Okay this is where we post about what diets we are on, what diets work and don't work, exercise regimes, etc etc. It's like a support group! I'll start with a little of what I have done.

At the beginning of March I weighed 161. I am now down to 144 and my goal is to reach 130 in September, in time for a cruise I am taking. To get there, I have cut out almost all junk food from my diet.

Who wants to go next?

Well, I got back from being at college about two weeks ago. I never realized how bad my eating habits had become until I came home. I was eating so much, and eating late at night.

I just started my "diet" yesterday, so bear with me. I have goals, but no official "this-has-worked-you-must-try-it" kind of thing.

Drinking water is a main concern of mine. I was drinking way too many bottles of powerade and downing sodas like nobody's business. But, I'm doing my best to drink half of a gallon of water (the recommended 8 cups of water a day) and gradually work myself up to a gallon a day. It's amazing how much water can fill you up. If you drink a lot of water before you eat (say, 2 glasses) then you won't eat as much because your body feels full. Yesterday I drank a half of a gallon of water, and today I'm actually getting close to reaching the full gallon. Granted, you will be using the bathroom quite a bit more than usual, but water does flush out your system.

I'm also trying to make it a goal to not eat past a certain time at night. I'm making goals for myself each week. This week, it is nothing past 10. Then next week it will be 9:30, the week after, 9...etc. Until I'm at about 7 or 7:30. Eating before you go to bed is a killer. It can add pounds because you aren't doing ANY kind of physical activity to burn the calories you've just consumed.

Ok, I think I babbled on way too much.

<33 Morgan

Wow, a gallon of water a day? I would be going to the bathroom every hour! It's funny how diets work differently with everyone. If I did mine gradually, like how you are doing with eating times, I would get stuck. I like to go cold turkey.

It's so true that everybody has their own way. I know I'm only 18 and I'm freaking out about my weight and stuff. But it's, like, the one thing I feel is holding me back from doing so much, ya know?

I started doing weird diet things when I was in 8th grade. I had horrible habits where I would go for extended periods of time without eating. Trust me, not a good idea.

And, I also tried to do the cold turkey thing. But I always find I'll stick with something like that for a week, and then just give up, because I tried to do so much in so little time.

Oh, I'm so glad to see this group! I've been yo-yo dieting for almost three years now, and I need to slim down again!!

I've become pretty good at losing weight (after doing it SO many times!). Here are some things I've found helpful:
- CRYSTAL LIGHT is your friend - it's yummy and it keeps you satisfied. I forgo snacking altogether and just drink crystal light all day, and it works wonders!! (Buy generic, though, 'cause it's way overpriced. :P)
- Only buy foods that come in discrete quantities.
- Keep track of your calories on FitDay or something similar; it keeps you aware of how much you're consuming.
- Have good music on your iPod - you'll look forward to your workout! :D

I never cared about my weight until I was 19, 'cause I'd always been pretty slim naturally. But then I lost a few pounds by accident, pretty much, and it was only then that I realized how much lard I'd been carrying around. Unfortunately, I gain it back whenever I come home and am surrounded by munchies... can't wait to get back to my apartment this weekend so I can get back on track!!

I'VE FOUND THAT EATING NATURAL FOODS IS BEST. I FEEL GREAT WHEN I EAT A LOT OF FRUIT AND VEGGIES. WHEN I EAT OVERLY PROCESSED FOODS, I FEEL TERRIBLE AND LACK ENERGY. I DRINK DISTILLED WATER. I FEEL IT IS THE PUREST. THE WATER OUT OF MY TAP SMELLS LIKE CHLORINE.

i struggled with anorexia 2 years ago but i find the best way to loose weight is to not eat anything frozen or cooked, it helps to detoxify your body, its alot easier to follow if you're vegetarian :)

Eat more veggies.

Eat small meals more often. You get your body used to metabolizing constantly rather than storing energy until the next meal. From what it seems our metabolism has "memory" of our eating habbits.

Don't eat anything after 7.

