Feel utterly broken - another diet failed again

Yep.stop dieting. They aren't sustainable for almost anyone. That's why it's an industry.

I've lost a stone and a half, slowly. In my 50s. Walking more and doing weights.

But mainly by eating way more veg, complex carbohydrates and protein.

Bfast..poached egg on sourdough toast.with mushrooms and tomato.

Lunch. Chicken salad. Lots of veg, chickpeas.

Tea ...sausage pasta with veg snd beans snd 2bits garlic bread. Weighed out pasta portion

No choc, no crisps on ghf dogs or wine...

But I don't miss it. So 80% of time it's real.proper food. 20% out ot a supermarket pizza.

Still got a stone to go. But that's ok. This works

Did you weigh the butter that you cooked the eggs in? 10g of butter will be near 80 calories and 10g is nothing, literally one of the little pats of butter that you get with a scone in a cafe will weigh nearly that. Same with the salmon did you weigh it. As an oily fish it is higher in cals than others and a 100g will be iver 200 cals
Eggs again depending on weight can be anything from 60 to 90 cals each so depending on how many eggs you have you xould easily be eating g many more calories than you would think. Are you having any dressing or mayonnaise on the salad/ veg, using any oil in cooking?

I found that I wasn’t naturally hungry on the morning

If I do eat breakfast then I feel hungrier in the day? I lost over 4 stone and have maintained it by listening to my body and having a knowledge of food calories in general

I don’t limit myself with food choices at all but I only eat after 12pm 95% of the time but tended to steer clear of carb heavy stuff when I was losing

Because of that my appetite has regulated and I have an idea of what portion sizes should be
I’m perimenopausal and cut down drinking too

Have you been keeping track of how many calories you’ve been having?

A ‘typical’ day for me would look like:

AM a couple of coffees and lots of water plus my meds and ten million supplements and vitamins

2pm sourdough toast and a couple of eggs (boiled/poached fill me up more than scrambled), couple of bananas that need eating up and a half melted chocolate bar found at the bottom of my bag

6pm dinner which is whatever I’ve made for the kids and normally pretty nutritious

8pm a full tub of low calorie/high protein ice cream (300 cal) cos I’m a fat bastard

Lots and lots of water and sometimes a glass of wine

If I’m out then I won’t limit my food choices but have an idea of when I’m full/hungry

It’s like I’ve reset myself and gone from a size 20 (I’m tall too) to a 12-14 with a healthy BMI

stop dieting. focus on a permanent lifestyle change. use my fitness pal to track your food. don't keep checking every week. it takes at least 4 weeks for a habit to break. track your food - you be very surprised how many calories are in things. up your exercise. you have a bad day you get up and start all over again. not a diet a lifestyle change

Just stop dieting.

Fast for 2 days a week. 700 calories maximum. Protein based breakfast. Huge salad for lunch with a little protein (balsamic vinegar dressing) then chicken/fish and rice for dinner.

Eat normally on the other days.

So much easier than any diet as you only have to think what you eat on 2 days.

I don't know anyone who failed on this diet.

Calorie counting or fasting. Unpleasant but they’re the only things that work.

Diet won’t work on its own, it needs to be combined with exercise. Count calories and make sure each day you stay under the target, either by what you eat or what exercise you do.

Do you know why you put on weight in the first place?
Is it large portions?
Snacking?
If it’s snacking, is it savoury snacks or sweets?
Drinking too much alcohol, juices and fizzy drinks?
Maybe all of the above?

Identify the problem and start working there. If you eat large meals, literally cut them in half. Share a pizza. Divide a takeaway into two portions and save the other one for lunch the next day. Eat from a smaller plate. Weight your meals - a normal dinner portion is 350-450 grams, anything beyond that is too much unless you’re are a competitive athlete or a bodybuilder. Measure oils and fats with a spoon. That includes mayo which is extremely calorific.

If the problem is snacking, don’t keep snacks in the house. Don’t buy multipacks, don’t stash crisps or biscuits. Try snacking on healthy, crunchy foods, it’s very difficult to overeat carrots or stalk celery. Same with sugary drinks and booze. A glass of wine with meal is healthy but alcohol is nearly as calorific as fat as these calories quickly add up.

