Everything covered in cheese . . .

Mr. L and I have decided to go on a diet.  Now, the best diet I have ever been on was Weight Watchers.  I lost about 25 and kept 15 of it off for about three years.  And then . . . life happened.

Dieting doesn't work.  We know this.  But we want to lose some weight and need a kick start.  Years ago I was on NutriSystem--three times.  I figured out which of their appalling foods I could eat on a regular basis and lost 40 lbs.  Of course the minute I came off the diet I gained it all back and then some.

A friend of mine tried NutriSystem last year.  It's different now.  The food comes to you.  And they force you to buy their special package for at least a month BEFORE they let you choose the foods you want.

Bottom line:  My friend lasted a week and then all the very expensive food was tossed out.  It was inedible.  When I was on the diet, I ate the hamburger five out of seven nights and never got tired of it and lost weight.

Everything seems to have pasta in it these days.  Neither my friend nor I particularly like pasta.
The current Reader's Digest has an article on dieting and explains why the Atkins/South Beach diets actually work.  The idea that cutting calories to the nub and then exercising until you're so hungry you'll eat your foot just doesn't make sense to me.  We know that when you eat protein for a meal, you usually aren't famished three hours later.  Therefore, today is day 3/4s of the diet.

Yup, no typo there.  We were going to start yesterday, but the fridge is full of all the wrong foods, so we're going to ease into it.

We did try Atkins a few years back and were so sick of meat after a week that we gave it up.  (Mr. L lost 8 lbs.  I lost nothing.  But I didn't gain anything, either.  So, we're game to try it or a version of it again.)

First up, an omelet for breakfast--with cheese.  Alas, no bread.  In fact, nothing "white" to eat except cauliflower--but we like cauliflower (especially with cheese).

Meanwhile, I'm going to be looking at menu plans and exploring the South Beach version of the diet.  (My friend Jenn said Atkins only works for men; South Beach works for women.  We'll see.)

So, what was your most successful diet?  And are you a yo-yo dieter?