Alright, I know a lot of you do different things with your diet, like the Swank diet.

What would any of you recommend for a diet. I need to lose weight and figure that while I'm at it I should also work on cutting out things that could be making me feel poor.

I would love all the input I could get on this. No, I don't expect this to cure my MS (or anything else I have for that matter) I just want to see if it can help me feel a little better.

Weight Watchers has a great plan, and if you dont/cant leave home, you can do it online. its simple, it makes sense, its easy to follow, and it has reasonable expectations from you.

Lets say all food has a point value Fruit is zero, most veggies are zero, and lets say a steak 2oz is 4 points. Milk (skim) 8oz is 2 a mixed vege dish is zero, and that bread roll is costing 2 points. you just used 8 points for one meal. Most of us have about 26 to 30 points per day. now if you want to add more points, you can exercise and add or you can take away from the weekly pile. You get extra points each week so you never ever feel deprived or cornered by the diet.

Weightwatchers.com will have all the info. My niece just started it and is thrilled. I am a long time planner, and love it. It doesnt matter if I eat at McDonalds or cook everything from scratch. As long as I have the points to afford the food, I can have it. I always save points twice a week for an ice cream treat. Since I make most of my meals from scratch I have to look up alot of ingredients, but once I write them down, I dont have to look it up again.

What is good is that it got me to think before I grabbed a cookie, or cracker for a snack. I will grab an orange or banana now as they are free from points.

HUGE support for this system and its very highly rated around the USA with good success rates, and message boards for every type of desire. Even 2 MS and losing weight boards.

Let us know. ((hugs))

by the way for every 5% of the weight you take off, your joints will thank you. your energy should pick up, and you will feel better about things.

I did weight watchers before, with great success lost 30 lbs in six months.

I just can't afford to do it unfortunately.

I did the Swank diet for a while but my craving for red meat got the best of me. I did feel better on it. If you decide to do the Swank diet, I could see how you could lose weight with it too.

I have heard great things about WW. I know several people who have done well on it and have been able to keep the weight off. It does seem to be nutritionally sound, which is a huge plus.

Good luck! I hope you find a diet that is right for you.

Good luck NM... I always had luck with the very very low fat diet and eating less.

I'd like to lose a little weight. I'm now pleasingly plump (yeah right). But eating is one of the few pleasures in life for me, so as long as the Doc tells me I'm healthy and not suffering side effects, I'm not worried.

Being my age amd having MS is enough suffering....I'm not going to starve too.

I'm not on any certain diet. I just try to watch my sugar intake and I don't eat anything with high fructose corn syrup in it. I tried eating all organic but that quickly became too expensive. Now, I just try and eat lots of fruit and veggies and drink lots of water.

I've been on WW but I haven't committed enough. I now am serious (at least today) and paying attention to my points.

DH and I did South Beach and I lost about 19 lbs. in 6 weeks, but I was miserable. The first two weeks you can't have fruit or dairy and I was in tears, craving fruit so much. Carbs are out for that time, and then you gradually introduce complex carbs like fruit, etc.

We both lost a lot of weight, but slipped back into our old patterns quickly I still personally believe WW is the most logical. It is real-world eating. The ADA has put out new plans for what our portions should be; they use a plate as a guide. One thirds is veggies; I think one sixth was fruit and starch, and one third was protein. Not sure if this is correct, but it is logical.

Label reading and journaling is the no-cost way...jot down calories and fat content, as well as fiber content, of all that you eat. 25 grams of fiber per day, 25 grams of fat per day, no more than 2500 mg of sodium per day. I forgot what the protein portion is and the carb...I'm sure you can look that up.

It's all about portion control and aware eating...my problem is I read while I eat, not savoring the tastes and textures. Then I finish without realizing I ate...not a good habit.

Good luck...

Read Jillian Michaels book, "Master Your Matabolism". Great book on how different foods and additives affect your health. She also pushes organic.

Back in 1984 I found out I had Type 2 diabetes and was told to lose weight. I lost 100 lbs. and kept most of it off ever since. I got down to 108, which is at the low end of the normal weight range for my height and body type.

For a few years my weight crept up to around 125 but it was still in the normal range. Now I'm at 112 and hoping to get back to around 108.

I felt much better after losing the excess weight. Less tired, better mobility.

I'd recommend Weight Watchers though I tried it for just a short time and only in its online version. I've heard good reports about it.

I've been on a diabetic diet since 1984. I no longer eat meat though that's not something diabetics have to do.

For the first 10 years or so after 1984, I ate only a little meat--2 oz. of hamburger once a week and sometimes a couple of chicken drumsticks cooked in the oven.

Gradually I gave up on meat and can't say I miss it. I sometimes do have seafood, like shrimp or tuna though.

I try not to eat too much protein (I've had kidney stones) or fat (my cholesterol has been borderline sometimes but usually it's OK).

I always do well on the HbA1C test that diabetics get to see if they've been keeping their glucose under control, and my blood pressure is always low.

Diet really does matter with MS, I think. Counting calories every day is a nuisance but I'm still doing it. It's way too easy to eat when you mostly sit around.

MyfitnessPal on iphone or internet and a good weigh scales.
Makes you realise how much you eat, how much you dont need and what's best to eat.
and I'd add, as little out of a packet as possible.