The best diet to lose weight?

It is the one that works for you.

That sounds like a load of bull, right?  It is true, though.

Here’s why: just like people are different and aren’t cut from the same “cookie cutter” mold, no one diet will work for everyone.  But, keep in mind that every diet boils down to the same basic principle of “less calories in than burned equals weight loss.”  The various diet plans, programs, surgeries, and pills just have a different way of getting there.

For me, after more than 25 years of trying practically every diet out there, along with several different “miracle weight loss pills” (the end result of which I became fatter than ever), I finally walked through the doors of a Weight Watchers meeting on the advice of my nurse practitioner.  I’ve now kissed 57 pounds good-bye, which is more than twice as much weight as I ever managed to lose at one time in the past (although I would now weight a negative number if I had kept off every pound I’ve lost over the years).

Why is Weight Watchers working for me?

1) No food is off limits. The food choices are completely mine.  There are no teeny portions of cardboard tasting foods or specific meal plans containing foods I hate (say the words “cottage cheese” and I’ll say the word “icky!).  Nothing makes me want a food more than when someone says I can’t have it.

2) Support via weekly meetings. It’s where I can ask any question I want and get all the help I need to stay motivated.  Plus for me, seeing other people losing weight makes me competitive which makes me work even harder to keep going.

3) Accountability on the scale. Believe me, that darn thing doesn’t lie (If I choose to eat 3 pieces of wedding cake, eat a huge plate of pasta, and have 5 margaritas the scale is completely willing to let me know!   And yes, I may have chosen to do this on at least one occasion…and the results weren’t pretty)

But Weight Watchers didn’t work for a friend of mine because she couldn’t handle making all her own food choices which resulted in her eating candy, chips and any unhealthy carb she could get her hands on every day.

She switched to the Curves weight loss plan because it limits carbs and has less food choices overall.  She found it easier to follow at first, but now she’s getting bored because she says “there’s only 5 menus I really like, so I keep rotating them and now I’m getting really sick of them.  I used to like chicken.  Now I almost want to run away screaming when I see it.”  It looks like she hasn’t found the right plan yet, but hopefully she will.

But while I like Weight Watchers and recommend it because it’s helping me get great results, I’m not going to wax poetic and say it’s the greatest thing in the world because I hate these things about it:

1) I absolutely loath writing down every bite of food I eat. It’s almost as bad as writing down every penny I spend, which I’m also doing in an attempt to get my spending under control (just think of any word that is the opposite of “fun,” multiply it by 10, and you’ll know how I feel about writing down what I eat and what I spend)

2) The weight loss is slow (like watching paint dry, but 20 times worse).  Yes, experts say people who lose weight slowly have the best chance of keeping it off (blah, blah, blah).  But, seriously, who wouldn’t want to take a magic pill before they go to bed one night and wake up the next morning skinny and looking great?

The good news is that there are a lot of weight loss books, plans, pills, and surgery options (if you are overweight enough to qualify) available to help a person lose weight.  The bad news is that there are a lot of options which can make the choice overwhelming.

Try to not get discouraged.  If one plan doesn’t work for you, try another one.

To help you, because we all have different needs and different lifestyles to take into consideration, ask yourself the following nine questions before choosing a diet for yourself:

1) How much time am I willing to spend preparing meals and snacks for myself?
- If you have zero time to shop or cook, consider a service that delivers meals to your door (Nutri-System and Jenny Craig are two popular programs)
- If you are willing to do at least some cooking and shopping then consider Weight Watchers – especially if you have a family and don’t want to have to prepare separate meals for yourself (just load your plate with more fruits and vegetables).

2) How much, if at all, am I willing to exercise?
- Exercise is a key part of health, but if you’re in poor health or extremely overweight, exercise can be difficult, at least at first.  I lost my first 20 pounds without doing any exercise at all (and I personally know someone who lost 50 pounds without exercising), but I started losing at a lot faster rate once I started exercising.
If exercise is really hard for you, don’t think you’re going to lose all your weight by signing up for a gym membership and working out for 2 hours every Start with a program that doesn’t require exercise, and then start exercising slowly once some of the weight comes off and you are feeling more energetic.   And, so exercise doesn’t seem so much like work, try to find something you enjoy doing (for example – did you like riding bike or going swimming when you were a kid?)

