Best diet?

[crl]

I need to lose some weight. About 15 pounds. I need some kind of plan for this though. I would like something that is more or less maintainable over the long run (not cabbage soup every meal) and something that I can feed the kids at least some of the same food. I'm vaguely thinking weight watchers online or south beach. But I really don't know. I have never dieted before.

Suggestions much appreciated.

Catherine

[jren]

I'm in the same boat. My BMI puts me in the normal range, but on the higher end of normal. I'm 15 pounds heavier than I was 10 years ago, but I'd be happier with just losing 10 pounds and feeling healthier. I tried South Beach, felt horrible on it, and gained weight. I just bought the Mayo Clinic Diet book and journal and plan to use that to focus on eating healthier. It's not anything extreme, but it does call for more fruits and vegetables than I currently eat. It details exactly how many servings in each category I'm supposed to eat, and I'm supposed to use the journal to plan out my days in advance. For me, I think that will work best since I tend to get sidetracked otherwise. For kids, they would just eat more servings of everything except sweets.

[Melaine]

I really liked myfitnesspal, which is straight up calorie counting. It worked well for me.

My mom has tried a lot of things, she isn't overweight but not in her personal "ideal range". Anyway, she and several of her friends are doing a version of the "fast diet"....they eat extremely low calorie (I think 500) two days a week and just eat a healthy, varied diet the rest of the time. She is raving about the benefits, one friend has lost quite a chunk of weight and is also no longer suffering from hypoglycemic symptoms. The theory is that the fasting allows your body to heal and also cleanse. I was very impressed with what I heard.

[specialp]

I think things like MFP or WW which (a) calculate how much calories/points you need to eat per day to get to your goal weight in a healthy amount of time and (b) has you journal what you eat, including measuring out portions are the best options.

[lovin2shop]

I really like Weight Watchers, but it is the meetings themselves that really keep me on track. I tried MFP, but I really didn't do it right. I ate very low cal and exercised, but just felt run down and didn't really sustain any weight loss. The WW programs motivates me to eat healthier rather than just low cal since the points are more about balance of fiber, protein, fat and carbs, and calories are not counted at all. If I did MFP and tried not focus so much on just calories, it would have worked well.

[YouAreTheFocus]

Both DH & I have been doing a combination of myfitnesspal and dietbet, and it has worked well for us. We eat pretty normal foods (our kid eats the same stuff) but we do pay close attention to portions and weigh/measure everything. We also try to load up on foods that have the most fill power, so huge portions of cooked veg & salad, fruit, high fiber cereal, lean meats, etc. MFP has a great database of foods, which makes it so much easier to track everything. Users can also add foods & recipes, so often a recipe I've found on allrecipes, etc will already be available.

[hillview]

I lost 30 lbs using MFP and cutting virtually all carbs and reducing alcohol and walking 4x a week (I eventually added a bootcamp class 2-3x a week). I've kept it off for 2 years by focusing on a more paleo diet and working out 3x a week. MFP is a great tool to get the math of calories in and out. From there you can self manage IME. GOOD LUCK you can do it!

[plusbellelavie]

I lost 30 lbs using MFP and cutting virtually all carbs and reducing alcohol and walking 4x a week (I eventually added a bootcamp class 2-3x a week). I've kept it off for 2 years by focusing on a more paleo diet and working out 3x a week. MFP is a great tool to get the math of calories in and out. From there you can self manage IME. GOOD LUCK you can do it!

Not to hijack OP but I am very interested in your question...to see what works for people! I am back on MFP after a couple months break due to vacation and BTS adjustments. My weight is stuck no matter what I seem to do exercisewise and eating cleaner although I do have more energy/tone .....I am considering the low carb route but I know it will be hard with DH who loves his bread and cheese after dinner and the kids who although like vegetables like having some type of carb like pasta, rice, or potatoes! I too would really like a "diet" that was easy to incorporate in my family life but gave me results

Hill view how far or for how long did you walk when you started? And how long did it take to see the weight lose for you? Did you fallow a certain walking plan that you coils share?

And it sounds like you basically have continued with a low carb diet as well do you find it hard to incorporate that with the kids?

Thank you!!

[swissair81]

I really like WW online. I track all my food on a phone app and I have to make choices. If I make a mistake, I can go back and look at it and try again. I'm down 5 lbs so far, hoping to burn lots more. I have to try with just diet now, because exercise is making my joints hurt- and then I can't move for days.

[hillview]

Not to hijack OP but I am very interested in your question...to see what works for people! I am back on MFP after a couple months break due to vacation and BTS adjustments. My weight is stuck no matter what I seem to do exercisewise and eating cleaner although I do have more energy/tone .....I am considering the low carb route but I know it will be hard with DH who loves his bread and cheese after dinner and the kids who although like vegetables like having some type of carb like pasta, rice, or potatoes! I too would really like a "diet" that was easy to incorporate in my family life but gave me results

Hill view how far or for how long did you walk when you started? And how long did it take to see the weight lose for you? Did you fallow a certain walking plan that you coils share?

