I completely agree. My son recently lost 125 lb using a Homeopathic M2HCG Diet Program.  The basic premise was to reduce his intake to 500 calories a day and the M2HCG drops acted as a supplement so that his mind and body did not feel as if he was starving. The diet was very vigorous but he went from 300 lbs to 175 lbs in just over 6 months. At age 65 I had risen to 280 lbs and though inspired by my son's results, I could not imagine giving up on all the foods I love. I installed My Fitness Pal on my i phone and simply started watching my calorie intake. I started at the end of January 2012 and as of today I am down to 248.4 lbs. Just paying attention has worked. The bounce in my step and energy level has been greatly enhanced.

Overall, good advice on the pitfalls of "dieting."  I think you might be better dieting and then worrying about the lifestyle change later.  The key for some of us is to get the weight off and then sort out the "lifestyle."  Or sort out "lifestyle" while you are dieting. 

My diet for the last 15 months has been Atkins.  It worked well enough that I've lost about 100 lbs, but as described my metabolism has adjusted to the diet and my weight has stalled for the past couple of months so I have to make some changes.  When I reach my goal, I'll worry about lifestyle, but it will include more exercise than before the diet started.

Find what works, then go with it. 

The first word in diet is "die". The first word in lifestyle is "life". I like the later one better.

I agree completely.  Making a lifestyle change has worked for me.  Lifestyle change is sustainable.  Diets are short term and usually result in gaining more weight than your starting point once stopped!

While I whole heartedly agree with this article there are a few mods. There are just some foods you have to eliminate. Sometimes you can't have just one. Example. My husband has a weakness for soda. After two weeks of calorie cutting he rewarded hisself with just one. The next say he had another. He then started cutting out the good foods he needed, such as fruits and veggies, to save the calories, carbs, and sodium. A week later he was back to four a day, starving himself, and gained 8 lbs back and his blood pressure was high again. To an emotional eater or someone with light will power this article can be hazardous to their lifestyle change. I see it every day at work. Just my opinion though.

 Hey everyone!!!

I don't do diets I hate them but what  I have done is cut out white carbs out of my diet  sodas, and sweets and rarely I eat red meat , I exercise on a regular basis and I have lost 17 LBS in 34 days I am happy because I know I am keeping those pounds off .

But if you are on a diet and works for you work it ... I believe that diets are not for everyone and they don't work for everyone either ..

Have a great day today !!1

 

 

 

 

Although cutting 500 calories a day has been the general assumption to lose a pound a week, that's not exactly the case. Study results presented at this year’s American Association for the Advancement of Science’s conference showed dieters can only expect about a 5 lb. weight loss from cutting 100 calories a day from their diets. That's only half the 10 lbs that most assume will occur.

This statement is very confusing!! Isn't that what we are doing here???

I would love to hear how far over 300lbs the "experts" were when they started their lifestyle change.

I had weight loss surgery.  Started at 350 made it down to 235.  Then, at the weight loss center, my blood work showed me extremely low in potassium.  (One of the side effects of surgery is the lowered ability to absord some minerals)  The medical side started to work on it.  So did the dietitian.  Bananas and sweet potatoes were my prescription from the dietitian.  As many as I could swallow.  I was told to shoot for 5 bananas and 2 taters a day.  Hunger returned for the first time in six months.  I put on weight.  I was devastated.  Too late.  From there it has been a struggle.  I'm up to 275.

Before I left the weight loss center, I asked the dietitian how her weight loss struggle was going.  "Ha ha!  One time in college, I let myself go and got all the way up to 127!  Then I struggled and watched what I ate and exercised and got back down to 120.  Now I fluctuate between 120 and 123!"  She had no idea.  Just repeating what she was told.

I tell my doctor that human may have evolved on the plains of Africa eating carbs, but my ancestors survived the last ice age eating critters.  If you had to have carbs, you migrated to southern Europe.  No Greek or Italian in me.  All northern Europe.  Celts, Poles, Slavs, Norse.  I can't rely on a high carb diet and expect to lose weight. 

Hi all

I have tried evrything, including a liquid diet programme where I lost 91 lbs in 5 months. Great at the time, I now weigh more than when I started. I have recently tried cutting out carbs, that works a bit but a little slower. I have joined this as I want to have a healthier relationship with food. I have lost all confience in my ability to lose weight and the liquid diet programme has really made me think that I need to do that as my only way to lose weight. I wish I could trust calorie counting. I've lost faith in it. Because I wasn't eating for so long, evertytime I eat now, even if its a healthy meal, I binge. I definately agree with the article above, but I also agree with the lady in the previous post. That's all very well, but if you add  emotional eating and addictive behaviour into the scenerio, eating all and evry food when you want can be a disasteany help in my crooked thinking would be appreciated

jenny

London

 

Ironically, many weight loss clinics focus on the timeline.  As I explained to my doctor, sure, I'd love to lose forty pounds in a month, but is it workable?  Can I do it the rest of my life?  Heck, no.

