What worked best?
 

I've read a lot of success stories and am motivated to lose. I'm wondering what has worked best for you out there who've tried a million diets and finally found success. Is it calorie counting, or Weight Watchers or Atkins, etc., etc?
I know it's different for everyone, but there may be a common denominator that I'm not aware of. Thanks. :)

IMO, it's calories in, calories out. The quality/nature of those calories can speed you or slow you (again, IMO), but for me the bottom line is the calories (including the expenditure through exercise). And the moral support on FitDay!

Makes perfect sense, of course. I've just started seriously using this site and realize I'm eating way too many calories, particularly after dinner. Thank you.

I agree with Cassie. You have to track and control your calories first. Exercise will also help but there is an old saying that 'you can't out train a bad diet'. What you eat and when you eat it along with the ratio of Fat, Protein and Carbs in your diet will effect how efficient your efforts are but every diet ever devised is based on achieving a calorie deficit. You just need to find the right balance that your body and mind can happily live with long term.

I agree too! I call it the old fashioned way. Don't forget to drink lots of water :)

I have had body issues like most people but none of them were weight related and I had never had to diet in my life until I was diagnosed with cancer and piled on the weight through treatment and inactivity. Due to the specifics of my cancer, unlike most patients I gain rather then lose weight and to add to this 'weight gain' is also a side effect of just about every drug I am given to treat the cancer ...and yet to gain weight increases the risk of my cancer returning and therefore the need for higher doses of my preventative/treatment drugs with their weight gain side effects! So I find myself in a viscous circle.

I was gaining an average 1lb per week. I began by cutting out sugary and fatty foods, all the obvious stuff. No difference. I was able to begin being a little more active and then I cut out all of the white carbs (bread, pasta etc). The weight gain slowed by about half (0.5 lb gain per week instead of 1). I then began trying to calculate calories, my weight stabilized, a bit, with the odd 1lb coming off then back on again. After a few months of this I then found 'FitDay' and realised that I was still eating more calories than I had thought! By accurate calculation of calorie intake, and being able to increase my stamina and fitness levels to a point that I can now do a good 2 hour workout most days, I started to see the pounds coming off very slowly.

While correct calorie control and exercise do make all of the difference, for me, having my metabolism slowed by the treatment drugs is also a real issue. But this seems to have received a massive boost from drinking green tea and eating grapefruit for breakfast (on the advice of my nephew who is a personal trainer) I went from losing 4lbs in 3 weeks, despite ending each day with an average deficit of 2,000 calories, to losing 3.5 lbs in one week on the same calories and exercise count (as I don't think I could eat any less or exercise any more than I already am!)

It's early days for me but this last week does seem to have broken through some kind of barrier. Maybe it was just time for that to happen (as I realise I'm building new muscle which is heavier than any fat I may be losing) or maybe the green tea and grapefruit are working and have sped up my metabolism?

I haven't followed a specific diet. My main diet consists of mostly fruit, veg and salad, with either fish, chicken, omelet or cottage cheese thrown in, and the odd bowl of shredded wheat or whole grain toasted bread with marmite. Treats are 0% fat yoghurt with fresh fruit thrown in or pure fruit smoothies. I still like a glass of white wine or two and my strong coffee with milk (semi-skimmed) and I sometimes treat myself to a chocolate biscuit if I've really earned it that week! ...but they are all counted!

Most of my exercise is on a cross trainer (to music) which I love, with varying levels and programmes to mix it up, even crouching, leaning forward or back, or peddling backwards to use different muscle groups, usually for 1.5 to 2 hours. I sometimes also skip (or dance!) I then throw in a few sets of sit-ups and push-ups or bottom specific exercises as well as the usual warm up and cool down stretches.

I hope some of this helps!

I'm 46 years old. 5ft4in tall.
My start weight was 147.5lbs ...and gaining
Now (after 4 weeks) = 140 lbs
Target = my normal pre-cancer weight of approx 112-115 lbs
...and then to maintain this against the next five years of drugs treatment, which had been gaining me 1lb per week despite there being no change in my previous 'normal weight' diet, just less activity, and treatment drugs.

DeeBarclay,
Thanks for sharing your experience and the Motivational Story!!!

Thank you for that information. You are an inspiration. I've also heard about the green tea factor, but actually forgot about it. Fit Day has been so helpful to me - knowing the carb and fat count is great. Your diet sounds perfect. You're doing all you possibly can, by the sounds of it. Hopefully, when your treatment is finished, you'll notice a huge difference.

I have never been one to try any of the fad diets or gimmicks. I just let the weight pile on and did nothing about it. 5 years ago I was at my heaviest (that I know of) and weighed 276. I lost 20 pounds that year and then forgot about it. A year and a half ago I got my mind in the right place and knew that I did not want to turn 50 looking the way I looked. I joined a gym, started tracking my food and changed the way I eat. It is a life-style change for me. This morning I was at 215 and nothing is going to stop me. I have always been a single mom and never dated. What do you know, I've started dating!! But I truly believe that you have to find what works for you. I can't preach that my way is the best way. It is for me, but we are all different! Good luck!

for me it was consistency i spent far to long with either a poor diet or poor training so never got the results i did when i got them both nailed down on a consitent basis

Buying a bathroom scales! I had never been able to stick a diet for longer than a week before, because I was never sure if it was working or not. After weighing myself everyday for over a month (and losing almost 5 kgs in the process) I've learnt how I lose weight: I lose nothing for a week and then I lose a kilo altogether! Now, when the scales don't move, I don't go around eating chocolate... I just wait (of course, the calories-in-calories-out thing would be the diet behind it).

