Looking for a diet for my 19 year old daughter ...

[Luanne]

She has tried Slim Fast (upsets her stomach). She doesn't eat meat so that would need to be a factor in what diet she goes on.

 

Any suggestions?

[WTMindy]

Eat less and exercise more is the best way to do it, but I think Weight Watchers is the best in terms of an actual diet. It teaches a person how to make wise food choices. You don't have to eliminate any foods, but you learn portions and making good choices.

[jg_puppy]

I totally agree. Weight Watchers is the way to go for me. Also a lot of people have had good luck finding helpful information at Sparkpeople.

 

Jan

[NicksMama-Zack's Mama Too]

When my dh and I followed the philosophy of "Fat-free and Flavor-Full" by Dr. Gabe Mirken, we lost a lot of weight and learned to appreciate a variety of vegetables and spices. The portions of complex carbs we could eat were very generous. I believe Dr. Mirkin's latest book recommends 20g fat/30 g fiber.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Fiber-Diet-Plan-Weight-Reducing-Health-Promoting/dp/B000EMH5HU/ref=cm_cr_pr_sims_t

 

hth,

K

[Peela]

I 3rd Weight Watchers...the support is considerable, for some reason it just works for me.

[tsuche]

Have you tried Thin Within?

[Punkinelly]

There is McDougall, although I think his is vegan, if I remember correctly.

 

Mary

[ChristyB in TN]

I agree with the others here who suggested Weight Watchers. It is so great for a young woman. I have battled weight issues my entire life and I wish there had been someone pushing me toward devising a healthy eating plan when I was young as opposed to the unhealthy NOT eating plan I put myself on! Getting on the Weight Watchers plan online would help her to learn how to balance her eating and would give her a foundation for a healthy lifestyle. I am a vegetarian too and I really don't know how hard that would be on WW. All she can do is find out!:001_smile:

[Quiver0f10]

There is McDougall, although I think his is vegan, if I remember correctly.

 

Mary

 

 

I second this. You can read about his plan for free at http://drmcdougall.com/

 

Here is a link to the free program http://drmcdougall.com/free.html

[Susan in IL]

There are several college students that attend the meeting I go to. They all want to not only lose weight but to learn about the healthy eating/lifestyle that will benefit them for years.

[Bess]

I HIGHLY suggest you look into "The Serotonin Power Diet". I'm doing this right now and I feel better than I have in years. It's basically low-fat, but incorporates three high carb snacks at certain times during the day to raise the serotonin levels in the brain. This does two things, one, it makes you happy :) and two, it makes your brain feel as though you are full, so you naturally eat less at the next meal. It really works! But even better than losing weight, it makes you actually feel good! I will continue this diet for the rest of my life!

[Tabitha]

What about Jorge Cruise? Look up on amazon, all his books.

 

Two suggestions from friends of mine that dropped 70-100 lbs in under 1 year.

 

First...a guy. He would do simply this. At mealtime, put all the food on his plate that he would normally eat. Then put 1/2 back. You can't judge half right off the bat. Then, no salt. He did that and in less than a year lost about 100 lbs. That is the only thing he did.

 

Second...a girl. She did a Catholic program called Lite Weight or something like that. Three things....1. Rate your hunger btwn 1 and 5. Stomach starts growling around 3. You don't eat until your tummy is growling. #2. Eat only a mug full...and I mean she literally stuffed a coffe mug of food...and that is all you eat. No restrictions on food type. #3. Eat every 3 hrs. Oh, and #4...all things through prayer.

 

Jorge Cruise does a thing where you eat 3 meals at 400 calories, and inbetween those you are allowed to have a 100 calorie snack. You are eating about every 2-3 hours.

 

The second gal lost about 70 lbs in 6 months or so. She went from 230 ish down to 150. I saw the progress along the way, and was just amazed!

 

Tab

[NicksMama-Zack's Mama Too]

 

Jorge Cruise does a thing where you eat 3 meals at 400 calories, and inbetween those you are allowed to have a 100 calorie snack. You are eating about every 2-3 hours.

Tab

 

This is similar to what I am now doing w/ the help of Fatsecret.com. I'm making better food choice by avoiding "lite" and "diet" foods instead choosing whole grains, raw fruit, salads and veggies. I also limit the amount of meat I eat to 4 oz. I'm trying to get 30 g fiber a day. I don't find that I am hungry t all.

 

I really don't like the idea of dieting. I'd rather train myself to eat healthy overall for a lifetime. I've been able to remain in the 125-135 lb range my whole adult life because I was always careful of weight creeping on. However, thanks to low-rise, stretch pants, this past year (my 40th) I made it up to 142. Getting into my regular jeans, I realized that I needed to shed the extra pounds. I recommitted myself to healthy eating, examined the bad habits I had developed over the last few years, cleared my shelves and reread my favorite cookbooks.

 

Tracking my intake and exercise via fatsecret has been a tremendous motivator.

 

 

Best luck to your daughter.

 

hth

K

[Jami]

I'm not sure I'd advise the really low fat diet plans for most people, there's plenty of research out now that encourages adequate fat (30% or so) for healthy hormone and thyroid functioning. Here is a list of general "diet" principles that I think are wise (though I don't follow well all the time myself).

 

http://www.johnberardi.com/articles/nutrition/7habits.htm

 

Nutrient dense is important and whole foods are important. But I think the danger at 19 (or any age really) is to get into the "diet" mode and stay there for life, yo-yoing up and down and ruining metabolism. Better to learn how to work on body composition, burning fat and building muscle. And how to eat whole foods (fats too) in moderation and to fuel life. I wish I'd learned these things at 19, rather than the yo-yo diets of a quick 10-15 off and back on over and over. Dr. Oz's YOU books might be good to, though he's a little pushier on soy than I think may be wise for some people.

 

Weight Watchers can be a good balanced plan, or, as I've seen with my MIL, it can be a plan filled with processed 100 calorie packages of cookies and rice cakes, diet sodas, and fat free ice cream and puddings. Sure, she's low fat, but the refined sugar and lack of fat to satiate means she eats more junk and can't lose weight.

 

Jami

[Claire]

First thing I would suggest is that she join SparkPeople to start tracking her food intake and exercise on a daily basis. Just a week or two of tracking food on SparkPeople taught me to make better decisions about calories. (e.g., I learned that a tablespoon of sunflower seeds is *not* worth eating for me, but a piece of bread with a light coating of peanut butter *is* worth eating).

 

Also, I just read a short blurb about a study that indicated the smell of peppermint caused study participants to ingest 2800 fewer calories per week. (I stocked up on peppermint gum yesterday, and plan to buy peppermint in a bottle next time I go to the health food store. Figure I can soak toothpicks in peppermint and keep a few handy to roll around in my mouth.)

 

Also, finding some kind of strenuous exercise that is actually fun for her would help a lot. My dd was overweight until she started playing tennis at a club for a couple of hours every day. Within a year she had thinned down nicely.