What has and hasn't worked for you? Anyone else have great success and not be able to do...

I have been reading a book about how every program helps every one differently.  We all know this, we live it, and we hear it on the boards every day.  But she also said that even though one program worked for you once, doesn't mean it will work for you again.  BINGO!!!!  I beat myself over the head about this.  Why things have worked for me in the past and now it doesn't work or I can't stick to it.  Anyone else had this happen?

I would like to hear, and I'm sure others would too, exactly what works for everyone and what they can't go back too when it worked once before.  I'm really curious to see if the majority of the people on this forum actually are doing the same thing with great success. It really seems like it.   Do tell everyone! :) 

Holly, I've done a lot of diets in my life.  I lost a lot of weight on diet pills.  The only drawback was once I was off of them, I didn'****ch what I ate and gained it all back...plus!  (I'm just telling you of MY experience.) I did Weigh****chers twice.  The first time I was successful, the second time I didn't do so well.  Guess I just wasn't in the diet mood. I was supposed to have RNY in July, but cancelled the surgery.  I've been trying to take sweets out of my life and making better choices in my meals and snacks, plus I have given up fast foods, and exercising (which I've been doing for the last 4 years anyway).  I've lost 20 lbs. VERY slowly, but I feel it will be off for good.  I intend to continue this journey even if it takes me 2 years or more.  I weigh 224 now and would like to see onederland again one day. This is the ONLY "diet" that I haven't given up on in a short amount of time, so it works for me.   I don't feel restricted and it's something that I can live with hopefully for the rest of my life. Bren

I would like to hear, and I'm sure others would too, exactly what works for everyone and what they can't go back too when it worked once before.  Looooooong List -Lean Line as a child--unsuccessful -Purging as a teenage--unsuccessful -Eating healthy without monitoring--unsuccessful -Exercise binging--unsuccessful -Nutrisystem--something like 40lbs down, then my dad died and I had no focus, plus became prone to cheating on sweets and fats -Calorie counting--unsuccessful -Ephedrine--17lbs down in 2 weeks, doc pulled me off because BP was high -W/W--unable to manage anything -Atkins-17lbs then I couldn't live without bread -LAWL--65lbs down, regained about 35, mostly within 3 months after thinking, well I can do the same thing without the bars/etc. -Calorie Counting--unsuccessful -Jenny Craig--14lbs in 8 months, $ down the drain -Medifast-10lbs in 6 months With each came the yoyo regain. Strenuous exercise daily 1hr+, combined with Low Carb (no starches), all fruits/veg/protein/fat diet--heading towards 35lbs soon enough.  As I've said before, easiest I've done and heading toward matching and exceeding LAWL success....But nothing compares to reshaping my body.  No diet ever did that.

Wow Jersey you have tried just about everything! Some of which I have never even heard of.  I have tried the diet pills..lost some weight..and then stopped taking them because I began feeling weird and first thought was from the diet pills..and then I gained it back plus some just like others. And no I am just trying to just get myself to eat when I am actually truely hungry instead of just munching. And I am staying away from all the pop...and the junk food..don't even buy it and have it in the house so the temptation of wanting it isn't there!!

Hey Holly! It may be that the majority of us are older, so typically, older peeps and people with bordeline diabetic issues need less grains, so that's why most are cutting way back on grains. We might call it Atkins, or South beach or The Zone, or WW (no count one can't think of the name right now), but the goal is the same:  lower grains each day, moderate fat, high fiber. I've done some version of all the aforementioned, and all worked til i didn't work it anymore. What I feel is different "this time" - I researched wls, and realized there is but one way out for me:  keep on with what i already know works for my body.  AND to accept that my body will not be a size 4.  I found that the same exact thing cthat did not last before will work again, again, if I work it. I was on app suppressants before and did not learn one thing...lost the weight the first time simply "not eating", which does not work when the 'scrip runs out.  THIS time around with app suppressants, I looked for the lesson: how to eat that works for me in my busy life. Today, without bariatric foods, I would have either stopped for fast eats, or done with zero...what a hard, fast, day.  I was not near a fridge or a microwave, literally ate from my briefcase all day long, had a protein drink in one hand and the phone in the other.  What does not work for me:  bulky eating, or filling up on only salads, low fat look-alike foods. I still do it once in a while, but it is thin ice for me as an ex-binge/purger.   I so hate that over-full feeling, even if it is "good stuff".  I went that route for a lot of years, and I believe it slowed me down from healing from my food compulsion.  I need the confines and habit of the right portions. For my body and addict-prone mind, it is more important to eat foods that I love, even if rich, in small portions. For sure, I "use" veggies to fill up on, but only as part of a balanced meal, usually a half sandwich or bowl of soup/beans, but the other part of my meal is usually not rabbit food.

