Newbie and not sure what diet to follow

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-29-2004
Newbie and not sure what diet to follow
15
Sun, 03-27-2005 - 10:58pm

Hi there. My name is Wendy and I will be 36 in a few weeks, 5'4' and weight 275. I've been overweight my entire life, but did get down to a size 16 in college-that was my smallest adult weight. I felt so good then! Now I am a size 28 and have no energy and want to sleep all day. I feel so lazy.

I am at a point where I really need to lose weight now. I have been trying to conceive for over 2 years and finally my DH and I started fertility treatments a little over a year ago. We were able to get pregnant twice in the past 4 months but both ended in miscarriage. I don't know if my weight contributed or not, but I don't think it could have helped any.

For my own health and to help in me having a child someday, I NEED to do this now. I'm just so confused and don't know what diet plan to follow. I am down to either Weight Watchers or South Beach Diet. I've done WW many times and never got past losing 11 lbs or so. I basically just didn't follow it after a few weeks and halfheartedly did the plan. But I like how you can basically fit any food into the plan. I just need more willpower. I did the South Beach Diet once about two years ago and lost 22 lbs. within a little over a month. It came off so easy, but the diet was hard to follow after a few weeks, especially since I love carbs. Do you think it is okay to do SBD and get the scale moving and then after a month switch to WW? Hmmmm, I just don't know what to do!

As for exercise, I joined Curves and love that, so I feel good that I will be getting the exercise in. Thanks for any feedback and for listening to me ramble!
Wendy

Photobucket

Pages

iVillage Member
Registered: 06-17-2003
Mon, 03-28-2005 - 7:24am
Both plans are good. you just have to find something you can stick with for a long time and then follow it. Also make sure you get lots of exercise. That will really help you get the weight off. I know not much help. welcome and good luck. sharla
iVillage Member
Registered: 02-03-2005
Mon, 03-28-2005 - 7:29am
Hi Wendy and welcome!
Photobucket
iVillage Member
Registered: 11-04-2003
Mon, 03-28-2005 - 7:59am

Welcome to the boards Wendy!

 
Avatar for angelinoh
iVillage Member
Registered: 05-19-2003
Mon, 03-28-2005 - 12:32pm
Hi Wendy,
good luck finding or making a program that works and that you can stick to. iVillage also has boards on weight watchers and south beach of you want to check them out and see if maybe reading or asking questions about the program will help you decide.
iVillage Member
Registered: 03-12-2005
Mon, 03-28-2005 - 9:07pm

Hi Wendy. Welcome. I am about your age and size and finally got to a point that was totally out of control and I had to get some help. I wasnt sure what to do either. I posted my 'low carb' story on the WW board so I will copy it over. It is quite lengthy.

First I will will mention though that a friend of mine who is about 5'1" and was a size 10 went on Atkins for almost a year. She looked good before and great after. Then she went on a missions trip to Africa. She did not eat a lot but it was what the locals ate. Keep in mind that the locals are extreamly poor and dont have a lot to eat in the first place. She gained 10 pounds on her 10 day trip, no exageration! She was so discouraged and really could not sustain that diet anyway. Anyway,now she is a size 12 and you can see that she has gain a lot over the last 6 months or so. For the first time since I've known her it is clear she needs to lose weight.

Here is my story:

I started working out at Curves and read their low carb plan in the book they gave me. I was working out 5-6 days a week and felt great for the first couple of weeks. Then all of a sudden I started feeling drained of energy. I was still working out but after about 4 - 6 weeks of working out and most of those weeks doing the low carb thing I was not even able to stand up straight and felt too tired to even climb my stairs to my apartment. I actually had lost weight but had way less energy than the day I walked thru their door. One day I told one of the trainers at Curves about having no energy and said I felt like going home and having a fresh strawberry smoothie. She just gasped and said, "No, don't do that! Go over to Wal-Mart and get a pint of that low carb ice-cream!"

That was it for me. I went to Wal-Mart, but got a multi-vitamin and took 2 of them just to give me enough energy to wash my face and go to bed. As I was eating breakfast the next morning I was reading the back of a Special K box that explained carbs and how we need certain 'good' carbs for energy. I incorporated carbs back into my diet and continued the vitamins and exercise and got my strength back after about a week or so.

I was so discouraged that I dropped all forms of healthy eating and regular exercise. Then I read an article about WW recently and the core plan. It fit my philosophy so well that I had to check it out. I love it. I make a few of my own personal modification that align with my beliefs and research, but I truly believe they are out to help people much more than they are to win a dollar!

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD , "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-29-2004
Mon, 03-28-2005 - 10:20pm
Hi. Thank you all for your suggestions. I've decided to start doing Weight Watchers on Wednesday! I have all the material already so will do it on my own. I am also working out at Curves, so I hope things go well! I'll keep you all posted.
Wendy
Photobucket

iVillage Member
Registered: 03-12-2005
Mon, 03-28-2005 - 11:18pm

I really like the WW.

For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD , "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and

iVillage Member
Registered: 05-17-2004
Tue, 03-29-2005 - 10:21am

Hi there!


The girls have given you some great suggestions.

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

Fear

iVillage Member
Registered: 02-29-2004
Thu, 03-31-2005 - 9:43pm
Hi. I started doing the WW points yesterday. I did pretty well yesterday until dinnertime, then I took what I thought was a small portion of mac & cheese without checking until after how many points it was! I learned my lesson. I may try the core plan later on, but right now I just don't think I can give certain things up. I have very little willpower.
Wendy
Photobucket

iVillage Member
Registered: 08-31-2004
Thu, 03-31-2005 - 9:49pm
Hi Wendy!

Pages