I'm starting a diet tomorrow. Which one shall I do?

[FatStanley]

I've done weight watchers on and off for years with some success but i fancy a change. I couldn't get to grips with slimmers world. I can't do hardcore custy-style no carbing. So where does that leave me? I need to lose a significant amount of weight by mid-October if possible. Oh and no Cambridge or lighter life (been there, done that, am a terrible yoyo dieter )
Please help!

Rather than a diet, what about a lifestyle changing Paul McKenna approach?

Peggotty you are right and Paul McKenna has exactly the right approach, I watched all the programmes when they were on Sky. My only concern is that it might not be prescriptive enough at the moment when I have a very pressing short term goal. What is your experience of it?
Unfortunately I am very greedy with sweet food, it is my absolute downfall. If I didn't like sugar I would not be fat. I can (although I often don't) manage my portion sizes and years of weight watchers means we eat pretty healthy main meals but snacking on biscuits etc is where I go wrong.

The beauty of the McKenna system is that you never feel deprived - you know that feeling of 'I can't have that, I'm on a diet' - it just doesn't exist. It takes a bit of practise to get into the swing of ONLY eating when you're hungry, eating slowly and stopping when you've had enough though. I have lost weight doing it, but I have to be really careful not to slip back into old habit - mainly emtional eating!

Why is it so pressing to lose weight quickly?

Oh we have family occasion, there will be a photographer and photos will be adorning houses for a long while. I want to avoid being the official fattie in the family group pics. So basically, entirely due to vanity is the reason

Low(ish) carb, low fat healthy eating. Sort of way you should eat for life.

I eat - 2 eggs and yoghurt (with oatbran & linseeds) for breakfast.
Fruit mid morning.
Massive salad with tuna / mackeral / sardines for lunch and often another yoghurt.
Fruit mid afternoon.
Often snack of some nuts (25g) at 6pm ish if hungry.
Dinner of lean protein (meat / chicken / fish) & stack of veggies.

Snacks ONLY if hungry between meals and only fruit (I don't eat bananas too high in carbs) or nuts (25g per day). 3 proper meals a day.

Its not hardcore low carb - carbs are from fruit, yoghurt and veggies.

Log everything online and have calorie limit.

Should be able to lose 2lb per week.

ForeverOnADiet - your diet makes me sad! Basically if I followed that I would not be eating any of the things I like - I do like loads of veg and some fruit but no pasta, no rice, no bread, nothing sweet EVER is totally unobtainable for me! Also not helped by not eating fish or yoghurt! if I was eating like that I would want to lose 1/2 stone a week

I'm on the "eat like a dog diet"

I was snacking on the sofa the other evening and i looked down at my dog snoring away,he seems to be just fine eating his two small meals a day,he's a perfect weight and doesn't snack.

Thought i'd give it a go,lost 3 lbs so far....WOOF!!

FatStanley, if sugar is your downfall, it might be worth reading Eat Potatoes Not Prozac, I lost 10lbs in a month just by cutting sugsr out of my diet, once I cut sugar out I found I was less hungry, felt fuller on less food and didn't have the urge to binge on chocolate and coke, it was pretty hard for the first 5 days, but now I don't miss or want sweet food any more. It has also meant I haven't felt like I'm on a diet as I am eating the same savoury food as before IYSWIM. I got my copy off ebay for about £3. HTH

Madamegazelle - that book has been on my bedside table for ages!!!! I read some of it but it just didn't click with me, I might try it again. What helped you about it?

Privatename - I have cats, does this mean I need to start eating wildlife raw and cleaning myself with my tongue

Im doing Paul McKenna, the weight seems to drop off quite quickly for me and I am eating full fat kormas, chips, chocolate plus quite often I actually crave salads & stuff.

I have ordered the Paul McKenna book - the idea of putting an end to the yo-yo dieting really appeals to me. I don't understand how the eating what you want bit works though - I've been doing that for years and that is why I am fat!

I know it sounded like i was being a wind up,but i do think we can learn alot from animals,they genuinely only eat when hungry (wild animals that is,my dog would,given the chance, eat til he bursts!)

Paul works on teh same principle, you only eat when you are properly hungry, then you stop as soon as you have satisfied your hunger. The CD is to help breal your old thought processes about food and make new ones.

Fatstanley, I think the problem is that its the sugar, the pasta, rice, and bread are making you fat. It is easy to eat big portions of these foods, and attempts at weightwatchers type diets where you can eat these but in calorie controlled portions often leads to weight regain ? firstly as muscle is lost along with fat on each diet (unless the diet is high in protein and involves resistance training) so the basal metabolic rate is decreased and as a result there is fat regain (but not muscle regain) when the diet ?ends? as no attempt has been made to change the dieter?s way of eating, and the small portion sizes often leads to the dieter being hungry.

Also your dependence on these foods is sugar addiction, and you need to work out how to break the cycle.

