I have a question. Has anyone on this board lost more than 25# counting calories, and kept it off for at least 5 years?
I understand if there are no answers, but I would be interested to learn if someone has done this. It strikes me that things like Weight Watchers and Jennie Craig must work, but there must also be a lot of backsliding or else they would too quickly cure everyone. Most of the women I have known who use Weight Watchers use it intermittently, for example after the holidays, as the bathing suit season approaches, etc.
Ha
Ten years or so ago, I weighed more than 165 pounds at a little over five-foot-seven. In my younger days I had always been able to eat whatever I wanted without gaining weight but once I got into my forties that was no longer the case. Eventually, I decided to change the way I eat. I don't say "I went on a diet" because IMO that way of putting it fosters the idea that once I lose the weight I can go back to eating whatever I want, which of course isn't so. If you go back to the way of eating that resulted in the weight gain in the first place, what do you think is going to happen?!
I used the "Trim Advantage" plan through my Amway business. I'm no longer actively working on building a network but I renew my distributorship annually so I can still buy protein bars etc at distributor cost. Trim Advantage combines calorie-counting with mild carb-restriction, through a system of portions—a daily number of portions of protein, of fats, of veggies, of fruit and of grain/bread/pasta/sweets. The total number of calories stays the same, but in the weight loss phase you are allowed fewer fats and a corresponding increase in the number of protein portions.
I adapted the program somewhat. The first change is that I reduced the number of calories below what the program allows. For my age, height and activity level, I'm allowed 1800 calories a day. I found it difficult to eat that much, especially since at the time I was still working on a land survey crew out in the field and the very limited selection of food that was both on the program and available at grocery store delis and the like usually left a huge amount to be eaten for dinner. So I reduced it to "1500" calories a day. I put the number in quotes because I usually just eyeball my portions of fat, fruit and vegetables, I have to pretty much guess at how many portions are in my lunch which I usually buy in the food court by my office, and I don't count the sugar in the numerous cups of tea I drink daily. My second adaptation is that I take one "day off" every month, when I can eat anything I want to. I knew going in that if I had to choose between stuffing and pie at Thanksgiving dinner, I'd never stick to the plan. My third adaptation is that I omitted the exercise regimen which is supposed to go along with the altered eating habits. I do walk about 6 blocks from my bus stop to my office weekday mornings, but that's about it. Instead of eating 1800 calories a day and then having to work some of them off, which has never made any sense to me, I just eat less. That might not suit everyone, but I hate the idea of exercise, so I just left it out.
Following this adapted program, I lost between 35 and 40 pounds, eventually getting down to 128. At that weight, my co-workers were starting to tell me I was "too skinny" but I weighed less than that in college. Losing the weight took 8 or 9 months (I don't remember exactly), including getting stuck for quite a while at around 140 lbs. When I started, I walked quite a lot in the course of a day at work. Then in 2003 I switched to an office job, and gained some of the weight back—to about 140 or 145 lbs. So I changed from the original program's maintenance level of 7 portions of protein + 5 fat to 8 protein + 4 fat (no change to fruit, veggies or grains etc) and have gone back down to my current weight of about 135 & holding.
What I like about this program is that it's easy to keep track of in my head, I don't have to buy special packaged meals, and I can still have a bagel or a doughnut or a can of soda sometimes. I don't think I would ever stick to the drastic carb limitations of some other weight-loss programs, and thank heaven potatoes count as a vegetable! My mom tells me she doesn't see how that could be right, but I just say "it worked, didn't it?"