I've tried liquid fasts many times.. some successful, some not so successful.  When I was younger I could drop 5 or 10 lbs by just eating boiled chicken legs.. lol.  Hey, it worked.  I went for a number of years with vigorous weight lifting and all I did was gain another 30 lbs.  My most recent attempts, while wresting with the idea of WLS, have included low fat/low cal w/an hour of cardio a day, and Nutrisystem.  I was unsuccessful with both. Now I do a modified Atkins with moderate exercise.  I am getting to a plateau and will have to decide how to kick this back into gear.  I'm attempting a meat and egg fast right now but I'm wrestling with the same 2 lbs up, 2 lbs down, up, down.. etc. I'm beginning to have my doubts about how far I can go with this weight loss, but I can see this is a way to eat for life to control diabetes without medications.

Diet: 

What didn't work for me:

WLS- would have met the criteria- but decided to spend the $ on the PS after and DIY 

WW- was always too embarrassed to go as I felt like my huge wide load would just be motivation for everyone else, way too embarrassed to go for a weigh in.

Tried calorie counting... umm I am just too slack for that.

Asked about pills of various types but the cost was too high.

What worked for me:

Initially I went on a prepared meals program for 12 weeks, then I dropped to dinners only for about 3 more months.  This worked as it taught me portions and I could focus on the exercise only while gradually adjusting my own cooking/menu plan to finally a 100% DIY food program. At this time I walked only. I lost the first 1/2 of my weight then 'stalled' for about six months.

Then to kickstart myself I started the CSIRO Total well being diet- that's how I lost the last of my weight- and I am still using my own variation of their menu program. For me dropping the carbs with dinner made the difference.

I operate well by knowing portions size and serves per day.

The basic menu daily is basically:

3 serves low fat dairy

2-3 serves fruit (one piece or approx if it's bits)

2 serves lean meat (chicken, turkey, beef, lamb, pork, fish....  about the size of your palm)

2 serves carbohydrates (2 slices bread, 1 roll, 1/2 cup rice/pasta, sml bowl cereal) Usually brekky and lunch for carbs.

Veggies- 'free for all'- lettuce, cucumber, tomato, broc, snow peas, zucchini, mush, peppers

Veggies- restrain slightly but eat heaps- carrot, pumpkin, sweet potato, eggplant

Veggies- include but in lesser amounts- corn, potato

Water

Personally, I don't often eat things like cake, biscuits, choc- especially when I was trying to loose weight- now I have a little but not often. But I do drink coffee/tea and diet soft drinks- they're my vices.

Exercise:

What worked for me:

Routine times (might differ depending on day eg: each Monday I have a time worked out that will suit me and try and stick to that)

1 hour a day 7 days a week minimum.

Usually a brisk walk or exercise bike.  If I can add an extra 1/2 an hour later the same day I will do it- especially if I have eaten something like cake

I am now just far enough post surgery that I am about to add a muscle program using a band.

Trying to get hubby/friends to motivate me to get moving (huh! waste of time!) 

Exercise:

What didn't work for me:

Timing: Anything involving getting out of bed in the morning- I am a night owl

Gyms- Just not for me: detailed below as to why...

I resented the travel time, I resented having to be there a a set time for a class, I felt like a weirdo trying to do the classes with all those perfect girls, I hated using the change rooms, I hated the cost 'an arm and a leg".... oh, and I hated the fact that if you want personal input it costs an arm and 2 legs... oh yeah, I also hated the movies- they always seemed to be half way through some lame movie- so I had missed the start, or they'd have the TV on some stupid talk show which I would never watch at home, and everyone seemed to go there with a friend- and none of my friends were interested! In the end I'd be using my MP3 player alone on an exercise bike cause I'd turned up too late for the class I wanted to do... the staff would ignore me because I wasn't paying for a PT and I figured "I can do this at home with the travel!"

Karate- I love my karate but it has mainly helped my balance/agility rather than weightloss

Sitting about doing nothing- that's how I gained it all

Hope this helps your quest...

Em

 

 

 

 

good thoughts on exercsie, I forgot about that aspect! I loved gyms membership, especially when it's a month to month agreement, not stuck for a year - life changes, and when you can't change that, it sucks.  Gyms helped make me show up - I spent the money, I went. Gyms help with the excuse - oh it wet/windy/cold/hot outside. Gyms are bad when people talk to you when you need to get moving.  I quit my beloved gym because the travel time to get there was cutting into available work out time. If your gym is not close to your work or home, you're sunk. Early morning was crucial for me to stick to my program...I did not make time , especially when the kids were home! And I am far more a morning person! Being outside is critical for me, at least most of my exercise time. After many years of realizing that exercise was only one half of losing weight and getting healthy, I decided it needed to be fun. I MUCH prefer to be on my bike outside, walking outhiking, swimming in our gorgeous lakes, etc.   I worked VERY hard at my gym, and was just as fat, so why not? My food intake is key to actual dropping of weight. Exercise makes me better at most things I do, manages my stress! I'm sure there is some amount of "damage control", too, but not much.

