CSIRO Diet? LIte n Easy? Weight Watchers? What do you use?

**MilkOnTap** · 30-12-2005 09:34

There are SOO many diets on the 'market' at the moment, especially with New Years coming (resolution haven) and I have decided that I am going to jump on the band wagon and say "My New Years resolution is to Lose weight"

First step. My 'darling' mother subtly gave me the CSIRO wellbeing diet book. Very subtle mum. But many thanks all the same. I have read through it, and it looks fantastic. The structure looks really easy. One thing. I cant really find the effort to cook these fantastic meals when it is just for me. My husband has a total of 22 days left at home between now and the end of August 06 and I really dont think cooking meals large enough for 2 people will help my diet program.

I have used Lite'n Easy before, and I am beginning to think that this might be the way to go for me while hubby is away. $119/week and they provide me with breakfast, lunch, dinner and all my snacks for 7 days a week. Plus, I dont have to shop. No leftovers, no mucking around. Easy.

I guess my question here, is what program do you use? How do you guys keep fit and trim? Supermum, I noticed in the BMI thread you said you have lost 23kg's so far! What program are you on? How much exercise do you do? I have done my BMI and I need to lose about 30kg's as well.

My goal? To have a new body by the time my husband returns from sea!

**cosmic** · 30-12-2005 09:42

Great goal, Ally.. and what a great motivator! I'm not sure I can really respond... I've done all 3 but never the full 100% diet as I've only ever needed to lose a couple of kilos here and there.

I can tell you that from my experience, I swear by the Weight Watchers points program. I personally have never gone to WW meetings but bought the points guide and stuck to 18 points a day when I needed/wanted to lose weight and it was simple. The thing I like about it is you can eat whatever you want, as long as you count the points so it's not very restrictive. A good friend of mine lost about 30kg on it and she also found it really simple. You eventually get to know how many points in everything and can really quickly tally in your head.

I've done Lite'n'easy but only ever did the 5 day plan so we could still go out for dinner or lunch occasionally. I found it hard - restrictive for socialising and 6mths later we still had L'n'E meals in the freezer.

I also did my own modified version of CSIRO before the book came out (downloaded it from the net) and just followed the basic plan and found it soooo easy to lose a couple of kilos really quickly. And not hungry.

So for me - in order I would go WW, CSIRO and then L'n'E.

I think anything that makes YOU think about what you are eating and make YOU have to prepare it is setting you up with habits for life. As opposed to L'n'E which does all the work for you, so that when you are finished you still have no idea how to cook and eat in a healthy way, IYKWIM.

GOOD LUCK!

**drewid** · 30-12-2005 09:46

Hey

I jump on the weight-loss bandwagon every few weeks. And 2 days later my motivation dies. Its soooo hard sometimes. Especially now in this really hot weather - I reaaaaaly don't want to go for a walk cos its so dan hot!

I have done Weight Watchers before and lost 10 kgs( a few years ago - I was very proud, and then nicely skinny!). Then I met a new man and it piled back on. Dont' you just love it.

So at the moment I am just hovering...waiting for 'real' motivation to kick in to lose about 15kgs. I probably need to lose more, but I will be quite happy wiht 15! I really just want to go back to being a size 12/14, I miss that so much. I have all these gorgeous clothes that dont' fit me right now! I want to wear them again...

I have toyed with the idea of the CSIRO diet, but all the preparation scares me, even though that is the key. Its hard enough trying to feed DH, Andrew and I without getting all technical about it. At the moment its whatevers in the cupboard/fridge!

I do have Dr Phil's weight loss solution book though. Its a good read, makes a lot of sense. Its helped me to clear up some of my bad habits, but I still haven't reformed as such.

I'd love Lite n Easy, but its sooo expensive just for 1 person, so couldn't possibly afford to still feed the rest of the family! YOu are lucky at least in that it will be only you at home! Much easier...

I'd ideally love to lose the weight before conceiving again. Fingers crossed for both

Anyway my whole point was to let you know you're not alone, and I will join you on this quest!!

**Foxy** · 30-12-2005 10:03

Hi Ally

I have been doing weight watchers for the past 3 months and have lost 10kgs.

I have not done any "official" excerise, other than that associated with a very active 10 month old boy! Of course, they do recommend light excercise for a speedier weight loss.

The was the best one for me because I didn't need to buy any particular food etc, just had to follow the points plan. This made it easier for me when going out to dinner or having take-away etc. A good example is DH and I have a Friday night take-away pizza night - I just adjusted my topping choice and number of slices to the amount of points I had left over for the day. It is more about portion control than good foods/bad foods, so I like that I can have a couple of lollies if I am "good" the rest of the day etc.

It cost me $16.95 per week to go to meetings, but I stopped going after 8 weeks because I had all the info, and was confident I could keep going with it on my own. Of course, WW does not recommend this approach!

Their website shows what meetings are in your area.

Good Luck.

**Mischief** · 30-12-2005 10:07

Hi Ally,

I lost almost 15kgs on Atkins....NO DONT FREAK OUT...you dont have to eat alot of fat!!!!!!

The wellbeing diet is suppost to be pretty close actually...low GI foods, and alot fewer carb than most diets.

Be wary of *low fat* foods...alot of the time they dont have much less fat, but they have HEAPS more sugar...if you dont burn sugar your body stores it as fat...just alot of people dont realise that. Sugar can come in the form of SUGAR, or Carbs...so try to stick to slow burning carbs such as brown breads...brown rice...wholemeal pasta....wholemeal flour...etc...

Best fruits to have are berries..they are low GI.

If you are intersted there is a great forum on all sorts of low carb diets at:
http://www.empowerfoods.com.au/forums

**Mischief** · 30-12-2005 10:08

Oh and PS....

If you drink booze

your body burns that first above all other fuels!!!!

**cosmic** · 30-12-2005 10:24

Originally Posted by Kat&Tiny

Oh and PS....

If you drink booze

your body burns that first above all other fuels!!!!

YES!! But if you are on WW, you just count the points in the drinks and eat with what's left over. So technically still 'legal'.

**MilkOnTap** · 30-12-2005 10:41

I have tried WW when I was 16 and I lost about 10 kg at the time. And then a couple of years ago I went on the LNE and lost about 5kg in 4 weeks.

I understand the pro's and con's of all of them. I guess I am put off by WW cause of the point counting thing. Seriously, I would prefer to do a gazillion sit ups each day than count numbers of points! And I'm not into working out GI ratio's etc etc, so I am kind of thinking that perhaps back to Lite'N Easy.

But you have all inspired me to do it! Whatever program I end up choosing, I am going to do SOMETHING! If I do Lite'N Easy then I will probably do a CSIRO based eating habit until DH goes, and then jump on the Lite'n Easy bandwagon...

**Nickster** · 30-12-2005 11:10

Hi Ally,

I went on the WW diet just before my wedding and lost about 5 kgs - just enough and just in the nick of time

.

The first 4 weeks were probably the hardest re: counting points, but you soon get used to that and can "anticipate" how many points you are likely to be consuming in pretty much any meal. And like Cosmic said, you can eat what you like - of course, if you eat a choccy bar, that's about a zillion points and means you can't eat anything for about 6 months! hee hee!

I'd do it again in a flash, but I'm not motivated enough at the moment

.

Good luck whatever you choose!!

**cosmic** · 30-12-2005 12:10

So true Nickster. Isn't a Big Mac something like 10 points?

And when you're working on 18 for the day, you soon learn where to get value for your points!!

Glad you're feeling inspired Ally. I think CSIRO is a good one too.. for me personally it's got be flexible and I find LNE just too strict. We're all different so whatever works for you.