These are the problems I see with diets: 

 

1.  We consider them to be temporary, that we'll succeed and merrily live happily ever after without ever storing any extra calories from a margarita or banana split.  It's considered a special regime, instead of just expanding your mindfulness about what goes in and what needs to be burned. 

2.  Not just the demonization of food--although terrific point--but the sense that we are suffering deprivation.  Some of this is the way we were raised; when I was raising my kids, instead of cookies or candy for treats as a reward, it was the bookstore.  I had come to recognize that our social occasions (Thanksgiving, Christmas, birthdays, 4th of July) tend to take place with the celebration built around food, rather than the opposite, and I figured that if I wanted healthy kids, I needed to start with healthy habits.  Besides, I knew my own hot buttons and thought I'd prefer not to install them on the the kids.

3.  The equating of weight loss/weight gain, with virtue or lack of virtue.  This really gets those hot buttons working; you 'slip' and don't follow the 'diet' one day, and you end up in that failure-blame cycle which is simply human craziness.  It should be an equation, all right:  Calories in should = Calories burned (either by just breathing or more strenuous and active pursuits).  I don't care what weight loss program says what; it comes down to physics, essentially.  It takes X amount to run the machine, so you need a minimum of that; more than that and you need to find a way to  run the machine a little higher.  It's not about who is good or bad  or deserving.

4.  Which brings me to the corollary of 'I deserve to have that chocolate cake' thinking.  Some of that goes back to the treats for rewards thing, I think, but I also think that for many of us, there's this 'authority' standing to one side of our brain who is laying down the law.   If we recognize that hey, that's us!, we're a lot better off.  It sounds silly, but my biggest epiphany in fifteen years was catching myself thinking resentfully that I wanted a turkey sub (we had a place in town that made the best ever) and suddenly realizing, with embarrassment, that I was a grown up.  If I wanted a turkey sub, I could just turn into the parking lot, go through the drive through and order a turkey sub.  Or, I could save those calories  for the time being and spread them out farther, it was all my choice, up to me, and I was answerable only to me.  If I shortchanged anyone, it was me, and if I was accountable to anyone, it was me.

One of the reasons I love this community is the encouragement of that recognition, that we're accountable to ourselves, not to anyone else, and that if we short change anyone by not keeping good records, it's ourselves.  Which is why all of mine have my 'warts and all' moments, like eating over 400 calories of chocolate Easter crap on Easter Sunday.  Embarrassing, but at least it's accurate and I know where I stand.

Ironically, that 'stunning' epiphany made it that much more painless to actually take control and keep records.  Weird, huh.

I completely agree with this article, thanks for posting.

It's true that you'll be much more successful if you aim to make a lifestyle change that you can feel comfortable sustaining for the rest of your life instead of going on a crash diet that would never be sustainable. Sure, it's hard to lose weight slowly (and healthily!) when you've previously seen the scale jump down big numbers every week. But it's completely worth it.

I lost 25 pounds in  a month and a half and gained back 15 over the next few months because when my life got stressful I couldn't stick to 1,200 calories a day and exercising for close to two hours 7 days a week. Now I've lost 60 additional pounds on top of the 10 that I managed to keep off from my crash diet and it was much slower, 60 pounds took me nearly 9 months to lose. But I'm happier, have more energy, don't have to worry about every single calorie constantly, I can go out with friends and eat and have fun without thinking I'm "ruining everything", and I know I can keep the weight off and reach my goal sometime soon.

The one thing I notice since started calorie count is like most people we become more ''mindful'' about what we are eating.  The other thing that I find has change with me is that I automatically have slowed down as I am eating and enjoying my food....I have always been a ''rush'' eater..''eat quickly because there is lots of things that need to get done'' Since calories count.. now it is almost like I am trying to make the meal spread out and last longer...in turn ..slower eating...and of course getting fuller faster...wonderful change.....

I think he thing is it's all in your mind, If you're 'on a diet' then there's the potential on weekends and holidays to 'treat' your self to 'forbidden' foods...if you make life style changes and form new habits then you're more likely to stick with a healthy regime. I personally manage the appropriate 'mind-set' about 80% of the time so it's taking me a long while to shift the excess pounds. I do however have only 20 - 25 pounds ( I started with about 95 to lose) to go now and have a BMI of just overweight instead of 'Argghhhh you're about to drop dead'! Having taken longer to lose the excess I am confident that the changes I've made will be with me for good and the weight will stay off when I reach my target.

I Think they meant to say 10 pounds a year

This is totally true. 2 years ago i slimmed down from 100 kg to 64 in just 6 months and in the process i lost my gallbladder.  I foud out that if the organism doesn't have the right intake of fats the bile in the gallbladder accumulates and it forms gallbladder stones. Our body needs all the foods not just salads and chicken breast. We have to eat normal but in small amounts and we must forget about fast foods i think this is the best thing we can do. Now i have 69,5 kg and i feel great. I have a BMI of 21.5 and i have't eaten a burger in 2 years now and i don't miss it at all. If we just change a bit of eating habits we will see amazing results.

