advice on weightloss!

[Toraleistripe]

I am nearly 50 and have never had a weight problem. I could always eat what I liked and never gain. Then started losing a lot of weight for no reason and after a worrying period of tests turns out I am coeliac and was essentially starving to death! So now I am healthy, avoiding gluten and my weight has increased. All good except it is increasing too much! I am the heaviest I have ever been in my life!

I am 5ft 7 and now weight around 64 kg, around 10stone 4 or something. I am still a size 10/12 and my BMI is still in a normal range but I would prefer to be half a stone lighter.

I have stopped eating just anything I fancy. Have stopped drinking wine and all alcohol really. I run/do an exercise class 3 x a week but weight just creeping up. Don't eat sweets or choc vey often.

Yesterday I had yoghurt ( full fat I concede) and granola for breakfast, cheese on toast 2 slices for lunch, late afternoon snack of hummus on rice cake, a sneaky packet of crisps. Tea was baked potato and beans with a sprinkling of cheese, then an orange. Not that bad surely? I am trying to reduce portion size a bit too.

What's my best option diet wise? With a small amount to lose what might work. I realise crisps are a no no and need to change to low fat yog but the thought of 'diet food' fills me with horror!

Any suggestions of a way forward?

[NicolaMarlowsMerlin]

Actually full fat yogurt is fine - makes you feel fuller. If you are going to focus on calories then low fat is easier to fit into your day, but if it makes you feel less full it's perhaps worth the trade off. Crisps tbh aren't doing you much good. However your day sounds quite full of fat and carbs (lots of cheese), you might be having more fun if you added tonnes of different vegetables and a bit more fruit?

One thing to recognise is that your metabolism slows down as you age - I'm about the same age as you and have had to recognise that I just can't eat as much as I used to, so I'm trying to use my calories for things I really enjoy. I also skip meals from time to time or just have an apple/banana or similar as otherwise it's just too hard to eat food I like and not have the weight creep up.

Main thing is not to beat yourself up for where your body is at, and make sure food doesn't become something you worry about all the time.

[Toraleistripe]

Thanks. I am thinking of 5:2, well 6:1 tbh. I used to panic if didn't manage to eat 3 meals a day as used to get weak and wobbly. Now I don't so cam afford to cut down.

Thanks for your advice.

[Rassy]

Marking my place here! Have been thinking of starting a similar thread myself. Again, weight has crept on over the years and while I'm not technically overweight (am 5ft 3 and weigh 9st 5lb) i would like to ideally be 9st or less - which I used to be! Am 46, run 3 times a week and walk the dog.

I can't face 5:2 - would kill someone by lunch time! Have used MFP as a guide, reduced bread intake and try to not eat after 5.30pm ish when I can. I

I don't want to go on a diet as such but make sustainable changes so that I can lose the weight and keep it off.

[higge]

You are not eating enough fresh veg and too many carbs Develop good long term habits that suit you. I eat 2 meals a day, satisfying meals - I aim to include 3 veg in each meal and keep my carb portion in check. No seconds, no snacking, no mid week drinking at home. If I'm really hungry I'll eat something. If I slip on a rule it's no big deal, I just carry on the next day.

[Roygrace]

You are not overweight atall though. Maybe that is the weight you are meant to be.

I am same height and 14stone 5!!!

[Toraleistripe]

Too many carbs? I have carbs at every meal as get too hungry otherwise. I did have salad with both meals which I failed to put on the list so ok with that.

Today had yoghurt and granola and a hummus and salad wrap for lunch. Having veggie chilli and rice for tea. Not a lot of rice.

If I don't eat carbs when can I have! I will be starving I think?

No choc or crisps or wine during the week?

[RunnerOnTheRun]

What type of granola are you having? It is notoriously sugary, so have a look. Wraps are unbelievably empty calories, lack of fibre.

Of course you can have carbs, I mean they are in literally everything. Just have the unprocessed unrefined ones, so no white bread....eat lots of veg, more than you think you need on your plate! It's amazing how much the fibre clears you out. I have bags of spinach and add it to everything. I eat loads of eggs too. Don't eat low fat products as they are generally devoid of nutrients and replaced with fake sweeteners. Greek yoghurt is very very healthy for good gut bacteria. Just a few tips there! Oh and loads of water too!

[BIWI]

Eating so much carbohydrate is what is making you hungry! You'd be far better eating protein and fat, with far fewer carbs. (By the way, it's also the carbs that make you fat.)

[RunnerOnTheRun]

BIWI is right. The diet industry and government have it all backwards.

[higge]

I think if you can aviod crisps, wine and chocs through the week it would be a good habit to establish but it all depends on you. Over-restricting on carbs triggered binge eating in me, so now I am careful to eat starchy carbs if I get to thinking about them but in general they bother me less and less and getting enough nutrients through having enough veg and protein is my main goal....I don't restrict fat intake either. 80% of my meals would be described as low carb. Biwi is right, it's very likely carbs are making you gain fat.

[Toraleistripe]

Higge. What is a normal meal for you then?

[higge]

Tonight I'm have smoked haddock in a creamy sauce with basil and tomato, celeriac mash and broccoli - I'll make potato mash for the kids.
Tomorrow - Steak with fried onions, mushrooms and suede chips - kids will have potato chips
Sunday - Mother's Day kids are cooking and I'll eat whatever they make and a pudding, if I eat a lot I will only eat once - unless I'm hungry.
Mon Mutter paneer curry with roasted cauliflower and mushrooms - rice for the kids
Tuesday Lamb Shoulder - not sure what I'm doing with it - was meant to be Lamb shanks - I'll use up what ever veg is left in the fridge....will marinade it in something middle eastern.
Wednesday Paprika Chicken with a sour cream gravy, buttered celeriac & spring greens, maybe some leek.

