HELP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!17 Day,WeightWatchers, Fast Metabolism, DASH or WHAT?????

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mccubbee wrote: »

My library of diet books is bursting off the shelves..... I am an intelligent ( in most ways but obviously not with food) 62 year old woman. I find myself getting swayed into whatever is the new idea..... Common sense tells me that I should be able to eat less and exercise more .... and BINGO, I am at goal weight. NOT HAPPENING. I am hoping for some ideas here on a plan that is nutritionally sound and not depriving me of things I love. I seem to actually need a written plan though. Please HELP!!

Welcome mccubbee

It took me forever to figure out I can eat whatever I like as long as I eat less calories than I burn. I suggest you donate the books to the library or second hand store, buy yourself a good scale, and weigh and log everything you eat.

Just eat what you love, weigh it, log it, and enjoy!

Ok tough love?! You either want to lose weight or you want to use excuses why it doesn't work.

So...why didn't weight watchers work, if you want the option to eat all the things that made you overweight? They give you the option of a meal plan for the week or you take responsibility and make your own choices.

Seriously the only thing that has worked for me is to count my calories and stay in a deficit. Simple yes, easy, not always xx

Firstly, you have to want this more than you want anything else. No, really want it. So that you become slightly obsessed, and it takes over your brain to such an extent that when cake is on offer you automatically think, "Can I fit this into my calories for today? If not, do I want cake enough to have to claw back those calories at some point in the next few days?" And the answer usually - for me at least - depends on the quality of the cake. That's the difference between staying on a plan and succeeding, and falling off and restarting (another plan) over and over again.

Most people couldn't eat keto or Paleo, or slimming world or weight watchers or Atkins for the rest of their lives. Those diets can be stuck to short term, but they restrict you. And many of us on MFP, the ones who give snarky answers, have done named diets but found that the MFP approach is easier, more fun, and more sustainable. (They get a bit frustrated when other people can't see how simple it is, and that's where the bitchiness on these boards comes from. I believe that they all mean well and want the best for you and to help you. But they get burned out on saying the same things over and over again.) It takes a little effort, but it can be educational and really sort of fun.

The oft-spouted and actually sage advice on here is that diets with a name will relieve you of a few pounds and a lot of money. In the end, the best way to eat now to lose weight is in a way that you can see yourself eating for the rest of your life. Because maintaining weight loss is actually harder than weight loss itself.

A written plan can be helpful short term, but what happens when you reach your goal? By following someone else's daily meal plan you will have learned very little about how to feed yourself the right foods to keep you at a healthy weight. You can't follow that same meal plan forever can you?

MFP is a great tool for learning how to put together your own meal plan. You can tweak it as you go along, and learn more about what foods work for you. Do carbs keep you full? Or is fat or protein the secret to stopping you getting hungry? Do apples make you ravenous? Will you lose weight if you eat back all of your exercise calories, or does half work better? What the magic number of calories that keeps you sated, but still losing weight?

It may take 2 or 3 months to figure this all out, and even then, your needs will change. But you might as well settle in for a long journey and take it slowly. You'll be more likely to get there and stay there.

How about you start just by logging what you eat now? (Use cups and spoons for fluids, and a food scale in grams for everything else.) Then you can see which foods are value for calories and you might want to eat more of, and which ones cost more calorie wise and can be worked in as treats. Learn from this to make your own meal plan. You can plan each day in advance to make it fit your calories and macros, and tweak it as you go along.

We're all individuals - nobody else's meal plan can ever work perfectly for us. So make your own. With a bit of time, effort, thought and experimentation, you totally can!

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If you want a guide, here's how my day looks, and it works, and it's rarely difficult.

25% -30% of my calories are spent on snacks and treats. This could be milk in my coffee, chocolate, wine, a few slices of ham, or extra fruit in between meals. I need treats. I look for low calorie hacked recipes of things I like. (Half a thin crust frozen pizza topped with extra veg and low fat cheese is one of my favourites.) And low calorie alternatives when I can't find a hack.

I'm a volume eater. I need big platefuls of food to stop me being hungry. So about 40-60% of the food that makes up my meals (not snacks) is non-starchy fruit and vegetables. This is hugely important to me. I'm not sure at all how other people manage to not gnaw their own arms off with hunger when I see how few veggies they eat!

I've changed my macros lots of times. Still trying to find the best ratio of carb/protein/fat. It seems to be 40/30/30 though.

I plan around treats. If I know we're going to McDonald's, I'll shave a few calories off breakfast, and have salad or stir fry for dinner, and swap my fries and milkshake for salad and diet coke.

I have meals off. If I'm away for a romantic weekend, I'll have the weekend off. Sometimes I fail spectacularly. I have a history of eating disorders, and there have been one or two binges in the last 4 months. But at the next meal, or the next day, I'm back on plan. And if I screwed up, I work out how it happened and plan how to not do that in the same situation next time. This has been an important change. One blow out will not blow your whole diet. A series of blow outs will.