Make it a habbit to go jogging every day, or even walking for 20 minutes or more. Exercise is the best solution of them all.

Drink a lot of water as mentioned previously

Try avoiding food with saturated fat (like pork for example)

Try to avoid eating bread.
DON'T EVER GET ANYWHERE NEAR DOUGHNUTS!!!

I hope that helps. ;)

Exercise works a heck of a lot. Thats my best suggestion.

Bread is good. Jesus ate bread. LOL. If you exercise enough bread shouldn't matter. Just as long as you don't eat a ten gallon size thing of pasta.

As part of my diet, I cut out a lot of salt. Salt makes you retain water. I use Mrs. Dash when making my grilled chicken, the garlic and herb one is so good!

funny that this thread started...
i just came back from the doctor because i've been having problems with my weight.

i've been earnestly trying to lose weight for what seems like forever, and nothing. i go to the gym. i live in the city and don't own or need a car - so i walk or bike everywhere. i eat very well - no processed foods, no fried foods, no junk food. in fact, i pretty much only eat light or low fat stuff. i think part of my problem is that i eat too little, not enough to keep my metabolism up. i've been counting and it's only about 1000-1200 calories per day. honestly...i'm just not hungry.

i've gone on the south beach diet, the atkins diet, weight watchers, i've gone through periods where i'm at the gym 6 days per week for 90 minutes each day. i'm not exaggerating, either.

NOTHING. In fact, I've steadily been gaining weight. About 40 lbs in the past 4 years. On top of it, for the past year/year and a half i've been feeling plain lousy. tired all the time, anxious, depressed, achy. for the most part i attributed this all to getting older, my body & metabolism changing (i'm 26), but frankly, i'm the most active i've been in my whole life, and eat healthier than i ever have.

so about a month ago i was talking to my mom about it, and she mentioned that she knew a girl who was having problems with her thyroid, and as a result was unable to lose weight. for my whole life i thought that "thyroid problems" only happened to severly obese people. well, as i researched it i realized that it's mainly a problem with people who aren't obese at all, rather those who are no more than 10-50 lbs overweight. and all the little aches and pains, fatigue, depression, etc, are associated with underactive thyroid (hypothyroid) as well. plus, autoimmune disorders run in my family.

anyway, like i said i went to the doctor today. this was a big step for me because i'm very doctor-phobic and deathly afraid of needles. i haven't been to a doctor in years. for me, it was a last resort. i don't want to have to rely on medicine to lose weight - i'm strong-willed and want to do it on my own. i felt like such a fool because i broke down sobbing about all of my weight loss frustration to the doctor. luckily, she was a sweetheart and very comforting. i have labwork scheduled, and i'm praying something good happens, because truthfully, i don't know what more i can do. i don't expect not to have to work for it, but it just frustrates me that some people can just cut out soda and junk food and easily lose weight. i haven't had regular soda in years. i don't eat junk food. god, it's just so frustrating.

so i guess what i'm trying to say is, i hope to be able to join you guys on the weight loss bus :)
i have an appointment to see a nutritionist as well, and am going to stop eating after 7pm. i'm thinking positively though that with some help, maybe i can start to move forward. :glomp:

Great thread!

What's worked for me:

Drinking at least 8/8 oz. glasses of water a day (I'm up to a gallon a day now)
Not eating after 8pm (if able)
Cutting down on beef and pork (if you are able, cutting it completely from your diet will help alot!)
No soda! (if so, drink only rarely)
Avoid white rice, bread, or any other white flour products
Exercising for 15 minutes a day (anything you want, as long as it's "exercise" and gets your heart pumping!)
Eat more fresh things, rather than canned things (or, if you eat canned things, see if you can get them without preservatives/additives)
Having an accountability partner (someone to encourage and help you along the way)

What HASN't worked for me:

Fad diets (eg. Atkins) that are too restrictive (the "no" makes you want to say "yes")
Doing exercise that I don't want to do (eg. running, workout tapes--instead, I play basketball and jump on a mini trampoline...
but if you like to run, then that's what you should do--basically do what you like!)
Spending money! :lol:

Yeah, I was thinking that's the problem. Also probably eating too little with so much exercise.