Great information here.  Hopefully people get away from the ideas that cutting this out or that out will make you lose weight.  Again, cutting foods you love will only lead to feeling deprived, sadness, and eventual failure.  Sorry, but I love bread, normal white bread, and I'm going to eat it and enjoy it!  I also love pasta and I eat it ALL the time.

Same goes with EXERCISE!  People think "I need to work out more" or "I can eat whatever I want if I work out hard enough!"  There might be some truth to that but in the end it will lead to regaining weight you've lost.  I've been doing H.I.I.T. workouts--15 minutes 3 to 4 days a week--and it's all I need.

Finally, a HUGE component to help you lose weight is WATER!  Hydrating before each meal works wonders.  Seriously, 8 to 10 gulps of h2o will have a big impact on your food intake.

STILL, IT'S ALL TOO COMPLICATED!

The easiest way I found is to simply eat less.  Eat less of whatever you want.  I follow the Half Meal Habit to lose weight and it's been GREAT. I eat the foods I love, I just eat half of what I used to and, voila, thinner me!   

I started on this weight loss journey for a multitude of reasons. I half halfheartedly tried "diet" programs in the past. I was always looking for a quick fix. Never worked. It wasn't until I started seriously looking at the types of foods I regularly ate, the amount I ate, when I ate, and my burn rate was I able to grasp how the "weight loss equation" works.

Becoming knowledgeable about how the body processes different types of foods, stores excess calories, and how exercise impacts your metabolism and state of mind is key to long term weight loss and management. Slow but consistent and deliberate changes towards a more healthy lifestyle are more likely to become permanent than unsustainable fad diets.

Bottom line, if you want to achieve permanent weight loss it won't happen with a diet. It will happen with a lifestyle change that involves you taking charge of your health.

 

I have also recently started an Atkins-like diet.  After years of hearing about it, and not doing any research, I came across a Youtube documentary that really got me thinking.  The link is The Food Revolution - AHS 2011 - YouTube, or search youtube for the food revolution if the link fails.  

It is lengthy - 54 minute documentary, but man, it was so absorbing to me.   I always figured I could never give up bread - but it's been so easy.  Crazy as it sounds, you replace your carbs with healthy natural fats.  I've been eating cheese, steak, eggs, fresh salads and vegies, nuts and fish, whole dairy products and berries.  I'm not hungary, nor am I craving the wheat carbs.  I dropped 5 lbs in the first week that I've been eating like this so far.  I don't get the extreme lows of hunger where I am capable of ripping off somebodies head if I don't eat, and I'm not sluggish and tired.  

The one thing that I haven't removed is red wine at night and a few squares of the darkest chocolate I can find.  I'll post again in another month!

YES! OH YES, OH YES!

I absolutely agree, and emphatically suggest this to all my friends.  I don't deny myself any particular food, and I allow myself to binge, even as an occasional reward for meeting or exceeding goals! BUT, I acknowledge that when I do, I'll be working it off in the gym with a harder workout.

It's not a diet, but a lifestyle change.  I started going to the gym in Jan of 2011, weighing 222 lbs.  Today I weigh 195 (so about 20 still to go, according to WHO.).  I've run two 5Ks, and a 10K since then and completed my first half marathon in March!

I feel GREAT! and my energy's greatly increased!   

Original Post by: hyundai60

I completely agree. My son recently lost 125 lb using a Homeopathic M2HCG Diet Program.  The basic premise was to reduce his intake to 500 calories a day and the M2HCG drops acted as a supplement so that his mind and body did not feel as if he was starving. The diet was very vigorous but he went from 300 lbs to 175 lbs in just over 6 months. At age 65 I had risen to 280 lbs and though inspired by my son's results, I could not imagine giving up on all the foods I love. I installed My Fitness Pal on my i phone and simply started watching my calorie intake. I started at the end of January 2012 and as of today I am down to 248.4 lbs. Just paying attention has worked. The bounce in my step and energy level has been greatly enhanced.

Frankly I think your son is/was doing his body more harm than good. Sure it's tempting to simply cut back on calories, but not being fit while overweight and not being fit while slim are essentially the same ... I'd say being slim and unfit is worse.

It's said that a less rigorous cutback of calories than the one you describe leads to a state for the body that you really really don't want it it. This will be when your body will try to store every last calorie in your intake and will try to hold onto the stored energy. I would describe it as a "hunger strike" defense mechanism. Some similar things are known from extensive fasting. And that's when you will basically have to decide whether you give the body enough fuel to normalize (if that is possible) or whether you cut back further. There are guidelines for a minimum intake and for a man  it's usually placed around 1600 kcal/d. 500 kcal is perhaps a small bowl (3 oz) of cereals with milk, right? ...

