Diets we used to be on, and why they didn't work

[Skywalker 170]

I'm sure we've all had our fair share of struggles and hindrances before we finally had enough and decided on weight loss surgery. Here were my apparent shortcomings, after all was said and done:

South Beach Diet--unfortunately wasn't a good fit. I would shed some pounds, and lose my appetite, which was really good. I'd forget all day to eat, and I loved that. The bad part is, I would forget to eat so much (since I could only basically have cheese, meat, eggs) that I'd start to get light headed and dizzy. Also, it seemed to wreak havoc on my emotions; I would become discouraged, cry easily, get angry at stuff I could normally let go, etc.

Weight Watchers--I was most successful at this, but in the end just had difficulty controlling portion sizes and with hunger. Nothing was restricted, but I would run out of points too soon and had an overall hard time planning out my life, logging everything, and sticking to it. Lots of weeks when I would stick to it, there would be minimal or no weight loss, and that's when I got discouraged and would want to throw in the towel. Since I did tend to run out of points, if I blew through my weekly flex points, I would end up "borrowing" points from the next day (I don't know if anyone else has done that), and then go through the next day kind of tired and hungry before I'd lose willpower and have a meal.

Phentermine--I had a (not very good) doctor put me on this. I won't deny it had weight loss potential, but the way it made my heart race made me highly uncomfortable. I got off it relatively quickly.

Feel free to share your stories, I'd love to hear them and why they didn't work/led to WLS.

Edited February 20, 2014 by Skywalker

[Sharpie 3,306]

ok here goes..Nutrisystem. food taste like crap.. expensive and teaches you nothing about nutrition and proper eating.. Same with Jenny Craig only more expensive food. HCG , 500 calories a day for 21 days will make you lose weight and your mind. not sure why it works other than the low calories, not much hunger but very tired and cranky . lost hair and immediately gained when I went off of it.. B12 shots and phentermine under Dr's care. lost weight but my heart raced and I was so wired I couldn't sleep. Did WW too but the point thing drove me nuts then when I went to meetings someone would lose a 1/4 of a lb and they would throw a party woo hoo.. I did a metabolic diet one time years ago which was mostly Protein shakes, bars and meals. It worked okay but again unless you live on that forever you will regain weight. I tried Adkins years ago and never had ketosis, but I did lose weight but never kept it off.. I wanted to eat a loaf of bread afterwards..Pretty much any and every gimmick and diet plan out there I Have tried.. So far the band has worked for me. Maybe because I stick to the rules and have less hunger and control.

[parisshel 1,892]

My main go to diet was Weight Watchers. I think I did 14 iterations of Weight Watchers, if I count all the enrollment booklets I've saved. I know I first went as a 14 year old. As I stood in line in 2012 as a 53 year old, to enroll for the 15th time, having gained back by that September all the weigh I'd lost from my January 1st enrollment, I shook my head and realized that this was never going to work longterm. Why? BECAUSE I ALWAYS GOT HUNGRY eventually.

That was the day I started researching WLS. My first consult was on October 11th 2012, and I was banded March 20, 2013.

What a good decision I made.

Take away, or dim down, my hunger...that's what makes my band work for me. Traditional diets do not do that, no matter how many Soups you eat, or large salads you stuff yourself with in an attempt to make it from meal to meal. My hunger would be there, reved up and waiting, and it only took one little deviation from the WW Program to make me throw in the towel.

[betty_s 476]

atkins - always been my 'fall back' plan. I knew if nothing else worked, I could low carb it and shed the weight fairly quick. what I never understood though, is that I would always plateau at either 40 lbs or 3 months. I could never get past either one of those. then, i'd gain the 40 back, plus 15.

south beach - felt similar to Atkins, only I got to eat fruit! but, I eat TOO much fruit, like its candy.. so it never worked out

ww - I never did like ww. I tried 3 times and I didn't like the portion sizes, always felt hungry, and got mad when people ate like **** and still lost weight and I was eating as clean as possible and not moving a pound.

body for life - I liked this approach, but I felt like all I ever did was log my food into my fitness pal to make sure I was getting in the right macros. I became obsessive and it was exhausting.

Edited February 20, 2014 by betty_s

[2muchfun 8,927]

Atkins worked for me for about 25 years. I was able to keep my weight within 15 lbs of my current goal weight most of the time but I also ran, played tennis 7 days a week and racquetball in the winter. I think I was able to keep fat away simply because I burned off about 800 calories a day. Once my knees crapped out, the heavy exercising ceased and the lbs started to add up.

So, I'm an Atkins success story for much of my life. I also tried all the others previously mentioned. Never worked long or even short term for me. I'd lose 10-15 lbs and then the hunger would consume my thinking.

The devil in most diets is constant hunger. It's depressing and consumed almost all of my daily thoughts.

[Bandista 7,466]

Cackling Grapefruit -- that one is from the way-back machine (14 years old in a house of women dieting). eggs, grapefruit, then, oh look, more eggs!

Eat Right For Your Body Type -- I even went to the D'Adamo Center for this one. What are lectins again? I'm not sure that science has held up. What a fun summer we had with a Type O, a Type A and a Type B in the house. Good grief. I did feel pretty good but that's because I always did well on most diets for a three month period before I couldn't continue the deprivation and restriction any longer and, like all of us, gained back plus some.

juice Fasting -- Three years ago I did a three-week juice fast. Had to scrape me off the ceiling I was so high and so happy but of course one can't fast forever. You'll never guess what happened when I started eating again -- all came back. Plus some.

