Your diet history.

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  • tomteboda
    tomteboda Posts: 2,171 Member
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    Calorie counting. If I stick to it, it works. The problem is all the years I didn't bother...
  • ElizabethOakes2
    ElizabethOakes2 Posts: 1,038 Member
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    alohajls wrote: »
    @ElizabethOakes2 Interesting and fascinating project indeed! Whenever I hear about Atkins-type diets, I think of my grandmother who, when she was very young (probably 1940/50s), would go on the 'Steak and Eggs Diet' where she ate only (you guessed it) steak and eggs for weeks on end to lose weight!

    Now that's a diet I could get behind! lol
  • ElizabethOakes2
    ElizabethOakes2 Posts: 1,038 Member
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    @ElizabethOakes2 That's really interesting! I'm glad you haven't decided to try "urine therapy" for weight loss (yes that's a real thing that has been once suggested to me)

    Oh, gawd no! That's up there with tapeworm, thank you! :open_mouth:
  • RidaKhalifeh
    RidaKhalifeh Posts: 18 Member
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    Cabbage soup diet for about 3 days. Still do it once in a while. Cabbage, carrots, tomatoes, veggie broth, onions, garlic.

    You're not eating main meals during these 3 days? Just the soup?
  • RidaKhalifeh
    RidaKhalifeh Posts: 18 Member
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    yirara wrote: »
    Doing half an hour or 45 minutes on a cross trainer each second day and wondering why it didn't help.
    Doing boxing/cross fit and spinning each 2 times per week, eating more and wondering why it didn't work
    Reading here and decided to do it properly.

    Nutrition is the base, sport helps.
  • RidaKhalifeh
    RidaKhalifeh Posts: 18 Member
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    I think I've tried just about everything at one point... Atkins (low-carb), low-fat, super low-calorie, Hollywood Diet, South Beach diet, Weight Watchers, Cabbage Soup... you get the point.
    The weird thing is that I've never been more than 15 lbs overweight (except pregnancy). I just unfortunately yo-yo like crazy.

    And now? What are you following? :)
  • RidaKhalifeh
    RidaKhalifeh Posts: 18 Member
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    Shanel0916 wrote: »
    Starving myself and only eating dinner never worked, 5:2 diet lasted a few weeks lost a couple pounds, slim fast didn't work and special k diet lasted maybe a day with that, lol. My weight has always yo-yo'd. I have tried calorie counting tons of times on this site and another site. This is the first time I have actually made significant progress. Now is the smallest I have ever been, not really sure what made it stick this time around.

    Bravo! Don't give up! It's time of doing something for yourself!
  • RidaKhalifeh
    RidaKhalifeh Posts: 18 Member
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    Sandera2 wrote: »
    I tried exercising, a lot, and eating as I pleased. Gained weight.
    Tried low calorie diets 1200 or less, couldn't last.
    I tried 5:2 for 6 weeks, it worked, but I dreaded the fasting days, they were so hard, and I couldn't do it anymore.
    Now, i'm doing CICO. The first 2 months were just a learning experience. I logged most everything, and learned how much I really ate. I started making small changes. Now, I'm staying within my calorie goals 95% of the time, and have been steadily losing 1-2 lbs a week. I've changed my eating habits over the last three months to include more protein, veg, nuts etc, less fried food a little less bread and wine, and it's finally paying off. I'm losing without hunger. I check in to the MFP community to keep motivated.

    Wow! Great job! You're progressing slowly but surely. You're doing exactly what I'll be telling my future patients to do.
  • RidaKhalifeh
    RidaKhalifeh Posts: 18 Member
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    Good old fashioned semi-starvation diet as a kid. It worked...then calorie counting to maintain it...then no calorie counting while pregnant and getting super fat...then calorie counting AND WW at the same time to lose that baby weight...then calorie counting to maintain and/or lose a little more. I basically have stayed pretty much the same weight (plus or minus 10lbs) from 17-34 with the exception of one year where I looked amazing because I lifted and ran a lot, and that pregnancy year and subsequent year of loss. That's the place where I want to be, but I just don't put in enough effort.

