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.

Get enough sleep.

If your sleep deprived it really effects your food choices and compliance with whichever diet you are doing.

Don't eat after dinner. If you've got to snack, make sure it's a watery fruit like watermelon or cucumber. Otherwise don't snack.

Really think hard about what healthy foods you enjoy, foods you would love to get out and cook for a meal and look for a way to diet that works with those. For me it is things like tuna, salmon and eggs. I love them and love the wealth of recipes for them so I headed to low carb. That way I get to lovingly prepare beautiful meals that taste incredible to me.

Be honest about how you eat, are you a snacker or can you stick to meals? I find I struggle to stop eating when I start but happily go without if I don't start which led me to intermittent fasting.

Finally drink water far far more than you think. I realised after years of struggling with a gurgling tum that it was thirst not hunger.

There is a way to eat that will work for you, it is just a case of looking objectively at your natural preferences and being brutally honest about what you will and won't do.

Be honest with yourself about / measure how many calories you consume.

Reverse the dieting mentality and learn to eat like a normal person. Easier said than done, I know! But I gave up diets four years ago and while it's been a very long and hard process (with the help of a mindset programme called Slimpod) I am now at the point where I no longer diet but am losing weight naturally (ie, my body's finding it's natural set point).

For me it's eliminating snacking. If I have fruit and yoghurt for breakfast, something light for lunch then I can have a normal dinner with the rest of the family without worrying too much about counting calories. If however I eat a packet of crisps mid afternoon or a chocolate bar after dinner then that's where the calories and weight creep in.

Number 1 for me is not to eat breakfast. I’m still the same hungry at lunchtime whether I eat it or not.

The other thing is have snacks or a meal but don’t have both. Some days I will have a full evening meal. Other days I will snack on bits and bobs during the late afternoon and evening. Whatever works best for my plans

Move more! All very well taking in fewer calories, but you need to exercise to keep your metabolism revved up.

@ShirleyPhallus

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

This person has made a mistake. It should be the opposite way round!

Don't eat a thing after 6pm

• No snacking
• It's perfectly healthy to feel hungry between meals
• Drink 3 litres of water a day
• If you have PCOS you need to be low carb
• Weigh your food for a few weeks to understand what a correct serving size is
• Make sure to take progress photos, highly motivating when weight loss slows/plateaus
• Exercise, HIT and weights, will help build muscle to help reduce the loose skin impact of weight loss
• Seek professional help to sort out the behaviours/history that has resulted in disordered eating

Eat for the body you want, not the body you have.

Don't try to lose all the weight at once. I started with about 3st 7lb to lose. It's too much all at once. I've lost a stone on LCHF OMAD & have reverted temporarily to a more "normal" eating pattern, with some carbs like black rice, sweet potatoes etc, & I'm having 2 or 3 meals a day according to how hungry I feel, etc. I'm not counting calories, not really exercising, or restricting portions. Basically I eat what I want, when I want. We're still ordering cream from the milkman though & I'm eating most of it. It's been a few weeks now. I've not put a single pound back on & I'm no longer obese. I'm actually quite surprised as I'm chronically ill & sometimes I'm bedbound so I don't always manage any exercise at all.

Heavy weights, protein, steer well clear of faddy programmes like weight watchers and slimming world
This person has made a mistake. It should be the opposite way round!

@81Byerley why do you think this? Do you think lifting weights is bad?

Eat less, move more.

In particular, eat much less unhealthy crap and much more lean protein & fresh veggies. It really is that simple, or it was for me anyway.

‘Simple’ ≠ ‘easy’, of course, particularly when it comes to eating much less of the stuff you love.

@Girlintheframe

Get enough sleep.

If your sleep deprived it really effects your food choices and compliance with whichever diet you are doing.

This is so important. I piled on my 'baby weight' not so much during pregnancy (put on a normal amount) but in the months after both times. Caused by total and utter sleep deprivation, meaning I would grab whatever food was easy to make/get close to hand, quick and usually carb heavy. I recall being in a total haze and eating things like ready made croissants, crumpets and toast so often when my eldest was small because I just couldn't muster the energy to cook. If you're really tired you'll crave carbs, fat and sugar.

Four slices of toast is a very quick and filling breakfast when you're on your knees with tiredness but it is not good for the waistline!

If I'm well rested (which I am now my children are out of the baby years and actually sleep!) I eat 100 times better, meal plan, cook from scratch etc. I rarely eat toast these days because I lived off of it for so long

@Neonlightning

- No snacking

• It's perfectly healthy to feel hungry between meals
• Drink 3 litres of water a day
• If you have PCOS you need to be low carb
• Weigh your food for a few weeks to understand what a correct serving size is
• Make sure to take progress photos, highly motivating when weight loss slows/plateaus
• Exercise, HIT and weights, will help build muscle to help reduce the loose skin impact of weight loss
• Seek professional help to sort out the behaviours/history that has resulted in disordered eating

If you have PCOS you need to be low carb

Not true. I have PCOS and have struggled with weight, acne etc for a long time. I lost four stone last year with one stone still to lose and I still eat potatoes, brown rice, wholemeal bread and some white pasta.

I love carbs! I just measure my portions and eat a sensible amount, calorie counted. Daily though, I honestly don't think I go a day without one or two of the above being eaten! I've had a wholemeal bread tuna sandwich for lunch and am having brown rice tonight for dinner for example.

Eat meals that actually fill you up. A sliver of salmon on a bed of greens is perfect, until you're starving 20 mins later rummaging through the biscuit tin.

Ignore the scale. Focus more on how you feel instead of the numbers.

Giving up alcohol.

No sugar for me works really me. I don’t drink either and don’t eat processed food. However, I eat cheese, full fat dairy and all the fruit veg and meat I want. If I do have sugar I find I’m starving the day after

Don't diet and know your weaknesses. For me it's biscuits. So I try not to buy ones I like! Also - get used to drinking water as it's an easy way to save calories.

Eat less, output more

Fasting, it just works. OMAD, 5:2, Fast800 or 16:8.

Try to eat healthily (as in unprocessed food, fruit, vegetables, wholegrains) but have a little of anything you like in moderation. Log all your food and stick to a realistic calorie limit.

This has been a revelation for me. Previously I’d been restricting myself too much, craving something, then binging on it because I was hungry, then sacking off the diet as I’d ruined it. Since January I’ve logged my calories, stuck to a limit and aimed to eat healthily and have whatever I want in small amounts and make up for it elsewhere. It’s been great for me as I’ve never felt deprived or hungry and I’ve lost 2 stone.

Drop carbohydrates.

All processed carbohydrates (pasta, bread, flour, sugar) and high carb items such as potatoes, rice, parsnips, bananas etc.

I've lost 53lbs. It works because you aren't hungry.

Carbohydrates are sugar, your body can't tell whether it's good sugar or bad sugar, it's just sugar.