Do you ever feel like chucking in the diet and eating what you want?

[Pileonsally]

This is a first world problem I know.
I need to lose weight for medical reasons (as well as looking awful).
I've been doing a low carb diet for 10 weeks. Impressed myself sticking to it because I was a major bread and carb addict.
I've totally changed the way I eat.

I've lost 10lbs in 10wks but now put 2lbs back on. So 8lbs in 10wks.
I know you shouldn't compare but my friend did same diet and lost 18lbs in same time. My husband has done weight watchers for 3 weeks and lost 10lbs.
Im menopausal and also on anti depressants so have tried to tell myself just keep going and accept that my weight only ever comes off very very slowly. I've lost 5 inches overall.

However, I've got 4 stone to lose! I'm a size 18-20 and 8lbs in 10wks feels so little reward for my efforts. Am sticking to it so well and trying so hard.

Feel mad and sad today and craving 'something nice' but keep thinking ill be racked with guilt if I do.

Not looking for diet advice. Im looking for other people to tell me they feel like this. Looking for people who have lost weight very very slowly to reassure me.

Proper fed up! And want a massive ham butty with a bag of crisps! Sigh

Yep, I feel like crap and I can’t be arsed. I’ve just had a plate of nuggets and Mayo for dinner.

I start a diet on a Monday, have this thought on a Tuesday and then start the diet again fresh the following Monday. Rinse and repeat.

Been my mind set for ages.

Need.to.change

You’re not alone.

The thing that frustrates me is how slowly it comes off but how quickly it goes on. I can undo a month’s hard work in a weekend without even going THAT overboard.

Same here....I've been told to lose weight, BMI is 40 I think I just hate the way I look & WISH I could have that 'love your body whatever shoe you're' attitude....

I can easily lose 7-9lbs in a week if I reduce bread/pasta drink shit loads of water but I can the. Have a weekend off and I put it all feckin back on

When's it going to get easier ?!

This is exactly why I won't do "diets" any more. As yes, I always feel exactly like that, then DO give up, and feel shit and binge eat etc.

I'm doing Paul McKenna now, and I'm finding it helpful. His idea is eat what you want, but when you're hungry, eat it mindfully, and stop when you're full. It will definitely be a slow process and I have times when I do eat too much, but the guilt is less and my binge and emotional eating has mostly stopped. Diets definitely do not work for me, as I just don't find it sustainable long term, and end up back to square one feeling crapper than before.

You're doing really well, so I hope you find a way to continue. It is very daunting when you have lots of weight to lose as well, and it can feel like such a big mountain to climb.

If you're feeling this way, are you sure low carb is the way to go for you? I find any diet that tells me I categorically can't eat some type of food, just makes me focus on it and crave it more.

Sorry I know you didn't want diet advice, so hope you don't feel that's what I'm giving. Overall, yes, I get what you're saying, it's crap and it's hard. You've made some fantastic progress so far

You’ve lost 8lb in ten weeks despite being menopausal and on antidepressants which can definitely make shifting the pounds harder. I think your mistake is comparing with your friend and DH instead of being pleased with yourself for changing your eating habits and losing 5 inches which is great. You’re moving in the right direction and it’s about your health and well-being, not a competition with others!

Exactly! I was so chuffed to hit 10lbs but putting 2 back on when I haven't eaten any differently has tipped me over!
(Its not water blah blah, the 2lbs hasn't shifted for days)

i started using My Fitness Pal on November 20 last year. i am on antidepressants, antipsychotics and have an underactive thyroid.

i’ve lost almost 4 stone. logging the calories seems to have made me really accountable for what i eat. it’s been a revelation.

to answer your question: yes. i take a sleeping tablet that is renowned for causing ‘sleep-eating’. on friday i took it at the usual time but then stayed up watching telly, much later than i usually would. i went into a crazed, almost hypnotised binge where i knew i was fucking up massively but couldn’t seem to stop. i just didn’t feel full, even after eating a ridiculous amount.

it felt good at the time but not so good at Monday’s weigh-in, where i had managed to gain 3lb! i dutifully logged the calories for Friday and i’d managed to eat almost 3,000 calories over the day, where i usually don’t go above 1400.

i have to treat it as a blip otherwise i will spiral back into mindless eating. i don’t work as i’m disabled (arthritis) and boredom has been awful as a trigger for eating crap during shielding.

i don’t think there’s anything wrong with saying ‘fuck it’ occasionally but if it then gives you horrors and makes you feel shit about yourself then for me, it’s not worth it.

