Live the Lifestyle (LTL) Friday 3 March

Jimb376mfp

Everyone says it, but just how do you do it? How do you take the guidelines of the WW program and turn them into a lifestyle you can live every day...from now on? That is what we are here to explore. Each weekday, a new topic is offered up for discussion. Newbie? Join in! Veteran? Join in! Your thoughts may be just what someone else needs to hear.

Monday -- 88olds (George)
Tuesday -- spospo1 (Steve)
Wednesday -- minimyzeme (Kim)
Thursday -- imastar2 (Derrick)
Friday --Jim376 (Jim)

Today's topic: Diet gimmicks, scams, fads and rip offs you have tried.

What crazy things have you tried looking for the easy, magic silver bullet to lose weight...?

I'm sure most of us have wished there was an EASIER way and tried something different than "eat less and move more".

Jimb376mfp

On WW Connect a guy put out his modified WW plan on how he uses his daily SPs and Weekly SPs. He claimed great success and I was tired of my slow but steady pace after four years.

The basics of his plan are eat assigned number of SPs on days 1&2 and 6&7 but eat ALL your weeklies on days 3-4-5!

I get 42 Weekly SPs so cramming those in my mouth in addition to my 32 Daily SPs seemed like a lot of food! On his plan he also said we could eat carp.

Week one I lost only .4 but this week I lost 2.8#! That shocked me b/c I didn't believe it would work.

So looking back over my last two weeks eating habits I realized I really didn't enjoy stuffing extra food into my mouth. It made me feel guilty, remorseful that I was "cheating" binging. My blood sugar spiked and I realized I did not want to go backwards in my eating habits to where I was doing recreational eating rather than healthy eating.

If something is too good to be true it's probably not true.

I have lost weight steadily over four years following the WW Plan. Now at -157# and will continue down the slow but reliable plan.

misterhub

This is a variation on a methodology (I don't remember the name) that made the rounds via WW boards a few years ago. In that version, you would vary your point intake throughout the week. Some days a minimal amount. Some days, you'd top the charts. Worked for some folks, was disastrous for others. I tried it. Had limited success, but returned to the tried and true and lost over 70 pounds total.

myallforjcbill

I haven't tried anything crazy. Sometimes a WW leader would recommend a short term variation. But I think sometimes these things are more to get us more mentally or emotionally out of a rut then they are physiological. Most of them are not sustainable lifestyle choices in what I have seen. For me that is the measuring stick.

Jimb376mfp

@misterhub was that the Wendy plan?

This is ssprengel23 plan on WW Connect.

@myallforjcbill I agree, it was a break from my routine, made me look at my food choices differently, it had me doing some introspective soul searching on how I want to eat. I learned I don't need to eat carp to be happy with my choices.

88olds

Jenny Craig, pills, Atkins, hr long cardio. JC & the cardio were not what I'd call easy. But not good way to live.

Al_Howard

All along I've been using most, if not all plus, of my weeklies over the weekend (Friday weigher, and "enjoyed" Friday, Saturday and Sunday).
Am finding more protein is curbing the snacking at night, as I'm fuller, so I actually eat less during the week.
Dunno, but it's working, so far.

whathapnd

The only crazy thing I've ever done is the Cabbage Soup Diet. This is a seven day diet with specific things to eat each day including as much of the cabbage soup as you want. I did it a couple of times in my 20s and, both times, lost the seven pounds in a week it touted. I was also dizzy and weak after the 3rd day.

I still frequently make a version of that soup but no longer use the onion soup mix and now saute the onions and cabbage in evoo and add chicken , herbes de Provence and chili powder. Delicious, filling and low point.

misterhub

Jimb376mfp wrote: »

@misterhub was that the Wendy plan?

Yes, I believe that is correct.

Jimb376mfp

@whathapnd That sounds like a "cleanse" not a diet! LoL j/k

goldenfrisbee

Long, long time ago I tried Herbal Life, but drinking a shake for breakfast and lunch was not sustainable. That was the only "fad" thing I ever tried. Other attempts were just eating less, but that got old fast because I felt deprived.

linmueller

I've done lots of different diets, is. Atkins, South Beach, 5:2, ... but the one that sticks out was really just super low cal with crazy menu items. And the menu listed exactly what to eat each day. I can't remember the name or many specifics, but I do remember eating a lot of hard cooked eggs, and hot dogs. None of these diets were sustainable!

mcbluesky

Atkins, South Beach, Dean Ornish. All worked, but none were sustainable. Lost the most first time I did Atkins. Felt great. Weight dropped off. Nothing against either of the plans. However, what I have learned is that a refined sugar fueled binge is usually right around the corner if I am unable to eat fruit. Not only can I eat fruit on WW, but it is 0sp. Slow and steady I go.