I also like sweet foods, but now I taste the natural sweetness in fruit, vegetables and natural yoghurt (I never could before) plus I have a 100-150 calorie treat each day, maybe a solero, or some dark chocolate or a couple of biscuits. I can maintain my weight loss without being hungry and without worrying about portion size because its virtually impossible to overeat on lean protein and vegetables! I only need to watch the size of the treat. In terms of bread / pasta / rice, I do eat occasionally, more likely rice than pasta, especially after a heavy gym session or a decent length run. A big pasta meal now leaves me bloated and lethargic so it its not actually that appealing.

And yes looking at my current diet before I started dieting would have made me sad. Now I think I?d be sadder to put the weight back on!

Paul McKenna works as you have to stop eating as soon as you are full, and only start eating if actually hungry, so the number of calories you eat is much less, and calorie deficit = weight loss. Not sure how well it would work though if you lived on biscuits or chocolate as I imagine it would be possible to eat quite a lot in terms of calories even if you stopped when full etc. I do occasionally listen to Paul McKenna but I don?t embrace it fully, although I only eat or snack now if hungry.

BTW incase you misunderstood I do eat yoghurt, fruit etc - that is where my carbs are from. Its low(ish) carb not hardcore ketosis.

I agree the Paul McKenna method is very good, especially if you're looking at changing your eating habits/attitudes for life. If you want to lose a particular amount of weight by a certain deadline though, you might be better off starting with something a bit more structured.

Personally I'd just use calorie counting for that - look at something like myfitnesspal.com to track what you're eating and make sure you stay under a specified limit. It seems the simplest approach to me, I don't really worry about carbs etc - try to keep my diet reasonably balanced and not overdo the sugar, but ultimately it's calories that count when it comes to weight gain/loss.

I would look at Paul Mckenna or similar for the longer term though, I'm very similar - have healthy, moderate-sized meals, but tend to snack for emotional reasons or just because I fancy something sweet. The PM method really helped me distinguish those things from actual physical hunger, and to get in the habit of eating only if I'm actually hungry.

Once you have free reign over a certain food, it no longer holds that appeal. I thought Id live on chips and crisps when I was told I coudl eat what I wanted! Now I dont eat either very much, and thats just been a natural process. When you chew carefully & savour every bite, you soon realise a lot of food doesnt taste as good as you thought! and the stuff thats good for you actually has the most taste.

Hi FatStanley, I was addicted to sugar and craved chocolate and full sugar coke constantly, I would start a diet every Monday and would be stuffing chocolate into my mouth by Monday night! I knew I had to change my eating habits and saw thus book recommended on here, I thought it made sense and thought I woukd try it for a week, it was a nightmare few days, I had headaches, felt sock and lethargic, and still wanted sugar, but after about 5 days that went, I was sleeping better, had more energy and wasn't waking up thinking about my next sugar fix! Try it, it really does work :)

God so many typos - sorry, am typing in a rush!

Thanks Madame gazelle - sugar is my absolute downfall, that is what makes me fat (not bread, rice or pasta as foreveronadiet says). I do like carbs but they aren't the be and end all for me, we do eat pretty healthy meals, it's the snacking that is out of control!
I don't like many fruits which is a real pain as I know that would be a good way to get the 'sweet fix' whilst trying to eat healthily.

ForeverOnAdiet - thanks for the extensive post! Unfortunately the diet you are following just is unsustainable for me, I know I would feel deprived and then end up bingeing on rubbish sugary stuff as a result

I hope my Paul McK book arrives soon

I am not a nutritionist, but aren't carbs/sugar just versions of the same thing and intriniscally linked? By that I mean that when you eat a meal with high GI carbs in, you end up with a blood sugar crash a little while after, desperately crave sugar ....and so eat sugary foods....

Since I have been following a Low GI, reduced carb diet I have been able to maintain my weight much more easily. I still eat some carbs (porridge for breakfast for example), but am v careful of what type, and how much. If I do this most of the time, I can still have a small bar of dark chocolate etc Alcohol also the enemy of the dieter and needs to be severely restricted whilst weight watching.

I am with Forever - some form of low carb or GI diet is a fantastic way of adopting a sustainable healthy eating strategy.

Forever.... you always speak so much sense on diets... were you once heavier than you are now?

Only thing that works for me these days is calorie counting. Ah, the reassuring nature of cold hard science.

I eat like a pig, so SW just have me an excuse to eat even MORE like a pig (unlimited pasta? Dear God, you should have seen the size of my portions). Now that I am calorie counting on myfitnesspal.com I reckon I was on about 2000 cals a day. No wonder I didn't lost any bleeding weight!

Good thing about cal counting - teaches you that there is no such thing as 'wicked food', but that it's simply best that you a) don't eat tooo much and b) get some exercise every day.

have gave, obviously.

lost lose.

Ho hum.