(just to add, i have around 9 stone to lose overall which is why it came off much faster in the beginning. i have cut out rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and chocolate biscuits!)

Yep I've tried all sorts but sadly don't lose any weight at all. Gets so demoralising year on year on year. I'm reading a book called the f*k it diet at the moment and it's quite interesting and talks about how the whole diet culture is damaging our health long term. If we ate normally (which apparently in the 40s was 2.5/3000 cals) then we would never have a problem. According to this were damaging our bodies long term and we're better off learning how to treat our bodies right and the rest falls into place. I haven't read much yet but all seems to make a lot of sense so far.

Its not water blah blah, the 2lbs hasn't shifted for days
Unfortunately, that's how weight loss/gain works - it's not linear, it goes up & down. I find that mine won't shift for a week then I lose 2lb overnight - clearly that's not what really happens, but it's what the scales say!

my friend did same diet and lost 18lbs
Ditto - we are all different, it's not like there's a magic formula; our bodies all respond differently. Stop comparing yourself...

Impressed myself sticking to it because I was a major bread and carb addict. I've totally changed the way I eat.
8lbs in 10wks feels so little reward for my efforts
Changing the way you eat is a massive achievement, in and of itself - have you acknowledged that? Creating that new way of thinking/living will have benefits for the rest of your life; that should be a bit of a reward! Can you manage to build in some rewards (non-food!) as you go? A little treat so that you're "marking" each half stone you lose (lipstick / fancy pen or notebook / nice handsoap etc), and it feels like less of an eternity?

I am in my 50's and for the first time ever I am "dieting" but actually eating a fair bit, more like 1800 calories a day over the week (some days I have 1400 and others 2200 and I even it out across the week). I have exactly what I want but I try to eat within a timeframe of about 12-8pm and I don't cut anything out. I am losing weight at about 1.5lbs and week which is fantastic. Even 1lb a week is 5 stone over the period of a year!

If you were to give up now what would happen? You would put the 8lb back on and be back to where you were, but if you carry on then in another 10 weeks you will be a futher 10lbs lighter probably and that will be nearly 1.5 stone!

Just carry on, have some high days where you do have a ham sandwich and a packet of crisps and then other days when you feel a little less fed up and a bit less hungry maybe have a salad and fresh fruit day.

x

Sorry 1lb a week is 4 stone over the year :)

I don't diet now, as I would be the same. I'm calorie counting and doing 10000 steps a day. I've not cut out any food groups and it's not low calorie. This means I'm finding it easier to sustain and haven't felt the need to binge, as nothing is off limits. I'm losing steadily and actually feel in control.

Basically I always think life's too short let's just enjoy it. But now I'm in my 40s the weight is creeping on. I just had a baby too and am in need of a sensible eating and moving plan to lose the lockdown baby weight (which must surely be twice as much as normal baby weight 😂) but I'd much rather sit on the sofa with tea and chocolate or crisps and wine. I just bought some bigger clothes so now I really have no motivation to lose weight 😬

Everyone on a diet wants to scoff bacon sandwiches, having the willpower not to is what makes the difference between those who succeed and those who remain fatties.

@Looneytune253 I read the same book back in January. For the first 8 weeks or so I ate more than I ever thought possible. Now though? I have a cupboard full of sweets and biscuits. That was unheard of 3 months ago. I’d battle with myself, tell myself I was not allowed to eat them under any circumstances, then give in and binge. Now that I’ve let my body know that there’s an abundance of food therefore no reason for me to binge when it’s available, I don’t crave them in the same way. Still not all the way there but I’m not bingeing anymore, which has been a problem for me for my whole adult life.

Not sure what will happen with my weight. I lost 4 stone with weight watchers, got down to a size 8 then put it back on with the stress of the pandemic. I’ve now realised that I was verging into disordered eating. I would say no to plans with friends if it might mean eating more than my allocation of points. I was terrified of eating potatoes. I was irritable all the time because I wasn’t eating enough and would lie about how I was never hungry while eating endless zero point foods to try and quell my rumbling stomach. Most diets don’t work long term, and they mess with our metabolism and our bodies set point weight. I’d rather be bigger, be at a stable weight and treat food as food.