The weight that goes first in an active weight-loss (cut back moderately, based on current weight, be active) is visceral fat, the one that is one of the biggest risk factors for heart diseases and diabetes. The weight that goes first when you are not active but cut out an excessive amount of calories is muscles.

I've lost "only" 92 lbs within six month. But I'm active and since I built muscles that will add to my basic energy needs, thus facilitating more weight loss. As a side-effect I'm fitter than some people that are dozens of lbs lighter than I am at this moment.

It's perfectly fine if this resulted in weight loss for your son, but please don't give others the impression that this is in any way a healthy approach, even if it "worked" (but at what cost?).

Counting calories (if only to raise awareness), drinking a lot and being more active will go a long way to reducing weight.

I loved these posts:

coachtod: "The first word in diet is "die". The first word in lifestyle is "life". I like the later one better."

and rachelwert: "...we're accountable to ourselves, not to anyone else, and that if we short change anyone by not keeping good records, it's ourselves.  Which is why all of mine have my 'warts and all' moments, like eating over 400 calories of chocolate Easter crap on Easter Sunday.  Embarrassing, but at least it's accurate and I know where I stand."

It is so much easier to live a lifestyle than a diet. A lifestyle mentality is ongoing and not guilt-ridden like most diets. I know that if I indulge once in awhile I am mentally keeping track of what I am taking in and allowing that choice to happen, rather than "going off the diet" and "cheating" which leads to guilt and shame. It's knowing that I will keep track of what I am eating that makes the difference. If we choose to indulge 10-20% of the time, we can still be accountable. I have the rule that I can eat whatever I want, but I HAVE to log the food so that I can see the results of my choices (the analysis is very helpful with this accountability- you can see the calories, fat, sodium, sugar... everything!). It may not be pretty as rachelwert says, but at least I know where I stand with the choices I've made.

I choose not to ignore less healthy choices. Instead I choose to incorporate them into a long-term healthy lifestyle as an occasional treat, celebration or vacation. I log everything I possibly can, even if it's just an estimate. Once the event is over, I am right back on track making accountable, yet healthy choices again, knowing that I will continue to reach my health and fitness goals.

Weight loss and having a healthy lifestyle is an ongoing process, not an event. Keep at it everyone. Your comments and suggestions are helping us all!

In the last two and one half years I have gone from 296 to 183 by sticking to 1100 to 1300 calories a day depending upon my activity.  While I try to eat healthy foods I don't deny myself anything.  Went to a birthday party last Saturday and took my cake home for supper.  I've gone on too many fad diets in the past and gained all the weight back.  My goal for this year is to lose 10 more pounds and 20 next year and then maintain.

1 word: Exercise

Everyone talks about dieting and, don't get me wrong, having a healthy diet is important. Why is everyone so afraid of exercise?

Muscle burns calories. Exercising burns calories and builds muscle. Besides, while people say they want to lose weight, what they really want to do is lose fat.

Exercise is good and essential but can't be the primary lifestyle change.  My daughter lost 50 lbs by walking 5 miles a day and promptly gained it back when sidelines by an injury.

In my experience activity increase is just as important as diet, if not more so.

Walking, Running, Swimming, Rowing, Cycling, HIIT Training, Traditional Weight-lifting, Crossfit, Interval Runs etc. what ever you choose to do is good. Naturally, if you have made no major changes in your lifestyle, quitting the exercise (for whatever reason) is going to lead to a regression. However, if you stick with a specific exercise program (especially one which stimulates muscle growth) you will build muscle, which will cause your body to burn more calories. Of course injury will cause a loss in muscle mass if it prevents you from doing all exercise for a very long time, however the loss is a lot slower than many people think. The more efficiently your body is trained to operate, the more fat you will burn.

Also, remember, muscle is denser than fat. In my above post I differentiated the need to lose "weight" from the goal of losing "fat." You may not see as dramatic a weight loss if you build muscle but you will (especially if combined with a well balanced diet) see a significant change in your body composition.

This is also why the standard "BMI" that relies on height and weight (and the rope and choke method) is no where near accurate when applied to most athletes.

 

The premise of this article is that you need to be in a calorie deficit, that's the most important part of a "weight loss" diet. If you increase your activity you will expend more calories. If you control your diet adequately then you will ingest fewer. Doing both will increase the deficit.

(this is my own opinion; I am not a doctor or licensed nutritionist.)

In my experience activity increase is just as important as diet, if not more so.

Walking, Running, Swimming, Rowing, Cycling, HIIT Training, Traditional Weight-lifting, Crossfit, Interval Runs etc. what ever you choose to do is good. Naturally, if you have made no major changes in your lifestyle, quitting the exercise (for whatever reason) is going to lead to a regression. However, if you stick with a specific exercise program (especially one which stimulates muscle growth) you will build muscle, which will cause your body to burn more calories. Of course injury will cause a loss in muscle mass if it prevents you from doing all exercise for a very long time, however the loss is a lot slower than many people think. The more efficiently your body is trained to operate, the more fat you will burn.