    It's time to run and lift again :)
  • RidaKhalifeh
    RidaKhalifeh Posts: 18 Member
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    lemurcat12 wrote: »
    What types of diets have you tried in order to lose weight/fat?

    None, really.

    I lost weight years ago just by making healthier choices, starting to cook for myself most of the time, and watching portions. Oh, and most importantly, by getting active again.

    I regained some years later (stress, depression, stopped being active, but still mostly eating a pretty good diet and cooking at home mostly, just eating too much for my activity level). This time, I did do a paleo thing briefly to see if I would feel any better (and because I don't care about most foods with grains that much, so I figured it might be an easy way for me to address mindless eating) and found it was not difficult and I enjoyed how I was eating, but a bit of a pain, I missed dairy, and I couldn't see why legumes or whole grains were something I should cut out of my diet so I decided it was silly and went back to my old way of eating, but exercising more mindfulness about choices. The main change is I mostly don't snack.

    Oh, and I got active again.

    I think the reason losing weight has been pretty easy for me both times I did it, and maintenance was easy so long as I was active, is because I never got into the yo-yoing frame of mind or experienced dieting as a super unpleasant or restrictive thing. I've always thought I should like how I'm eating and eat in a way that I want to for a lifetime.

    You're a champion!
  • RidaKhalifeh
    RidaKhalifeh Posts: 18 Member
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    kgirlhart wrote: »
    I lost about 40 pounds 20 years ago by doing low fat. I ate as many carbs as I wanted and measured all my food so even though I wasn't specifically counting the calories, I did eat in a calorie deficit. I gained that weight back after I became pregnant and I quit counting fats. That was also before they really started to differentiate between saturated fat and non-saturated fats so I was limiting all my fats. It did work well for me and I wasn't really hungry doing it, but I always felt deprived. CICO is working much better for me. It is easier to count calories now with the mfp app. I didn't have a smartphone 20 years ago. lol I didn't exercise at all back then, except I was a stay at home mom with a toddler. Now I work in an office and sit on my butt all day long so I have started exercising this time. It gives me a few extra calories a day and I feel better being more active. I was more active in my 20's than in my 40's but I am trying to change that. I've lost 26 pounds so far and my goal is 60 so I'm about halfway there. I think I'll be more successful this time. I did pretty much eat what I wanted last time if it fit my fat goals, but it was too hard fitting cheese and avocados and things like that in so I usually skipped them and ended up feeling deprived. Now I eat whatever I want that fits my calorie goals and it is much easier and I don't feel deprived all the time.
    This time I don't really feel like I'm dieting at all. I'm just paying attention to what I eat and trying to be more active.

    Make healthier choices and never give up :)
  • RidaKhalifeh
    RidaKhalifeh Posts: 18 Member
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    Sredster wrote: »
    Oh jeez. I'm not sure I can even remember them all over the pas 10 years. Lets see...
    • Personal Trainer before school in the AM.
    • Personal Trainer after school in the PM.
    • Atkins diet
    • Vegan diet
    • Vegetarian diet
    • Pescetarian diet
    • Joining a sports team
    • Starvation
    • Throwing up

    I know there is more. Now I am on a eat in moderation every couple of hours to meet my calorie goal. And do 60 minutes of cardio 5 times a week.

    Fine! You're not lifting?
  • RidaKhalifeh
    RidaKhalifeh Posts: 18 Member
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    clobern80 wrote: »
    Low Carb dieting lost me 150 pounds about 5, but the only reason it worked was because of CI/CO.

    What a huge number! Champion!
  • RidaKhalifeh
    RidaKhalifeh Posts: 18 Member
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    I've been fat my whole life so......