And it sounds like you basically have continued with a low carb diet as well do you find it hard to incorporate that with the kids?

Thank you!!
I started walking for an hour. It was <3 miles. Eventually my hour walk got up to 4.5 miles. I tried several times to do the couch to 5k but kept getting injuries so I stuck with walking. DH agreed that cutting out cheese and bread was good for him too so that helped. I was pretty hard core (kitchen scale, measuring etc for a good 4-5 months which is when I had the biggest weight loss). I don't really serve the kids carbs when we eat all together and I do pasta when we cannot eat together. It took me about 9 months to lose the 30 lbs. I slip occasionally and have cheese and crackers every once in a while. I still weigh myself daily so when i start to see the scale move in the wrong direction I rope it in right away. It is totally doable! Good luck!

[plusbellelavie]

I started walking for an hour. It was <3 miles. Eventually my hour walk got up to 4.5 miles. I tried several times to do the couch to 5k but kept getting injuries so I stuck with walking. DH agreed that cutting out cheese and bread was good for him too so that helped. I was pretty hard core (kitchen scale, measuring etc for a good 4-5 months which is when I had the biggest weight loss). I don't really serve the kids carbs when we eat all together and I do pasta when we cannot eat together. It took me about 9 months to lose the 30 lbs. I slip occasionally and have cheese and crackers every once in a while. I still weigh myself daily so when i start to see the scale move in the wrong direction I rope it in right away. It is totally doable! Good luck!

Thank you so much for your response it is very helpful to me....I too have too many injuries when I try to run which I have tried to several times in the past so I figure I will focus on walking and some DVDs for strength exercises.

I am going to first try and focus on no carb for Breakfast and Lunch M-F since the kids are in school and DH at work and then try to "fix" the dinner menu as best as I can....it is hard with DH being French and having his "bread" habit and then the older kids are into several sports and just being teenagers seem hungry all the time anyway! But I going to try to be "stronger" about eating more of the vegetables I prepare for each meal and less on the carbs luckily we are all into cauliflower rice and mash potatoes so those are good alternatives to the regular stuff at least occasionally!

Thanks crl for starting this thread!!

[crl]

Thanks for all the replies!

Catherine

[babyonway]

MFP has really helped me track calories in vs calories out. I lost about 22-25 lbs using it. I am maintaining now but still use it every day.

One thing to note for those that are just staring to use it is that the exercise calorie tracker is WAY wrong. I use a heart rate monitor to monitor how many calories I burn and if I use the database in MFP is always says I have burned way more than I actually do.

[firstbaby]

I lost about 12 pounds over a month on Whole30 and went on to lose 8 more over the next month. I've maintained it for a year and have found i feel so much better when eating on plan. DH and the kids don't eat as paleo as I do, but I'm able to easily adapt what I make them to work for me.

[goldenpig]

ETA: whoops, didn't realize this was an old thread!

[lovin2shop]

Golden pig, I would still love to hear what you have to say on the topic! I keep losing and gaining the same 5 to 10 pounds over and over again!

[BabyBearsMom]

I have been doing MyFitnessPal, which is just a calorie tracker. But I have cut out processed foods and I use MFP to help me identify appropriate portions. I weight/measure everything I eat and if I put something in my mouth, I write it down in my tracker. I have lost nearly 40lbs this way since September. Good luck!

ETA - Oh crap! Didn't realize this was an old thread. Sorry!

[goldenpig]

OK, lovin2shop, since you asked, I'll repost what I wrote (sorry OP, I was tricked by the newbie reviving the zombie thread!)

DH has lost about 25-30 lb (over about a year, and maintained for the past year) by doing low-carb and exercising on the elliptical in our garage. He only stays motivated if he has a dive trip planned, so I let him go on a dive trip once a year (this year he's going to try dry suit diving in Alaska, so he's really motivated to exercise and get in shape). The low-carb is the only type of diet that has really shown good results for him. I'm pretty much at my pre-pregnancy weight now 10 months out. I don't exercise (though I should start!) but I do nurse, so that burns some calories. I still have some tummy flab, but I refuse to do low carb because I have to avoid dairy, soy and eggs because of DS2's allergies, so I just can't deal with giving up carbs as well. And the kids are big carb eaters too. But DH will usually eat the meat and then have veggies and/or salad instead of the rice/pasta. Can you think of some rewards you can give yourself for exercising and/or pounds lost? DH's eating/weight loss seems to be very mood influenced and goal oriented (he eats more when he is stressed out and sticks to his diet if he tells himself he will get some video light or camera equipment if he loses 5 or 10 lb). Also I've heard that keeping track of everything you eat and not skipping breakfast really helps (though DH does not do either of these). I am trying to convince him to go on hikes more with his friend--I think having an exercise buddy helps. Good luck!

