To not go on another bloody diet?

[OneFattyMcMuffinPlease]

I'm very overweight and unhealthy. I weigh 14 and a half stone and I'm only about 5ft. I don't eat very well either, in fact my diet is terrible .

But I am sick of constantly going on diets and falling off the wagon after a couple of days. I feel like I've put more weight on by trying to lose weight than if I had if I hadn't bothered. I've tried low carb diets, meal replacements shakes, soup diets...you name it and I've probably tried it at least once but I can just never stick to them.

So I have come to a decision. I'm not going to diet anymore. Instead I am going to change my life. I am not going to live off takeaways, cheesy pasta and chips, sausage rolls and chocolate any more. I'm going to start improving what I eat instead and make it long term. I'm not going to cut out any food groups, I will simply eat less of some foods and more of others.

Is this a crazy idea? Has anyone lost weight this way and if you did, was the process slow and did you keep it off?

[Pickleypickles]

Im a firm believer in calories vs calories out.
Your idea sounds like a good start, i think smaller portions are a good start too.
I hate all these faddy diets and slimming clubs etc. I dont think they tech good eating habits, I know a lady who does one (has done for 7 years and still weighs the exact same) and certain foods are "free" so she can eat as many of them as she wants, so sees absolutely nothing wrong in eating 2 packs of processed ham as a "mid morning snack". I dont think that is helping people to control there appetite so i agree stay away from those.
I think just being more concious of when you are full and when you are eating because its there IYSWIM.
Hope that helps and good luck!

[FenceSitter01]

Yippeee another Slimming World bashing thread!

[Sotuko]

The only way to lose weight is to eat less calories than you burn.

My advice is to get a HR Fitbit.
Join My Fitness Pal.

Eat what the hell you want within your calorie limit (Fitbit will tell you what this is). Set a goal of at least 10,000 steps a day. You WILL lose weight if you do these things.

All the shakes, slimming world, Atkins crap is scamming bullshit. Calories in vs calories out is the only way to do it.

Best bit about it is if you want to eat more, simply be more active so your calorie allowance increases. It's the least restrictive way to lose weight.

[Wolfiefan]

So mentioned slimming world?
I think that's a great idea OP. Going on a diet means you're always going to go off it at some point and eat how you always used to. And put on all the weight.
Changing your diet is forever and sustainable.

[Aquamarine1029]

Diets don't often work, lifestyle changes very often do. Your new outlook and attitude are wonderful, and I don't doubt your chances of great success for a minute. Nothing you propose is "crazy." It's a healthy way to live. Get going!

[KungFuPandaWorksOut16]

fence where did they mention slimming world or have I missed something?

Sounds like your thinking the right way OP.

[SouthernNorthernGirl]

OP I'm exactly the same. I've spent years following Slimming World, on and off, and the same, I weigh more than I did.
I was thinking of doing the exact same thing as you, and just eating sensible portions.

[ShirleyPhallus]

How could this possibly make you unreasonable?

The best advice I could give is to cut out just one of those things. Then another in time. You'll fall off the wagon if you cut out absolutely everything up front.

Secondly do 10-15k steps each day

Thirdly take up weight training

[cardibach]

Have a look at rebelfit on Facebook and on line. Very anti diet,pro nutrition and exercise.

[DaisyRaine90]

Concentrate on healthy life changes. Weight is just a number 😊
It won’t be fast, but it will be much better for you if you do it through a series of small healthy life changes xx

[OneFattyMcMuffinPlease]

Funnily enough Fence, slimming world is one diet I have not tried. I think that's pretty much the only one I haven't

[FenceSitter01]

The old free foods and slimming clubs in post 2 was a dead dive away.

I've lost 1/3rd of my body weight with SW - which is sensible eating - and I've not put it back on.

There's always really snide element, even in forums like this, to take a pop at fat women in particular. If you don't eat healthily, sensibly and exercise, you will be fat. there I've said the F word. Fat. Been there, and it's not a nice place to be.

no one I know at SW eats their own body weight I processed ham, Freddo frogs (another MN myth) or endless bowls of dry pasta.