Also, remember, muscle is denser than fat. In my above post I differentiated the need to lose "weight" from the goal of losing "fat." You may not see as dramatic a weight loss if you build muscle but you will (especially if combined with a well balanced diet) see a significant change in your body composition.

This is also why the standard "BMI" that relies on height and weight (and the rope and choke method) is no where near accurate when applied to most athletes.

 

The premise of this article is that you need to be in a calorie deficit, that's the most important part of a "weight loss" diet. If you increase your activity you will expend more calories. If you control your diet adequately then you will ingest fewer. Doing both will increase the deficit.

(this is my own opinion; I am not a doctor or licensed nutritionist.)

Original Post by: rob_of_indy

I would love to hear how far over 300lbs the "experts" were when they started their lifestyle change.

I had weight loss surgery.  Started at 350 made it down to 235.  Then, at the weight loss center, my blood work showed me extremely low in potassium.  (One of the side effects of surgery is the lowered ability to absord some minerals)  The medical side started to work on it.  So did the dietitian.  Bananas and sweet potatoes were my prescription from the dietitian.  As many as I could swallow.  I was told to shoot for 5 bananas and 2 taters a day.  Hunger returned for the first time in six months.  I put on weight.  I was devastated.  Too late.  From there it has been a struggle.  I'm up to 275.

Before I left the weight loss center, I asked the dietitian how her weight loss struggle was going.  "Ha ha!  One time in college, I let myself go and got all the way up to 127!  Then I struggled and watched what I ate and exercised and got back down to 120.  Now I fluctuate between 120 and 123!"  She had no idea.  Just repeating what she was told.

I tell my doctor that human may have evolved on the plains of Africa eating carbs, but my ancestors survived the last ice age eating critters.  If you had to have carbs, you migrated to southern Europe.  No Greek or Italian in me.  All northern Europe.  Celts, Poles, Slavs, Norse.  I can't rely on a high carb diet and expect to lose weight. 

bananas are packed in starch, stay away.

Rob of Indy

Google "Paleo Diet"

No realistic weight loss can be achieved without a controlled "eating plan" which is just a euphemism for "diet". So it's all a matter of semantics to me. 

Yes, FAD diets are an anomaly and should be avoided, but the word diet itself is just a generic synonymous  term for "food plan, so for me it has no profound negative connotation. 

EVERYONE: pay attention to what I am about to say.

 

READ INTUITIVE EATING. it is the best book in the whole world! it is this idea of not dieting...scientific...applicable...it is changing my life! i can't even explain everything it talks about without doing it justice. but if you are one who is controlled by food, the thought of your next meal, and just down-right have a terrible relationship with food...you MUST read this. i was tired of worrying constantly and feeling anguish over EVER SINGLE THING i put in my mouth. food IS meant to be enjoyed! we ARE MEANT TO EAT FOOD! food is not bad!!!! read. this. book!!!

3 simple rules that will change your life: eat less, move more, and hydrate

What I've found is, all these DIETS are simply CRAZY.  

Eat like a caveman?  What about the rest of your family?  Are you going to make a "caveman meal" for you and then a separate "regular" meal for your wife and kids? 

Cut out carbs.  Really?  what about eating at a friends house?  Or eating out?  Are you SURE there aren't any carbs in that meal?  

If you drastically CHANGE your menu (to, say, "healthy" foods or some random specific diet or some expensive meal plan) odds are you are NOT going to be happy with your food experiences.  You'll end up going back to all those "bad" foods you love anyway.

Eat what you want, what you love, just start to eat LESS.  THEN slowly add/replace with carrots and celery, more lean protein, and so on if you want to be healthier.  

Original Post by: WarriorsForever

In my experience activity increase is just as important as diet, if not more so.

Walking, Running, Swimming, Rowing, Cycling, HIIT Training, Traditional Weight-lifting, Crossfit, Interval Runs etc. what ever you choose to do is good. Naturally, if you have made no major changes in your lifestyle, quitting the exercise (for whatever reason) is going to lead to a regression. However, if you stick with a specific exercise program (especially one which stimulates muscle growth) you will build muscle, which will cause your body to burn more calories. Of course injury will cause a loss in muscle mass if it prevents you from doing all exercise for a very long time, however the loss is a lot slower than many people think. The more efficiently your body is trained to operate, the more fat you will burn.

Also, remember, muscle is denser than fat. In my above post I differentiated the need to lose "weight" from the goal of losing "fat." You may not see as dramatic a weight loss if you build muscle but you will (especially if combined with a well balanced diet) see a significant change in your body composition.

This is also why the standard "BMI" that relies on height and weight (and the rope and choke method) is no where near accurate when applied to most athletes.

