"Diet" History

I thought I would give you a little background on my diet history. I don't think I have ever been more than about 20 pounds overweight (The highest weight I have recorded is 149 on 10/14/02 but I don't have records further back than that), but it seems like I have always been on a diet. Here is a list of "diets" I have tried (not in exact order because I can't really remember when I did what and often times would go back to diets I had tried before):

• Don't eat lunch diet - In high school I would skip lunch a lot to save the spending money for going out on the weekends.
• Don't eat after 7pm diet - I did this a lot in high school too. This meant a lot of skipped suppers.
• Dexatrim - I remember using Dexatrim some in high school, I don't recall using it later.
• Fit for Life - This is basically a food combining diet. Only fruits in the morning. You didn't eat dairy, protein or breads together.
• Diet Pills - I had forgotten this until I mentioned the Dexatrim. I dated a resident once who gave me a prescription for diet pills.
• Atkins Diet - I think everyone knows what this is. I ate way too much processed food on this diet and felt hungry all the time and I had horrible body odor (anyone else experience that?)
• Carb Addicts Diet - I ate WAY too much (and too much junk) during the one hour you were allowed to eat carbs each day. I did learn about weighing daily and calculating a weekly average weight which I still do.
• Southbeach Diet - I think this diet was actually good for me because it helped me to realize that a lot of my cravings were based on not eating enough protein and too much refined sugar and flour.
• Weigh-Down Diet/Thin Within/The Lord's Table - All 3 of these "diets" seemed to make me MORE obsessed with food. I was supposed to eat anything I wanted as long as I was hungry and then stop when I was full. Or I was supposed to have 1/2 days, liquid days, or fasting days. I did not eat a balanced diet and was constantly wondering if I was hungry enough to eat.
• Three Apples a Day - You eat an apple 30 minutes before each meal.
• Dr. Gott's No Sugar No Flour Diet - The name speaks for itself, just avoid anything containing added sugar or flour. I still try to avoid sugar and flour, but know that portion control is important also.
• Weight Watchers - This is where I have had the most success. Counting points helps me with portion control and the WW healthy guidelines help me keep a balanced diet.

I have been "on and off" Weight Watchers (with some of the other diets in between) since I joined in 1998 to lose weight for my wedding. I lost about 15-20 pounds then (at some point I trashed those records so I'm not sure on the exact amount) and made lifetime before the wedding. We went on a cruise for the honeymoon and I gained 7 lbs on the cruise. Then I fell into the classic trap of not wanting to go back to meetings because I would have to pay (OH NO, not that!) Being newly married and getting used to living with my husband and a change in routine, I gained more weight. I went on and off various diets until August 2004 when I rejoined Weight Watchers. I weighed 145.6 at that time and made it to my goal of 129 by November. I successfully maintained through the holidays. Through most of 2005 I struggled again. I didn't realize at the time, but I had a binge/diet routine going on. I would binge and then diet, binge and then diet. In September of 2005, I stumbled across the BEC (Binge Enders Challenge) Board on the WW website. I joined and it was after I joined that I realized I did have a problem with binging. I went through several 21 day binge-free cycles there and made it back to my goal in that fall and maintained through the holidays again. I left that thread and started posting on the 10 cent Healthy Habits thread at WW in early 2006. This was started by some ladies on BEC who realized that if they were following the WW good health guidelines that there wouldn't be any room for binging. During 2006, my weekly average weight has only been above my weight range of 127/8-131/2 (I've adjusted it during the year) six times. I have finally learned the right way to maintain my weight. Instead of overeating and gaining a few pounds and then dieting to get them back off, I am eating a little more food all the time and remaining satisified. Now, I work on keeping my diet balanced and I avoid a lot of trigger foods (mainly sugar and flour).