I've been with Weight Watchers for 3 or 4 years... up until this last year I was doing great. I made life Time in only 4 months. So if I go back to meetings and get back to their goal weight...

Now I'm 5 pounds over their goal weight. My goal weight at 49 yo is actually about 20 pounds lighter than what they say... (only because I'm small boned) so that would put me at 25 pounds over. Also I'm 49, and your metabolism does slow down, it gets tougher unfortunately.

What I KNOW works...

not watching your calories alone. You must MOVE.
Eat plenty of veggies (to WW they are free foods)
Keep track, journal what you eat, because you'd be surprised of all the calories you can consume.
Eat enough, or else your body goes into starvation mode and burns slower
drink at least 6 glasses of water a day.
Don't waste your calories on high calorie foods.

So to lose weight you must put out more than you take in. In calories WW is like 1200 per day.

And I'll be truthful, I just had icecream. I really need to get back on track. I feel like dirt most of the time, and eating right and excercising gives me lots of energy.

Lets all do IT! :rocker:

i love how supportive we all are of each other. weight loss is hard for a lot of people, and it's great that we have this support system.

i just finished off my last glass of water for the day...making it all the way to a gallon! i'm excited. yes, i visited the bathroom frequently, but i'm already FEELING better. and i think that's a major key in weight loss--doing things that make you FEEL good. for example, when i'm really into my excersizing, i'll do a ton of ab work a few days a week. i'll take a cd that i'm REALLY into, and do a different kind of "sit up" for each song, sometimes with a song for a "break." and even though it seems like such a long time, i'm enjoying the music so it's great. i'm actually using the AI cd. :D and, another plus to this is I like the tightness or "bruised" feeling I have in my abs the next day. It just...feels good? Yeah, I know, it's weird. But it makes me feel like I worked hard, and then I'm just positive for the rest of the day.

another thing is...try to stay busy. try to keep your mind off of food for as long as you can. usually, i try to just listen to music and sing. or organize--i'm a huge neat freak. stuff like that. and stay out of the kitchen. i know that helps me, too.

umm....if i think of other things, i'll definitely post more.

Like someone said above, pick exercises you enjoy doing!

If you don't then you won't work out unless you are 500% motivated.

:cheerleader: (But make sure you don't overdo it girl...a gallon a day is no joke...the bathroom becomes your best friend LOL!)

It's definitely harder to find routines to stick with, so I try to mix it up. As far as exercise goes I am constantly changing what I do next. From Pilates(it's easier than it sounds, you don't need any machines, it's all about strenghtening your core, abdominals), Taebo, that stupid exercise ball, to Jane Fonda's OLD exercise video, change it up and you won't get bored or feel like your obligated to do the same thing every time. Real sports are always good, swimming, tennis, volleyball, basketball, walking...

As far as eating... stop drinking sodas if you do...I dropped a whole pant size in a month and a week.I was literally drinking acouple of sodas everyday and just made myself stop. I try to drink water or sparkling water if you need that carbination sensation. I don't like to eat breakfast, but make myself eat something first thing. Either a smoothie or meal substitute shake, or fruit, yougart or plain cereal flakes. I read about a lot of diets and recipes and then I pick out ideas/ recipes that fit into my routine. If I try to follow somebody elses plan I am doomed. In my mind it has to be my idea, so to speak, then I have a easier time adapting. Two of my favorite breakfast(or anytime) combinations I got from the Zone(which basically talks about eating food combinations that burn the stored fat already in your body)are:

plain yougart(which I hate, so I use Vanilla)
blueberries(fresh or frozen, the darker the berry the more anitoxidents)
sliced almonds(almonds are really good for you, if you are not allergic)

or

cottage cheese
mandaran orange slices(jar or canned)
chopped walnuts

both of these (throw in a bowl, eat) helps to burn fat stored in the body already, the details are in the Zone, but it seems to be working for me.I find if I eat breakfast I am not as hungry when luch comes, and so on. I totally agree about limiting the processed foods. There are a lot of preservatives in packaged foods, if you think about it, what is that stuff doing to your body, makes me not want to eat it at all. Fresh is best, find interesting ways to add flavor, check out the food network and cookbooks. It's all about research, the internet is great for that! :woohoo:

FYI...the excess pounds from last baby are just now starting to melt off, after a lot of stops and starts(five years ago) don't get discouraged, keep it simple, it makes it easier on you.

