Hey everyone, my name is Alana.

Excited to make my first post on this forum! I wanted to reach out to all of you other women out there, what's your diet program? I've tried many, and I am sure you all have as well! We can't help it. But the problem is that none of them seem to work right?

Personally, probably the best one I've found that works for me has been Chef's Diet, has anyone heard of it or tried it? It's a really great program that works for my lifestyle, and being in my mid-30s. Great tasting, freshly prepared meals are sent to your home, so it makes watching what you eat a breeze.

Phil Andriano is an award winning top chef, hear what he has to say about Chefs Diet:

Plus since I'm with their program, I found out about this giveaway they're doing, where you can win a month's worth of Chef's Diet meals sent to your home plus other prizes.

Go to, [link removed] to participate and for more details. You can also call [removed].

Good luck! Is anyone going to enter the contest?

Hi Alana, and welcome.

I find that "diets" don't work for most people. The problem with a diet is that people take the mindset that when they lose weight they can "go off" their diet ... and then they just gain weight back.

The "program" that I use is to eat real food - eliminate processed and packaged food as much as possible from my diet - and to eat reasonable amounts. I count my calorie and make sure I get balanced amounts of protein, carbs, and healthy fat.

That's what I did and it made a huge difference.

I agree with Kara, if you diet you loose the weight and go back to what was normal, gain the weight, go on a diet, lose the weight ....it goes on forever.

I use an online meal planner that I have found works great. Like Kara said watch what you put in your body.

I don't agree with counting calories I prefer to plan calories. I find that a lot of the programs on the internet help you track what you have already eaten and by that time it is to late.

I use the program and it has worked very well for me. I won't post a link but if your interested pm me and I will let you know about it.

Huh. I think that's kind of hair splitting.

I count calories and I plan my meals. I don't see that those are different things.

you may be right but what I was trying to point out is that many people guess during the day and then do a tally at night. The don't plan their day in advance.

it's simple for me....

exercise is lift heavy free weights in a variety of compound movements

diet is eat stuff that i can grow, kill or extract(by that i mean milk, cheese, etc. stuff that i could personally make without need of a chem lab) with a healthy macro balance. protein and fat intake stays basically the same, eat more carbs when trying to gain muscle, eat less carbs when trying to lose fat. currently gaining, will start to lose once i hit 230lbs....

I don't eat special meals, I eat smaller portions and walk everyday, and I eat what my family eats. I have lost 85 pound as of yesterday, since January. And I use Max WXL. It takes away the food cravings and gives me energy. It helps me.

I've tried 4 diets in my time:

Weight Watchers: Lost an average of 7lbs a week but for some reason got tired of it after a while and never went back.
18 in 4: Lost a lot of weight using this diet but very tough going and wasn't crazy about the foods on the menu.
Slim Fast: Worked well for me and liking their milkshakes was a bonus!
Weight Moves: Currently on their plan and so far so good.

I've had great success with NutriSystem, but I have two issues.

1. I don't like spending for their packages each and every month. If they could educate me how to replace the meal with my own, then it would be better.

2. I don't want to go ON and OFF a diet and that seems to be the case with things like NutriSystem. At some point I want to be back in control.

Now I follow sensible guidelines and eating healthy on a tight budget. It takes a bit more time, but I find that planning ahead and buying fresh food that can be used in multiple dishes and meals throughout the week helped me to cut my grocery bill while still eating healthy.

I don't count calories. I eat a diet high in raw veges, loads of seafood, brown rice, soy products, fresh juices, seeds and nuts.

My exercise includes mountain climbing, bike riding, weightlifting, calisthenics and yoga. I switch it around as needed.

I try to exercise several times a day but in short periods eg. sometimes only 10 mins at a time but it is very intense. I have no choice but to work it this way as I have young children.

I have never had a problem with my weight. But I work very hard to look this way. I don't ever want to be skin and bones just really toned, that's why I do a fair bit of weight bearing exercise. Great for long lean muscles.

I agree with KaraCooks. The way to go is NOT to calorie starve yourself. Doing so places your body into 'starvation mode'. Once placed in this "starvation mode" accredited to the fad weight loss diet plan, your body begins to hold on to its fat repositories for dear life so that it can conserve them for sustaining existence of life.

Placing yourself on a diet program for an extended period of time may adversely affect your metabolism by slowing it down permanently. This is because it would force your metabolism to adapt to this low calorie diet. Any future increase in caloric intake would lead in alarming increase of body fat. This is why many people have the weight come back rapidly when they go off their diets.

Your best bet is to maintain a well balanced diet and add exercise to your lifestyle for effective and long-term weight loss

I fully agree with Kara. I think that the vast majority of people on this forum have moved from the "diet" mentality to the healthy lifestyle which includes a nutritious diet plus a level of exercise.

We have had excellent results with this approach - plus it is easily adapted for successful maintenance.

If eating food in recipes suggested by celebrity chefs appeals to you - there is an abundance of recipe books written by celebrity chefs past and present. Once people have learnt a knowledge of nutrition they can go through those books and select the recipes that are appropriate to weight control. They can also adapt some of the other recipes so that they become appropriate.

I am sure that people will acquire a wider range of recipes in this manner - rather than trust to those selected in forming the plan that you mention.

The notion of ready meals being delivered (whether they are hot as in Meals on Wheels which elderly people get here or cold as in Lean Cuisine) to my home most certainly does not appeal to me.

I have been involved as an advisor to weight loss groups for a number of years and the best way to lose weight is to follow a natural healthy diet and include some form of exercise in to your life style.
Just because you are working at loosing weight does not mean you have to miss out on the odd naughty but nice foods. The best tip of all is this.....

No matter how much weight you want to lose, break it down in to small easy to acheive steps. By that I mean make a big thing out of acheiving a 7lb weight loss, and each week allow yourself a treat or two. Eating one slice of cake to celebrate losing a pound or two in 7 days will not pile the weight back on.

Have some fun and enjoyment the word diet does not have to mean boring. even when you was eating the wrong foods you was still following a diet, but the diet you was following got you used to eating the wrong foods at the wrong times. A healthy diet is all about learning about when to eat the right foods, and also when you can have some not so good foods.

Hello

So I joined this forum for help.....so being a girl I kno most of you ladies know how hard it might be to get a flat belly......Im about 3 inches away from that flat belly I desire.Does any one have a suggestion on how I can achieve my goal? Id like this by Dec 11\2009 as for I will be going to Cuba with my boyfriendn and Id like that to be my achievement when we go. please help with suggestions ASAP
Thank you.

I think that it is highly likely that your belly would be improved by exercise so your first step should be to check out the exercise section. I would think that anything that talks about "core abdominals" would be worth you trying. I know that my pilates teacher is always having us do exercises for those muscles...

There are plenty of people on the forum that know a lot more than me about the exercise side of things though.

You do not mention your weight or height - so it is hard to say how much of your problem is down to a need to lose weight. I suggest that you check out Korrie's sticky thread in the newcomer section and set up a ticker in your signature. That way your height and BMI would be immediately apparent to anyone that tried to help you.

Whether you need to lose weight or not - your body will really benefit from you adopting good nutrition though - so check out the sticky threads in the nutrition section. If you get a free account from FitDay - Free Weight Loss and Diet Journal you can analyse your nutrition and apply the things that you have learnt.