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Which weight loss strategy should I go with? Completely confused.

17 replies

OrangeNoodle · 29/08/2015 17:53

I need to lose about 3.5 stone.

I have absolutely no idea what type of weight loss plan to follow. WW/SW, low carb, MFP. I really have no idea where to start.

I have found WW/SW frustrating in the past as I don't buy branded foods so find it hard to work out the points or whatever.

I've struggled with low carb in the past as it's been so expensive and also I like to eat vegetarian a lot of the time.

I need to be budget conscious, create meals that will feed the whole family where possible (including DS who can't chew and has allergies and DD who is picky).

I work full time out of the home so need lunches and snacks I can take with me.

I get extremely hungry and have become a terrible emotional eater. I have a rather stressful life (sick DC and DH works away) and often turn to food. I have become a real over eater and a sugar addict. I'm always tired.

I'd like to add in some exercise as I'm doing none at the moment. But again, not really sure where to begin.

I'm just getting fatter and fatter at the moment and I can't carry on like this.

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TalkinPeace · 29/08/2015 18:01

Start by understanding exactly what you eat now - and why
Keep a mood / food diary.

It might be worth logging your food onto MyFitnessPal : just because it does all the adding up for you when you go back to assess what needs to change.
Set it to maintain at your current weight so you do not get any silly messages

but until you understand what, when and why you eat .....to be the size you are
you'll not be able to understand what you need to eat ...... to be the size you want to be

The only change I would suggest from day one is to cut fizzy drinks out of your Monday-Friday diet
and try your best not to snack : eat meals that fill you up for 4 hours.

Once you understand your eating habits, the changes that are needed might leap out and be clear.

Good luck and be strong.

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Doobyscoobydoo · 29/08/2015 18:05

You don't need a plan. Really, you don't. Every plan is just a fad. It's really quite simple.

Cut down on sugar and junk.
Eat a smaller portion than normal.
Up your veg.
Go for a walk or do some light exercise.

It's really all there is to it. :)

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OrangeNoodle · 29/08/2015 18:30

I make bad food choices and overeat when I am stressed, overtired or upset. Sometimes it's Lindt chocolate, sometimes it's a stone baked pizza from Waitrose, sometimes it's a drive thru McD's on the way home from work.

I don't drink fizzy drinks so that's one less thing to worry about. Ditto alcohol.

I know I have mild depression and ever-present stress and I just wondered if having some imposed structure or a class to go to would help keep me on track when I'm feeling like I want to turn to food.

I think the crux of the problem is I know exactly what changes I need to make but struggle to make them and stick to them. I'm not accountable to myself and have a major issue with self-sabotage!

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TalkinPeace · 29/08/2015 18:35

Orange
Keeping a diary will help.

When you fancy turning into McD, pull over to the side of the road and write down how you feel and why you think McD will help.
Chances are you will no longer fancy the McD

Why are you overtired? Why are you upset.
Write it down and start to take control of your mood
then you'll be able to take control of your food.

But please, for your own sake, do not spend money on any faddy scheme or products or any of that bilge.

A glass of milk and munching on a raw carrot will do you much more good Grin

Meal wise : from scratch stews are your friend - vegetable and pulses and meat - as then you will know _exactly what is in them allergy wise, and they are soft enough to be eaten without chewing / mashed will still taste good. Smile

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tabulahrasa · 29/08/2015 18:39

You don't need to eat certain brands for slimming world btw, the main idea of it is about eating fresh healthy ingredients.

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OrangeNoodle · 29/08/2015 19:09

Stews, yes! And curries. Both go down very well with everyone in our house Grin.

I know exactly why I get overtired (one DC with very poor sleep) and upset (same DC ongoing health issues and associated stress/hospital trips).

What I don't know is why I have turned to food to self-soothe. It's so available, I guess.

I know what you mean about products and bilge Grin. But sometimes I feel like I want to get food completely out of the equation for a while. To reset myself. Because I love healthy food and I know what's good for me. But I also punish myself with over eating and binging. It's self-harming with food, basically.

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TalkinPeace · 29/08/2015 19:15

You have to eat.
You know how to cook.
Its about re-finding the pleasure in cooking a good meal that you can say no to snacks and junk all day to enjoy.

Curries and stews and soups and chillis and pies

lots of options and thinking in calorie terms : if you eat lightly during the day and all have a family meal together that you know will make nobody ill, that will give everybody pleasure
and that your son can eat the same as the rest of you

then your stress levels will start to come back under control a bit.

Also, stew type meals cope really well with a long slow cook and being warmed up at the last minute
so are the ideal for those shitty days when the hospital run two hours late

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Capewrath · 29/08/2015 19:29

I too hate all diets and rebel. I know what to do but don't do it. But the thing that is helping me a bit at the moment is

A Fitbit, expensive but helpful

A MNr's s regime.

No sweets, seconds and snacks save on days beginning with S.

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OrangeNoodle · 29/08/2015 19:32

They'd be good to take to work too.

The sad thing is, DH and I cook lovely healthy food - often it's curry, chilli, stew of some kind. Lots of soups. Gorgeous salads. If I just ate these things and nothing else I'd be on the right track.

But I don't.

I buy a pizza on the way home from work on an evening I know it's just me. I pick up a bar of chocolate during the day and some crisps. I eat a bag of bagel chips and an apple donut on the way home from the supermarket. I have a mcD's breakfast on the way to work because the yogurt, berries and oats I had at home didn't fill the huge emotional gnawing gap (no food does, but it's like I'm compelled to eat more).