 

The premise of this article is that you need to be in a calorie deficit, that's the most important part of a "weight loss" diet. If you increase your activity you will expend more calories. If you control your diet adequately then you will ingest fewer. Doing both will increase the deficit.

(this is my own opinion; I am not a doctor or licensed nutritionist.)

YES.  Although I do think eating less IS still most important, exercise only compounds your weight loss (or as you so correctly put it, fat loss).  Of all the activities you mentioned, HIIT Workouts are my FAVORITE!  They are short (10-15 minutes), intense, add muscle, give your heart a great workout (read: cardio), and full body!!!  So, when I say you need to move more, I don't mean more as in HOURS, but as in intensity.  3 to 4 HIIT workouts per week is all you need.  What is that, 45 to 60 minutes total per week?  And what an impact it will have!

Thank you for dropping some knowledge!

I was an overweight child who became an obese late teen/early 20's with a high weight of 300.  I yo-yoed up and down 20, 40, 60 lbs up and down, up and down numerous times going on many diets.

 

I went to psychotherapy, dealt with the reasons behind why I ate, developed an eating plan I could live with and when I reached 235 started with aerobics and weights.

 

I am now 54 and am a size 4 at 132 lbs, good cholestrol, low pulse, low B/P.  I found ballroom dancing at age 24 and I think everyone who wants to lose weight and more importantly KEEP IT OFF must find a physical activity or two or three that they like to do and then encorporate it into your lifestyle. 

 

 Food is not a part of my life like it is for everyone else......I don't go to parties, go to restaurants, celebrate holidays with food..    Our society is food-obsessed and this keeps us all like rats on a treadmill going nowhere afs we keep eating the food at the same time we are walking on the treadmill.  There is so much more to life than ..    I try very hard to eat as little as possible; everything non and low fat, almost no meat, nothing fried, almost never going out to eat, eating popcorn, oatmeal, shredded wheat, cream of wheat, fat free/sugar free pudding with protein powder, dried low fat peanut butter powder, flaxseed, as recent info says non/low fat milk helps with weight loss and maintenance as does protein at every meal.

 

Good luck to us all!

It seems to me that there's a lot of contradiction in the diet world and even in the posts here. Some of you have stated that you removed carbs, are on the Atkins diet, and have had surgery to assist in weight loss. I think that reading the article it is saying that diets like Atkins, and the other low calories or food type deprived will sustain long term results.For myself I have found many of the nutritionist and Doctor endorsed weight loss regimes have shown that I do not eat enough food and filling the caloric void with sugary snacks,excessive protein in take, low carb or low fat is not the solution.Your body needs fat, and carbs to create energy, protein in moderate amounts for muscle function.The calorie counter on this web sight is good in that it grades the food you are eating and shows you how much sodium etc. your consuming. So my supposed healthy sandwich and soup which are decent calorie wise are not so good nutritional.I would like to loose 15 lbs. but I would also like to eat better for the body. In the long haul think of this, little children give the choice will eat what their body needs for fuel and to grow on. A very active child may need more carbs than on that is not quite so busy. Variety of choice and modification, which for me sugary snacks are my down fall seems to be the best course of action.The Dash diet for HB is nurse, and Doctor recommended because it includes all the components a body needs, Weight Watchers is similar as is the Zone. Balance is the key, not low carb, fat, or even vegetarian unless your beliefs support it.

I think there is a huge and common misconception about the word diet and dieting in general. As far as I know - correct me if I'm wrong - the word 'diet' simply means the foods we eat/drink.

More importantly - 'diets' are life-style changes and should be treated as such. Many people fail on diets because they start them as a temporary means to an end. So they'll either give up en route to their goal or once achieved they quit the diet and go back to their old eating habits that gave them that pop-belly & thunder thighs in the first place.

In order to get the most of a chosen diet you need to make sure that it's right for you and it's something that you can incorporate into your everyday life indefinitely.

A diet is for life not just for the beach in summer.

The diet I am on and has been largely succesful for me not just as a diet but as a life style - is a 6 days excluding prohibited foods (white carbs, fruit & dairy) - this diet does not include counting calories or starving yourself as many do, it is totally natural, healthy and on the 7th day has no restrictions so I still get to enjoy all my foods and appease my cravings to the point where I can't stand it lol.

Well that's my 2pence ;-)

I wholeheartedly agree with godspeed41, in particular this part:

Your body needs fat, and carbs to create energy, protein in moderate amounts for muscle function.

I consider eating (in moderation and, if you struggled your whole life like I did, "counted") as the fuel required to drive the weight loss (or gain) engine. It is true that our societies are obsessed with "food". Unfortunately we're being deceived by the marketing machinery that we can't distinguish this "food" from good and nutritious - i.e. proper - food. Heck there are even children these days who indulge in artificially flavored sweets pretending to be strawberry or whatever flavor and they don't like real strawberries .

