The Best of...

I've been thinking of doing this blog topic for some time now. Sister1 and I have tried a lot of different diets. All of these diets have helped us loose the weight (it's the maintenance diet on our part when things go to pot), but what sets all these diets apart from each other? Well, hold onto your hat because here's a list you're going to want to read. It's 'The Best of Each Diet' list. I'll start with my dieting experience and what key impressions I left from each. Between Sister1 and myself we've been on the following diet programs: Weight Watchers, Atkins, South Beach, LA Weight Loss, counting calories, Suzanne Summers, Dr. OZ You on a diet!,  Jenny Craig, NutriSystem, eating (close to) nothing, exercising (a lot), and I'm sure when I recap with Sister1 there are a few I'm missing. So, here goes:

'The Best of Each Diet' list

1. Dr. Oz 'You On A Diet': First off I love Dr. Oz. He brings important medical information about your body right to your door. It's said in a matter of fact way with no finger pointing.  Anyway, I tried his diet (read 1/2 the book) about 5 years ago. Basically you avoid eating 3 ingredients: High Fructose Corn Syrup, Partially Hydrogenated Oil, Enriched Bleached Flour. That's the dieting part in a nut shell. No measuring, eat as much as you want as long as it doesn't have any of those ingredients. However, almost all of your food has these ingredients in it. You have to read every label and turn to organic food that's rather expensive. The exercise portion of the diet definitely takes some work as well: must take 10,000 steps a day (wear a pedometer), walk at a fast pace 20-30 minutes a day and workout an additional 60 minutes a week. Did this diet work for me? Yes. A few weeks in I finally saw results and I swear to you the pounds were melting off quickly. Then I got pregnant with kid #2 and was wondering why I was gaining weight. So, where's the best of part of this diet?  

BEST: Dr. Oz taught me a few things. 1. The importance of healthy oils in your diet. 2. Eating nuts is great for you, but only 12 of them a day/at a time. Specifically before you start making dinner, because once your body registers the protein it'll help curb overeating at dinner. 3. This one is key. Because even after all these years I'm still trying to accomplish this: Dessert is NOT an everyday thing. You should not be eating a dessert everyday, instead maybe 2 or 3 times a week.Yikes!

These best were impressions that have stuck with me and I'm trying to apply to WW. Which also recognizes healthy oils and nuts as an important part of your diet.

2. Counting Calories: I tried counting calories I think after I had baby #2. Went to the library and took out a book that weighed 10 pounds and was probably 3" thick. Full of what I thought would be the secret to loosing weight. Every food know to mankind was in that book with an assigned numerical value. Can't remember if I lost any weight. Maybe 5 pounds. With two the system wasn't too overwhelming for me. I was never sure of how many calories I should be eating a day and didn't know really what I should be eating. However a few things did raise to the top.

BEST: 1. Food journal. No matter what diet you choose writing down what you eat every day is a good thing. Otherwise you tend to forget. Do you remember what you worn yesterday? Probably not. Then how are  you going to remember a few extra bites of food sprinkled throughout the day? 2. Fruit and vegetables are really low in calories. Well this should be a no brainer, but sometimes you need a little education on the calories difference between and apple and 3 little cookies.

3. Suzanne Summers: I believe I tried one of her diets sometime in 2005. Her book seemed a bit fluffier than other diet programs. She talks about her struggles with trying not to eat McDonald's french fries. Can't remember a whole lot from her diet. She eats a lot of crepes. Again, eating more organic, natural fruits is the preference here.


BEST: Not so much her diet than the motivation behind a woman who keeps reinventing herself through diets and fitness products to continue to stay fit and healthy. She had become an icon of a blonde (ditzy) bomb shell and has been able to turn that into a voice to help other women try to take control their own weight and fitness.

4. Eating (close to) nothing: No good can come from this. For about 2 months at the end of high school I ate very little and lost a bunch of weight. Bad break-up leaves a teenage girl with little to no appetite. Just didn't feel like eating. The problem with that is soon as you like another boy you eat again and gain it all back.

BEST: If anything good could have come out of this situation, it's that as an adult I have learned that putting my healthy eating first over all situations is what will keep me on track for life. Boyfriends or husbands, kids, work, pets, household, vacation, travel or whatever else happens in your life, those things can not interfere with your goals to stayed focused on healthy eating. If anything, when other things in your life seem to be topsy turvy you must hunker down even more and keep yourself fueled properly to get through the 'event'. Not eating is never acceptable. NEVER.

5. Exercising (a lot): Well, I guess I can never be accused of really exercising too much, but last year I fell into a pitfall of exercising which led to an excuse for eating. "I worked out today so I can eat a bunch of junk all day (and all night)." Obviously this had no success. The proof is in the 20 pounds gained over a course of a year.

BEST: I started an exercise program that has now become habitual. Exercising at a slow pace and overtime building onto my routine (while eating healthy) has wonderful benefits. I went from 2 days a week and now able to get moving 3x-4x and sometimes 5x a week.

6. Weight Watchers: This is my 3rd round on Weight Watchers. The only diet I have repeated. It's worked every time, but again it's the maintenance on my part that I put me back to where I am. No point in talking about WW past diets, it's the current one that I'm most excited about. Instead of calculating numerical values to food that go into the hundreds and thousands like you do for calories, WW puts the value to food simple. I have 29 points a day, fruits and vegetables are 0 and I have 49 points a week to dip into to. Exercising earns you activity points and gives you that understanding of how many points of food is earned per workout. Helps keep a cap on eating out of control, 'just because you worked out'. Stops the carte blanche binge.

BEST: So many 'bests' of the current WW plan that I don't know where to begin. The best so far for me has been that I started with a lot of daily points and over time my weight loss success was rewarded with less daily points. It took 16 weeks to get to the base level of 29 daily points and that time allowed me to switch out food choices to healthier offers over time. Oh! And the website it amazing. Recipes at my fingertips and the online food journal is easy and fast and update-to-date immediately no matter what mobile device you log in on.


SISTER1: You're turn to add onto this list.