I don't know if I can do this alone because my poor food choices and overeating are not caused by rationale thought. I've tried so many times and fallen off the wagon that I now have very little self-confident and optimism left.

It is a compulsion.

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holmessweetholmes · 29/08/2015 19:39

Yy to hating diets. But I find that without some kind of 'system' or regime, I just go off the rails. 'Just eating healthily' is somehow too vague for me.

I started a thread on the 'No sweets, seconds or snacks except on days beginning with s' thing. It's called the No S Diet. It seems very sensible and unfaddy to me - a few simple, common-sense rules, with treats built in, instead of endless counting, weighing and lists of forbidden foods!

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TalkinPeace · 29/08/2015 20:45

Orange
You need two things : the first is a diary - the second is CBT support.

Eating on the way home from work to supper strikes me as
I do not want to be seen to eat too much at supper so I'll eat a bit now
and that is coming entirely from your head not your tummy
I may be wrong, but may not be.

As you leave work, write down how you feel.
If you feel the need to go and buy food, stop and write down why.
Even deferring that mental craving by 5 minutes might start to break the cycle.

You eat because your stress levels have ground you into the ground.
Only be getting the stress levels under control will the food follow.
Your poorly child is going to make that blerdy hard
but if you can compartmentalise
you might crack the whole shebang

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OrangeNoodle · 29/08/2015 21:38

Thank you Flowers, some really good ideas and just posting and reading replies is already helping me start to think about some of the trigger points and reasons I turn to food.

I cannot remove the stress from my life but I can learn to manage it in different ways.

I'm going to pop a little notebook and pen in my handbag and record things like you suggest Talkin. That sounds like a very sensible first step.

I still don't know quite which way to turn diet and exercise wise, but I'm going to start with writing things down and visiting the GP to ask about CBT - I hadn't thought of that as an option at all.

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IguanaTail · 29/08/2015 21:46

Try planning - create meals and snacks in advance and never be without a piece of fruit in your bag. It's not easy to lose weight.

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TalkinPeace · 29/08/2015 21:52

(((( Orangenoodle )))))
CBT is fab because its about setting your thought processes to focus on the positive.
I admit I've never used it, but I do yoga a lot and the mental sides are very very similar.

Your stress is something I cannot envisage, but if you can set certain hours a day when it does not exist
which does not deny what you need to do for your son, but recognises what you need to do for you
then you can start to manage the stress into distinct times rather than all day every day

and once the stress is under control, your diet

  • with good cooking habits and a supportive DH
  • will be a doddle.


and oddly, your DS will probably benefit from your dietary improvement Smile
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MrsTedCrilly · 30/08/2015 14:46

Hey OP, I'm similar to you and would be worse if DP was away and I was lonely. I'm a chronic binger and don't seem to get full, it's like my stomach is endless.. and I rarely get stomach ache so my body just lets me do it! I love healthy eating too and make things really tasty, but I wanted something with structure so I could forget about food. So I have been doing 'Shake that weight' for 3 weeks and I'm loving it! I have 2 shakes and one bar per day, and a healthy low carb meal to finish. It's just like Lighterlife/cambridge etc but far cheaper as there are no meetings, just order online. The weight is melting off!
I know it's not for everyone but it suits me Smile The slimmer I get, the better I will feel mentally and can introduce a healthy breakfast and lunch again. I know how to keep weight off as I did it for years until pregnancy!
Hope you find something that suits Smile

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OrangeNoodle · 30/08/2015 17:42

Thanks everyone!

I had wondered about meal replacement - not as a long term solution but as a short term 'reset'.

It's not something I've ever considered before as I've always been of the school of thought that I should work to implement long-term sustainable change but I can see how a clean break from having to think about food would be very helpful.

And perhaps the two aren't mutually exclusive. Something to consider...

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HicDraconis · 30/08/2015 19:48

Hi Orange

I've been overweight most of my life - combination of stressful job, using food as a support, chocolate to get me through a bad day, wine to cheer me up at the end of the day, difficulty eating lunch at work (pizza and a slice easier to eat on the run than something healthy) ...

I tried MFP but there's a lot of variation with the listed items and I often didn't have the time to put in every ingredient of every dish so made rough guesses and it didn't work. I lost kilos with low carbing and thought I'd cracked it, but here I am 6 months later fitting back into all my "fat clothes" after letting the carb / sugar intake spiral.

So have decided if the treatment for addiction is quitting, to quit food entirely. I'm using optifast (it's a shakes / bar / soup plan with unlimited raw or cooked non starchy veg) and to be honest it feels like a relief. I don't snack because I know I'm not eating food. It takes all the decision making about food out of my head. I'm finding it surprisingly easy to stick to because so much of my calorie intake was emotional and this takes all that out of the way.

I'm still cooking healthy meals for the family and sitting with them for meals so I get the social side of food - I just eat my soup & veges while they eat their meal.

It's expensive (probably another reason why I stick to it, it's too much money to sabotage!) with fast initial results for motivation. I've got an "optifast buddy" on FB (good friend who lost several stone this way last year and has maintained her target) to message when I feel I need a bar of chocolate as a pickmeup which really helps.

I don't know that it works for everyone, but I was definitely addicted to sugar / carbs / overeating and it seems I'm not the type of addict that can cope with eating in moderation.

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