Agree, an accurate bathroom scale is a good thing!

My "thing" that worked or is working for me is not getting hung up about the number on the scale, and not getting hung up on the familiar words, "you should be losing 1-2 pounds a week." Because, most of the time for me that has not been the case. Also for me, I don't really set a weight loss deadline, such as "My goal is to be X weight by X date." I do have a magic number that I want to get to, and I have my mind set that I will get to it. The date I get there is not important, what is important is I get there. Also getting enough sleep at night has been key. 7-8 hours a night. That is when the magic started to happen.

"Diet" things that have worked for me. I don't eat diet food. I eat the real deal (i.e. full calorie foods.) and am mindful of portions. I weigh and measure things. I cut WAY down my sodium intake. I eat slowly and mindfully. I don't buy processed foods. I cook from scratch so I am certain of the calorie, fat, protein and salt content. I make my own salad dressings, "condensed soups" for recipes, etc.

I don't eat until I am full. I've found this over the two years of my progress. There is really no need to eat until you are full, ever.

These are all great answers!
Being mostly in the maitenance/maybe a couple more pounds phase, I do find myself slipping back into old habits from time to time. I am especially susceptable to artisan breads and ODing on cheese and crackers. When that happens I have found that a day or 2 of fasting helps me regain my perspective on eating to live, rather than living to eat. It may not be for everyone - but it works for me:D

I think running and sprinting worked best for me.

what worked best? kissing off [most] carbs.
 

I found CICO by itself to be utterly useless, if also technically & trivially true. I didn't overeat because I wanted to; I overate because the things I ate made me inappropriately hungry through their endocrine effects. After many failed attempts to "just eat less" I realized that trying to make a life change contrary to instinct is a recipe for failure. You have to change the instinct, not just hope to ignore it. Willpower is a limited resource.

Happily, as soon as I quit eating the bulk grains and sugars that our Western diet so blithely embraces, and began eating just about everything we are routinely told to avoid (red meat, saturated fat, eggs, butter), the appetite aligned itself with my energy needs (as it does in nearly all other animals, except domesticated ones fed on grains) and the weight just melted off. A laundry list of health problems and ominous lab results vanished with it. Nearing two years in, I'm down to 215 from 340, and I'm not done yet.

I got here eating things I love (steaks, seafood, rich salads, nuts) and at ~2800 cal/day I never had to starve myself either. For exercise, I just walk, & sprint every now & then. Sure, I miss bread and pasta, but giving them up is way easier than subjecting myself to tasteless shake mixes and "low fat"/"nonfat" imitation food, gasping my lungs out on treadmills and stationary bikes, and feeling perpetually ravenous for my next wheat/glucose fix. THAT is what's truly "unsustainable" (a word that is continually misapplied to LC/Paleo plans, mainly by people who haven't tried them)

Fit Day works
 

First of all I want to say thank you to Fit Day for this wonderful tool.
My weight loss goal was not great - simply to get my clothes to fit me. I lost 15 pounds in about 5 weeks.

What works is: NO alcohol, NO cookies, candies etc and lots of exercixe. Everytime you wnat to eat do something instead - stretch, take a walk, do the ironing etc etc.

But Fit Day is the crowning glory that keeps you motivated. Because you can see the calories you are using and the weight you are losing. And you know which are the really bad snacks.

Keep up the good work.

Congrats of your 15 pounds Cherrydowns. You are right fitday has been a big part of my weight lose as well and will be a big part of my maintenance too :)

For me? No sugar, low carb and meal planning. I come up with a day's worth of meal and snack menues and stick as close to it as possible, without getting too nuts. I allow for cheats and actually find I feel better when I eat less. I like variety so I mix it up to keep from getting bored.

And of course, movement. I am limited due to health issues but I try at least to walk as much as possible, do floor exercises and the ever important stretching. I am slowly working my way up to better health.

That's another thing: long term thinking. A woman I know who is in great shape gestured to her fit, muscular body and said, "This doesn't happen overnight, you know." So that and persistence. You fall off the wagon? So what? We all have. Just get back on. We'll wait for ya.

I agree with acky and cjohnson. Calories in vs. calories spent and consistency. It takes work-preplanning-and commitment. You have to be ready. AND you have to allow yourself to fall off the wagon once in awhile. You simply get back on. I know I can do it but sometimes it take a bit of motivation for me. Fitday journals are awesome to track the calories and exercise.

Definitely low carb for me. Before I finally decided to try it, I had always just limited my calories. But I was ALWAYS hungry and I ALWAYS gained the weight back extremely fast.

Whether I'm dieting or not, I always work out at least 5 days a week. That will always help. Low carb doesn't get the weight off as fast, but it's very easy to stay with the diet and I get to eat until I'm full!