If You Could Go on Any Diet Plan, Which One Would You Pick?

Besides moving, Ediets is a great plan. You pick your diet, could be Atkins, could be mostly frozen dinners, could be cook-it-yourself meals. You could exclude seafood, dairy, whatever your needs or dislikes are. You create your daily menus for a week. Pick main course and program will fill in the rest (which you can substitute items if you want). It will print all your menus and a grocery list for you. You prepare your snacks ahead of time so you are not famished. I sometimes have trouble eating all the food you are allowed. These are all your own foods (except frozen dinners if you choose), so you can choose organic if you want. I have been on so many diets and now believe that if we eat the natural (non-processed) foods which our bodies know how to digest, we would all be better off. Our bodies spend so much time trying to figure out what to do with that Twinkie we ate that when we eat something else the body says "let's put this Twinkie in the belly-closet for later while I try to tackle this new item that just got here." Unfortunately, the body never gets back to the closet to finish the job on that Twinkie. Silly, but a cute visual. Good Luck.

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I would pick weight watchers. I lost 70 lbs on it before, and it does work. I also consulted with my doctor (before I did it the first time), and she said that's the only diet plan she recommends. She said because you don't have to buy anything but the starter package (so you can count points and stuff) and the normal food you would buy anyway. It teachs you portion control and right choices, rather then relying on boxed or prepared-by-someone-else food.
Good Luck.

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I like Isagenix. I do not believe in the 'cleanse days', but I do love the 'shake days'. It's a good jump start and two of your meals are shakes, so you just need to make one 600 calorie or two smaller 300 calorie meals. I have a shake for breakfast, my meal at lunch and a shake for dinner. For the shakes I mix one scoop of chocolate with one scoop of vanilla, 3 big ice cubes and 8 ounces of water in a bullet blender, tastes like a Wendy's Frosty! I usually buy everything at Trader Joe's for my healthy meal: organic baby spinach, celery, carrots, (frozen tri-color peppers, brocolli, asparagus, corn, brown rice), baked tofu or grilled chicken, romano cheese, white balsalmic vinegar and olive oil. Mix a serving of each in a big bowl and enjoy pure nutrition. I also buy the dark chocolate 'isadelights' from isagenix and have one a day for a treat. One day a week, usually Sundays I take a day off and make a home-made breakfast, lunch, dinner and dessert for myself and family. Good luck! I'm going to start in January to lose all of these holiday and post-baby ( ughh my youngest is almost 2 and I have no excuse) pounds!

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Having tried them all at one time or another, it sounds like Jenny Craig is your best bet. I had both good and bad experiences with it, and it all came down to who my counselor was. I started with a good one (supportive but nothing mind-blowing), changed my meeting time and got moved to a bad one (scolded me for splurging at one meal), then asked for a switch and wound up with a great one (was able to veer away from the canned responses and work with my particular situation and personality). I see you're in Chicago but not sure what side. If you go to the Jenny Craig in Lincoln Park (on Diversey), ask for Evy. She's awesome.

Also, when you're ready to start cooking for yourself, try switching over to weight watchers. They've either revamped their program or are about to, and the new program is MUCH healthier!

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The only diet that really works is eating better/less and moving more! But I have heard that weight watchers has a good support system.

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I have at least 1/2 dozen friends and co-workers who have done Weight Watchers. They've all lost, and more importantly, kept the weight off.

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I am a lifetime weight watcher member and the pp who said they revamped the program is right. It is awesome and sooo easy for us busy moms! My purpose for posting though is not to promote WW, but to let you know that I have a bunch of nutrisystem food that I bought and mostly it is terrible! Really terrible. If you want prepared foods, I would buy the healthy choice, lean cuisine or smart ones meals in the freezer aisle at the grocery store. They end up being a lot cheaper than nutrisystem and they actually taste good and they are just as easy to pop in the microwave. So, long story short, if you have a bunch of nasty nutrisystem food in your cabinent and your family is eating something great, you are much more likley to eat whatever the rest of the family is rather than sytaying on plan ... whereas if you have the better stuff in the freezer, you might be more likley to stick with it.
Good luck.
PS - I have lost and kept off 100 lbs with WW! Trust me, it's easy and it works!

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Weight Watchers. I did it myself about 8 years ago and lost over 100 lbs. It works if you follow it, and it helps teach you what a healthy diet looks like because once you are on it for a while you stop eating 5 M and Ms for 5 points and instead eat something that will fill you up and is good for you so that you aren't hungry :-) No, I did not keep it off, but that was my own fault...that and babies.

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Nutrisystem. It's cheap compared to the others and super easy. All your meals are made and you just add fresh fruits, veg, and dairy--and they tell you how much and when. You can customize what food you want/don't want online, when your order ships, etc. It also comes with a kit for working on your mindset, which is really the most important part of weight loss. Without your head in the right place, you can't lose weight. It's low glycemic and high fiber. The portions are tiny--they feel brutal at first, but almost everyone eats too much and could use the lesson. It helps you get used to much less food. and if you stick to it, it works. My husband and I both lost weight with it. the trouble we had was that you get tired of such processed food after a while, and it can be hard to keep going/maintain losses without continuing with the food. Edit: BYTW, I agree that long term learning to balance your nutrition against your exercise is best, but I also understand what you're saying about being too exhausted to figure out how to do all of this and then finding the energy to actually do it. If you don't have time or energy, this is a good place to start. I also agree that some of the food is gross (stew), but some is quite yummy (lasagna, mushroom risotto). Again, you can select your food online and just don't pick the stuff you don't like.

