If you have one weight loss tip, what is it?

[ShakeSpears]

I'm interested in what has worked for people and what one thing might be the most important.

Heavy weights, protein, steer well clear of faddy programmes like weight watchers and slimming world

Walking, giving up fizzy drinks.

I used to kid myself that I got enough excersise but I really didn't. A 20 min walk per day wasn't nearly enough. Now I walk for an hour each way every evening and stopped drinking coke...which I did quite a lot! I drank two small cans per day and also often ate crisps...I didn't give crisps up totally...but only have them once a week.

I've lost half a stone in the last 2 months.

Eat real food as required to meet your calorie needs.

You have to want to do it for yourself.

Not because of someone else. Not to fit in smaller clothes. Not to try and fix some other problem in your life.

no snacks.
only eat at mealtimes.

Advice I have to give myself regularly otherwise weight creeps back on:

You don’t need rice/noodles with your daily stir fry, chicken and veg is enough.

Put down the cake, in half an hour the craving will go.

Same with the bread/bagel/crumpet. It will bloat you and make you feel like shit so you end up throwing in the towel and eating all the cake and the rice.

Basically carbs are my enemy.

Eat lots of protein and fibre and not much else.

Low carb. It works.

Don’t have things in the house to tempt you into binge eating. I used to still have loads of big family sized bars of chocolate in my cupboards and it meant I’d always end up scoffing loads of it when trying to diet.

Eat less, move more.

Weighted hula hooping works wonder

No snacking.

Drink plenty before you feel really thirsty, make sure you drink all through out the day.

Drink plenty of water
Steer clear of carbs
No second helpings
Walk everywhere you can
Get up and move every hour
No elasticated waist bands
Eat slowly and chew thoroughly

Personally I would say eliminating snacking altogether is a major thing that worked for me, particularly in the evening after dinner. I know 'eating little and often' or having planned healthy snacks works for some but for me I lack self-restraint and once I start eating I don't stop, particularly sweet/junky stuff but even if it's fruit or something I end up eating loads of it, and sometimes the fruit is the gateway to toast which is the gateway to biscuits . I think for the majority of adults if you eat reasonable portion sizes of healthy, balanced food at mealtimes you shouldn't need to snack in between...

Also, and perhaps more controversially, abandoning the 'breakfast is the most important meal of the day' idea worked wonders for me. I'd never been a big breakfast eater as a child or young person, I naturally tend not to be hungry in the mornings but when I first started to need to watch my diet/lose weight, everything seemed to be saying eating breakfast was crucial so I started forcing myself to eat porridge or cereal in the morning which only ever felt like a waste of calories and as though it 'kick started' my appetite for the day. I found myself craving biscuits mid morning which I never had before... Once I went back to making a light lunch my first meal of the day and having a substantial dinner (so the opposite to the way you are 'meant' to do it according to a lot of diets) I had much more success. I've later learnt that the 'studies' purporting to show the importance of breakfast in weight loss are questionable at best and it's very personal - so long as skipping breakfast doesn't mean you end up snacking on junk mid morning it's generally fine to wait until you are hungry to eat and it can actually help weight loss as it gives a longer fast period overnight during which time your body may burn fat reserves to meet energy needs. Eating a very carby breakfast like cereal, porridge, toast (what most people have!) can even cause a blood sugar spike and crash which isn't always helpful!

Go cold turkey with sugar and simple carbs (white bread, pasta, rice). Kick that addiction and the weight comes off and stays off.

Eat real food that you have to chew.
Nothing processed or out of a package.
Weigh out your helpings.
No eating between meals.
Work out how much you really need to eat, most people do not require 2000 calories a day (use TDEE).

Also agree with Maxelly re: breakfast and snacks.

Keep a food diary.

Calories in vs calories out worked for me. And exercise - not a gentle dawdle, proper exercise.

Find what works for you.

I love carbs and wouldn’t want to give them up. I just weight pasta and rice now so I’m eating sensible portions.

Eat loads of veg and lean protein.

You don’t have to eat healthily every single meal.

Meal planning was a game changer for me. Being realistic about cooking from scratch every night and having easy, healthy option in the freezer.

Smaller dinner plates.

Don't buy unhealthy snack food.

Meal planning and food shopping for it. If that goes to pot, I am doomed!

Eat off a smaller plate

What has helped keep my weight stable-ish since losing 10kg on Weight Watchers:

Weighing myself first thing every single Thursday, before taking even a sip of coffee, but no more often than that

Wearing jeans every day, so I can feel when I’m starting to backtrack

No alcohol during the week

Restricting eating to 11-7, not a single morsel after dinner

Since the onset of menopause whether or not I exercise doesn’t make the slightest difference to my weight: it is ALL about what (or rather how much) I eat. And when you’re menopausal you need a helluva lot less food than you do to sustain a growing and then potentially child-bearing body. It really is that depressingly simple.