How many diets have you been on??

Somebody asked me the other day what kind of diets I tried before "resorting" to bariatric surgery. The question sorta pissed me off, because I felt the person was implying that I hadn't really tried to lose weight the "right" way.  It got me thinking about my life of dieting: 

1972  Thirteen years old, and my first diet, which was some crazy super crash diet my sister was on (I think it was egg whites, spinach, and celery).  I lost 25 lbs.  

1977 Lost 40 lbs to goal within a couple of months on Stillman’s Water Diet

1981 Lost 50 lbs. to with ¼ lb. of goal, which took over 7 months on WW

1987  Lost 70 lbs. in four months, to goal on Physician’s Weight Loss System

1995  Lost 90 lbs. to goal over about 12-18 months while on a clinical trial for Xenical (Alli), turned out I was on the placebo.

Those were my major weight loss periods.  In between there were many, many other diet attempts with less success, including: 

Atkins
Cambridge liquid diet
LA Weight Loss Center
A couple other shots at WW
The Chardonnay and Oatmeal Diet (my own creation, LOL, don’t ask)
Several attempts at the Scarsdale Diet
Several attempts at various gyms & following their dietary recommendations
The Grapefruit Diet
The Cabbage Soup diet
TOPS
Several attempts at counting calories
Body For Life
Diet pills
Mayo Clinic Diet
Slim Fast, several attempts

The epilogue:  2006  Lap band surgery.  Lost 120 lbs. in a little over a year, have maintained within 20 lbs. for the past 4 years.

So tell us...what diets did you try before "resorting" to weight loss surgery to beat obesity?

Tami

First diet at 13 - ate 700 calories a day to fit into these hip hugger pants with really large bells (mid 70s)

Pretty much starvation from then on until 18 Then I did one where I only ate about 350 calories a day, got shots once a week and starved. A typical meal was an orange and tomatoe. This was a "doctor supervised" program. I only weighed 145 (oh to weigh that now) when I started, at 120 I stopped and immediately gained 45 pounds in 2 months (notice then I weighed 165 - you get the idea)

I've done every other diet, including ww about 20 times, with the exception of any diet pills. Those scare me because of the heart disease in my family.

My very last diet was going to a personal trainer 3x-4x a week and following a 1600 calorie diet he prescribed. I lost 20 pounds in 1 year - way more expensive than surgery.

I'm glad I decided on the band. I'm a slow loser because some days I don't try hard but I'm going down, down, down, not down, up, down, up, etc.

 "way more expensive than surgery"

That's what struck me, too!  How much money (and time, and mental anguish) did I waste fighting to lose weight, only to regain again, and again, and again.  

Thank God for the band!

Tami

Interesting thread

Age 13:  eliminated potatoes, pastas, and sweets and swam daily - went from 170 to 135 - maintained for a year then back up to 180 by age 15

Age 16- starvation diet  - bounced from 180 down to 160 then back up to 220.

Age 18-Physician's weight loss - back down to 180 but didn't stay there long
Age 19- weigh****chers, but then got pregnant and had 3 babies in 5 years

In my 20's and 30's did Atkins and lost 100 lbs twice...obviously regained it all plus some.

At 38, had lap band at 334 lbs.  I quickly lost over 100 lbs and then have spent the last year or so hanging out in the 215-225 range.   Going to school fulltime, working fulltime, and raising 3 teenagers took priority, but this is my year to reach goal.

 Obviously, dieting makes us gain weight!  The problem with dieting is that at some point, the diet is over.  Either you reach goal, and try to transition back to real foods, or you go off (usually off the deep end!)  With our bands, it's never over.  It's always there to remind us that being a healthy weight is our goal, and it's always there to help us get there.

Tami

When I was in Jr. High my Mom enrolled me in Jenny Craig and we got a gym membership. I lost about 50 pounds and stopped proceeded to High School and gain most it in less than a year.

Then I tried a diet where I got shots and you followed a high protein diet ..no carbs.. I ate a ton of pork rinds.. lol

Then I tried the cabbage soup diet.

I tried following the Richards Simmons plan

then I tried Jenny Craig again... actually two more times then I tried WW of and on for a few more times.. I did WW one more time before I turned to surgery

forgot to add Medi fast and those pills it was a physicans diet where I got those pills that are illegal phrerme whatever and I tried the other diet pill where it helps you eat less Meridian or something like that.. you get highly addicted to those pill so they have to increase the dosage and it didn't work for long.. and who can forget herbalife!

 Meridia, aka Xenical, aka Alli, aka the "poop your pants" pill.    Thank goodness the only time I was (supposedly) on that was during their clinical trial.  It was a two year period, and 4 times they switched the meds out, so at any time I could have been given the actual med.  The clinical trial was great.  They really wanted us to have every opportunity to show good results.  I had all kinds of medical testing done for free, worked one-on-one with nutritionist, had behavior adjustment tests and classes, professional advice with fitness, etc.  I was one of their shining stars, losing 90 lbs. during the study.  I didn't find out until two years later that I was on the placebo the whole time.  I must have really skewed the study results!  Of course, even though I lost that weight fairly slowly, eating the right foods and exercising, I *still* gained the weight back, plus more, within a few short years.

Tami

I was one of the lucky few who didn't get heart problems from Fen Phen.
My doctor had me on that and it worked miracles. I was down to 124 lbs and worked out like crazy.

they took my pills away and i went up to 180 lbs.

Gym  
Trainer
Gym
Weigh****cher 225 lbs
Gym / ww/ trainer 170 lbs
WW
South beach 260 lbs
jogging/ww.................   298lbs.

LAP BAND!!!!!!!!!!!

There used to be one where one day you would eat 8 hot dogs. Day #2 it was 8 hard boiled eggs. Day #3 it was 8 bananas. Then repeat cycle. Did that one.

One I didn't do because I knew how silly it was then (70s) was to wrap yourself in red saran wrap and go jogging during sunlight. The sunlight was supposed to make fat dissolve.

Cabbage soup diet
Atkins diet
Counting calories
Starch blocker pills
Pill to make you feel full and bloated
OTC diet pills
Amphetamines
Meridia
TOPS
Slim fast

I couldn't stick to any of them for long. Gosh, wonder why? ;o)