Also, and I don't want to discourage Alibelle or anyone else from dieting if that's what they want to do, but diets don't work. It's been proven, repeatedly, that over 95% of people who lose any amount of weight on a diet -- and I mean as little as 2 pounds -- cannot maintain the weight loss for longer than 5 years.

But I don't want to look like this anymore. I mean, there's changing a diet, but are my workouts futile as well?

Right, but do those things lead your body to process a hamburger calorie different from a broccoli calorie?

There is some evidence that simple carbohydrates cause more weight gain than their equivalent calories in protein and fat, possibly because they trigger an increase of insulin in the blood stream.

I had the impression Alibelle was on a diet for a TV show or something. Which amuses me, even if not true.

I don't think so, Allyson. From the study which proved that diets don't work in the long run:

If dieting doesn't work, what does?

"Eating in moderation is a good idea for everybody, and so is regular exercise," Mann said. "That is not what we looked at in this study. Exercise may well be the key factor leading to sustained weight loss. Studies consistently find that people who reported the most exercise also had the most weight loss."

I also think that diets don't work for the long run, but a change in eating habits does. Especially if you eat a lot of junk food or sweets (this is me) or drink a lot of alcohol. Choosing healthier foods and being aware of portion size is really important for health--and the side effect can sometimes be maintaining weight loss.

What Scrappy said.

I believe the 15 pounds I've lost this year is primarily from increased activity. I certainly haven't been trying to lose weight, although with my Sous Kitchen meals I am a bit better with portion control since I try to make sure (for budget reasons) to get at least as many portions from each entrée as they say I should.

The *only* thing I've ever done to lose weight successfully was to go off birth control. I'm 20 lbs lighter since I had Dylan than I've ever been in my entire adult life, with no other change in eating habits or activity level. (I now chase a toddler around the playground every day, but I haven't had a gym membership in almost two years so it evens out.)

Happy Birthday, Nutty!

Peanut butter and bananas on toast (Hi PixKristin!)

Heh. What megan walker is alluding to here is how very much we bonded over our comfort foods this past weekend. It was hysterical. Every time I said something I was craving--things that have caused many people out here to look at me like I'm crazy--she said, "I love that too!" and vice versa. It really rocked. I don't know if it was just a Connecticut thing or if it was more just a family thing, but it was kind of awesome.

I was able to maintain my weight loss as long as I kept up the healthy eating and the working out.

Sadly, I am not keeping up my healthy eating and my working out. Though as of today, I'm on a refined sugar avoidance plan for a while, after binging on spice drops yesterday. And tomorrow starts with the walking again. Woo.

Happy Birthday, Nutty!

Going from the 250 I should've never been down to 155-160 was (relatively) easy. And when I was in the heady rush of losing all that weight, the last 15-20 pounds was also fairly easy. (I was doing power yoga as my workout).

But then, moving to Florida caused me to gain twenty back, which I then lost by starting to work with a trainer. (Loved the trainer, hated the workouts with a passion.) Last April, I hurt my wrist and hip and wasn't able to work out. Gained five pounds almost immediately, but that wasn't such a big deal. However, over the last year, I've gained back that fifteen pounds that puts me back in the 155-160 range and I simply don't feel good.

My eating habits aren't too terribly different from when I was down at 133, with the exception of the stress-eating peanut butter M&Ms. This is a big culprit, I'm afraid, but dammit, I do eat reasonably the rest of the time, so I'm not going to cut off one of my few treats. At the same time, I desperately want to lose this weight-- more because I don't want to fall into the spiral of "Oh, another five pounds won't matter," because in the end, it does matter. Right now, everything I gain past where I'm at, makes me feel physically worse.

What I need to do is find something active that I'll actually enjoy doing. I'm so not an organized exercise person-- I wish the ice rink wasn't nearly an hour away, but I'm almost to the point where I'm thinking I'll get off my ass and drive the freakin' hour to go skate for a bit.

What I'd really love to do is take Latin dance classes, but like restaurant food delivery, it's near non-existent around here.