    1. as a stupid teen, I tried starvation. Made it three days then ate all the things
    2. bean and rice low fat diet, pretty much says it, beans and rice. Made it a month, lost 10 lbs, refused to eat beans for a long time after
    3. cabbage soup diet Yuck
    4. grapefruit diet, yeah and no
    5. did the whole phen phen thing, didn't work, glad I'm still alive
    6. slimfast, yuck
    7. Atkins back when it first became trendy again late 90's, worked, really liked it, then went to college. Can't afford steak on a cheap pizza budget and mom and dad were no longer footing the bills so yeah, that ended
    8. WW's during points plus, really liked it, worked extremely well, got to the lowest size I'd ever been in my adult life, lost 65 lbs in 4 months (my workout schedule was insane though and I was a little obsessed)
    9. Some kind of weird drink thing a coworker was selling, was gross, tore my stomach up, and yuck Did lose 10 lbs that was promptly regained
    10. Good old fashioned CICO here on MFP - works great, easy to stick too, lost 30 lbs in three 1/2 months

    Currently doing keto on Dr.'s recommendations for type 2 diabetes and some other issues, but it's all CICO at the end of the day. I still count calories and keep my bacon binges to a minimum. I'm now down a total of 58 lbs. Got a ways to go, but I'll get there.

    There isn't an instant fix. I learned that the hard way. I'd be skinny by now if life and stupidity hadn't interfered.

    What's your current height, weight and glucose level?
  • RidaKhalifeh
    RidaKhalifeh Posts: 18 Member
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    • Weightwatchers when I was 16, lost 40-50lbs so it definitely works (gained back + more)
    • started my pescetarian diet right around that age too, was happy with it for 8+ years (no help with weight loss though)
    • now vegan and losing weight with CICO (-30lbs so far and not looking back)

    I think counting calories helped you lose the weight and not being vegan :)
  • RidaKhalifeh
    RidaKhalifeh Posts: 18 Member
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    Oh goodness where to start.

    2003 - low carb for a month for Cheerleader pictures in college. Lost 10 pounds, gained it back after pictures.
    2004 - took every single diet pill imaginable. Lost 10 pounds. Put it back on as soon as I stopped taking the pills.
    2006 - very low calorie diet (probably 1000 a day) because a weight requirement was placed for college cheerleaders at my school. I'm 5'9" and I had the same weight requirement as the 5'1" cheerleaders. It was stupid. Lost 30 pounds, gained 60 because I got pregnant a year later.
    2009 - weight watchers - pretty much starved on that. Lost 10 pounds.
    2009 - paleo - lost 40 pounds put on 30 when I started eatingnormal again.
    2012 - military diet - lost 7 pounds in a week, put it back on the week after.
    2014 - paleo again lost 15
    Jan 2015 - whole30 gained 5 pounds.
    Feb 2015 started MFP and been on it ever since. I will do this forever.

    Oh god! But you're a mom with abs now? Keep up the hard work :)
  • RidaKhalifeh
    RidaKhalifeh Posts: 18 Member
    edited January 2016
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    For serious fitness and weight loss?
    Singer/Dancer in College: boiled chicken breast, apples and carrots and No-Salt Triscuits.
    Not recommended. I struggled to keep my weight at 120 or less, because "Only the skinny girls got leads". Then I realized as long as I was only 5'4", I was never going to get a lead, and stopped dancing and started eating real food. Best. Decision. Ever.

    10 years and a failed relationship later:
    Calories in/Calories out and added a daily run/walk in addition to managing a busy bookstore. Best thing ever.

    Hypothyroid Diet: Doctor puts me on levothyroxine and tries to 'adjust my thyroid levels through diet'- It was big at the time, but has since been debunked.
    1000 calories a day, only fruit until noon, protein for lunch, light dinner with no more than 2 grams of protein, a glass of soy milk at bedtime. This was how I discovered I can't digest soy. Two weeks of throwing up in the middle of the night, and I'd lost the thyroid weight, but no one should ever try that. Went off stupid diet.

