For those of you who have followed my blog this year, you will recognize the number 234. This is the weight that I was stuck at despite a random mess of different diets along with heavy exercise. I just couldn't get off that number. Today, I am delighted to show you this picture in which my weight is 214. I am down 20 pounds from that maddening plateau.
How'd I do it? For those of you who are struggling with weight, I offer some tips:
Choose The Right Diet For You. For me, the Lindora diet works well because it is highly structured but with a fair amount of decision-making that is left up to me. As an example, for breakfast I am allowed a protein and either a fruit or a carb. That is very specific but I still choose what I eat. For me, a fried egg on a piece of toast combines two of my favorite things so this is a no-brainer. But had I chose a Mediterranean diet, I would be forced to eat something gagworthy like feta cheese or tomato slaw. Weight Watchers, with their point system, is too flexible for me, too open-ended. And plans like Jenny Craig where you buy their food don't teach me about making good choices in the real world.
Build In Accountability. The Lindora diet also includes daily accountability where I go to the location to check in and get my daily shot of vitamin B. Prior to Lindora I found myself being extra careful with my food decisions if I knew I had a doctor's appointment soon. Twelve-step programs use a similar concept with mentors. Having somebody to be accountable to besides yourself works really well. Having Mrs. The Fat Diaries on the plan really helps as well.
Stay 100% Compliant. Based on this article that my doctor summarized for me, it really drove home the premise that if you're not going to be 100% compliant with a diet, you are doomed. And by doomed, I mean that you are going to be just like me when I was scattered and trying every possible diet, running around like a chicken without a head. Staying on one plan and doing it well means that I have since learned to just eat the chicken.
With Surrender Comes Serenity. When I decided to go on the Lindora plan, it wasn't a casual flip-the-coin kind of decision. I had had it with diets and their failed results and it was wearing my hope mechanisms down. I was becoming a professional diet failure and I needed this attempt at Lindora to really mean something. So I just surrendered to it. I haven't tried to game the system or fight with the letter of the plan by following the flavor of it instead and cutting corners. Either I'm following the diet or I'm sabotaging it. No wine, no pasta, no cheese, no desserts, no Oreos, no pancakes, no Cinnabons. No complaining and no pining. I feel like I could float on air. Why? Because I've lost 20 freakin' pounds.
OK -- maybe just one complaint. Did you see this? Cinnabon Pizza! WANT.
Count How Much Money You're Saving. My family used to eat out a lot. And even when we ordered from our favourite hole-in-the-wall Mexican place, the tab for three would be around $40 by the time you added in tip. With Mr. and Mrs.The Fat Diaries on Lindora, we have easily saved over $1,000 in the past six weeks.
I hope these tips have been helpful. Now it's on to breaking 200.
Elena Paravantes RD: 5 Ways to Eat Like a Greek
Dieters are not required to eat their food. I mostly keep to "real" food but I do like some of their snacks. However, I would take exception to the generalization that Lindora is not interested in "Health". that's an awful large arc to attempt to do everything right: (1) lose weight, (2) eat organic foods, (3) limit artificial ingredients, etc, and then there are other considerations some people may care about like (4) supporting local farmers, (5) not eating certain foods because you don't like what the CEO thinks, and on and on.
For me, controlling my sugars and losing weight are the two top "Health" priorities. If to do that means dosing myself with corn sweetner or other chemicals, so long as my weight loss remains strong (I'm down 23+ pounds as of today), I'm excited to continue and celebrate my progress. But thanks for your concern.
Much of it will be water - but you obviously didn't need it.
I'm down 30 lbs in four months and I bought a bike yesterday. I'm using a free website (sparkpeople.com) to log all of my meals and exercise and that gives me the kind of accountability I need. I love that at the end of the day, I can check and see what my calorie deficit is when the site tallies the calories I burned vs what I ate. I'm usually under by 500-1000 so I'm losing a pound or a bit more a week.
It would be nice if there was a magic pill but in the end, it all comes down to diet and exercise.
For me, the only magic pill I need to take sometimes is for fiber (TMI?).
I have never heard of Lindora before.
I had weight loss surgery about 20 months ago and hit a wall now.
Your words are encouraging!
Mitzi
I haven't done any type of diet, but structure definitely helps! Planning meals and snacks, and packing your own definitely helped me get over my plateau.
Just remember that you only live once. I'm not saying turn into an indulgent pig. Just remember that every once in a while it's ok to have a slice of cake, or that glass of wine!