I’ve lost 52 pounds but I’m just kinda over it now

My Husband is on it, he is always hungry, with the added pressure to succeed.
It doesn't work for everyone.

Sounds like you're suffering from food noise, it is like an addiction.

The mind noise is hard to ignore and constantly making you fear that you're missing out.

It is a fight between wanting and suffering from the guilt afterwards.

Would you consider overeating anonymous program? The 12 step program can really help you understand why thoughts become an obsessive thinking pattern.

It has a very high success rate and like minded individuals who can help.

You absolutely can

Portion control and generally healthy diet!

@Whis I guess you could always take Mounjaro/Ozempic. It's no effort at all because you won't feel any hunger. My friend who's on it hasn't changed anything diet or exercice wise, she's just not hungry on the jabs.

I mean this kindly, but you're always going to have to be in the "diet mindset". Your default mode is (like mine) to want to be able to go out and have big meals and bottles of wine etc. You also say you can't do "cheat days" as it causes you stress. But the problem is, if you just go back to "normal" eating, you're going to gain the weight straight back.

I lost 12 stone, maintained for 10 years, then put it back on again.. so trust me when I say, I KNOW about this.

You need to calorie count and gradually increase your calories to the number needed to maintain your weight. You can give and take - so less on some days and more on others - to build in your treats. No need to feel guilty about that at all.

But honestly, this idea that you lose 20lbs and then go back to normal? It won't work.

I have lost four stone in 3.5 years and I am also a bit sick of it. Going on holiday soon, so currently no carbs, no alcohol, two days’ intermittent fasting a week.

When I’m on holiday I will go all out and eat and drink what I like and I’ll be back to the weight I will be before the holiday in two weeks. But the last two stone are taking ages to shift.

I just know it will be worth it in the end.

Can you split a fish and chips pub meal with a friend, and have a spitzer or gin and soda water?

If you deprive yourself really badly it's no way to live. It's fantastic you've come this far though. Do you think your stomach capacity has shrunk since you've been losing? You can still have whatever foods you fancy but just eat half only?
You definitely deserve to still eat enjoyable, calories dense foods sometimes. X

You're doing brilliantly! That's a consistent 1lb/week loss which is so good, and a healthy way to lose weight.

When you lose weight slowly, you're more likely to keep it off.

If you're worried about losing momentum so don't want to try maintaining for a while, you could either find your second wind from this thread to keep going, or you could even consider upping your efforts for a 2lbs/week loss. Then you'll reach your goal within 10 weeks!! That means you could reach your target goal by mid-summer!

Then you'll be able to go into maintaining mode which will be better.

OP, if you are an all of nothing gal and like your treats, then you might want to look into 36 hour fasts.

When you are on a 36 hour fast, it means not eating for the waking hours of an day book-ended by dinner the previous day and waiting till brunch/lunch to eat the day after. I find it easier psychologically to accept that today is the day of no-eating if I know that when I wake up tomorrow, I can eat normally. I do these fasts twice a week to maintain my weight but if I had to lose weight, will do them 3 x a week.

This allows me to eat freely on non-fast days (including fish and chips) which I time so that they coincide with the days I know I have to eat normally like going out for a meal with friends, a family get-together or in my case, the days I go into the office to work. If I skip fast days (e.g. I was on a 4 day work trip), I can make it up later.

I am not very scientific in my approach. I see it as no different to weight loss drugs without the drugs because the drugs make you not want to eat and that is how you lose weight. For 36 hour fasts, you are not eating either, but just on certain days. I do exercise so as to maintain muscle.

Absolute nonsense. As a treat and a bit of portion control there is nothing you can’t eat. Miserable.

I lost 5 stone a few years ago and I definitely had times where I just had to focus on maintaining for a couple weeks/months as I was ready to give up altogether. It worked and sometimes I had it in my mind to maintain for a few months but after a few weeks I was ready to restart x

I use Nutracheck too. It's got a easier day, eat out options, magazine and lots of other features. For £34.99 for 12 months it's good value.

She absolutely can eat fish and chips and cheesecake and remain a healthy weight. Just as long as they are eaten very, very infrequently! A blow-out as a one-off would be irrelevant in the grand scheme of things. It's whether it would remain a one-off that's the issue.

OP, I absolutely hear you on 'the fear' around 'treat' foods. It can become quite paralysing. I found it happened a lot to me when I ate low-carb, which was fabulous in terms of the weight falling off but terrible for me in terms of categorising food as 'good' or 'bad' and developing a real hangup about the 'bad' food. I would literally feel panicky if I thought I was going to have to eat high-carb food, ridiculous really but there we go.

Tracking food is boring, time consuming and irritating, especially when we live in an environment where tempting snacks or glasses of wine are always ready to ambush us! I actually really resent it at times. But I resent being overweight, bloated, sluggish and hungover with crappy skin more, so...

