Dieting, or not. Psycho analysis.

So I am going to lose the 36 pounds, in 365 days, but without dieting or resorting to pills, surgery, etc etc.

No diets. Could never follow them beyond the 2nd day. And as am growing older, give up by lunch time because the constant counting, holding back or any comment by my near and dear ones puts me off.

I have always been on the chubby side, and all the weight was on the tummy. When I look at my childhood pictures, I see a normal sized person except with a bigger than normal tummy. Tried to do crunches and abwork starting 8-9th grade and never lost that collection, maybe it was loose ab muscles or something. Gained some during college years, lost when got into a graduate program, kept it off for 5 years by being paranoid about my exercise and trying to miss dinner. I say 'try' because I would eat dinner like amounts at tea-time. But do not recall a single day when I felt as if I was starving. There was a phase when I tried fasting a day of the week, even on those days I managed to eat something or the other during the day. Was at my leanest meanest best at the time of marriage-105 pds. Still felt fat. Told myself on Feb 2nd-wedding day- enjoy this weight because u never might be this slim again..., and I never have been. Two kids and 17 years later, 60 pounds more.

Tried all the diet plans in these last few years. These plans work, make no mistake, that can be seen if one goes on the forums, but not for me.

South Beach diet : Tried it twice, gave up in 2-3 days. Just cannot follow a rigid program even tho this is the least restrictive diet. I am a vegetarian who eats eggs and dairy, but most of the recipes call for some form of chicken, and actually being a vegetarian does not neccessarily mean one eats more veggies. It can also mean that I just abstain for the chicken and turkey and replace it with floury products-lots of bread and other processed foods.

Weightwatchers: Yes, Tamara, I did try this, lasted 3 months, and that too mainly because I frequented the WW forums. Those are helpful. And I did lose about 7 pounds in that much time, but it seemed too slow then and I finally lost paience with counting the points and trying to figure out the points in various foods. Also in my case the portion sizes are so huge that counting the points becomes tricky. I still try to follow their 8HGs which are actually quite sensible.

No to certain foods: Went thru a phase where tried to giveup all white foods- white flour, white sugar, white milk. Lasted maybe one day, had a severe headache by the end of it because if I gave up all these foods which are a staple of my regular diet, what would I eat?? How many eggs can a person eat in one day?? And honestly I dont like fruits too much.

So , what I need to do is to overhaul my whole way of eating. Starting from the portion sizes to the mindless eating to the stress eating to the love of sweets, cleaning everything off my plate, eating loads as soon as I enter the house, eating instead of taking a moment to identify my hunger/thirst/energy level/boredom. No giving up any foods, try to eat right, to be proactive about losing weight instead of hoping it will come off at the end of each 10 day session.

Have started reading a book 'Mindless Eating'- more about it soon