It's (mostly) the colors and the marketing around most processed foods that are in my opinion the problem, not so much the fact that food is a vital - in the best sense of the word - part of our life. Tests have proven that from two bowls with sweets, the average human will prefer the multi-colored variant over the monochromatic one, even though they are exactly the same sweets.

@andreypb: there are at least two notions attached to the word. One can be considered something like what you say (as in "living on a healthy diet") and the other one is the radical change from ones own eating habits to something prescribed according to the "Xyz diet" (e.g. Atkins diet) for a certain period. The first one is the sustainable one, because you adjust your eating habits, you learn and you adjust further. The other one prescribes something that is not per-se healthy (other than the desired effect of weight loss) or unhealthy, but that you cannot possibly sustain for the whole life. On the other hand, this twofold meaning is somewhat specific to English. In a dictionary I'd write:

Diet, the:

1. nutrition
2. temporary prescribed change of eating habits to facilitate weight loss, gain or another goal

I even seem to be close there  -> http://www.thefreedictionary.com/diet

I did the adkins diet for a few months and lost 65 lbs. NOT a healthy diet. God created a great variety of foods for us to enjoy. When you deprive yourself of carbs. it is not a good way to go, your body starves for carbs. I gained it all back plus 70 more lbs. when all was said and done. This time I decided to eat healthy and balanced, and I work out at least 5 days a week. I have lost 70 lbs and have 50 more to go. YAY me, and yay to all the food groups being incorporated in my day. Never hungry never grumpy!

Original Post by: cdeb145893610

The first word in diet is "die". The first word in lifestyle is "life". I like the later one better.

Atkins is not healthy. We NEED carbs!

For me success came when I found an eating plan I could live with for the rest of my life. It is not perfect and not for everyone, but because I tried all kinds of foods until I found those I enjoyed that had less calories, it was sustainable. I found Crispbreads which are crunchy and healthy instead of potato chips, Laughing cow or Weight Watches cheese triangles to go with them.  I stopped eating fattening ice cream and changed to low cal fudge pops. These are things I enjoy and can keep eating without gaining. Fiber One brownies when the chocolate craving hits. Healthy soups to which I add vegetables of my own. Or make your own vegetable soup. I watch how many ounces I eat when it is meat, fish, or chicken. Usually four. I like to feel full, so I eat lots of salads , fruit and vegetables. I like to change off and make them different so I don't get bored. I enjoy silk almond vanilla milk and weight watcher shakes. I like yogurt and sometimes sugar free pudding with cool whip lite on it. I am going on too long, but my point is there are so many good foods out there that can replace some of those fattening ones. Then, when you go out or to a party, you can enjoy the real thing for that one time. When I diet, I feel deprived. With this, I feel fine. I have kept most of the 109lbs I lost off for about 7 years. I have a hard time now and then and gain because of holidays or emotional eating, but I don't let it keep me down. I fight back and take those pounds right off again. I think it never ends when it comes to controlling your weight, but you can succeed . Our happiness is so connected to our weight that we just can't sit back and let food win.

I agree with cdeb14589... I have been about 15 pounds overweight for years and can't seem to get rid of it. I know how to eat right, but I just need a jump start and so I am doing HCG. Only on my 5th day but have lost 6 pounds. I will follow it for 21 days and then continue using this program to count calories and eat sensibly.

 

I am not an MD or in any way educated medically beyond what is publicly available to the interested individual. But let me simply quote a medical authority on the HCG diet:

"It's reckless, irresponsible, and completely irrational," says Pieter Cohen, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. "Can you lose weight on it? Of course, but that's mainly because you're hardly consuming any calories. And any benefit is not going to last." (Source here.)

@nsister2: the first "weight"  are going to lose are likely going to be liquids and any excess waste that is still in your system from the time before stopped eating as much. You could try that easily by being lax about calorie counting (if you had done that yet), while weighing yourself, then getting back on track by counting again and drinking well. Alone the switch is enough for me to lose several pounds in the first week, but has no bearing on actual weight loss. The next stage is then that you lose muscles (the very muscles that would help sustain or further facilitate a healthy weight loss) when your system is drained of readily available calories. Absolutely, you are going to lose weight. And perhaps doing this for three weeks is equally harmless as fasting three week? ... but you are not building up a regime that will last. In the worst case your body will switch into the hunger strike defense mode I was trying to describe in my first post and that will mean that you will gain beyond what you've lost. Still, I sincerely wish you the best of luck and the best of success. Listen to your own body and its signals ...

I did some research on the HCG diet because I, too, seemed to be stuck for so very long.  I found it a little alarming, if only because it appears to be some sort of crash diet; also, it's critical not to drop so low in calories that you end up using muscle, as mentioned above.  Heart damage isn't something you can just get over, and if the weight loss takes longer, hey, it's better than  dealing with coronary issues.

