To ask how I can quickly lose 8 stone?

Whoops my last night maths is out a bit, in 12wks that’s 24lbs so almost 2 stone not 3.5. Still a good and sensible amount and you can still eat what you want within calorie limit for the day

A lot of people with a bit of weight to lose cannot understand what it is like to need to lose 8 stone, if OP is anything like me, that is still overweight, at 5'6 to be in a 'healthy' weight range I would need to lose 10 stone minimum and I weigh slightly less than them. Its a completely different animal to losing a couple of stone.

https://www.bing.com/search?q=fat+burning+soup+recipe&PC=U316&FORM=CHROMN

Tried this approach years ago on recommendation from a nurse, recipe was supposedly handed out to people going in for heart ops etc. unfortunately it wasn`t tasty enough to eat every day for an extended period of time, the soups in the link look much more appetising. Basically as other posters have already mentioned the ingredients burn more calories to digest than they contain, or something like that.

I had a friend who needed to lose 7 stone to qualify for IVF and did this relatively quickly on the Cambridge diet but under medical supervision. I’m not sure now how long it took her - I think it was around 6-7 months but this was about 10 years ago

At 22 stone, the first few stones will probably come off very quickly if you are disciplined and the weight loss will slow down as you get into the overweight BMI range.

If this is for medical or fertility reasons, good luck and I hope you find a solution which works for you.

@bellac11 I think it was originally called the Newcastle diet. That's where the research was carried out. It's a massive step forward I think for diabetes treatment.

Well it might not be the quickest but the safest and most likely way of keeping it off is to calorie count. Do a TDEE calculation (James Smith etc) to see how many calories you need to eat (don’t go off a blanket 2000 for women etc) and then eat 1000 calories less than that per day to lose 2lbs per week. You’ll probably lost more than that initially too. You should get a fairly decent amount of calories and I always find I eat a lot better when I’m calorie counting. I’ve lost weight successfully doing this. 24lbs in lockdown. Use an app like my fitness pal to log the food. It gets much easier to log as it remembers meals and can log recipes etc. That works out almost 3.5 stone by Christmas and I reckon with the extra you’ll lose you’ll hit 4 stone. Why starve yourself on some shakes etc when you can eat normal food?

I also do a lot of steps, so eat less move more, really does work. Either get out for a walk or check out people like Leslie Sansone. Tons of free videos on YouTube, it’s really easy for beginners too and means you can get the steps in indoors. Best of luck to you

You can’t out-exercise a bad diet.

Try the B-for-boring diet, 1000 kCal a day.

Exercise. Lots.

Long walks, join a fitness class, and so the cleaning lots!

I'd spend money on a fitness watch rather than a faddy chemical diet.

When you've exercised hard then you'll find you stop eating so much.

There is no lose 4 stone by Christmas diet which doesn't involve a month or so of eating nothing, which obviously isn't doable.

If you are really large, though, 2 stone loss should be doable by Christmas.

I've lost 3 stone in the last 12 months, gone from size 16 to size 12. I've done this before. What you need to do is at least 20 minutes walking or moderate exercise per day, and eat less than 1,000 calories per day. MyFitnessPal is a good app for keeping track of calories.

Slim and save is a very cost effective meal replacement diet.

Be warned though, it's not easy.

I cannot imagine a situation where you NEED to lose it so quickly. Even if it's a medical procedure, surely you can still have it done once you have lost the weight sustainably. I hope to stand corrected, because if the reason turns out to be a holiday/wedding, that is massively unreasonable.

Came here to say Exante! It's cheap too!

I’m debating amputating a leg - I think it’s the only thing that’s likely to work for me 😂

Dh lost about 4 stone in seven months following recipes from the book ‘how not to die’ an excercise plan made with his gp, no eating after 8 o clock and cutting out all fizzy drinks, crisps and chocolate. Please please please don’t try to do what you’re doing, losing that amount of weight that quickly is never recommended. Definitely don’t do the amount of exercise some people are recommending on a low carb diet, you’ll end up in hospital.

You say in your OP that £12 a day for the meal plan thing is too much for one person but think seriously about how much you’re spending on food at the moment to maintain your current weight and then work out how much the difference is between that and the meal plan.
It’s got to be worth it for the positive benefits it will hopefully bring to you and in a safer more controlled way than a mental crash diet.

stop eating bread and sugar and give up alcohol.

@SealHouse Excellent advice. Eating a calorie deficient diet is really the only way to lose weight. If you want to get to a level where you're properly calorie deficient then it takes way more exercise than people realise and at OP's weight exercising to that extent will be impossible. Much easier not to eat calories in the first place than trying to burn them off.