Try to fill your plate with vegetables first and by vegetables I don’t mean starchy vegetables like potatoes, maize or peas, I mean green dense leaves and flowers like cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, leek, kale, sprout beans, and so on. Only then fill the other half equally with protein and starches. Planning your meals around vegetables quickly becomes a habit and at some point there’s no going back.

Could your menstrual cycle be relevant?
I can be 5lb heavier during my period - water retention.

I agree with those mentioning calories / portion size. You have actually had eggs and spinach, chicken and salad, fish and green veg only for 3 solid weeks, have you?

It really is a case of trial and error to find a style of eating you can sustain. If you enjoy eating fruits and find they satiate your hunger meaning you can sustain a calorie deficit for longer, then it makes no sense to cut them out of your diet. I find that eating several portions of fruit per day means I end up eating far less calories overall. I largely find 'volume eating' to be a good principle for weight loss as it doesn't totally cut out any particular food groups, so chances are you can find some low calorie meal options which you will enjoy eating.

I have had the most luck with calorie tracking. We drink more water, track everything we eat (measuring out our portions was life changing - we were overeating so much and didn't even realise) and exercise. Even just walking made a huge difference. We also try to cut out as much processed food as possible. We do still have treats and whatever we're craving, we just make sure to track it and amend the rest of our day around it.

This! I'm at my lowest ever weight and energy is way better. Try it! I don't feel deprived cos I know I can have food in my eating window and it fits nicely with what nature intended us to eat like , it feels sustainable. Hope you try it and it works.

I use My Fitness Pal and log everything. I don't cut out any food groups and aim for 1400 calories per weekday and 1600 at weekends. I don't have any spare for snacks but eat fruit and carbs. I only drink at weekend and really limit that. I exercise daily to burn a bit extra off and that seems to work for me.

Then either the portion sizes were far too big, or you may have a medical condition you're unaware of.

Calorie counting.. I keep it at 1400 max, if i fancy something bad i cut something else out during the day so i keep my favourite snacks, and every week I drop 1lb .. its very reliable

Diets aren't the answer. Changing the way you eat is what works. But take a look at Michael Moseley's Fast Diet. That trains you into a different way of eating. You have a weight loss period with intermittent fasting (which really gets the weight off quickly), but then you consolidate what you are doing. You don't go back to the way you used to eat, you eat much more healthily, and the weight stays off.

That’s really demotivating!

Rather than think diet, it’s good to think more lifestyle change.

And sadly, I would say unless you are ruthlessly tracking everything you’re eating, you will be overeating.

Atkins and keto work really really well. What you will likely be experiencing is increased water weight as your body adjusts.

I lose weight similarly. I experience a 'whoosh'. 3 weeks isn't enough time to measure a diets effectiveness for women who haven't gone through menopause yet either. Your weight will naturally climb before your period, then afterwards you will get a more accurate reading of your 'real weight'. For me is be at say 70kg, I'd see the scales climb. 70.5, 71, 71.2... then my period would start and I'd go back down to 68.5. this would repeat each month. It's important not to let natural fluctuations deter you as you can't tell if a diet is working until several months in.

I don't do keto full time because it's very hard to stick to and I personally I find it a little hard on the kidneys. I sometimes do 3 or 4 months to lose a bit then swap to intermittent fasting.

I make a lot of things like miso broth with vegetables and watery soups as I find these really comforting. I often have a bowl of this and a very small portion of 'normal' dinner on the side. So maybe an omelette, a piece of salmon and small portion of rice. Usually a protein and a small amount of carbs, and it's usually whatever my other half is eating.

You also need to make sure you eat enough fibre. Keto and Atkins are very lacking but without fibre you will be hungry. Very hungry. No amount of protein will fill you the way healthy fibre will. Without fibre you're more likely to over eat, this is true all the time but especially true on Atkins and keto.

Do your clothes feel any looser?

fast 800 works really well and transitions on to an easy healthy way of eating after the first 8 weeks

It's very easy to go over calorie intake with Atkins. What have you been eating?

You’ll be eating more than you need still. It’s generally that simple, unless you have some weird metabolic disorder. If you’re quite short and fairly sedentary, you won’t need many calories - I’d imagine even with Atkins it would be easy to go over. Can you list what you’ve been eating?