About a year and a half ago I got sick of being overweight and tired all the time. I have struggled with weight my whole life, and as a baker, have an affinity for ALL THINGS carbohydrate. I was confident in my body, but could tell a marked difference in my energy levels and overall happiness when I was carrying 170 lbs on my 5' 3" body. Additionally, I would come home from a day at my desk feeling totally drained and with aches and pains all over my body.

That day I made a decision- I started to focus more on eating whole, real foods and to take a daily walk (2-5 miles) to eliminate the pain and stiffness I felt after my work day. (at least 4-5 days a week)

I told myself it didn't matter how fast I walked- so long as I was moving, it was better than nothing.

As far as my "diet," I stopped eating fast foods as much as possible. I don't deny myself anything I craved, including pizza or baked goods. Instead, I ate everything in moderation, and balanced some of my less nutritious choices with a very light, nutritious and vegetable heavy next meal.

I tried to focus on what I call "the rule of diminishing returns" when I was eating anything that I knew wasn't good for my body. Instead of finishing every bite of a rich dessert or a bacon cheeseburger, I would simply eat until it stopped tasting as amazing as it did at first. (trust me.... no bite can top the first!) I really tried to slow down my eating and focus on enjoying and savoring the flavor of my food.

I've done the low-fat, and atkins, and southbeach diets before with no real or lasting results. I've cut out sugar entirely, but found that nearly impossible for a foodie (and baker) like me. This time around I didn't buy anything processed or low-fat, or anything that could be considered diet food. Real, whole food, prepared in my kitchen from scratch whenever possible.

By doing these things I've managed to lose and keep off about 28 lbs. My energy levels have risen enormously, my fibromyalgia pain has reduced drastically, and I feel healthy and happy overall.

TLDR; Diets are silly- eat whole, real foods (home cooked when possible,) and enjoy everything in moderation.

That's great and all, but seriously - how the hell are you supposed to follow a "low glycemic diet?" I googled around for about 5 minutes and discovered that apparently spaghetti will increase it's glycemic index depending on how long you boil it. I find this absurd and question the testing behind those figures.

I agree with whitswanderlust that eliminating processed (especially "diet") food is the first and most important step. Cut out all prepared beverages too, NO DIET COKE. Just be reasonable with food and get in some walking or other moderate excercise. Stop falling for all the hype - no you can't achieve long-term weight loss by drinking canned milkshakes twice a day, or living off branded frozen dinners that cost an arm and a leg. The only thing you'll lose long term with that crap is your money.

I'll have to agree on lifestyle changes over "dieting." For me it has been a pretty long time, just less than three years, to go from 150 lbs./size 10 to 130 lbs./size 6.

However, I wasn't stressing myself out over how many calories I had eaten, how many carbs to cut, etc. I was getting excited about seasonal, organic produce and "health foods" like hummus, chia seeds and raw honey. Eventually my diet just changed, one step at a time. And with all the new energy I had, I actually craved exercise! Now I walk every day, do yoga weekly and lift weights. I feel great. Wearing smaller clothes is just a pleasant side effect.

Low glycemic isn't difficult and from what it sounds like, its exactly what you are doing by eating less processed foods.

The glycemic index is about how much your blood sugar rises after eating something. Generally (although not always) the more processed it is, typically the easier it is for your body to break down and the faster and higher your blood sugar rises... that is presumably why less cooked spaghetti had less of an impact than when it was more cooked and why food that's been through a blender might have a higher GI number than the same food whole.

Its not complicated, but its not something you can check on your own. The numbers come from lab/blood tests, and you need to find them either in a book or online. But, they also change depending on what else you eat at the same time (bread may have one GI number, while bread with something on it will have a different number entirely), but if you stick with things you know are low GI (like most fruits and vegetables or meat, or even fat) and you pair higher GI with things you know have a low GI it makes it easier to follow without having to look up everything you eat..

I follow a vegan diet (for ethical reasons) which seems to work for me. I lost 15 lbs when I went vegan from being vegetarian, and have managed to easily keep it off when I feel like it by eating whole grains and a lot of veggies. I'm most concerned about heart health and cholesterol levels since heart disease runs in my family and this diet helps a bit.

So, basically what everyone else said: whole foods, plus zero cholesterol.