I always put enough food on my plate so I feel satisfied, I try not to eat past the point of fullness - but I do not want to leave the table feeling I've been cheated out of food and feel tempted to go for seconds.

And lunch is often leftovers - today it was sausage minestrone without the pulses or pasta - but a good drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, pesto and lots of parmesan and habenero chilli - in fact not really a minestrone but on that theme, packed with about 10 different veg - a real winter tonic.

[BIWI]

Madelinehatter I've been eating a low carb diet - mostly - for several years now. I go off piste every now and then, but mostly my meals are some kind of protein, with vegetables or salad. I generally cook the same for me and DH; it's only if I end up cooking him pasta or risotto that I make myself something different - but usually I can't be arsed, so he has the same as me!

Typical meals:

Roast chicken, with roast veg - any or all of: peppers, shallots, courgettes, fennel, cauliflower, leeks

Baked salmon (marinaded first in olive oil, lemon juice, garlic, ginger and soy sauce), with stir fried veg - any or all of: baby sweetcorn, mange tout, shallots, garlic, asparagus, green beans

Roasted aubergine - split in half, roasted with lots of olive oil, and then garlic-infused olive oil and feta cheese drizzled over the top, served with salad

Meatballs with tomato sauce, mozzarella and salad

Roast pork, crackling, and veg. Favourites: white cabbage, blanched, then braised in butter with onion and lemon or red cabbage, boiled, then braised in butter with shallots and raspberry vinegar; mashed swede, roasted broccoli, mashed celeriac with leeks

[RunnerOnTheRun]

Some ideas off the top of my head that we have regularly:

Turkey burgers (turkey mince with one egg, made in to patties and fried in coconut oil then baked)

Masses of avocado, spinach and rocket, raw carrots, cherry tomatoes, cans of tuna, sardines or mackerel

Shepherds pie with sweet potato mash

Roasted curried cauliflower (florets in a bowl with curry powder and oil, mix until all covered then bake on a baking sheet)

Salmon fillets baked with chilli flakes, brown rice, broccoli

Roast chicken and all the veg

Pork chops, roasted carrots, cabbage

Doesn't have to be recipes or complex methods.

Mother's day is going to be a totally big treat day and I can't wait but I know Monday will be back to eggs, spinach and rather simple foods. It's all about balance. The cravings go when you stop eating stuff you crave.

[Toraleistripe]

Well I am a vegetarian. I don't eat meat or fish. My protein choices are a bit limited unfortunately. I eat eggs and of course have pulses.

I don't think I really can cut down on carbs so much. I think I just need to stop snacking.

[blahblueblah]

Try this book - some interesting ideas.

[RunnerOnTheRun]

Sorry didn't realise you were veggie.

Gets salad with avocado (natural fats are very satisfying)

Full fat Greek yog with nuts & berries

Butternut squash curry (loads recipes online) with cauliflower rice

Minestrone in slow cooker

Kale chips (baked kale)

Courgetti spaghetti

Quinoa salad

[backinpurple]

I have started to read this book after reading this article in the Telegraph.

I also joined this organisation (you may well have done this already) and they have some helpful information about alternative foods that are gluten free.

I've also been doing weight watchers and eating low GI foods, I'm interested in the Rick Hay book as I'd like to cut back on meat, but find I tend to wilt a bit without it because I don't know what else to eat to get my protein.

[howabouthisone]

I am a fellow Coeliac, and I found managing my weight post diagnosis tricky.
I think if you are like me,that in your pre diagnosis days you were effectively eating food that was stopping you from absorbing calories.
Gluten prevents you from absorbing fat properly (hence those constant painful and disgusting trips to the loo). So youre eating carbs in the form of bread, cakes, pastry etc which are preventing the uptake of fat. which then leads to you compensating with a high fat diet. and you are still losing weight.
On a gluten free diet everything changes, once you stop eating gluten all the calories in food are absorbed by your gut and you no longer need a high fat high calorie diet.
After years of being thin on huge quanitities of high calorie food it is difficult to change, but youll have to normalise the way you see food.
Difficult I know if everytime you eat you have to check whats in it.
Good luck, and well done for still being a vegetarian, I gave up and became a meat eater as finding gluten free protein with out wheat, rye, barley or oats a step too far.
On the other hand I bet youve never felt so good in your life

[Toraleistripe]

Hi fellow coeliac. Yes being able to eat all manner of food was great but then I ended up looking skeletal to honest. Post diagnosis I gained weight really quickly when gluten left my diet. Good veggie GF food IS hard to find hence the over reliance on pasta. I eat lots of beans, cheese and egg.

I do feel great though. So much energy and now my hair isn't falling out!

Will check out the books linked to too.

Thanks folks.

[howabouthisone]

One thing, how big are the portions of cheese and butter you are eating?
You should only eat one portion of cheese about the size of a small box of matches a day. So not much.

[Toraleistripe]

Bigger than that but I don't eat it every day.

Generally yog and granola for breakfast, GF egg mayo roll from work cafe or a salad and tea is jacket spud or veggie chilli or vegetable omlette with salad.

[DeoGratias]

That is very different from the way many of us eat. Our meals would mostly be eggs, fish, sea food, meat with lots and lots of veg. Yours is basically the carb diet which is guaranteed to put on weight and make your blood sugar rocket up and straight down after and ensure you are hungry very soon after eating. You need to eat a lot moree good fats for a start.