I'm Looking for a Really Good Diet, Something That Can Really Be Done!

Diets are designed to be something temporary and are usually restrictive. What you need is a lifestyle change. I have tried Atkins, Weight Watchers, and countless others along with various types of diet pills. The only plan that I have tried and would recommend to anyone is Jenny Craig. I have been "living" on this program for 3 months now (occassionaly cheating) and have lost 20 pounds. I call it "living" because I don't feel like I'm starving or punishing myself. It's an education in healthy eating, portion control and healthy activity. It's for real people.

I've had great sucess with Weight Watchers. If you don't have the time to attend meetings each week you can do the program on line. They have a lot of great recipe ideas and cookbooks for families. I'm a life time member, I've lost 83 pounds and kept it off for over 4 years now! You can eat what ever you want...it's just being in control of your portions etc.

Tosca Reno's "Eat Clean Diet" book.
It is not a diet, but a lifestyle change. It is an easy read and very motivating. I have lent it to several of my friends and they love it and have bought their own copy.
She has a cookbook, but there are only a few recipes in it I like.
I have subscribed to Cooking Light magazine. 95% of the recipes I have tried- I have loved. I had to get over being intimidated. Once I dove in, I realized it wasn't that hard. Just watch your portion sizes.
My daughter loves helping in the kitchen! Making salad and chopping vegetables. One of my favorite recipes:
Spicy Snow Peas:
Cut ends from small package of snow peas. Stir fry with some olive oil, red pepper flakes and sea salt.
Very spicy and yummy!
My other favorite: Stir Fry Asparagus: (You will love this even if you have never liked asparagus.)
Cut asparagus spears in thirds. Add 1T. Olive Oil to pan.
Add asparagus, sea salt and pepper. Stir fry 3 1/2 minutes.
Crisp Tender. Kids love them!! PS Olive Oil is a good fat and will help you feel fuller longer.
Have fun!

I am a single mother of a little girl and always on teh go. I work full time and manage all of my own house cleaning and yard work on my own, even though my parents offer to help out with whatever they can. I am strapped for time constantly and seldom find the time I should have to exercise, lol.

My mother bought me a bottle of ALLI a few months ago and I have continues on it for 4 months now. In the four months I have lost almost 30lbs. Its not a cheap diet alternative, but it works. Its not even a "diet" pill. It is more of a fat blocker than anything. Fair warning though, if you have too much fat in your diet, you will spend a LOT of time in the restroom. It pulls the fat from your diet and pushes it through your system.

There is also a separate book I bought to go with it. It has recipes and tips that coer almost everything. The recipes are wonderful in both content and taste.

Check out the website www.myalli.com

I hope this helps.

As far as your children - just eating the foods and following the recipes, it will help them. I dont know if they can take the pill or not... but at their youg age (under 18) I would just let them try the recipes and do without the pills.

Do not use a lot of red meats. Eat more fish (grilled - not bakes or fried), use more fresh or frozen veggies rather than canned.... try only seasoning and no butter on your veggies. We buy much more fruit these days than ever before. We hardly ever even buy candies and sweets for the house. When we want cake we opt for a banana bread or something rather than cake. Try a small cup of chocolate pudding rather than cookies or ice cream. Its all if how things are prepared.

J., I think you should consider seeking out a dietician. They can help you with portion sizes and finding out the right combination of foods to feed your family. If going to a dietician would be to costly (some insurances cover it) you should try weight watchers. I am having great success with weight watchers and I love to cook for my family too. I have a friend who is a pediatric dietician but works with families as well. If you are interested you can email me and I will give her your information.

____@____.com
A.

I'll second weight watchers online. I don't know how it would work for a family so that everyone could keep track of their points and activity, etc. But there is a ton of advice on the site and a ton of recipes.

Another idea is to google calorie tracking sites and find a free one where you can keep track of your calories. Those usually have alot of good recipes but I find that just being more aware of how many calories I'm taking in really helps me change how I eat. Those sites will usually have a calculator that will help you figure out how many calories you should be eating every day also.

My last suggestion is Cooking Light. They are a monthly magazine and there are also cookbooks you can buy that have a year's worth of recipes in them. I can't even count how many magazines I have and I have 2 of their cookbooks. They have really fantastic, doable recipes that are appropriate for an entire family.

Good luck.

p.s. just a side note -- believe me I know it's hard but I would cut out the cokes entirely. My problem is with Diet Coke so I never thought I had a problem. But someone convinced to try to go without them as a test and I dropped weight just from that. I can't explain it. I just know it helped.

Hi Jeantte,
Well, I have a some friends and a family member that took these products and it work for them. Here is the website so you can look at it yourself.
www.ttp40.tahitiannoni.com
You can contact me at
____@____.com

Have a great day.

This is easy.
#1. practice what you preach. You and Dad can't be drinking sodas at dinner if the kids can't, especially if everyone in the house needs to get healthier. Try sparkling cider or Tonic water mixed with fruit juice. Same flavor, less calories.

#2. The diet/recipes. There are 89 million ways to make chicken and vegetables. Baked, broiled, barbequed, shishkabobs, shredded in a sauce, you get the picture. Start making chicken and 2 sides of veggies.
Veggies are just as versatile, boiled, steamed, baked, etc. You can add flavor without calories if you add some garlic salt, fresh herbs, olive oil, etc without the calories of butter or cheese. Cut waaaaay back on the bread and white flour items. Substitute white rolls with wheat rolls or brown rice with soy sauce. Another great and FAST meal is stir fry. Cut up chicken breasts into bite sized pieces, throw in a skillet with favorite vegetables at blazing hot (med high or more) with some vegetable oil. It'll be done in mere minutes and then add some brown rice and fortune cookies for a treat.
I just lost 50lbs in 4 months doing this. You can do it GIRL!!!

Good luck-
R. H

J.,
I just saw your request, and there are a lot of suggestions and things to try out there. The best I want to tell you about is what has worked for me and my family. We are all on the Herbalife products. I have 4 kids, whom I homeschool them all, and we have a very busy lifestyle. I have abundant energy and have lost over 50 lbs and have kept it off for over 4 years. There are various things and diets , etc that I hve tried over the years, and this is and has simply been the best for us and what has worked for us LONG TERM! I would love to tell you about it sometime!
Hope all is well with you! Would lov eot hear back from ya!

C. p

Hello J.,
Try Jessica Seinfeld's book, Deceptively Delicious.

Good luck,
J.