl will it give me the same results?

Sorry but you just gotta love the ultra tight jean. Like he's going through a 2nd mid-life crisis lol!!

[crazypotato]

You know... I want to be just like Karl Lagerfeld!!

Just like him I want to squeeze my soon to be little tush into those as he so elequently put it clothes designed for “...very, very slim boys—and not men my age." Yep he's got the secret alright! Apparently you have to have a permanent flow of, get this, diet coke in a bottle that costs $64 entering your mouth too!! You have to hand it to the stud muffin he lost 90 pounds in 13 months on what I would prefer to call the "copy the runway model" diet

I'll have to check with him... since I'm a Pepsi girl will it give me the same results?

Sorry but you just gotta love the ultra tight jean. Like he's going through a 2nd mid-life crisis lol!!

That looks like an unhealthy diet. I think runway models are a bunch of chainsmoking smoothie drinkers.:)