Coming clean

I want to be upfront with you all.

I AM A DIET JUNKIE. There, I said it.

Yes, I get excited, shaky, nervous, happy over a new diet plan that will be what "finally" works.

And I have tried everything. Well, at least everything that still feels relatively normal. For instance I have not drank my own pee.

Yes, people do that.

But I have purchased a lot of books, joined a few online weight loss places, and tried a fad or two, or three. I lost count.

But I want that behind me. I want how I eat to be a lifestyle. Not a temporary fix that I won't be able to live with long term. But a change in lifestyle that will aid me in being healthy for the long run.

So I am going to tell you every diet I have ever been on, in full disclosure. It's kind of my way of purging the old ideas, the quick fix mentality, and embracing the concept of making small changes that lead to big health improvements. I will also tell you which of these I felt was the closest to a long term solution, and I will break them down into categories.

Ready? Oh, wait, I'm nervous. This is really kind of embarassing you know. But, we're here for eachother, right? Ok.

Books I bought:

South Beach Diet-good success on this-it contributed to the 46 pounds I lost after Anne Marie was born.

The 5 factor Plan-this and body for life are essentially the same principles. Eat 5-6 meals a day consisting of equal parts carb and proteins.

Body for Life-good success on this as well, back when I knew nothing about how our bodies work and what types of food are good for us. It taught me a lot.

Biggest Loser Diet-bought the book, never read it. Anyone want it?

Clean Eating-Probably the best in the bunch, the one I keep going back to. I will discuss this one more later.

Some Jillian Michaels book (I forgot the name)

Some Suzanne Somers diet where you're not supposed to mix your foods. That was weird.


Online diets:

Calorie King(I lost 20 pounds through them after Charlie was born)

Ediets-I lost 38 pounds using Ediets after Julia was born

Weight Watchers online


Fad diets:

The grapefruit diet
HcG
The cabbage soup diet

Diet aids:

Phen Fen(The diet center I went to gave me this even though I was only 15 pounds overweight, crazy, crazy. This worked great, but it damaged the heart valves in some people. Scary.)

The diet patch-Total crock. And I knew that, but I bought it anyway.
Meridia

Phentermine

Xenadrine with Ephedra, before ephedra was banned.

Xenical before it was Alli

Walk in type places-

Weight watchers(4 times I signed up)-I'll talk more about this one too.
Jenny Craig-I could afford exactly one week of food. So that was lame.


So, that is my list of shame. I am pretty sure there is more, but I can't remember them all.

Now, the one's I had the most success on were the ones that were based in reality. I'm not even going to discuss the diet aids because I don't believe those are long term solutions. They can be helpful if you really need a kickstart, but they are expensive, many do not work long term simply because your body becomes accustomed to them, and you still have to do the work.


The fad diets are just that, fads. They may work and help people lose weight, but they are not a long term solution and unless you have learned to change the entire way you eat, you will gain the weight back when the diet is over. I have know a lot of people who have done HcG and less than a handful of them kept the weight off. Plus, it is sooo hard and I'm still not convinced it doesn't hurt your metabolism. Just my opinion. I know a few people who LOVE it. Not the diet, but the results.

Now onto the things that worked.

Ediets worked for me at the time. I wanted something structured, and for a very low monthly fee they created meal plans, shopping lists and such. So I knew exactly what to eat, and how much to eat. I really liked it.

Calorie king was also good because it was free at the time, which I liked, and I could keep a running tally of my calories.

Weight watchers has a wonderful premise. The eating plan is smart, totally flexible and it works with your life. My only problems were the $40 a month I was paying to basically have someone weigh me. And I feel like Jeff and I don't see eachother enough as it is, so I began to not want to go to my meetings at night. But I really believe that it is an excellent way to lose weight.

Now my favorite, what works best for me, is Clean eating, which I will discuss more in depth tomorrow.

This list shows something very sinister, in my mind, about the diet industry.
Every year billions of dollars are made off of people wanting to look and feel better. And sadly most of it is full of crap, literally and figuratively. Pills, books and diets all with the goal of more money in their pockets. I believe there are people who truly want to help others get healthy. But I think a good policy about diet pills, gizmos and gimmicks is that if it sounds too good to be true, then it is. Nothing can replace good old fashioned hard work and determination.

Please, take it from someone who has fallen for the promises over and over again. Only to find that the only thing to really work is my own efforts. Anyone selling something that claims it will be easy, well, they probably have a bridge somewhere they would like to sell you too.

And if I could have back all the money I have spent on trying to lose weight, well, I could probably buy that bridge.

Now there will always be a part of me, that no matter how much I know hard work is the only answer, there is still a part of me that wants all that other junk to work. I had to talk myself out of buying Sensa. This weird little powder you sprinkle on your food to desensitize your nose or something. I have to force myself to walk past the weightloss aisle at the store, knowing full well that most everything is a crock. So I still struggle to accept the reality of learning to make smart changes in my diet instead of finding quick fixes.

So are you still there? Have you left crazy land behind yet? Thanks for sticking around if you have. Eventually I will discuss where all this weirdness came from, but not quite yet. I mean, we barely know eachother. I can't walk around, mentally nude, in front of you yet. Waaaay too embarassing. Lets see where our relationship goes, k?

For Tomorrow: Eating clean