Diets You've Tried and Your Critiques

witchaywoman81

Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »

witchaywoman81 wrote: »

Low fat/low calorie - ah, the 90s. Haha. Wasn’t really “fat” at the time, just a little bit of chub. It worked, with exercise, but I was hungry all the time and it wasn’t sustainable.

Weight Watchers - been on it too many times to count, with varying degrees of success. Their older programs in the late 90s/early 2000s worked best for me. Was really just a complicated version of what mfp does for us now. Wasn’t that hungry and I liked it. Their new program is NOT for me.

South Beach - I did the first 2 weeks, where its most restrictive, and lost weight, but I didn’t carry on with it after that. I think eliminating whole food groups just isn’t for me.

Slim Fast - disaster. Do not recommend.

Now - when my head is in the game, I do great counting calories with MFP; however, based on the data I’ve been collecting here, Fitbit overestimates the calories I’m burning, so I’m testing out scaling back ever so slightly to see if that helps me.

What food groups? Which diet?

Are you referring to the bolded? South Beach diet. It’s been about 15 years since I tried it, so my information might not be current, but from what I remember in the first 2 weeks you aren’t allowed to eat many/any carbs, including fruit, pasta, bread, etc. I think in phase 2 you’re allowed to add some in slowly, but I didn’t even reach that point before I realized SouthBeach wasn’t for me.

Sabine_Stroehm

witchaywoman81 wrote: »

Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »

witchaywoman81 wrote: »

Low fat/low calorie - ah, the 90s. Haha. Wasn’t really “fat” at the time, just a little bit of chub. It worked, with exercise, but I was hungry all the time and it wasn’t sustainable.

Weight Watchers - been on it too many times to count, with varying degrees of success. Their older programs in the late 90s/early 2000s worked best for me. Was really just a complicated version of what mfp does for us now. Wasn’t that hungry and I liked it. Their new program is NOT for me.

South Beach - I did the first 2 weeks, where its most restrictive, and lost weight, but I didn’t carry on with it after that. I think eliminating whole food groups just isn’t for me.

Slim Fast - disaster. Do not recommend.

Now - when my head is in the game, I do great counting calories with MFP; however, based on the data I’ve been collecting here, Fitbit overestimates the calories I’m burning, so I’m testing out scaling back ever so slightly to see if that helps me.

What food groups? Which diet?

Are you referring to the bolded? South Beach diet. It’s been about 15 years since I tried it, so my information might not be current, but from what I remember in the first 2 weeks you aren’t allowed to eat many/any carbs, including fruit, pasta, bread, etc. I think in phase 2 you’re allowed to add some in slowly, but I didn’t even reach that point before I realized SouthBeach wasn’t for me.

I think you're not quite remembering it right. In the first two weeks you're required to eat substantial vegetables at every meal (and snacks). So that means carbs at every meal. It's suggested that you have 1/2cup of beans/legumes daily. Legumes are carb dense. You also have dairy and nuts/seeds which also contains carbs. When the two weeks are over you re-introduce fruit and grains at a pace that works for you. The carb count goes up there too, of course.
It's not low or no carb, it's just low glycemic carbs eaten in low glycemic load meals. It's still "not for everyone". Here's a visual.

witchaywoman81

Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »

witchaywoman81 wrote: »

Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »

witchaywoman81 wrote: »

Low fat/low calorie - ah, the 90s. Haha. Wasn’t really “fat” at the time, just a little bit of chub. It worked, with exercise, but I was hungry all the time and it wasn’t sustainable.

Weight Watchers - been on it too many times to count, with varying degrees of success. Their older programs in the late 90s/early 2000s worked best for me. Was really just a complicated version of what mfp does for us now. Wasn’t that hungry and I liked it. Their new program is NOT for me.

South Beach - I did the first 2 weeks, where its most restrictive, and lost weight, but I didn’t carry on with it after that. I think eliminating whole food groups just isn’t for me.

Slim Fast - disaster. Do not recommend.

Now - when my head is in the game, I do great counting calories with MFP; however, based on the data I’ve been collecting here, Fitbit overestimates the calories I’m burning, so I’m testing out scaling back ever so slightly to see if that helps me.

What food groups? Which diet?

Are you referring to the bolded? South Beach diet. It’s been about 15 years since I tried it, so my information might not be current, but from what I remember in the first 2 weeks you aren’t allowed to eat many/any carbs, including fruit, pasta, bread, etc. I think in phase 2 you’re allowed to add some in slowly, but I didn’t even reach that point before I realized SouthBeach wasn’t for me.

I think you're not quite remembering it right. In the first two weeks you're required to eat substantial vegetables at every meal (and snacks). So that means carbs at every meal. It's suggested that you have 1/2cup of beans/legumes daily. Legumes are carb dense. You also have dairy and nuts/seeds which also contains carbs. When the two weeks are over you re-introduce fruit and grains at a pace that works for you. The carb count goes up there too, of course.
It's not low or no carb, it's just low glycemic carbs eaten in low glycemic load meals. It's still "not for everyone". Here's a visual.

