Hi,
What I am personally doing at the moment is simply just eating healthily and not counting or weighing anything! I know this may not be everyones choice and a lot of people need a far more structured routine to stick to but I have been down that route so many times and failed, that this time I have decided if I tell myself it is yet another 'diet' I know I will fail yet again! However something has finally clicked into place and I feel totally different this time and I am determined to adopt a more relaxed approach to the food I eat from now on and I have come to the conclusion that my unhappy relationship with food is my own personal downfall and it really needs to change and so my 'new' approach seems to be working and as a result I feel so much more positive and motivated and I feel so much more relaxed about what I eat. To be honest I am at my happiest when I am in control and the self respect I am enjoying is the biggest motivater for me and this motivation is spurring me on giving me so much more drive, strength and determination. Obviously as my weightloss slows down and I need to be a little stricter with myself, I may move on to one of the popular eating plans or join a group but hopefully by then I will have totally changed my whole approach to food and I will mentally be able to handle a more structured routine! However until such time I shall simply stick to a well balanced, low fat healthy eating lifestyle and I really don't care how long it takes me, unlike in the past when I expected instant and dramatic results and got so disillusioned if the scales didn't register a dramtic loss each and every week! I am not in a race, it is a lifelong lifestyle change that is needed and this time I am NOT putting any type of time limit or any particular target on myself and I will just be happy to be going down instead of up! Putting pressure on myself for me personally has not worked in the past and being so strict and so harsh on myself was bound to end in disaster sooner or later as I simply could not keep up the 'holier than thou' behaviour I thought I had to adhere to and if I ever ate any food I believed I shouldn't have eaten then I would be immediately consumed with guilt; sending me into a downward spiral of self hate and disgust which then led to me going totally crazy and raiding the fridge like some demented madwoman!
They key I believe to succeeding is finding whatever works for YOU and sometimes we have to have tried and failed many times before we find our own path but with the right support I am sure we can all help and guide one another in the right direction and I wish everyone success in their own particular journey.
Good luck everyone!
Sue