Yeah exactly. I was 9 stone most of my
adult life and very much ate chips, white bread, cake and ice cream etc regularly. The issue for my weight was when it got out of control at a certain stage as I was under a lot of stress coupled with the fact my daily activity had went from 15K steps a day and the gym twice a week to barely moving.

I lost 35 pounds gradually while also eating those things.

I am definitely committed to a healthier diet nowadays, so I do aim for reasonable portions , wholefoods and non UPF as much as I can and will always do that even when I get down to my target weight.

It feels way better to eat healthier, and be kinder to my body basically, but I will still have frozen pizza, takeaways and cakes now and again!

I hear that Op. I tend not to have cakes ,
pastries or cookies in the house as I’ll possibly eat a fair amount in one go 👀

I’d say that assuming you’re meeting up with friends for a coffee 3 or 4 times a month as opposed to every day you should feel free to have that cake in the cafe . Or maybe ask said friend to share a slice of cake with you.

As I said I can’t have them around the house unless it’s for guests but if I’m in a cafe it’s manageable. A slice of cake in a cafe won’t lead to me ordering ten slices more.

I also keep ingredients for cake & cookies in my house and I’ve learnt one portion recipes which I make in my air fryer. Takes 2 minutes to mix one egg, milk, a few tablespoons of flour etc and frozen fruit then throw it in the air fryer for ten mins and there you have a tiny portion of cake. I’ve made cookie dough that I can store in the freezer too so I can tear of a little bit and air fry or bake it each time I want one cookie. Whereas before I’d have made a whole batch and ate at least half of it!

It sounds like you’ve done such a great job with losing weight in a healthy way though. So congratulations on the changes you’ve made with your health and making progress to your weight loss goal!

Of course you can

Well done op. I'm the same, I've lost 4st in 1.5yrs with medical help and still have 1-2stone to go. I have been eating treat food and drinking alcohol every week (probably why it's taken me so long) but I've had to fast to "afford" those calories which means I'm consuming fewer nutritious foods.
I'm not a yoyo dieter and have been obese since my late teens but I have been able to maintain my weight for decades but have been so unsuccessful in actually losing weight without medication.

I'm much happier being a size 12-14 rather than a 18-20, I do love clothes shopping now but can't go mad as I do plan to lose more. I feel at a weird in between stage where I can't fully enjoy it and still have to consider every morsel of food and drink.

I'm trying to focus on improving my overall health and fitness instead of getting bogged down with dieting. Also wellness, self care and taking time out and naps when I need them rather than burn out. I'm considering taking up a sport or martial art in my 40s as a newbie because I'm no longer lugging around those 4st. Overall positive changes instead of focusing on dull dieting.

Do you realise you won't be able to eat fish and chips and cheesecake in order to remain a healthy weight?

I like what @Friartruckster said. As tough as it is now, I personally find it even harder to make the decision to start than to carry on once I'm in the throes of it. I think you're more likely to regret not carrying on now when you are so close!!

And fwiw you WILL stop thinking in this way once you are able to. Again, in the throes of it I always think I'll count calories for life and feel miserable and guilty with it too, but when I'm happily maintaining I am able to switch that back off.

I hope it's the same for you too!

It's about changing your mindset of what's normal. Having dessert several times a week or 2,000 calories in one meal sitting isn't normal.

What is perceived as dieting is closer to what we should be eating with the occasional treat thrown in.

Yes it's absolutely shit sometimes especially if your short, low metabolism ect.. as your body just doesn't need more when the world is telling you to eat. Once you view food as fuel rather than an eating experience it becomes so much easier.

A treat now and again actually will do you good - it prevents any binging and you can keep going the next day.

I'm in a similar situation OP only I'm totally screwed thanks to being diabetic (type 2). I have such a limited diet in terms of what doesn't send my blood sugar soaring, although I'm off most of my meds and actually some days I just want to eat something really normal like everyone else does. When we were on holiday, DH wanted to try Rick Stein fish and chips... so he had both. I had grilled fish, a green salad and tartare sauce I was quite evill watching him. My only sanity is remembering how shit eating dense carbs makes me feel for 24 hours. There's a grim satisfaction somehow in getting a normal blood sugar reading.

When changing eating habits it needs to be a lifestyle change for life ! And it’s not easy getting a good balance but I think instead of beating yourself up give yourself a pat on the back and keep going but have the odd treat !
I got to my target weight in November a total loss of 3 stone in just over a year (slimming world )’and I get that over it part but u have so many health benefits of this weight loss that’s should be enough to keep you going !
I have found it harder to maintain than to lose weight but I keep going cus I know it will click in eventually ! It’s ok once in a blue moon to go eat those chips cheesecake and wine but get back on track next day u enjoy yourself and don’t worry about it !! ❤️

To me thats just eating more sensibly instead of rubbish.

Being in consistent calorie deficit for a long period of time is hard on both your mind and body. Why not practice maintenance for a while? You will need to crack
this at some point anyway.