DavidKuhnsSr

When I was young, I tried all sorts of crazy things in attempts to gain weight. Losing was never a goal until I got fat in my mid-50s. Only weight loss thing I ever tried was WW.

gadgetgirlIL

I have to confess that I tried Fen-Phen back in the 90's. I was on it for a few months before it was pulled from the market. I lost about 20 pounds. Fortunately, I did NOT suffer heart valve damage. I will NEVER do anything like that again.

I'm too picky of an eater to have any interest in the other fad diets. Reducing calories but not what foods I was able to eat (just the quantities) has always worked the best for me.

TimDumez

The craziest plan I ever did was one that I conjured up back in the mid-1980's. I cut back on eating, don't ask me how, I don't remember. I also walked 3.5 to 5 hours per day, 7 days a week, at an average pace of 4.3 mph, just short of a jog for my super short legs. I did this for 3 months and lost 95 pounds, but boy oh boy, it WAS NOT SUSTAINABLE!!!!! I burned myself out and developed a true hatred for exercise.
The first 3 times I was on WW and GoaD I was using a treadmill, which I did not like and grew to hate. However, I finally found an exercise that I like. That is riding my NordicTrack recumbent stationary bike. So although I'd rather not have to be doing this weight-loss journey, this time it is somewhat enjoyable, because I've become much more involved with you GoaDies and am actually looking forward to my exercise routine. Quite a few GoaDies have said to make sure you pick an activity or exercise routine that you enjoy, to keep you coming back. Well, I finally found something that I enjoy and my GoaDie friends are right....

Jimb376mfp

@TimDumez
When I retired 2010 I joined a gym that offered a Diet/Nutrition class, it included an aerobics class. At 360 it was to hard on my knees/ankles so I tried aqua aerobics. Then I added swimming laps before class. I too have found my exercise that I like.

minimyzeme

I think the only one I tried was South Beach. As I recall, it worked OK (or maybe I did). What I definitely remember is I didn't stick with it for long. I don't even recall if there was anything that turned me off about it other than my own lack of readiness to commit to a plan. Maybe it was restrictive but I suspect my problem was me as much as anything else.

beachwoman2006

I've been on every WW plan known to man LOL I started WW in the late 60's with the ORIGINAL WW plan. So I guess some of those might have been considered "fad" plans because, while they DID work, WW tended to change the plan once a year.

In addition, I've followed the Atkins plan and I did lose weight on the Atkins plan. But then I decided that I wanted to have a piece of bread every now and then.

Anyone old enough to remember the AYDS candies? My favorites (no surprise) were the chocolate ones.

Oh...and let's not forget the cabbage soup diet. You could eat as much of it as you wanted. But that's ALL you ate!

Those are the ones that come to mind immediately. I'm sure there were others.

podkey

Yeah talking about the ole Wendie Plan. I jusr shrugged as I eat different amounts on various days any way I just don't have "Wendy or Wendie" telling me which days and times. I suspect it "worked" as much because folk paid attention more. Honestly I knew how many points and weekly extras I could eat on an average week and lose regardless of when I ate them. Every week is different.

I did do Atkins and lost despite constipation issues. I did some sort of medfast meal drink plus food once and even stimulant pills once.

I like WW because it lets me choose food and drinks in portions . I got to learn to eat in lifelong style or by end of about 3rd week any way. I added back in some items I had skipped but enoy. Made it more than monastic deprivation nonsense.

Jimb376mfp

@beachwoman2006 Yes they had to change the name Ayds after AIDS epidemic hit.

I remember early WW program REQUIRED you to eat liver once a week! I ate a frozen dinner of chicken livers!

imastar2

My first stab at diet tricks was Dexatrine pills prescribed by my pediatrician. Little known at the time that they could kill you. Then tried Ayds candy squares & chocolate was my choice. Then on to the grapefruit diet and gained on that one. Then tried Atkins and thought I had success on it seeing how I lost 100 lbs 4 times but it always came back. Probably forgot some more diets I tried along the way over 50 plus years. WW has been my most successful attempt and I have been stable for about three and half years but that's good enough for me at this point albeit it is not a gain thank goodness.

MurpleCat

Just WW, in a variety of forms. Never had to eat liver, though.