The diet that really works!

furryfeaturesSat 24/12/11 23:22

I have stumbled upon a diet that really works, thanks to a chance discovery.

When I was suffering really badly from depression and I was on citalopram, my weight exploded. When I came off the citalopram, I was able to lose a bit of weight but most of the weight gain remained.

I have always known that the best diet is the portion control diet. I did it in the early '90s very successfully. It's the best diet for a couple of reasons. The first is that one can continue to eat whatever one likes. The second is that it's by far the best diet for being able to keep the weight off. In fact, I kept the weight off for about twelve years until I became depressed.

This time I found it much harder to lose weight and control portions because, while I was depressed, I became addicted to chocolate. I found it terribly hard not to snack. But then came my chance discovery.

My discovery is hot milk and honey. It is my breakfast, together with a yoghurt. The thing that I've found is that the milk suppresses my desire to snack for the whole day. I no longer feel the need for chocolate or any other snack. I think that having full-fat milk is quite important and I also have a full-fat yoghurt but that's because I think that low-fat yoghurt is tasteless.

The other thing about the portion control diet is that it retrains the stomach to expect less. To make this easy and my diet less interesting, for the first few weeks I eat the same food everyday. For lunch I've been eating lettuce soup and a little cheese. At teatime I have a slice of toast, butter and jam or honey. For dinner I have no added fat spaghetti Bolognese and salad (with a tablespoon of dressing). There's even enough room in my diet to have a small glass of wine, cheese on the pasta and a small pudding or a slice of cake.

Over the last five weeks, I have lost 9lb. Tomorrow, I begin phase two. I will allow myself as much food as I want on Christmas day and thereafter I start to reintroduce variety to my diet. I hope that my stomach will now be able to tolerate that much less food. I have a lot more weight to lose.

The reason why I chose spaghetti Bolognese as my diet food is that it's really easy to measure the portions. I weigh the spaghetti before cooking and I weigh the portion of Bolognese sauce. I also weigh the cheese. With the portion control method, you need to keep a good record of what you eat, how much you eat and its calorific value.

If I really need a snack, I have an orange. Also, as oranges are good for one, I try to eat them as a part of the diet at least three or four times a week.

cephidSat 24/12/11 23:44

Surely what you need to reduce is your calorie intake, which although could be controlled be eating the same as previous, but in smaller quantities would be better addressed by eating fewer calorie-laden foods? Personally, I would prefer to forsake cake and alcohol for some more protein/quality carbohydrate.

Also, you aren't taking in many calories during the day, when during this time, most people are at their most physical and using calories.

But you have found a regime which works for you, which is good. Hopefully, your diet will turn into an eating pattern which will not require you to diet I the future.

Snacking isn't intrinsically bad, we should eat when we are hungry, not dictated to by a clock. But the choice of snacks is important, fruit, vegetables, nuts and dried fruits are all good, but in moderation, of course.

furryfeaturesSat 24/12/11 23:59

quoting > "Snacking isn't intrinsically bad"

I agree, but it is bad when you're trying to diet. Keeping track of how much one's eating is much easier without snacks. Though it might be better to eat more lean meat and fish (I'm eating plenty of carbohydrate), I think that puddings provide a psychological comfort element to the diet, which is quite important. If one has ice cream, it's a lot less calorific than some puddings on a volume to volume basis because so much of it is air. With fruit flavours, it can even be quite nutritious.

quoting > "Hopefully, your diet will turn into an eating pattern which will not require you to diet I the future."

That's exactly what happened in the '90s. I don't think that I'd be needing to diet if I hadn't been on citalopram for three years. I found that drug gave me very little benefit and made me constantly insatiably hungry.