Dieting

Last week I caught the tail end of a radio report stating that average 45-year-old woman has been on 61 diets since the age of 16. This is according to a new survey in the UK. I was flabbergasted by it and decided to find out if that was really the story, it was. Read about it here if you are interested. Don't you think that this mentality of never being thin enough comes overwhelmingly from magazines and TV programs idealizing that only skinny is beautiful? It worries me so much because I have granddaughters. I am considerably older than 45 and have NOT tried nearly that many diets, maybe because I was always thin, and at one time I even TRIED to gain weight. Well, that time of my life is long gone............It ended when I married for a 2nd time, quit my full time factory job, and was about 35. I had been a picky eater- no more! I think I've only seriously dieted once, about 7 years ago before I went to visit a much thinner school friend in LA. I really watched my carbohydrates and allowed myself one 'chocolate' bar after dinner (if I didn't have any other taste of dessert). I did loose weight and was pretty happy with it, but would have liked to loose 5 more pounds. I slowly allowed my bad eating habits to return because I was maintaining. At that time I was taking care of my toddler age grandson and he kept me busy playing with him and going for walks. Then I got complacent and returned to eating what and as much as I wanted. Now I am back up the highest weight I have ever been...nothing to brag about. Oh sure, I still try to stay with whole wheat bread and pasta, and eat more veggies and fruit, but I know I eat too much and more sweets that I should. I won't go on a 'diet', but, for health reasons, I NEED to change my eating habits.
So what do you think about diets? Do you 'go on a diet?' What kind of diet? Have you tried any fad diets? Did you gain the weight back?