The Zone -- Balancing Protein and Carbs

This diet was effective for me at the beginning (as most diets are) and helped me make sense of the latter stage Atkins. So the gimmick here is to make every meal balanced, and to beware the glycemic index of foods lest you get a sugar rush or insulin crash, which lead to cravings for more sugar.

Once more I lost weight with relative ease. For a while, I easily integrated the ideas into my everyday eating, and my weight actually dipped below 200. As I recall, this diet suggests having six smaller meals as opposed to three heavier meals.

I remember distinctly being in the habit of going to Subway for lunch, ordering a foot-long sandwich, but only eating half at lunch, and the other half later in the afternoon. Dinner was not quite such a big deal for me, and that was the other gimmick in limiting my caloric intake.

Where this diet failed me is in dealing with the cravings and temptations that American life presents: candy at work, donuts at work, the occasional dessert, binge drinking with chips, dips, and pretzels. Slowly, over time, almost imperceptibly, the weight crept back on.

Weight Watchers

Easily the most famous of all diets, Weight Watchers combines calorie counting with meal planning and group therapy to inspire the individual to lose weight. This works for millions of people, and if it works for you, by all means, go to the meetings and check your points.

I joined when the place where I worked sponsored a club. (How ironic is it that the place where I found most of my calories--donuts in the morning, pizza for lunch, candy in the afternoon--would also provide an avenue to resist all that.) I don't believe I'm a group therapy type of person, and I was not comfortable with the meetings.

I was not in a place, mentally, that would allow me to plan meals, and could not reconcile the many, many temptations of American eating with what was printed on the cards, or the point system in the book.

For me, Weight Watchers was a non-starter.

Still More Diet Summaries

I have a couple more to relate, so read on.