Give MFP your numbers, activity level and how much you want to lose each week and get your daily calorie goal.

You can then look for whatever calorie a day meal plans on the internet if you like.
You don't have to completely change the type of food you normally eat though; just eat less and stick to your calorie goal. Eat in a way you will be able to keep up long term.
If you have health problems maybe talk to your doctor or an actual dietician about setting up a plan that works for your particular situation.

Some of us find it helpful to pre-log our meals. I put in the whole day in advance the night before or in the morning. I usually start with dinner and then add lunch, breakfast and snacks.

I can't speak for the rest of these "diets" but Weight Watchers is NOT restrictive at all. It's pretty much like MFP. It's a great program and you'll learn tons of lifelong eating lessons on it. However, you can do the same thing with MFP for free, and of course there are no MFP meetings either which I found tremendously helpful on WW.

Good luck to you.

mccubbee wrote: »

I find myself getting swayed into whatever is the new idea.....

I have to say that I am really impressed with your self-awareness. Most people would not realize nor admit that they are easily swayed.
It sounds quite overwhelming, the amount of books you have and information to sort through. Here's my suggestion:
1. start on MFP simply logging your calories and exercising more. This takes some getting used to. Start today.
2. in the meantime, skim through your books and figure out if anything seems reasonable and sustainable. Browse the MPF forums too. By the time you've looked through everything, you may have either found a plan that you like, decided to stick with MFP, or a combination of both.

sssgilber wrote: »

Pootler, I want to print your post and put it on the bathroom mirror to read every morning. Thank you!

What's funny is that I am 100% the opposite of Pootler... and losing weight. Which just goes to show that there are lots of ways to achieve a caloric deficit. I'll happily eat low-volume, high-fat foods and feel great. But the caloric deficit is key.

OP, decide how you are most happy eating -- more fruits & veggies, more volume, more fat, higher carbs, whatever -- and design a plan that includes those foods and has you eating at a deficit. You can do it but you have to want it and you have to plan.

I plan my day in calories at the beginning of my day. Then I know exactly what I can have for the day and also know my menu! This site is easy to use as long as you count everything you eat, every day. You only cheat yourself if you don't. If I want something more/special, I take a walk or whatever exercise you like. As noted above, if you eat less than you burn, you will lose. Good luck!

You know, the best diet all along was just calorie counting and exercise. It's got a bad rap of being "too much work," etc, because calorie counting used to mean buying one of those depressing little newsprint booklets at the checkout line of the grocery store and sadly totting up your food. I still remember the ads on TV urging women to take appetite suppressants to help them with their "1000 per day!" UGH. No wonder more gimmicky plans gained steam!

It's a different game now. With aps/websites like My Fitness Pal (which you've obviously found!) It's no harder to do a simple calorie counting regimen than one of the gimmicky fad diets. Fad diets are actually harder to follow! Just input your information on the MFP calculator and enter your food in the food diary. Use the recipe tool to determine the calorie count of dishes you already like to prepare and eat. Find some exercise that you enjoy and do that.

Try that for a month or two and see how you feel. From there, you can adjust some finer points, etc. But, really, this website is the easiest "diet plan" of all!

LuvPosh wrote: »

Ok tough love?! You either want to lose weight or you want to use excuses why it doesn't work.

So...why didn't weight watchers work, if you want the option to eat all the things that made you overweight? They give you the option of a meal plan for the week or you take responsibility and make your own choices.

@LuvPosh . I think that was a bit harsh especially not knowing her height and weight. Needing to lose a 10-12 extra pounds at 62 isn't the same as trying to lose 30, 40, 50+lbs at 42. I have found that the heavier you are to start with the faster and more bulk weight you lose initially. I've been on MFP for 4 days and already lost 8 lbs. It may be only water weight but 10lbs on a scale is 10lbs on the scale. I know that once I reach closer to my goal weight it may take me months to lose the last 10 lbs. Following MFP is the best advice on here. Every plan isn't for everybody. Weightwatchers alone never helped me either. I had to combine a few different plans together to find what finally allowed me to shed pounds pretty quickly. (35lbs in 3 months.) Best thing is to be patient with yourself. Sometimes just a little tweak can make all the differance. Mccubee you will find your sweet spot.

Have you tried the new weight watcher Coach. You get to pick your own personal coach. I picked one that was close to my age 59, She is a Nurse so she understands my health issues.We hit it off, I can email her at anytime or schedule a session. I love it and it makes me think twice before I pop a bite in my mouth as she has me not only tracking my food, but recording my hunger levels and we go over it on the phone in a session.

The simply filling plan on ww is a great way too. If you do no like tracking.