How Do You Stay on a Diet?

Few of us do well with diets that restrict fun foods. But some of us need to give up carbs (all bread, rice, potatoes, cookies, cakes, pretzels, sugar, etc.) to lose weight. So while I limit my carbs I up the amount of other fun foods I eat. I eat lots of berries, no matter how expensive they are. And asparagus. And shrimp. And fillet minon or steamed mussels when I go out. I have the slighlty better wine (no sugary cocktails). And wonderful deluxe nuts. And super good coffee with a cinamon stick stirring around in it. The idea is to pamper myself with other foods. I never feel, poor me, I'm so starved and so bored. So far, I'm 30 pounds lighter. Best of luck.

One good trick I do is to make a batch of something healthy on Monday for my lunches for the week. Something with no processed stuff and only whole grains. This is to try to reduce temptation! I will make a big quinoa salad with lots of delicious things in it or a big pot of lentils and veggies. I'll eat these things with some salad each day. You are right though, it is hard to change eating habits for everyone!!! Good luck.

the only advice I have is to think of it differently. We all have diets-a diet consists of what you eat...you're aren't going on a diet, you're CHANGING your diet

Congrats on losing the first 10 lbs! I lost 45 lbs through Weight Watchers, and reached my goal last summer. I had my ups and downs, but I feel like this time I truly had the will to succeed. Even on the rough days, I was confident that I was going to succeed. That helped a lot. It also helped having the support of friends and family. My mom joined WW when I was still losing, so it was fun to do it as a team... I also keep a "before" picture of myself that really motivates me still! Throughout my weight loss and even still, I tracked what I ate. On the days when I forgot or was lazy about it, I always "fell off the wagon". So, I would definitely recommend tracking to help you stick with your goals. Good luck to you! You can do it!

Here are my tips (and I am still working on them):
Change your environment. If there are no temptations in the house, I won't eat them.
Get a support person/group that you are accountable to and/or exercise with (walks, etc.)
When you feel like eating, drink 8 oz. of water and wait 10 minutes.
The other posters are right that it is better not to "diet" but to decide that you want to eat healthy foods and take care of your body for the rest of your life.
Good luck! (and wish me luck, too)

Make sure the 'diet' you have is something you can sustain for the rest of your life. The eating part of losing weight should be something that you continue even after you lose the weight and not a crash diet.

I found that there are two main things to do if you want to stay on course:

-JOURNAL everything you eat! When you write it down, you have to hold yourself accountable for every calorie that goes into your body. www.sparkpeople.com is a great website for that

-Prepare all your meals/snacks on Sunday. Portion everything out into baggies or little containers. Cut up all the fresh fruit and veggies and place them into single serving bags/containers so they are grab and go. Make lunches ahead of time, like packing for the week so you have a set 'meal' that you eat and you don't wind up overeating.

I am anxiously awaiting your responses because I have no willpower either :) Like one days worth if I am lucky. I know a lot of people use the website sparkspeople for motivation...I did that when I was losing my baby weight and it did help. Good luck to you, you can do it!

ETA: The one thing I can say is to make sure you are not depriving yourself too much or you'll definitely set yourself up for failure. Let yourself have one small treat a day :)

Don't diet - just change the way you eat. It's a lifestyle. You don't want to make temporary changes, lose the weight then go back to how you were eating.

We eat mostly Paleo - www.thepaleodiet.com My kids are 5 & 8 and eat the same way. We don't eat perfect all the time but we stick to paleo about 85-90% of the time.

I think you need to stop thinking of it as a "diet" and view it as a lifestyle change. I had to make some drastics changes to my diet about 5 years ago for a health condition. I have to try to eat low fat. I have made small changes to reduce the fat in my diet without giving up all of the foods I love (e.g.--french fries: I roast thinly sliced potatoes in my oven with a little olive oil; pizza--vegetarian pizza, combine with a salad; reduced fat cheeses and ice cream). It's become so second nature that I can't imagine going back to my former lifestyle. (I did lose about 15 pounds and have kept if off.) You will find that after a certain time of eating lower fat foods your taste buds develop a sensitivity to high fat foods and they don't taste so good any more. If you aren't already doing so, it's also important to incorporate some exercise into your plan. I think you're doing great already--ten pounds is a big step.

Exercise as much as you possibly can. The more you exercise, the better you feel :) and the healthier you feel, the less likely you are to eat foods that are super greasy or fatty. Also, if you're on a diet like Weight Watchers, which rewards you for exercise by allowing you more food, you are encouraged further to exercise longer and more often.

Remember that exercise can be as simple as walking for 30 minutes every day! And exercise videos are awesome. I have a few that have really short segments (remember 8 minute abs? :) and those are easier to make yourself do!!

Also, make sure you allow yourself your favorite foods every so often, even if it's Burger King. Because when you deny yourself that stuff for too long, you get to where it's all you want, and you end up falling off the wagon. If you give yourself a little taste of those things here and there, knowing that it's a special treat, you're more likely to move on from it and keep eating healthy.

Good luck!!

Good advice here - one more thing. Get enough sleep. When I don't sleep enough I tend to crave sweets and I don't think I'm the only one.

For me, it helped when I realized I needed to make a lifestyle change, and not "go on a diet". This has to be something you can do for the rest of your life. You'll go right back to where you were if you don't realize this! =) Another thing that helped me was to watch skinny people. When I would see a woman with a nice body, one that I wanted, I would watch what she would do. I started to think like a fit person, and soon realized that MOST people don't eat like I was. Does that make sense?? I thought before that I "deserved" treats and junk food, but soon learned that a healthy person rarely makes those choices. Think and act like the person you want to be, and soon you'll see your body changing in a positive way!! Good luck! You can do it!

When you are feeling weak and you want to eat, eat , eat, put on your bathing suit and stand in front of a full length mirror! Works for me!!

I know for me, I have a tendancy to get stuck in ruts where I do something that worked for me over and over and then I get sick of it. For example, I'll eat the same meals over and over again or do the same exercises. I've found that once I get the itch, I have to look for something different, like a new meal idea, new way to exercise, that keeps it new and fresh for me. Good luck!

Have you looked at the book by Brad Lamm called Just 10 Pounds? He has been on Dr. Oz and is going to have his own show on Oprah in a couple of months. It;s new - I just got my copy a few days ago. It deals with the emotional side of eating. It deals with the physical, too, but seems especially helpful for the emotional side, since he is an addiction specialist.

I heard about him through Shaklee - he loves the Shaklee Cinch Inch Loss products.

I haven't read the responses so someone may have already suggested this but here is a great website that my husband uses religiously... www.livestrong.com. It's a free site that helps you track daily what you eat and drink, and what exercise you do. Between keeping track of his food intake and making exercise a priority, my husband has lost 50 pounds. He looks like a whole new man. Good luck. It's not easy but definitely worth it.

Seriously, check this book out! I had an extra 20 lbs that I could not get rid of and I just didn't have the time to figure out a diet and stick to it. I read this book, and allowed myself to just try the things it said- I lost 22 lbs in like 6 weeks and I didn't really do anything different.
Women, Food and God is the title. It is not a religious book, it really isn't even a food book, it's just a woman's story, but amazing if you pay attention. give it a try.

Weight Watchers was the answer for me. Going to the weekly meetings kept me motivated. I got ideas for healthy meals and new products on the market that were healthier versions of foods my family eats. I was able to set realistic goals for myself and had people supporting me as I worked toward my goals. Having to pay also kept me motivated. I lost over 80 pounds in just under a year and have kept it off (except for some new baby weight that I'm still losing) for almost 3 years. Having that support was definately the thing that helped me lose my weight!