Weight Watchers -- Humiliation in a group setting. Loved the comments above -- people eating crap and losing while I struggled along, plus the whole woo hoo element. Mostly though, I think the problem here for me is that I'd bank my points -- starving myself through the day so I knew I'd have enough for later. This is something I still struggle with in my behaviors around food.

Fit for Life -- eating only fruit in the mornings, then a lot of salads. It was a good diet in terms of a lot of healthy foods but I never sustained any real loss. There's a part of me that really misses those huge bowls of salad and veggies, I'll tell you.

The Zone -- my mother has always produced whatever new book is out at the time, so The Zone was one of those. How can I have read so much about metabolism and still not understand it? Oh, that's because they don't either -- we still don't really know how the human body works.

Fat Flush -- I still drink a beverage from this diet so at least I got something out of it! I fill up 32 oz. bottles with Water and a splash of cranberry (plus I add some aloe vera). The cranberry Water was a great Fat Flush thing for me, and also the flax seeds. Did I lose weight? Ummmm, probably in the beginning but up, up, up went the scale after.

Atkins -- I don't miss peeing on a little stick and feeling all excited to be purple. That was a lot of Protein for me and I think I may be a cheese addict -- have to be careful with that. Heavy cream comes to mind. Oh, and avocados. Everything always felt like some new miracle, that I'd "get to have" such and such. Steak, blue cheese on a salad -- yum. I think a cocktail or two was permitted on that diet as well.

Okay, I'll stop there. At 52 I guess I could probably come up with another half a dozen failed diets pretty easily. I do pride myself on never having been lured in by Raspberry Ketones (got to love the name -- so Atkins-y) -- but I have tried plenty of other products over the years. Iodine comes to mind. Things designed to deal with adrenal fatigue and cortisol issues. A homeopathic appetite suppressant. Super Dieter's Tea. You get the idea.

[Leepers 1,195]

Wow, Bandista. Impressive! Lol.

[2muchfun 8,927]

One more thing? Info-mercials!!

I bought a treadmill built for my bike to exercise and all it gave me was a sore ass and I never went anywhere!

Also, numerous workout videos(loved the super hot chicks from Canada videos).

Then there was some kind of miniature stepmaster? HA!

Of course, the miniature trampoline, OMG!

Bands( I still use em).

Nordictrack, I never bought into this one. I tried one at a friends house and I couldn't stay upright long enough to work up a sweat?

So many others and fortunately I was poor or I woulda filled my condo with all that crap.

tmf

[jennybean 175]

I have dieted 2/3rds of my life away! I have tried every diet out there and would lose about 10-20 lbs with a horrendous struggle. The only time weight ever came of nicely was with a very low calorie diet (600 per day). When I started to eat "normally" again the weight came back on VERY fast and then some.

So depressing!

[Bandista 7,466]

Hey TMF, this is for you!

[Jim1967 3,569]

I did Atkins for 19 months and dropped 172lbs. I then proceeded to feel so good about life and started eating all the things I deprived myself of and before I knew it that 172lbs was back plus another 90!! I am not dissing Atkins it was by far the easiest and simplest diet I have ever done. Part of me wonders if it would have been a longer term success had I actual followed the plan correctly and progressing to the maintenance stage.

[Sharpie 3,306]

TMF I forgot about all the workout equipment, hand weights, personal trainers, gym memberships, etc. If I had all the money I have spent over the past 25 years trying to lose weight I would be a wealthy woman..

[jamilyne 102668 1,207]

Wow - I've been on a lot :

weight watchers - at one point I lost 30 pounds then had a baby, so that went out the window lol

Nutrisystem - very expensive - you get a lot of food and it was alright but it tasted a little

plasticy. I was so mad I only lost 10 pounds and I was diligent!

Chinese diet pills - these were pills in a prepackaged amount - so you take about 5 pills like 2 or 3 x a day. I think you get full from swallowing so many pills lol!

Hypnotism - yep I did that too - I kind of thought it was funny - so I think that's why it didn't work

Acupuncture - I had a needle in my ear and you get it moved around about every week or so - it was suppose to make you not hungry - yea no! Lol

Richard Simmons sweating to the oldies- lol - did that tape for a long time - my kids would do it with me!

Hcg pills - didn't work; Trim Spa Baby lol - still pills!

The shaker crappy stuff that you put on food - didn't work - that stuff is made from silica! Isn't silica the little packages that comes in shoes that says "do not eat"? It gave me migraines!

Cabbage Soup diet - really?lol

I think that's it for now - if I think of something else I'll post it! Now that's funny & completely and utterly true!

[Sharpie 3,306]

I think "sense" was the only plan I missed.. lol people who try that say it's awful. Here is what works.. eat less, move more and with the help of my band I can do that.

[☠carolinagirl☠ 18,721]

no (diet) worked due to my compliance

sure some worked due to calorie restriction or whatever the case may be..but each time (and there were many that i succeeded it), but each time i started overeating and taking in more calories than i burned off, i gained the weight back (and this last time) to the highest ever weight for me.....the (diets) did not fail......i failed whatever diet based on what i was eating and doing....and what i am doing now works...i eat, i exercise and i accept what it is......me having to do the best i can.

Edited February 21, 2014 by ☠carolinagirl☠