What to Do? What to Do?

Mediterranean Diet

Adkins

Keto

Paleo

Vegan

Vegetarian

Pescatarian

Elimination Diet

Eat Clean Diet

Weightwatchers

Jenny Craig

Dr. Bernstein's

Body for Life

Best Life Diet

Isagenix

The Whole30

Low Glycemic Index

Gluten Free

Cabbage Soup Diet

Detox Diet

Low FODMAP Diet

NOOM

Slimfast

Dr. Phil's Ultimate Weight Solution

Lemonade Diet

The Hormone Diet

So... Um... which one of these will work to make me lose 100 lbs? And which one will not give my husband kidney stones? Which one will help me with my sore joints? Which one will not raise our cholesterol? Which one will not make me poop my pants - seriously, came close on one of these diets... The diets in bold I have tried in my attempts to lose weight before.

At Christmas time when we were in Toronto, we visited a 2 story Indigo and I spent the whole time in the cookbook section. I browsed the latest books and took photos of the titles I thought looked interesting and worth a read. I came home and went to my Ottawa Public Library account and put on hold like 20 different cookbooks. Slowly the books have been arriving and I have been perusing the different ideas of thought. Everyone is going to have a different notion of what is actually healthy, what is going to work for their body and what is maintainable, affordable and practical. For our daily diet/lifestyle to work, I want to find a combination of plans that allow the following:

• My husband to NOT get any more kidney stones (he has had 6 surgeries already)

• For our cholesterol to stay in check

• For my joints to be in less pain

• For my menopause symptoms to be less aggravating

• For me to be in a deficit to lose weight

• To generally feel good

• To not feel deprived on a daily basis

• To not require hours of prep daily

• Recently: to buy Canadian

I have been attending WW (Weightwatchers) meetings for over a year now, but I have had difficulty staying within my daily points for long stretches of time. This is where the challenge lies, WW is meant to be a lifestyle, but right now it feels like a diet, as I am restricting myself in order to stay within my points. Yes, you can eat whatever you want on WW, which is great, but my favourite Tim Horton's Iced Capp will run me 19 points out of the 28 I get in a day. The points are always on your mind and you are planning, planning, planning. I have been challenged by my husband to stay in my daily points for the month of February, so I am being very cautious right now and when you work the program... you are successful. I hope with more constant practice that this will become part of our lifestyle over time.

The problem with WW for me is that I limit my fat intake, meaning I don't have as much Olive Oil, nuts or avocado as my joints likely need considering the shape they are in. I try to do damage control by taking turmeric, collagen and glucosamine supplements, but I am not sure that is the same as the lubrication the fats give you naturally. Eating more salmon may be a positive solution to this problem, but salmon is expensive and I do not eat canned salmon - yech! Eating fresh or frozen salmon once a week is enough for my liking, my goal and my budget.

When making foods for my husband I have to watch the oxalate levels for his kidneys, this means rarely using greens like spinach, nuts, beets, dark chocolate, berries, black tea, potatoes and on and on. Finding a good source of oxalate levels is also VERY frustrating. Every website seems to have a different take on whether something is okay to eat or not. Jay has had 2 parathyroid glands removed, 3 shockwave surgeries with stents and 1 small surgery where they went in through his back to directly remove a larger stone already, so we are really trying to avoid more surgeries. Eating the oxalates in combination with dairy can be helpful, so we are keeping that in mind while preparing foods as well. Phew!

Now watching cholesterol is a bit easier. When we were in our 20's we both had high cholesterol and we changed our diets then. Mine went down to nothing and Jay's stayed super high. Over the next few years we realized his cholesterol was genetic and he needed medication to keep it in a normal range. Since Jay turned 45 his levels have unfortunately been increasing yearly and more medication has been needed, so we need to stay vigilant in this area. My cholesterol also came up this year for the first time since my 20's. We do eat a large number of eggs, but always have. We limit our red meat intake, however I do still add it to our menu as I have had low iron in the past and it took 3 years to get it in a normal range. Jay also donates blood regularly (he is a 50 time donor now) and so I like him to have some red meat occasionally as well. We lowered our cheese intake and the fat content in our dairy.

A few years ago the keto diet was the new big thing, but my stomach simply did not tolerate that one sadly. Lots of gas, bloating, upset stomach and diarrhea... I feel a Pepto Bismol commercial coming on - lol! It was not fun for me. Lately the Mediterranean diet is all the rage and I definitely use some recipes from those websites and cookbooks, but many of them have fats (avocado, olives, nuts) and fish (which is just not my favorite). I really tried the Eat Clean program with Tosca Reno, but felt deprived as she really does not do any sugar and I simply miss it. I truly enjoy my treats, they make me happy and I equate them with having fun. Maybe one day I will get over that, but every time I try to go without, I end up in a binging cycle - not cool!

This is after I did WW about 25 years ago. I was down to 150 lbs here.

For right now, I am sticking to my WW, and attempting to eat more lean proteins to stay satiated. I am eating loads more veggies, not many greens or beets though because of the kidney stones. I am munching on more fruit, but not many berries, to get that sugar fix in a healthier way and taking my supplements for joint pain. I am just starting to learn about what to eat to help my hormones. If you do not have a WW near you, then I do encourage you to try NOOM. I did it before WW and I did like it because it has daily lessons you can listen to quickly. It helps dive into some of the psychological reasons why you overeat and I thought it was well done, but I missed the accountability of a physical meeting and a community which WW offers in some areas.

The key for me is consistency. Every time I want to have fun, visit friends, plan a party... I instantly think of food and it is really tough to not allow yourself off the plan to enjoy one night with friends. As soon as I let that excessive amount of sugar or fat back in, my brain stops working properly (thank you dopamine and insulin) and I can no longer rationalize with the food noise, it makes me crave even more and makes me tired which lowers my willpower and causes me to make more poor choices. It is a cycle I really need to break!