Ok lets see here. I am young and I probably haven't tried as many diets as everyone else. But I will put in what I have done. :) Throughout High School since I was an athlete a very good one at that lol. I would either want to lose like 10 pounds or maintain my weight. So to maintain I would jog or walk every night for like a half an hour. In order to lose weight thru HS I would take salads for lunch and eat the right portions during dinner....I had pretty good control with food then. Until my summer right before my junior year I lost track of everything and I had a friend who was a little heavier than myself and she would eat all the time so I did as she did I picked up her habits. I ballooned from 170 to 200. But that was the year I had my ACL surgery. After surgery I couldn't walk or hop around on my crutches very well because it was painful so everyday my mother would come home from work on lunch and make me some lunch but before she would leave in the morning she left me a couple snacks on my little tv tray that was sitting next to me on the couch. They were like those cheese crackers or fruit snacks. Lunch she would make me a sandwich with a few baked lays on the side and ofcourse dinner she would give me too her or my father...and it was normal dinners. Chicken with honey mustard, potatoe, broccoli, a roll with butter. Or sometimes I would have McDonalds or Chinese if that is what they had. Finally after 3 weeks I was in less pain and able to hop around and get my own things except fluids in a cup lol. I lost 30 pounds within those 3 weeks I was back to 170. CRAZY! Laying on the couch doing nothing but eat sleep and go to the bathroom lol.  Then lets see....after high school since I totally went out of control after my mother had been diagnosed with cancer. I tried many over the counter diet pills...Xenedrine, Green Tea tablets, Hydroxycut, Stackers 2 & 3, there were more but none of them worked. The only over the counter I actually felt were worthy were combining Zentrex-3 with Relacore combo pilling they call it. I had some results with it but the pills were so big I got sick of taking them and stopped.  Walking and eating right that works lol. I just had a hard time not eating right which is my big problem.  Everyone here knows what is working for me. My Phentermine, I am now going to the gym and working out an hour while I am there. And no you can't eat whatever you want. Even tho sometimes I don't eat the right things at all like last night totally shoulda had a salad!!!!

Holly...good question and interesting reading everyone's feedback For me....everything has worked while I was "working it", but never stuck with anything long enough to reach my goal. Age 11....put on diet by my MD, skim milk etc.  I was a very sedentary kid and my mother was always telling me to "Put down that book and go outside and play".  Meanwhile she cooked mainly casseroles and was a great baker and we had dessert every night of the week.  Size 14-16 in high school with my mother always saying...."if only you would lose weight".  (I have mother issues, can you tell?) College....gained 10lb every year (glad I didn't go on for my PHD) Married at age 22 (size 18 wedding dress) and started WW for 1st time at 208....OMG would I die for that weight right now.  (got down to 176 that time and size 14)  Have used WW on and off (attempted at least 10 times) but never stuck with it long enough to reach my goal, always lost weight as long as I was sticking to program. Gained 40lb with 1st pregnancy and started 2nd pregnancy at same weight as I was the day I delivered my first born.  Only gained 6lb with my 2nd....always said I should have just had 10 more kids. Optifast (Oprah's liquid protein)....lost 60lb, put them all back on plus more when back to real food NutriSystem, Weight Loss Clinic, TOPS, OA, Atkins, Dr. Phil's, and any diet book that came out or was on front page of those tabloids in the supermarket aisle....I have tried them all half heartedly and given up and put back the weight I had lost...usually plus some more FA (like AA)....most successful weight loss ever....70lb in 5 months....no flour or sugar...3 meetings/week...daily call to sponser with food menu for the day.  I did this about 6 years ago and went from 293-218 and was wearing size 14.  I felt like a million bucks and had all the confidence in the world.  I didn't feel I could "abstain" from flour and sugar the rest of my life though, and gradually put all that weight back on over about a year or so. Interesting....never did the pill routine....but a nurse, and a little knowledge is a dangerous thing (was always scared to death of the side effects) EXERCISE....have done the gym membership, walking, Curves, home equipment.  It's never been my cup of tea and like the dieting...would get all fired up and do it for a while and then lose motivation and go back to bad habits. Now, my weight has caught up with my age (61) and my knees have given out and I can no longer do much besides the water aerobics and water walking, exercise bike.  I regret all those failed attempts and wish I had followed through with all those resolutions of losing the weight by age 30, 40, 50, 60........ Now I'm back to WW, starting with water aerobics once again and trying to make small lifestyle changes and celebrate the fact that every month I weigh a little bit less. BOTTOM LINE....ANYTHING WORKS IF YOU STICK TO IT.....JUST HAVE TO FIND SOMETHING THAT YOU CAN INCORPORATE INTO YOUR LIFESTYLE ONGOING! Sherrie