My favorite diet plan

[RTP1031]

I finally hit a loss of 45 pounds over this last year and owe it all to two great tools, my bike and DietPower. You can download this program and the price was quite reasonable (dietpower.com). I'm a chef so eating rabbit food, Weight Watchers, or any plan that you eat from a box was not going to work. The program is like a calorie checking account. It tells you how much to eat today in calories and the choice is yours. You earn more calories with exercise. If you get "overdrawn" you gain. Before I found this program I had been on every miserable diet out there and always gained all the weight back and then some. I also cheated a lot because the foods offered were (IMHO)not very interesting or tasty. Not this time. Then I found the leaner I got the healthier I wanted to eat anyway. The program even tracks all your nutrients.

I have given up nothing, not potatoes, or french bread, or Trader Joe's ginger sandwich cookies, or a thick rib-eye steak. And it certainly took the stress off to see that if I just spun around the block (for about 10 miles) I could actually enjoy a small piece of birthday cake without gaining or guilt. What I love about this plan is that it treats you like an adult. This is how many calories you get, use them wisely.

This may not work for everyone, but it certainly worked for me.

[Nanci]

Beachdog,

How many are your base calories for the day?

Nanci

[Helen]

Is 1600 too much for a women ? Also I eliminated bread from my diet plan and I don't know what should I use to reach the same base calories. What product could substitute bread ?

Are you still using bread ?

[snapdragen]

I think you should go with 1200 calories a day and follow the standard 1200 diet plan.

1200 a day?! Please, didn't we go down this road a few months ago? I felt like I was on the eating disorders board.

[DeniseGoldberg]

I am sure I would have known that but anyway ... what I am trying to say is that 1200 calories a day is a standard diet plan. I only pass on the information I read on the internet ...

I'm afraid you are falling into the trap of picking up bad information. Just because it is on the Internet doesn't mean that it is valid. There are good nutrition web sites out there, and there (unfortunately) are bad one too.

You need to consume enough calories each day to support your body in all of your activities.

[runnergirl]

1200 a day is about right for a small, post-menopausal, sedentary woman (like my mom) who is trying to lose weight (she only burns 1800 a day if she's lucky). But as all of us here are active, 1800-2000 is a minimum. I'm with snapdragen, anything below that is eating disorder territory.

[Trek420]

Helen "I eliminated bread from my diet plan and I don't know what should I use to reach the same base calories. What product could substitute bread ?

Are you still using bread ?"

I dunno about you but I eat bread, I just avoid the processed stuff, whole grain, multi grain, complex carbs....if I would just stop slathering it with butter ;-)

[DirtDiva]

I wouldn't have the energy to sit on my arse in front of the telly all day if I only took in 1200 calories.