Jane Plan

Shysal, I too have RA and deal with steroid weight issues, it’s really tough, isn’t it?
I’ve gone low carb in the past and it’s great for weight loss, but it’s unsustainable for longer periods, and when you start eating normal again, you gain even more weight.
Right now I am eating less carbs, more lean and more home cooked meals instead of boxed. Seems to be slowly working. I use SparkPeople to chart my nutrition and to get great recipes. I belong to an RA group on SparkPeople but it’s barely active

HildaW they do say you need to get rid of all the high calorie foods in the house before you start to diet

The diet plates are on sale in Poundland at the moment, hope that helps.

Oldwoman70, sound advice and keep it up. (Says she nibbling on the last of the Christmas cake - but hey ho sooner its gone the sooner I can behave).

The problem with these diet plans (apart from the previously mentioned difficulty in stopping the payments) is that once you do stop, you go back to your normal eating habits which put the weight on in the first place! (I speak as someone who needs to lose a pound or 10!). I am currently cooking from scratch and eating more veggies and allowing myself the occasional treat so I don't give up.

BlueBelle... you are quite right with any of these subscription things be it food, shavers or that old chestnut 'Franklin Mint'.....once they have your details its a real hassle to remember to cancel, cancel in time (they always manage to make the consumer out to be in breach of any contact dates) or stop the dreaded Direct Debits. Evidently its a well known marketing strategy refereed to as customer apathy ....they bank on a percentage of folks just not caring and factor that into the finances. Yes I'm an old cynic....but can still remember the trouble I had cancelling some darn mobile phone contact....am scarred for life!

I m afraid I find these selling plans vegan, vegetarian, and diet to be a money making scheme There’s so many advertised now I m not sure but I think if you sign up to a trial run they take your card details and keep sending until you remember to cancel I know some friends got caught out with graze that way They did a special offer week then found it quite difficult to cancel
I d rather buy the stuff and try and do it myself even though I m not much of a cooker

Thank you Hilda. I use this Diet Plate for my dinner but it holds a huge amount, especially if the food spills over onto the rim! I no longer even read the guidelines on it . I have selected a medium sized one for tonight's chicken and broccoli dish.

shysal, Its the time of year. Some of the products are so cynically advertised - its very difficult to see past the hype.
Sounds like you have a good grasp of the situation, its just in the cold dark days we can get a bit too negative for our own good.
P.S. smaller plates help too - wandering around some of our local antique/junk shops reminded me that Grandma's china was a lot smaller back then! Good luck.

Hilda I do lots of exercise already despite my RA, and the food I eat is fairly healthy. I just need to control the portion size and stop buying crisps . I needed someone like you to convince me that I don't want to try this plan! Perhaps it has been the lure of the shopping channel that made me interested. It is not something I would normally even watch but happened on it by mistake intending to select Create and Craft! The sales people can be very persuasive! Thank you for your wise words.

I know you are asking for advise from anyone who has used this - and I have not but can I just offer my point of view.
Healthy eating and a regimen of exercise (that is tailored to your abilities) will always be a much better idea.
As soon as we set ourselves very strict guidelines we are setting ourselves up to fail - its human nature, motivation to deny ourselves is proven to be a very weak force. Its far better to motivate ourselves to do something i.e. take the dog out or go for a swim.
If you cook from scratch anyway then you can cook how you like. A good vege/vegan book will help. But I would never rule meat out totally as chemically its complicated to replace all the nutrients we need. Just big up the vege element and you will automatically cut out a lot of excess calories. I've also learnt that if I don't buy stuff in the first place I can't eat it. If its not in the cupboard - I just have to go with out. I was the sort of person who used to buy all those silly diet biscuits years ago....be good for three days then binge on the whole cupboardfull - a very expensive way to get a biscuit fix!
My major saving was to get a trainer who helps my motivation. I work hard at what my body can do (I'm not super healthy so have some underlying things that we have to be careful of). A class that suits would work too its just lack of availability here that is the problem.
Its a delicate balance ..... do some exercise, feel a bit better and then look at food much more as a fuel than a treat. But also when you do eat, buy good ingredients and prepare it with care - enjoy good food. I'm not perfect, its not fool proof but I am fitter and lighter than I have been in a long time.