Changing everything at once?

[Masonbee]

So... I need to actually bite the bullet and start losing weight instead of talking about it and yoyoing from month to month (I haven't been yoyo dieting, just oscillating between more and less healthy choices and never really dropping enough). The nurse was pretty clear that my blood pressure is in the danger zone and my bmi is obese range (12.5 stone but I'm only 5 foot!)

I've been reading various blogs and advice sites and a common suggestion is to make small manageable changes slowly to prevent you from burning out: e.g. drink more water this week, log food but don't actually change your diet then cut down portion sizes next week, try to exercise more the week after etc

I just don't think this will work for me. I'm more of an all or nothing type person! For the last few months I've been planning to be more healthy but I find I'm eating extra snacks (for example) because "I don't have to change everything all at once" or "I'll make a better choice tomorrow"

I have a list of things I'm going to try - drink more water, exercise more, cut out cake /biscuit /sweets /take away completely for a month. I was thinking 3 cardio sessions and 3 yoga videos a week... I know I should add weights too.

I can see the logic of the other way of thinking but I think a trial by fire might work for me! I am going on holiday at Christmas and there will be lots of unhealthy food and all you can eat buffets so I want to try and get in a good place before we go, otherwise as the time draws closer I suspect I'll start thinking "it's not worth trying to change before I go" and that will be another month gone. If I've lost weight before then I'll be more motivated to limit myself when I'm there...

What are anyone else's thoughts? Have you tried this? Did it work?

[LiveLifeWithPassion]

Do you do any exercise at the moment? I think it's quite demanding to go from nothing to 6 sessions a week.
losing weight is mostly about food. You don't actually even need to excercise to lose weight but obviously, it has lots of benefits.
Focus more on the food and get strict with that.
If you think you can do it then just go for it. Different things suit different people.

[Masonbee]

Thanks for the reply. Of course you're right, food is the most important thing really, but I find doing the exercise keeps me on track with the healthy eating a bit...

The yoga is just a half hour on YouTube thing. I was doing it almost daily for about 6 months but fell out of the habit a couple of months ago...

I was also exercising more a couple of months ago perhaps not consistently 3 times a week but parkrun and(/or?) a swimming session most weeks and cycling to the shops as my third one... I was planning to take it fairly easy at first but I do walk to work and back about 4 days a week (1/2 hour each way, about 2 km) so I think I could get my fitness up fairly quickly...

Sorry I've realised how I got carried away talking about my plans, I did mean for it to be a more discussion-y thread!

Thank you again, I appreciate the advice!

[IvorHughJarrs]

Weight loss is 90% diet and 10% exercise so you'd be better focusing on food first if losing weight is your aim

Try making half of each meal green leafy veg or salad, that's a good place to start

[HLBug]

Try looking into 5:2 and/or 16:8? Been brilliant for me - lost nearly a stone in 2 months.

[Masonbee]

Thanks for the advice both. The thought of any kind of varying folks me with horror, although I know it works well for some people!
The half plate as vegetables is a good tip, I may make that a target too!

[wheresmyliveship]

I agree with being all or nothing. I have to ban myself from sweets unless I make a conscious decision to deviate - and this is A Big Deal (mentally). Also, while exercise is less important than food choices I find that I'm more careful with my food when I'm exercising, so as not to undo the hard work - it gets me into the right mentality all round.

[FlightyMare]

I think I prefer an all-in approach too, otherwise I do as you have found and never really get going with it. I think exercise helps mentally and keeps you feeling positive and healthier, so worth doing too if you can.

I'm starting a healthy eating plan from Monday, and part of it will be cutting out snacking on sugary things. When I've done this in the past I've found that it really helps me to then enjoy 3 healthy meals a day which I'm hungry for, rather than lurching from one snack to the other and not really wanting a proper meal. For me I need to follow a sensible plan too though.

[Masonbee]

I completely agree about the exercise. I know that technically it doesn't actually help you lose weight but I find that it really helps me stay on track as if I've put in all that effort, I'm much more likely to eat healthily as well.

I'm also better at cutting out unhealthy food (sweets, biscuits, cakes) altogether, rather than trying to limit them to small amounts.

I think I tend to snowball in one direction or the other!

[humanfemale]

Have you thought about making two big changes for a month and being more flexible about everything else?

If I could give any advice, it would be to lose sugar (in the form of any sweet food except fruit) and alcohol from your diet entirely. These two things normally make a massive difference to weight in themselves and exercise, limiting other carbs, more vegetables etc. etc. can be built up from that excellent starting point.

The danger with an 'all or nothing' approach is it normally ends up 'nothing' when we slip up.