I lost 20kg in 5 months (from 95kg to 75kg) from eating normal breakfast, skipping lunch (but always drink water as thirst is easily confused with hunger) and eating a ready made evening meal between 4 and 5pm then nothing until morning.

I did it 5 days a week with the weekends as 'normal' eating days. Exercise was limited to long walks in the evenings / weekends. It's not a particularly healthy way to lose weight and tbh I doubt it would work for OP. I'm working now to add more exercise to the mix.

No way is losing 8 stone going to happen easily but you can definitely lose weight this way.

I have issues with self control and binging so I literally don't keep any unhealthy foods like biscuits, ice-cream, chocolate etc. in the house. I would suspect that to get to 22st OP may have the same issue.

If it's not here I can't eat it but if OP has family who eat junk then it probably won't work either. I live alone so works for me.

Sorry, can’t be done. It’s taken me a year to lose four stone and I still have one more stone to go. I did it by counting calories and writing down everything I ate and drank. I also vastly reduced my wine consumption. No biscuits, crisps or chocolate or cake, or puddings. It was hard, but worth it. I have now taken up swimming four times a week and cut my calories down some more as I am determined to lose that last stone, which is mostly on my tummy despite the swimming. I do emphasise, it’s not easy, but it is a marathon not a stroll. I feel much better and people tell me I look better too, but my low self esteem has not been dieted away ! I have gone down four dress sizes and the sheer joy of pulling on some jeans is wonderful. But exercise has to be part of it. I have been left with some horrible loose skin, which I hate.

I don’t think you should lose 8 stone as fast as you can. I think you should lose 8 stone in as sustainable way as possible, otherwise you’ll be back to where you were in a couple of years as you’ll gain it all back.

Having said that, why not take Wegovy and do a slight calorie deficit?

A tone a month if keto AND calorie counting.

I disagree with all the people saying exercise, up your steps etc. whilst it's good to exercise alongside your diet, I don't think it massively speeds up weight loss as there are only so many calories you can burn unless you're going to run for 4 hours a day. I would definitely recommend a meal replacement diet if you need to lose it quickly. I lost a stone a month doing Cambridge and many people lose more than that. There are cheaper alternatives to Cambridge though. Shake That Weight being one of them.

cocaine

There’s a book called ‘how not to diet’ by Micheal Gregor which has a lot of very useful information on weight lose. I listened to it on audiobook. It is long, but if you are looking to lose a lot of weight and keep it off I think you will find it helpful.

I think 4 stone by Christmas might be pushing it, I think 3 and a bit might be doable at your weight and you will still see a massive difference in your shape and how you feel at that weight loss.

The biggest thing with weight loss is realising and accepting your part in how you got to be that weight in the first place and accepting that you won't be able to lose weight and go back to that way of life if you want to keep the weight off. People say diets don't work, which of course they don't if you don't actually do them. You need to totally change your mindset when it comes to food and drink.

I do think exercise is important, out bodies are designed for it, but nothing too drastic at this point or you will injure yourself, people of your and my weight tend to have more muscle anyway as we need it to carry around the excess weight, so doing things to maintain that muscle in the bigger muscles in your thighs and bum is something to concentrate on. Exercise that is low impact that improves your range of movement is good too, so yoga and pilates, rediscover your core ! Helps with posture which helps with looking better at any weight

Exercise doesn't need to be something you have to go somewhere to do, if you are anything like me, I can always think of a million and one excuses not to go to a gym. If you have stairs you have the equivalent of a step machine, you can pick up weights cheaply enough and there are lots of videos online you can do, even walking from room to room, do it so you bring your knee's up as high as you can on each step. Do squats whilst waiting for something in the microwave or the kettle to boil, all these things add up over the course of a day and you don't need to leave your house or put on special clothing. Don't think 'I can't exercise', think 'how can I squeeze in some exercise into this moment' !

And don't be disillusioned by the plateau, it happens, its normal, keep going.

I would discuss with GP to see what programmes are available for you. This can include meal plan, supervised exercise, it doesn’t have to mean medication.

Have you had recent blood tests eg thyroid, diabetes?

Some of the advice here could be dangerous, especially as we don’t know your medical health or fitness level we just know your weight.

Don’t drink gallons of water that would kill you! Running could injure you or cause a heart attack, unless you are already used to running.

Slow and steady will give best and most sustainable result health wise and cosmetically.