Heard a few people say you should stop eating after a certain time.
Actually you can eat up until you go to bed so long as you don't overeat and go over your calorie total for the day.

Anywho... I'm not gonna say how much I want to lose.. b/c it's alot & I'm just not comfy with sharing it yet... but I'll share what I've gone through so far heh.

Tryed alot of different diets, but of course nothing ever worked.
Tryed Atkins, but I only lost like 3 lbs and was sick of not being able to eat carbs. So quit that.
Tryed a Zone type of diet...but that never even got started b/c the recipes/menus they provided were just things I did not like.
Signed up for Ediets... it's a good site and I lost 5lbs from following the meal plans you can customize. But it was getting too expensive with the things on my list.
Plus the monthly fee for the place was just too much considering that I was just getting the same things over and over again anyway.


So yeah... that was a while ago.. and now... I've just cut my calorie intake to about 1500-2000 a day and I've lost 7lbs already. Was at 8 but I've gained a lb back *grumbles* But that's still pretty surprising to me considering that I did nothing but cut my calorie intake.
I eat everything I want.. I just portion it.
I write down everything I eat and how many calories it is.
I have cut out regular soda though (actually have been doing that for a few years now). I can't live without my soda so I drink Sam's Choice caffeine free diet cola (walmart brand) heh. It's SOOOO much better than named brand stuff b/c it only has 5mg of sodium, plus I just like the taste of it better heh.

I'm also starting up Turbo Jam videos. Wanted to start it a couple weeks ago and did it a few times, but ttotm came along and then I got sick so had 0 energy and didn't want to do much of anything except sleep.
But I'm feeling better and am planning on starting it back up Friday.
It seems pretty fun so far heh. it's definitley different and just shows me how uncoordinated I really am.
MAN the first time I tryed it... I'm glad I was alone b/c I know I looked ridiculous heh.

Blah blah blah... anywho... I want to be at least halfway to my goal by my birthday (Sept 20th). I got alot of work to do :)

I know what you mean. I'm quite overweight. Way too big for my age. Glad I'm not the only one who feels like this!!

I actually just got done working out for the day. Feels great!!

Oh good, I thought I was the only one whose weight wasn't affected by midnight munchies.

hi guys :hello:

does anyone happen to know the site where you put in your height & weight and it generates a 3-D image of what your body looks like? I think it's a pretty popular site. I've come across it before but cannot for the life of me find it searching. thanks!

I've been on all types of diets and it seemed nothing in paticular worked for me. I finally decided to invest in a treadmill. Wow, I wish I would have done this years ago. I went from a size 18 to a size 10, by just walking. For me, exercise was key. I still eat what I want, but I do avoid most fast food restaurants and fried foods. I feel so much better and my knees don't hurt anymore, and also I was concerned for my health, since my mom has diabetes.

wow. that's great. from an 18 to a 10. how long did it take you to do this? and howl ong did you walk each day, etc?

About 1 yr., I never weighed myself the whole time. When I used to diet, I always weighed myself, and that was a problem. It got discouraging, so I decided to not weigh myself and instead go by clothing sizes, boy, did I go through alot of clothes. I started out 45 minutes a day and worked my way up. Now, I do 75 minutes a day. Sometimes, I walk downtown where I live for a change of pace. I've maintained this size for 2 yrs. now, and still eat basically what I want, I just excercise accordingly.