[JustDanceAddict]

Do my fitness pal and log your food intake It’s a revelation! You have to find out how many calories you need to lose weight, but that’s not hard to google.

[Sooooooooooooooooooooo]

Slimming world does work, I’ve lost a stone. And if you eat a pack of ham as a snack you’re not doing it properly. Don’t be ridiculous.

[Sotuko]

Slimming world only works if you happen to be in a calorie deficit whilst doing it. Don't be fooled into thinking it's anything more than that.

[Bambamber]

I lost a lot of weight just swapping takeaways for meals cooked from scratch, with proper portion sizes. When I've really got the munchies I reach for popcorn instead of crisps. It can be hard at first, but after a while my tastes changed and don't crave salty junk food. I've kept the weight off about 2 years now, and maintained a very healthy weight during pregnancy and was pre pregnancy weight within 4 months with practically no effort.

[Raisedbyguineapigs]

Meal replacements and soup diets are setting you up to fail. You need to do something you can see yourself doing forever, because that's what you have to do. Of course SW is a calorie deficit programme but you have to eat 1\3 of a plate of fruit or veg at every meal, so that where the calorie deficit comes from. I've lost weight on SW while not really doing it properly, but what I have done is cut out the pastries, sausage rolls, cakes, takeaways etc. You will definitely lose weight. Maybe more slowly but outs about reeducation, which takes a long time.

[GoldenBlue]

Ive been really successful with slimming world too. 3 1/2 stone off and stayed that way for 10 months so far. But the whole point is that it's not a diet, it is a life change.

I don't eat the things people always claim slimming world is full of. I'd rather have a little piece of real cake than a big portion of fake, artificial sweetener filled 'cake'.

I cook from scratch, eating healthy and tasty food. I try to work on portions but have a big appetite so I fill a minimum of a 3rd if my plate, ideally half of my plate with veg. And then eat lean protein and a small portion of carbs so I don't feel denied.

I also use my fitness pal to track calories occasionally to remind me of calories in different foods and portion sizes.

I don't diet because I want to love my food, it is a big part of life for me, but I also want to feel happy in my skin, so I need balance

[Pickleypickles]

Im not saying slimming world doesnt work, just my friend genuinely thinks shes following her diet when shes doing that stuff and for 90% of the women i know who have used it thwy have all put the weight back on within 12 - 18 months.

[Sooooooooooooooooooooo]

But you will put weight back on if you go back to your old eating habits.

[Pickleypickles]

Which was my original point, slimming world and similar clubs dont teach good eating habits for after the weight is lost which is why i think OPs idea sounds good.

[Raisedbyguineapigs]

From what I have seen from my SW group where quite a few people have stayed at their target weight is that you can't really come off it. But its much easier to stay on a plan for life where you are told to east home cooked meals and fill your plate with veg than it would be one that is super restrictive. If you stopped counting calories and went back to eating cakes every day, you'd put the weight back on too. OP you can do it in the way you described. If you are only eating crap and you stop, you'll have a significant calorie deficit from eating healthily.

[Papafran]

I know that slimming world fanatics always sing its praises, but it IS true that they promote gross and processed food. Chocolate and marshmallows are lower in syns than avocado and olive oil which is a prime example of how messed up it is. It's great that loads of people are doing the diet and never eat processed food, but the diet does NOT say don't eat processed food. It says the opposite.
Yes, I went to a meeting when I was overweight. Have also been to WW. Both as bad as each other. I am sure that people lose weight, but so many regain it again- SW does not have a higher success rate than other weight loss programmes.

OP, good luck. I finally lost weight by eating limited processed food and by doing exercise. I have personally found that it's nigh on impossible to lose weight without combining it with exercise of some form.

[laramara]

You are absolutely right in your thinking,as diets in their very nature don't work in the long term for most people as in the majority of cases people put on even more weight once they stop dieting so it becomes an endless merry go round.
Much better as you have said to take control of your own eating and try and reduce eating food that you know isn't sensible and replace it with good food, also it's unhelpful to be constant weighing yourself, good luck!

[thedevilinablackdress]

Sounds good. Don't go on a diet, change your diet for good. Good luck OP.