    Currently? Calories in/Calories Out, added exercise, Working beautifully. I'm almost as fit as I was before my back surgery.

    'Confession Time:
    I'm an author and I've been working on a book comparing health fads of today with health fads of the early late 1800s/early 1900's. Entirely in the name of research, I have:

    Been a breatharian for... about two days. Stupidest idea ever. Breatharians who I talked to on this journey told me I wasn't having enough faith in my body. I'm okay with that.
    Vegan: Tried for 2 two week periods, about a year apart. After a week, I felt sick and weak, partially because I can't eat soy or coconut, which are two of the staples in a vegan diet.
    Vegetarian: Lasted a month before I felt sick and tired and a blood test showed my iron was dangerously low despite eating black beans and spinach every day.
    Paleo: One Month. Trying to make paleo food gets expensive and it really didn't seem to make any difference in my weight, health, or well being.
    The Jello Diet: You can eat anything as long as it's in jello. Yeah. That was... disgusting. Seriously, Tuna Jello is a thing. Who knew?
    3 Day Cleanse: Yup that's a lot of poo.
    Garcinia Cambogia/Green Coffee Bean: Not losing weight, but too caffeinated to care! WOOOHOO!
    Atkins: I felt fat and bloated and sick. And I really desperately wanted an apple.
    Raw Food: This was actually okay, but I really started to miss real properly cooked meat. I'm not a huge fan of sushi and it was hard to get all my protein this way.
    The Werewolf Diet: You fast during the full moon. (Did it mostly so that when friends asked me why I wasn't eating, I could say I was a werewolf).
    Soup Diet: This was a historical thing, Ladies would only drink broth for nutrition. After a week, even making my own broths from scratch, I needed real food.
    Byron's Vinegar & Water Diet: Same as the 3 Day Cleanse, really. Anemia was a great look in the Victorian era, apparently...
    Hydrotherapy: Ice water bath twice a day is supposed to 'induce a winsome figure and give you a perfect complexion'. It gave me goosebumps. And a cold.
    Kellog's Corn: Kellog, of cornflake fame, actually ran a health spa where he encouraged a vegetarian diet. The hardest part of following his "New Dietetics" plan was giving up tea and coffee. (Especially after the green coffee bean diet). Apparently, you're also supposed to be abstinent from sex on this diet. Soooo not happening...
    Corset: I actually LIKE wearing a corset once in a while. Not gonna do it more often than a couple hours once a week or so, though. I like my ribs and my guts where they belong, but I can see where wearing it until your body reshapes and you have no abdominal muscles left would make you a perfect, thin, fainting anemic Victorian lady.

    Historical fads I have refused to try in the name of research include drinking radium (Because radiation makes your skin bright and your waist thin, and gives you radiation poisoning), swallowing a tapeworm (because OMIGOD GROSS!), arsenic in the tea, sulfur water twice a day, and Lizzie Hazzard's Tomato Broth diet (up there with breatharianism, I think...)
    Research is ongoing, but the more I study historical health and weight loss fads and trends, the more I discover that there really isn't that much difference between the health fads of then and now. People want quick fixes and even the craziest insane suggestions get picked up and tried.

    OMG! How did you do that to yourself! I am a student of Dietetics, people should understand that easy fixes aren't always the best for them. I am really interested in your reasearch! (In my country, 3 days of yogurt and dates is popular, followed by 3 days of apples).
  • Talanch
    Talanch Posts: 21 Member
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    Diets I did as a silly teen and will never do again:

    - Egg diet - lasted only a week and couldn't stand eggs for years after that
    - Slimfast diet - passed out after a couple of weeks and broke my ribs by hitting a chair on the way down. Need I explain what happens when you can't move for several weeks?
    - Grapefruit diet - lasted like 5 days and still can't eat grapefruits, yuk

    Now I am counting calories with MFP, with a 60-20-20ish vegetarian diet (about 95% vegan and mostly whole foods). Working so far.