3) Do I have health issues, such as diabetes, which can make some diet plans dangerous?
- It is always recommended that a person consult their health care professional before starting a diet, and it is crucial to do so if you have health issues so that your diet isn’t further endangering your health (because losing weight is supposed to make you healthier, not sicker).

4) Do I have time to attend meetings or to meet regularly with a counselor?
- If not, then don’t choose a diet plan/program that requires it.  You’ll only be setting yourself up for failure. If you have a crazy busy schedule, consider a program that has online support.

5) Am I motivated enough to go it alone without the benefit of meetings and regular weigh-ins on the scale or do I need that accountability?
- If yes, then buy a weight loss book or join an online program.  If you need accountability then choose a program that provides it.  It’s not bad to need accountability.  It’s just how some of us are (I completely need accountability or I go off the deep end and eat all the junky food I can get my hands on.  There’s nothing like the thought of weighing in the next day to get me to pull my hand out of the chip bag).

6) How fast do I think I need to lose weight?
- If you think you have to lose 20 pounds in the next month so that you look great for your class reunion, stop and think about why you want to lose weight.  You’ll have the best chance of success if you do it for yourself, not for someone else and not because of a specific event.  Also, keep in mind that the faster you lose weight, the less likely you are to keep it off.
If you are determined to lose a lot of weight very quickly, consider a medically supervised program, such as Medifast

7) Am I willing to consider surgery or diet pills to help me achieve my weight loss goals? (Keep in mind that surgery and pills can have serious risks.  According to Web MD, 1.5 percent of people who undergo gastric bypass surgery die from the surgery itself or from complications of the surgery)
- Thousands of people have weight loss surgery every year with many people being able to lose the weight and keep it off.  It’s not a magic elixir though.  If you have your stomach made smaller, you will have to eat small meals.  If you don’t you’ll get sick and run the risk of complications.  I have a friend who had gastric bypass surgery several years ago.  She lost the extra weight and has kept it off, but she has to take a handful of supplements every day, cannot drink liquid at the same time she eats solid food (because her stomach fills up too fast) and has to eat very small meals.  She says it was really tough at first emotionally because she still wanted to eat for comfort and not only when she was truly hungry.
- Diet pills work for some people, but they are obviously not magic.  Otherwise everyone would have taken them by now and nobody would be overweight.

8 ) How motivated am I to stick to a diet to lose the weight? Hint: Wishing you could lose weight is not good enough.  You have to want to lose weight more than just about anything else in your life because it’s hard, especially if you have more than 20 pounds to lose.
- Don’t start any diet, NONE, unless you are 100 percent committed to losing weight.  If you don’t want it really bad then don’t start because you’ll only fail.  You have to be ready to undertake the task because it may very well be the hardest thing you ever do in your life (and no, I am not kidding).  I’m not trying to discourage you or be mean.  I’m talking from personal experience.

9) How much money do I have to spend on a diet plan?
- You can spend zero dollars on a diet plan and you can spend more than ten thousand dollars on a diet plan/program/surgery.  If you have no money to spend, check diet books out from the library or use online resources to help you.  Otherwise, tailor your plan to your budget.  Currently, it costs me about $40 a month for Weight Watchers, excluding the gas it costs me to drive to weekly meetings.  It’s well worth the cost to me.  You may have more or less than that to spend.
Keep in mind that the more services provided, the most the program is likely to cost.  Meal delivery services easily run into hundreds of dollars a month.  But, it might be just the thing you need to get that extra weight off which will likely save you thousands in medical costs down the road.

I wish I could make it easy for you and say that “X” is the best diet for everyone but unfortunately I can’t.  We all have different needs, different budgets, differing amounts of free time, and different levels of health that are factors.  Take the time to consider what yours are so that you can find the best diet for you, which is the one that helps you get rid of the extra pudge!