Great article and comments. I am in agreement, we need to do what works for us. I found, for me, that just counting my calories and trying to move more is the best. I try in my regime to burn more calories than I consume each day. I also count in as much of my activity as possible. When I am standing at work, I count that, when I am cleaning the house, I count that. I also don't worry as much about the kinds of food I eat. I do aim for healthier options, you can eat more by volume if they are better for you. I am not beating myself up over the less healthful choices. Each day is a new day for me to get up, take hold of the reigns and say "I am choosing to be healthy".

Original Post by: minaosorio

 Hey everyone!!!

I don't do diets I hate them but what  I have done is cut out white carbs out of my diet  sodas, and sweets and rarely I eat red meat , I exercise on a regular basis and I have lost 17 LBS in 34 days I am happy because I know I am keeping those pounds off .

But if you are on a diet and works for you work it ... I believe that diets are not for everyone and they don't work for everyone either ..

Have a great day today !!1

 

 

 

 

It really does have to be a lifestyle change, something you can sustain for ever. I have been at this for two years now. Especially at first I was much better off completely eliminating some things and keeping them out of my house. It was just like a drug addict, one bite or a small amount just wasn't enough. But as time as went by I have gotten much better at having a bite of something, or a small portion. There are still some things I just stay away from. I feel like I am better off without them.

 

Diets...ugly word lol. I have just started writing down what I eat in a day to see why i have gained so much...and stopped taking some meds from the  doc and I have to say mindful eating is the way to be. My son does body building and has been through a lot,so i called him and asked his thoughts on the protein needed for me as through these calculations its saying I have had too much. He said, Breakfast-eat like a king,Lunch like a queen and supper like a princess....bottomline,I agree with many,its lifestyle change...have a great day..

I think I have done every plan under the sun except the HCG thing which I know would set me up for failure.  Any time a diet plan says you can eat all you want of certain foods I thought "This is for me".  I don't care what the food is if I can eat all I want but the problem with that philosophy is that all foods have a calorie content.  I love CC because it shows me every calorie and all the nutritional info.  What I learned is that I eat healthy -- I just eat too much.  I know that sounds stupid but having the right portions and making sensible choices most of the time along with modest exercise will do the trick.  I never thought I could live on 1200 calories but have found when I make good choices I have calories left at the end of the day for a small treat.

MARYBIRO123

All the weight I lost, I lost on 1200 calories a day. Sometimes I would go over a little bit, but never over 1300. I found , as you said, if you make good choices, you can do it with that amount. Maintaining seemed harder for me for some reason. I gradually raised the calorie amount , but I think I added too many carbs and even though the numbers seemed right, I gained a few pounds.  Now I am into "are all calories really equal"? I find if I eat about 1600 a day of fruits , vegetables, protein and fiber and limit fats and carbs, I don't gain. If I eat the same amount, 1600 and it is more carbs, I will gain. I am not sure what all of this means, but I am researching everything. Good luck to you. Wish you success.

Original Post by: marjeanne1944

MARYBIRO123

All the weight I lost, I lost on 1200 calories a day. Sometimes I would go over a little bit, but never over 1300. I found , as you said, if you make good choices, you can do it with that amount. Maintaining seemed harder for me for some reason. I gradually raised the calorie amount , but I think I added too many carbs and even though the numbers seemed right, I gained a few pounds.  Now I am into "are all calories really equal"? I find if I eat about 1600 a day of fruits , vegetables, protein and fiber and limit fats and carbs, I don't gain. If I eat the same amount, 1600 and it is more carbs, I will gain. I am not sure what all of this means, but I am researching everything. Good luck to you. Wish you success.

Mary, that's exactly how I came up with the Half Meal Habit.  I constantly tried to "eat healthy" but I always ate A LOT more food than I should.  Plus, I was never satisfied with my food experience, and, guest what?  I went RIGHT BACK to eating the foods I love anyway.  

So, yes, eating healthy is a great option (if you can stomach it, lol, get it?) but I prefer eating all the foods I love, just eating HALF.  And I don't think you'd have to cut carbs if you've got some lean muscle workouts going.  

Congrats on your epiphany and good luck in the future!

Jim

http://halfmealhabit.com

3 simple rules that will change your life.

Original Post by: probationnc

Although cutting 500 calories a day has been the general assumption to lose a pound a week, that's not exactly the case. Study results presented at this year’s American Association for the Advancement of Science’s conference showed dieters can only expect about a 5 lb. weight loss from cutting 100 calories a day from their diets. That's only half the 10 lbs that most assume will occur.

This statement is very confusing!! Isn't that what we are doing here???

Thats what I was thinking...

Original Post by: probationnc

Although cutting 500 calories a day has been the general assumption to lose a pound a week, that's not exactly the case. Study results presented at this year’s American Association for the Advancement of Science’s conference showed dieters can only expect about a 5 lb. weight loss from cutting 100 calories a day from their diets. That's only half the 10 lbs that most assume will occur.

This statement is very confusing!! Isn't that what we are doing here???

Thats what I was thinking...