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I recently have two friends who went on slimgenics - love it and it really seems to make a lot of sense. They both lost over 25 lbs and have kept it off. (Took 6 mos or so, but it's staying off). Good luck. If I got to do one, this is the one I'd try.

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I have not tried this yet, but this is the one I have been researching for myself.
http://www.biggestlosermealplan.com/
It looks expensive compared to Nutrisystem, but I'm assuming it is because the food is delivered fresh. You can choose the meals you want and that is a big plus. I looked at Seattle Sutton as well, but you have to eat what they give you. Good luck!

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I would NOT recommend Nutrisystem. My sister bought a couple months worth of food last year and it is really gross tasting. Not to mention all the preservatives that have to be in it. The food does not have to be refrigerated and a lot of the meals have meat in it....(YUCK)! Your better off eating Lean Cuisines for your meals and buying healthier snacks.

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Hey, Big Lots/Odd Lots has Nutrisystem food for $1 each. I didn't like the teeny tiny portions or the taste. know a woman who went from a 22w to a 8m on nutrisystem in maybe 18 months. Then she went off it and is back to a 22 again. She said it was expensive and on the programs you have to buy other food to supplement it.

I have another friend who does weight watchers so well that she went from a 16 to a 6 and kept it off 4 years. she now trains people. I was shy to go there because I didn't know what it was like and I didn't want anyone knowing my weight, but they never said it. The computer is hooked to the scale and they write it in your little book. Plus, no one makes you talk and people want everyone else to feel welcome and keep coming back. I sort of wish they had before/after pictures, but they don't.
Good luck

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I've lost 20 lbs on the WeightWatcher Diet. Their recipes are tasty and after about a week it's not that difficult to stick to it. I do it online because it's much more convienent for me.
I've also heard great things about Nutrisystem but it is alot more expensive.

Everyone that I've known that did Weight Watchers, and followed it, lost weight. Ok, I know that if you actually follow *any* diet, you'll lose, but I think the thing with WW, is that it's not *that* hard to stick to, like some others are, and you don't have to buy any foods. I've done it and lost some, but never stayed on it long enough. I am planning to restart this winter.

My mom had good luck with Weight Watchers when she followed the program and went to meetings - the emphasis is on portion sizes and recognizing that if a food is high in fiber and low in calories and fat, you can eat a lot more of it then one that is just the opposite. My mom would do great for a while, then stop bothering with counting points and paying attention to portions, and then she would gain weight back. A friend of mine did WW too, as well as exercising regularly, and it worked well for her.

I think the big thing to remember is whatever you do, it has to be sustainable. You can't think of it as a "diet" because just the term alone implies that it is temporary. If you don't stick with it, and go back to whatever you were doing or not doing before, the weight will come back. It needs to be a permanent life-style change in how you eat and how active you are.

Looks like you already got the full earful of weight watchers recommendations since they have the best success rate on keeping it off. I also liked ediets.com as they give you a ton of recipes and menus that you can adjust to your own needs. Great support forums as well. I'm not much into the Jenny Craig kinda thing as they don't really teach you how to cook it for yourself if you know what I mean. Good luck and remember to think long term for your diet needs, stay away from any that are quick fixes or aren't something you can live on indefinitely. : )

Weight Watchers. Or, go to a nutritionist who can teach you how to do this even with your busy schedule.

Unless you plan on using Nutrisystem, Medifast, etc. for the rest of your life you are doing a band-aid fix. You are not educating yourself how to eat, cook, snack, prepare meals. You'll lose the weight and put it right back on.

Weight Watchers will teach you how to eat to live and how to eat for the rest of your life, safely and correctly.

Weight watchers! If you follow the plan it works, and the meetings are wonderful support.

I've heard good things about weightwatchers. My husband and I also did nutrisystem right after our son was born. The food isn't very good but we were able to stick with it for 1-1/2 months...long enough for us to lose 15 lbs. We tried to stick with it for longer but we just couldn't eat the food anymore.

Weight Watchers is the best! You are not only loosing weight, you learn how to eat and how to choose food. Good luck!

Getting an education on cooking better foods and moving more are the most effective tools because they will stay with you after you are done with the diet. Keeping track of everything that you put in your mouth and your activity will help you realize that weight loss is a simple math problem. If you are burning more calories than you are taking in, you will lose weight.

I went to a dietician. I'm a stress eater/drinker and have been under lots of stress the past year and a half (has nothing to do w/ my daughter, thankfully). She broke it down to me like this: That 2 16oz pops/sodas has almost 600 calories. And if you drink 2 16oz pops a day, in a year thats over 219000 calories? And thats roughly 62 extra pounds you gain. (3500 calories = 1lb).

She told me if I quit drinking pop and keep doing everything else I am doing, I can lose rougly 62 lbs in a year.

My new years resolution: To quit drinking pop/soda. I've done it before and lost 50lbs in 8 months, but when I'm stressed...I just have to have my cherry pepsi!

I wouldn't do a diet system, such as Weight Watcher, Medical Weight Loss, or any of those. Ask your doctor to refer you to a dietician, and if you have insurance more then likely your insurance will cover it.