How weight is lost... is irrelevant. Keeping it off for the next 50 years is the problem, especially during middle age when sarcopenia really screws up metabolism.
One advantage of high protein / low glycemic-index eating for life is that it seems to be less likely to trigger the physiological all-out weight regain program that occurs after weight loss: highly increased hunger, mildly to highly decreased resting energy, highly diminished self-control mechanisms (1). The only effective methods of long-term weight loss are bariatric surgery or constant daily vigilance equivalent to anorexia. (2,3)

(1) Larsen, Thomas Meinert, Dalskov, Stine-Mathilde, van Baak, Marleen, Jebb, Susan A., Papadaki, Angeliki, Pfeiffer, Andreas F.H., Astrup, Arne. (2010). Diets with High or Low Protein Content and Glycemic Index for Weight-Loss Maintenance. New England Journal of Medicine, 363(22), 2102-2113. doi: doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1007137
(2) Reyes, Naomi R., Oliver, Tracy L., Klotz, Alicia A., LaGrotte, Caitlin A., Vander Veur, Stephanie S., Virus, Amy, . . . Foster, Gary D. (2012). Similarities and Differences between Weight Loss Maintainers and Regainers: A Qualitative Analysis. Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 112(4), 499-505. doi: 10.1016/j.jand.2011.11.014
(3) Chambers, J. A., & Swanson, V. (2012). Stories of weight management: factors associated with successful and unsuccessful weight maintenance. Br J Health Psychol, 17(2), 223-243. doi: 10.1111/j.2044-8287.2011.02030.x

Please don't forget the work of David Allison. Plastics, a change in gut bacteria and even CO2 (and other pollutants) are probably a factor. He found many species, even lab rats have gained a disturbing amount of weight in recent times. Otherwise; exercise does not help you lose weight although it is vital for health. Stick to what Grandma said: fruits, veggies, nuts, a bit of meat and a decent amount of fish. Don't forget yogurt.

http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/278/1712/1626

I definitely agree that lifestyle changes is the most important! Also, I believe that 80% is due to food and not exercise. I've gone through exercise-free periods of time, but continued to eat organic, raw and wholesome food and managed to not gain any weight! I've been living this lifestyle for quite some time (exercising 3-4 times a week) and this works for me!

Eating natural, whole foods (which can include cake and cookies made with unprocessed ingredients like ww flour and maple syrup), cutting out processed foods and making, growing, cooking and baking your own food is what's going to take you through the long haul. Diets set you up to eventually fail. A healthy lifestyle, on the other hand, will win every time.

Definitely low-carb, although I'm not sure that's the healthiest diet long-term. I happen to love meat, fish and veg, so it's not a struggle for me to stay off the carbs. Although, with me, it's not to keep the weight off, just how I like to eat.

I. Love. Paleo.

Good meat, eggs, veggies... sprinkle in some fruits and nuts for snacks. Dairy if your body can take it. Leave the grains, sugars, and fake stuff alone.

If that's not your thing (vegetarians/vegans - Paleo isn't realistic for you. Sorry.), at least go for options that give you the most nutrient possible for each calorie. That pushes your carb choices from the sugar/white flour space to more granola/whole grains.

I completely agree with this, all of this. I recently lost 50lbs since Dec of 2010, 38 of which came off in the past 9 months, and I did it by just eating whole, real foods, cooking at home for almost every meal (I still use full fat cheeses, cream, etc), and not depriving myself of anything if I really wanted it. I also started getting a good night's sleep, as I noticed my cravings were WAY less if I wasn't tired. I tracked everything I put into my body via an online food tracker, and still do even though I'm just maintaining at this point. The only thing I "limit" myself on is sodium, as my family has a history of high blood pressure.

When deciding what "diet" you want to do, ask yourself this, "Am I willing to eat this way the rest of my life?" If the answer is truly yes, then go for it... otherwise you're just setting yourself up for failure.

Juliejulezzzzz....I think you mentioned a very important aspect: SLEEP. Far too many of us don't get enough sleep or enough good sleep. Lack of sleep wreaks havoc on the body and mind in so many ways.

We would all be better off if we not only ate like the proverbial Grandma's generation did...whole, fresh foods (mostly) cooked at home, etc. but also if we slept like them too...in dark, quiet rooms with no electronics blinking and beeping or, gak, still on, like the television/nightlight so many have become addicted to.

I would love to jump on the paleo bandwagon...the problem is that I have an intolerance to red meat! I don't digest it very well...so I can't imagine eating it every day! Too bad! ;-(

I can't help posting when the topic is weight-loss. So, a couple of things:

- Moderation is subjective; stop saying "everything in moderation" because it doesn't mean anything to anyone. I'd rather hear something more definitive, like, "1 serving of fruit/day instead of 3."

- Some people said that exercise doesn't help you lose weight. Burning calories and building muscle seem like two very effective ways of losing weight.

- Recognize that saying "eat whole foods" is essentially saying "eat low carb" or "eat low GI." Let's pick a term and stick with it.

- The government that told us all to eat low-fat helped get us where we are today.

Low-carb (paleo) dieting and CrossFit have worked for me, if anyone's curious.

@Toddless some good points, with exercise you can burn calories but very few. Eat just one muffin and you've undone a good week's worth of exercise. It's that dismal. Muscle weighs more than fat. So the other problem is people mistake being pretty (read: thin) with healthy. I did 2 Tough Mudders and there were many "overweight" people who kicked my butt. So big does not automatically equal unhealthy.

(When I say "pretty" it was meant to mean shallow thinking. Biting sarcasm. Just FYI).

Lisa - The paleo diet calls for eating lean meats and fish, so it would absolutely be possible to avoid red meat while following a paleo diet.