I'm fat, and look as though I should be, but I'm not.

Of course its amazing, I was just answering another post who cited it as 'quick' weight loss. Quick weight loss is when you get a stone in a month or 6 weeks or something. I was just correcting that

Dependent on that posters weight, it could easily be about 10% of her bodyweight, that is amazing with excellent benefits as you say.

No alcohol
No sweets
Count every single calorie that goes past your lips and don't go past 1200
No carbs
Fast for half the day every day
The list goes on

I mean, this is misery. Absolute misery. I really cannot believe everyone (many people) live like this, seriously. It takes all the joy in life away!

Maybe I'll just have to get properly fat and then get wegovy.

You have my sympathies as I am going through the exact same thing. 42, gone up 2 dress sizes in under a year. Feel awful in everything. Not fat, but bigger than I am happy with and worried it isn't going to stop.

I exercise 4-5 days a week (swimming, gym class, PT) eat healthy, cook from scratch most nights. I am a snacker but trying hard not to be. I tried intermittent fasting on advice from the GP and ended up in hospital with gallstones so had to stop. No medical reason for it.

I'm fed up.

Well, you sound pretty slim given the "numbers".
😁
I'm 44, (child free) and never been overweight, despite having an underactive thyroid, the most excusable condition.
In my opinion, it's all about discipline.
(No alcohol, no sweets).
Full stop.

I'm 59 and have lost 12lbs since mid Jan by doing low carb. You never feel hungry on it, and as long as you stick to it, it works really well. It's especially good if you put weight on around your middle.

All things being equal, and bar any food challenges like binge eating or over consumption of UPF or beige food, the calories in/calories out is not a bad place to start.

i Would have written your post until recently. I had a very healthy diet - natural, good food, low UPF etc. Yet I was getting bigger and couldn’t lose weight.

I finally bored of myself and joined one of those brain programmes focused on the reasons behind eating. We had to calorie count strictly including weighing everything.

It was a total eye opener. When I stuck to 1200 calories every day I lost weight most weeks. When I tried taking shortcuts (drinking, not weighing everything), I didn’t..

I am not on the programme now and maintaining through exercise and so far it’s working because I’ve reset my normal.

Couple of things.

I’d change up your choice in breakfast because a couple of slices of toast isn’t enough for an adult really and also isn’t the healthiest option. I have Greek yogurt and muesli with berries most days, it staves off the hunger pangs until lunchtime which toast definitely does not.

Second thing is what you mean by exercise because it means something different to everyone. My Mum has struggled with her weight her whole adult life, she yo-yos constantly. One main constituent of this imo is the fact she thinks walking is adequate exercise. I don’t think it is personally, it’s just something we all should do more of to get around in general. It needs to be more intense than walking 10k steps a day so running, weight lifting, HIIT (combo of all is ideal). Also would recommend upping the 3 days of exercise to 5 or 6. I have one rest day a week and I haven’t gained weight for years now despite definitely eating my fair share of crap.

28 weeks to lose a stone sounds pretty amazing tbh. The health benefits (assuming you are overweight in the first place, and you are losing weight by eating well and moving more) will be brilliant.

Since a lot of people mentioned having troubles loosing weight after hitting 40s, consider listening to this in which she talks about different approach to training, diet and weight loss for different stages of menopause (peri to post).

@soupfiend and anyone else interested from this thread - come join us in 'the weights room' subforum!
It's focused on strength training, though not necessarily for fat loss (there's people on there with different goals, but I'd say it's mainly about getting stronger/fitter)

Yes.

Do you have to get on the floor? I cant get on the floor

Beginners Epic includes 5 videos, 3 initial ones are bodyweight only. She has some other training videos with bodyweights, which are not part of Epic.

For the actual Epic which is 50 videos long you need dumbbells, a mat (or a carpet) and sometimes a chair or a book.

I certainly need to look into strength training although its not for weight loss, its because I dont want to get bone loss in menopause, I have never done any exercise, but a good side effect would be weight maintenance of course once Im at my goal.

Im careful about where we go out to eat, I eat starters but really prefer tapas bars or bistros where I can have a bit of this or that and share with OH (he also cant eat much these days but thats his age, gets full up easily now)

Im a massive foodie and enjoy food a lot.

I dont know links to studies, I know Ive read quite a lot of references to fast weight loss being more successful (for obsese people) because its hugely motivating. You see results fast. It may well be linked to stats from WLS as you say, there is proper data there.

@soupfiend and @Gwenhwyfar interested if you've got any links, if it's changed? I'm aware of there being progress in the US but that's linked to the increase in bariatric surgery, as low calorie or VLCD are commonly a requirement of the surgery (and of course, the fact that someone is going down that route and being monitored by a professional means it's easier to get data)

One of the big difficulties with being say, 1200 or even 1400 is that it just isn't how most people eat - so the barriers to sustaining it increase. Eg portion sizes for eating on the go/eating out don't really work, it is likely to require eating a different meal to family (or skipping meals with IF to leave enough allowance), social events are difficult. Its just not fun to be taking low calorie food in tupperware to social events or always asking for something off menu at a restaurant. I used to have a very low TDEE (skinny, short, 30s) and I maintained it by tracking for a long time and though I managed it, I wouldn't recommend it. I had to plan my food, think about food a lot of the time, couldn't really be spontaneous. I know strength training isn't for everyone and this isn't my main reason for doing it, but being able to eat more/think less about food day to day has been revelatory for me.

Most of it is body weight which is what makes it so great.

I think maybe day 4 or 5 you need a couple of dumbells, but most of it is body weight, and if you dont have dumbells you could just use 2X 2litre bottles of drink or a couple of cans of soup!

You will need a chair most days to do things like dips. It also says to use a mat under knees or spine but I tend to use a towel folded up.

Yep, my ‘advantage’ is not the same since I turned 30 (early 40s now). I found that occasional fasting helps with not gaining weight (it was that or starting to exercise, the choice was easy lol).

I need to investigate this strength training business, I dont do enough (any) exercise.

Sorry I forgot to mention too, I think its been proven the opposite, that for people with a lot to lose (not just a stone or so), fast weight loss is very effective at keeping it off.

I thought that had been de-bunked?

In that posters situation, half a pound a week will take her 28 weeks to lose a stone. That is not quick

Even if she managed 1lb a week, that would be 14 weeks, that is also not quick

Not sure where you're getting 'very restrictive' from or quick. The poster that posted about their very low TDEE would have to use that number of cals to lose that weight.

Very restrictive would be those mad cabbage diets or egg diets. You can have a well balanced diet on around 1100 cals but yes there may be a need for supplementation dependent on your physical make up and bloods. We should all be taking vit d all year apparently anyway, let alone other things certainly for women of my age.

Do you need to own some equipment with Beginners Epic?

@soupfiend taking aside the health risks for a moment - losing weight quickly on a very restrictive diet is proven to be ineffective for long term weight loss.