Thanks so much for posting your testimony. I needed to hear that today! Very encouraging...:clap:

Wow.. that's so awesome and such an inspiration for the rest of us still struggling :)
I tryed doing the treadmill but good lord is it just about the most boring thing ever!
We even bught a new tv to put in the room with the treadmill and it's still too boring for me to do.
That's why I'm sticking with the exercise videos.. at least for now heh :D
What speed did you set the treadmill on?

that's so awesome. yeah, i'm doing the whole walking thing, too. however, i used my stepmom's "walk away the pounds" dvd today and it was awesome. they have a 1 mile thing on there, 2 miles, and apparently there are more dvds that have longer ones. i have a treadmill sitting to my left about 10 ft actually. i'm going to be putting it to use!!

it's great to hear such an encouraging story.

Cindy Crawford has some good workout videos, if you don't mind the cheesy 80's music! I use Netflix to try them out.

I have used this one I believe

http://snipurl.com/mymodel

Well I think I've been re-inspired :). I watched what I ate yesterday... in WW points ate about 1200 calories with lots of veggies on my plate for a change.

Turned my Dear Hubby down when he brought me a choc chip cookie. In WW we call that Non Scale Victories :cheerleader: I've been back to WW group too. I feel like I'm finally getting back on track.

Now to get off my lazy butt!!!!

Could never really get into going to the gym, seems like I lose interest after a few months. Too much of the same thing. I usually do home tapes, so I can change around... or ride my stationary bike.

Has anyone tried the Firm tapes. Lord I used to love them. Tough workouts, but they really burn fat and tone. Actually I have another set I've yet to open. It's coming :).

thank you! that's exactly it.

my model's body looks way better than my own though. or maybe it's that Michael Kors bikini, lol.

WOW! the model looks exactly like me!!!!!!!!!!!! holy crap!

You're welcome. I just want to say do whatever is comfortable for you, so many people (family,friends,etc) kept telling me certain ways to do this and that, and I just said I'm doing it my way. Sticking to my way paid off, because I enjoy doing it. I don't look at the treadmill and dread it anymore, now I see it as a part of my day. If anyone does treadmill or is thinking about it, please do get an ipod. My husband bought me one years ago,a 3rd gen, it really helped time pass. This Christmas I got updated and purchased the video ipod, wow, not only can I listen to Elliott's songs while I tread but now I can watch videos. Also, calling people and talking on the phone during treadmilling is another way to pass time. You wouldn't believe how time goes by.

That was uncanny...but it actually made me look a little better LOL!

I'm in a weight loss contest with some folks at work. I'm in the lead so far, but I've been "illin'". Actually, I think I'm diabetic (Yikes!) My dad is diabetic, so I've be testing my blood and it has been up the entire week that I have been testing. So, off to the DR on Tuesday.

Anyway, I lost 11 pounds this week. No soda, lots of water, no sweets, very little starchy food.

LOL, I know what you mean, I tried adding wt to get a true appearance. Think I better hit the gyms.

Big congrats on your wt loss, although you don't want to continue losing that much a week.

I've been to diabetic classes with an aunt, and also have taken a few nutrition classes with my major. A good wholesome diet (I always push WW) is very good for Type 2 diabetes.

Good luck to you at the docs.


I want to add. Day 3 and still watching and counting... lets hope I'm on the roll.

have you guys heard of the hungrygirl.com website? if you haven't, you should definitely go and subscribe to their email list! i hate getting daily emails, but i look forward to getting theirs. it's an awesome site that has info on all kinds of ways to make low-calorie meal alternatives, it gives the lowdown on 'diet' foods, what's good, what's gross, and it's just got so much insider information on various different foods and meals. it's also written in a very matter of fact style, and it's not sponsored by any particular company, so she's very no holds barred in her reviews. i find it to be an invaluable resource...i love it. i think the girl who runs it has a spot on Extra, or something like that.

make sure you look into the House Foods tofu shirataki noodles she raves about. sounds gross, because it is literally tofu, but looks & tastes like pasta and has something ridiculous like 25 calories per serving. :blink:

I agree. But maybe it was water weight? I lost 4 pounds in one week and I attributed it to water weight because the weather changed and I started sweating more. (eww, sounds gross!)