Ooh thanks for sharing! I didn’t remember the legumes part; I remember eating a lot of salads and lean proteins. They also had this “dessert” which was ricotta cheese with an extract (vanilla, almond, whatever) and sometimes cocoa powder in it. It didn’t taste bad, but I remember feeling a little odd about it.

jgnatca

We tried low fat no salt for a month. I learned that salt is in nearly all prepared foods and if you want flavour without salt start with very fresh, strong flavoured ingredients.

We’ve moderated back to low salt but I still pay a lot more attention to my vegetables.

Follow the create-your-plate diabetic plan. It does keep my blood sugars in check. A higher protein breakfast helps the whole day go better.

Weight Watchers. Generally balanced with lots of peer support. I did not like the suggested meal plans that came with it. Too “wet”. I’m a tactile eater and I need a lot of dry crunchy.

Consistently lost weight when I logged my meals daily and followed up with a dietitian once a month.

Sabine_Stroehm

witchaywoman81 wrote: »

Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »

witchaywoman81 wrote: »

Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »

witchaywoman81 wrote: »

Low fat/low calorie - ah, the 90s. Haha. Wasn’t really “fat” at the time, just a little bit of chub. It worked, with exercise, but I was hungry all the time and it wasn’t sustainable.

Weight Watchers - been on it too many times to count, with varying degrees of success. Their older programs in the late 90s/early 2000s worked best for me. Was really just a complicated version of what mfp does for us now. Wasn’t that hungry and I liked it. Their new program is NOT for me.

South Beach - I did the first 2 weeks, where its most restrictive, and lost weight, but I didn’t carry on with it after that. I think eliminating whole food groups just isn’t for me.

Slim Fast - disaster. Do not recommend.

Now - when my head is in the game, I do great counting calories with MFP; however, based on the data I’ve been collecting here, Fitbit overestimates the calories I’m burning, so I’m testing out scaling back ever so slightly to see if that helps me.

What food groups? Which diet?

Are you referring to the bolded? South Beach diet. It’s been about 15 years since I tried it, so my information might not be current, but from what I remember in the first 2 weeks you aren’t allowed to eat many/any carbs, including fruit, pasta, bread, etc. I think in phase 2 you’re allowed to add some in slowly, but I didn’t even reach that point before I realized SouthBeach wasn’t for me.

I think you're not quite remembering it right. In the first two weeks you're required to eat substantial vegetables at every meal (and snacks). So that means carbs at every meal. It's suggested that you have 1/2cup of beans/legumes daily. Legumes are carb dense. You also have dairy and nuts/seeds which also contains carbs. When the two weeks are over you re-introduce fruit and grains at a pace that works for you. The carb count goes up there too, of course.
It's not low or no carb, it's just low glycemic carbs eaten in low glycemic load meals. It's still "not for everyone". Here's a visual.

Ooh thanks for sharing! I didn’t remember the legumes part; I remember eating a lot of salads and lean proteins. They also had this “dessert” which was ricotta cheese with an extract (vanilla, almond, whatever) and sometimes cocoa powder in it. It didn’t taste bad, but I remember feeling a little odd about it.

Ah yes the dessert. I'm not much of a dessert eater (and I started SB-like-eating before the book came out) so I've never actually tried the ricotta thing. It's always sounded good.

And yeah, it's basically a protein and veg with beans, nuts and seeds, and dairy two weeks, then add back grains and fruit as tolerated.

Of course the mail order program *called* the south beach diet is NOT the original. Boo for buying names.

lemurcat2

I'd consider fruit and starch to be food groups (although I'd usually consider legumes to be in the starch group if not being used as a source of protein).

Mike1804

Back in 2012 I solicited the help of a personal trainer for 3 months. During this time he not only taught me how to maximize my workouts for my own body type and interests, he also introduced me to the crossfiit eating lifestyle. It’s not so much calorie tracking as it is portion sizing, timing, and choosing the right foods. It’s super simple and broken down by blocks of protein, carb, fat for each meal and snack period. It provides a huge amount of flexibility and for me, it gave me the most success. In fact as long as I’ve followed it, I’ve either managed to lose or maintain my weight. The only time I’ve actually gained weight is when I don’t follow it. During that 3 month period I was with the trainer I lost 30 lbs (10lbs/month). http://library.crossfit.com/free/pdf/CFJ_2015_05_Zone6.pdf

jdog022

I did the eat less diet. Wildly successful

secotton13

Did keto for about 3 months. Did lose some weight, but my gosh, how I missed my carbs. Also had horrible keto headaches the first couple of weeks. Found it to be quite expensive and time consuming prepping my meals. Refocusing on a simple calories in < calories out plan going ahead.