Posted on 08/17/2005 5:33:05 PM PDT by Dad was my hero
I have been contemplating once again dieting. I am 5' 9" and weigh about 220 lbs. Ideally I would like to get to 175 but would settle for 185.
I'm looking for advice on the Nutrisystem diet plan. Currently they are running a - buy 4 weeks get the 5th free. My concern is that they won't taste any better than the crap I can buy in the frozen food isle at the local grocery. They say their system keys on glycemic index so I would assume if I bought some of the South Beach frozen foods I'd be getting the same.
I'd like to know if anybody has tried it and their opinions.
If you are a man, do Atkins. Hard core - the right way - no excuses. If you are a woman, do South Beach, instead. It's slower, but seems to work better for women than Atkins, which they find too harsh. Nurtrisystem costs too much, and doesn't pay enough attention to carb control.
go to www.thinplan.com. Developed at John Hopkins. I lost almost 100 pounds under my doctors supervision and kept it off almost 2 years now.
Good luck. I lost 95 pounds all on my own and it's the greatest feeling.
My advice is to try Weight Watchers. You lose slower but it is more healthy. If you choose the "Flex Plan", you can eat anything you want as long as you stay within your "points" value. It is very easy to do and you have a variety of food and drinks to choose from. Go to the meetings and learn what others have learned and use what you want.
Forget about "diet plans"
Just eat less than you use to eat, cut down sugar and feculents and walk a couple of miles per day.
I have found a magazine that has a philosophy I love, "Fitness Rx." The Fitness Rx method is basically called the Mediteranean diet. Olive oil, fruits, vegetables, low-fat meats, whole grains, etc. I lost about 40 lbs with low-bad-carb (sugar, white bread, potatoes) and have kept it off for 1 1/2 years with Mediteranean and Martial Arts.
Atkins I lost on, but I couldn't stay on it, and after I tried to go back on Atkins, I didn't lose.
Weightwatchers is a normal diet. Example of my daily diet: Breakfast...2 slices of diet toast with light cream cheese and juice. Snack...celery and carrots with low-fat dip. Lunch...diet pizza from Smart Ones, Lean Cuisine, or Michelina Lean. Snack... a few pretzels and a Diet Coke. Supper....salad with low-fat dressing, green beans, half a baked potato with a smidge of butter and low fat sour cream and a barbecued chicken breast. Included with this is drinking 8 glasses of ice water.
I am serious; this is a good diet, and the meetings will get you inspired and give you recipes and helpful tips. Give it a try!!
No special food to buy etc. They teach you how to eat in the real world. I can do this because I don't feel deprived at all. More compatible with life IMO. The meetings are key though, if you don't attend meetings you will not be as successful.
MKM
Talk to your doctor. One of the side effects of Seratonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SRI) is reduction of appetite. If you find yourself eating when you're depressed, that's a big clue, and you can kill 2 birds with one stone cheaper than these diet plans.
My experience: Nutrisystem food tastes good and they make big efforts to make it interesting. Their behavioral plan is very good. Given that I thought about almost nothing but my next meal, I found the thing relatively easy to follow for several months, but expensive. The expense comes from not only the food you buy from them, but also from the fresh fruits & vegetables they require you to eat.
I would recommend the South Beach Diet. Cheesey name, but it really is a sensible, easy to do plan. After the first two weeks, you can eat most things except those made with white flour and sugars. It's not an all protein/no carb plan which makes it more livable. You can buy the book used online and check it out for yourself... less of a commitment than joining a program.
I wouldn't recommend Nutri-System or any plan that forces you to buy their food. I've done Weight Watchers after having babies and it works really well. Good luck!
Losing or gaining weight requires you to change your lifestyle. Otherwise you end up back where you were before. I recommend learning to cook, reading a couple of good books on nutrition and listening to your body. As you eat things note how you felt afterwords. Did you feel sleepy? Energized? Hungry?
Eat foods that are high in flavor so you are sated with less. Avoid white foods. White bread, white pasta and sugar. And exercise. A fifteen minute walk every day will do wonders.
All diets work in that if you follow them you will lose weight. But unless you want to be always gaining and losing weight you have to change the way you live.
Do you have any experience with these? My doctor just put me on Lexapro (which is an SRI) for the purpose of helping me to lose weight. I do eat when I'm depressed & I hope this helps me. I've started walking too.
I'm not a doctor, nor do I play one on FreepTV. So I would prefer that people not base their decisions on anecdotal evidence but on solid years of training & medical research, that kind of thing.
"So I would prefer that people not base their decisions on anecdotal evidence but on solid years of training & medical research, that kind of thing."
Eating the right amounts of fresher foods (not prepared packaged foods) and balancing the calorie in/out formula is as old and well documented as it gets. And it WILL work.
I understand. I don't really like the idea of taking pills, especially for something related to my brain. I've been prescribed anti-depressants in the past, but have ended up taking myself off of them. I think I like being just a little bit crazy!
But seriously, losing weight is like quitting smoking - you just have to make up your mind you really want to do it & stick to it. Having said that it's easier said than done - I was able to quit smoking, but keeping weight off is the hardest thing I've ever tried to do.
Its easy once you understand it. And you can eat really weel without having to buy "special" products. I'm down 85+ lbs in a year and a half. And I still drink beer.
Also it is very important to start a moderate excercise program. DO SOMETHING - CONSISTENTLY!
Good Luck There are a lot of people on FR with very positive ATKINS results and support. (and the usual bozos who bitch about everything)
I've lost about 6-7 lbs in a month. Which is pretty good, I guess, since I seem to have zero time for exercise as well.
A friend of mine is a nurse and she said that their patients who go to WW keep the weight off longer after they lose it than the other diet programs.
I got downright skinny on Atkins, probably down to 109 or so (I'm 5'1 1/2"), but I can't lose weight that way anymore either, don't know why.
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