[swissair81]

Does the elliptical really help? I've kind of stopped using mine since I read an article that said it doesn't really help with weight loss. I would love to lose more weight. I was 175 at 5'8" when I was 9 months pregnant with DD4, and now after many tears I am 144. I weighed 123-5 in high school, which is probably not happening, but 135 would be lovely.

[zukeypur]

I've been using MFP and running up and down the stairs this week. We will see if I can keep it up.

[theriviera]

Does the elliptical really help? I've kind of stopped using mine since I read an article that said it doesn't really help with weight loss. I would love to lose more weight. I was 175 at 5'8" when I was 9 months pregnant with DD4, and now after many tears I am 144. I weighed 123-5 in high school, which is probably not happening, but 135 would be lovely.

What did the article say? I use a heart rate monitor when I'm on the elliptical to estimate calories burned. I would think that anything that burns calories will help you lose weight as part of an overall plan (eating less obviously). Maybe it's because the calories burned estimates on an elliptical are so high, making people think they can "use" all of those calories?

[SnuggleBuggles]

I think that any workout routine that only relies on one method is insufficient for a lot of people. I try and vary mine with the elliptical but also boot camp style cardio (jumping jacks, mountain climbers, burpees...) as well as weight training.

[goldenpig]

Does the elliptical really help? I've kind of stopped using mine since I read an article that said it doesn't really help with weight loss. I would love to lose more weight. I was 175 at 5'8" when I was 9 months pregnant with DD4, and now after many tears I am 144. I weighed 123-5 in high school, which is probably not happening, but 135 would be lovely.

What article? I think weight loss really just depends on how many calories you burn vs. how many you take in. DH exercises hard on the elliptical, he says he goes up to level 15 for 45 minutes and really gets his max HR up for a prolonged period. I think the elliptical burns more calories than the recumbent exercise bike we had, because you are moving your whole body instead of just your legs. And it's more low-impact than a treadmill so not as hard on the joints. I would use it too, but it's in our garage and I have to stay in the house because the baby keeps waking up at least 3-4x/night right now. I'm thinking of pulling out the 30-day shred video again, haven't done that in ages. I need to get in better cardiovascular shape.

[lizzywednesday]

I am suspicious of any plan(s) that call for eliminating anything I consider a "food group."

HOWEVER, that doesn't mean all foods within a "food group" are created equal.

My sister-in-law recommended overhauling our shopping/cooking/eating habits by doing 100 Days of Real Food (http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/) - since they started in 2011-ish, she and my brother have felt better, and my brother has lost 20lbs! (SIL had a 2nd baby, so the impact for her is lessened at this point.)

I would also up the ante on exercise. I know it's hard slotting it in with a preschooler and a dog, but I'm re-committing myself to TurboFire (my Christmas gift from my BFF in 2012!) so I can start keeping up with my DD better.

I know that when I exercise and eat better, I am more pleasant to be around, so I'm hoping the overall lifestyle overhaul will help me be more moderate in the rest of my life.

[KLD313]

Im doing meal replacement shakes and bars made by a trainer friend of mine. I lost 9lbs in a month, went off for the holidays and didn't gain and now in going back on them. I so a shake or bar for breakfast and lunch, snack of a green apple mid morning, veggie snack midday and then dinner is two veggies cooked and egg whites plus a salad with at least three vegetables. Air popped popcorn for a snack. This diet is to boost metabolism (thyroid issues) and target belly fat. The belly fat is targeted by consuming almost no fat. She says fat cells feed on fat so by starving them of fat they will go away. My stomach has shrunk a great deal but I've got a ways to go.

[hellokitty]

I think that the best diet will be personal for everyone. There is no point in doing a diet that you cannot adapt to long term. I know from past experience, that I do not do well on diets that severely limit calories. I just feel hungry and it becomes so easy to blow my diet and give up. Overall, going low-carb is my best, "diet" so far. It doesn't have to be as drastic as whole30, but I find that sometimes feeling the benefits (not just wt loss, but other health issues that disappear with the diet), help to keep you motivated and to continue/figure out what is beneficial or not beneficial for your diet.

[fivi2]

Ita that it is personal. I tried low carb and ww and they weren't good for me long term. Then I joined mfp and tracked and saw how many calories I was eating. I drastically reduced, lost weight and have kept it off for over a year. But I think what I do is more similar to one of those fasting plans. I want to learn more about those. I only restrict at certain times - I eat normally at other times.

For me, while cardio is good for overall health, it wasn't good for weight loss. Strength training is better for me but I don't do it as much as I should.