I really need to lose weight!!!

[Asleanna]

Someone stop me eating rubbish. Someone help me exercise. I really need to change my mindset. I'd love to get to Christmas 1-2 stone lighter. I feel gross. I've put on so much weight since the start of the pandemic.
What has worked for you? I don't want 'quick fix' but I want something sustainable. I work long hours. I leave the house between 7-7:30 and don't get home til 7:30/8 at least 3 days a week so find it hard fitting in exercise then as I'm knackered

Portion control. I eat what I want but not a lot of it.

Is your job a sit down job? Can you exercise in your lunch hour?

Cut out bread and processed food and cut ‘treats’ to around 100 calories a day. Eat real food.

I've just started the Fast800 diet after years of yoyoing on Slimming World.
It's 800 calories a day, fasting for 12 to 16 hours a day. You do it for up to 12 weeks then move to doing 5:2 so eating normally 5 days a week.
I thought I'd find it tough but it's incredible. All my cravings and hunger have gone and I feel amazing. Lots of my colleagues have done it before and I wish I'd started it sooner. Its basically just eating healthily so I'm hoping I'll be able to do it long term.

@PeasLily

I've just started the Fast800 diet after years of yoyoing on Slimming World. It's 800 calories a day, fasting for 12 to 16 hours a day. You do it for up to 12 weeks then move to doing 5:2 so eating normally 5 days a week. I thought I'd find it tough but it's incredible. All my cravings and hunger have gone and I feel amazing. Lots of my colleagues have done it before and I wish I'd started it sooner. Its basically just eating healthily so I'm hoping I'll be able to do it long term.

I mean that's not eating healthily though is it? 800 calories a day is less than half your daily calories so it's absolutely not 'basically eating healthily".

I am where you are and have no answers.

I have tried fasting - does literally nothing for me. Not a sausage.

I have done the fast800 twice in fact. Both times lost a lot of weight, felt great etc but have not been able to sustain it and it's all gone back on.

Every weekend I vow to only eat 'real food' and cut down on processed stuff - I've read the books, I get the science etc.

Oh and I'm going be less sedentary and start c25k again and do yoga every day.

I think the answer is probably to be kind to yourself. Buy knickers that fit. I railed against buying size 16 knickers again after years of being a 12/14 and all that did was remind me all the time I was in uncomfortable knickers and therefore eat more as I felt like a failure.

Find something that you can work with. The Dr Chattergee feel great lose weight book did resonate with me recently also I've not managed to follow it. Associating food the comfort and reward is my personal biggest issue. For you it may be something totally different.

Batch cook some healthy meals so you know the calorie count for each portion and have that for your evening meal. Plan your work day menu including snacks and treats and only eat that. Dont cheat by going to the shop or vending machine.

Put this all in my fitness pal the night before so you can see if theres any flexibility for the following days menu.

@Handsoffstrikesagain

Fasting. It will change your life. The first couple of days are a bit tough but it’s generally fairly easy after that. You need to switch your brain off food and the reasons that you overeat.

This, fasting changed my relationship with food totally. I yo yo dieted until my mid 50's. Since 2012 (and the 5:2 thread on MN) I have only wobbled between 9.7 and 10.7. Usually stable around 10stone. (I'm 5'8").

I honestly eat whatever I want to, when ever I want to - but my appetite and attitude to food have been reset. If I've over indulged (lockdown, Christmas, etc) then I compensate by being a bit more conscious about my not eating window.

I discovered that I don't need, or really want, breakfast. I might not eat anything until early afternoon - so I was on a course yesterday morning, walked the dogs, course 10-4pm then had a jacket potato, cheese, with tons of salad and sides. Glass of wine in the evening and a couple of squares of chocolate, hot milk before bed. Never felt hungry. In the past that would have been one meal out of three. I'm a stable 10st atm. Tonight we're having a takeaway. I will have whatever everyone else wants and enjoy it.

The first part is 800 calories a day to lose weight, followed by a long term healthy eating plan. Of course you need a calorie deficit to lose weight and thats what the OP is looking for!
Dr Mosley's book and website can explain it much better than I can but yes, it's healthier than being overweight

Eating bigger portions of healthy food (lean protein, veg etc) will help you stop snacking.

Try and fit any kind of exercise in your day - for fitness, not weight loss.

Delay, not deny - just keep putting off when you will have a treat/takeaway etc. You can still have it, just see how long you can hold off.

Be as organised as you can, if you have healthy ish snacks around it will help you avoid the bad ones most of the time.

Small changes will stay as habits.

You can do this! I also need to take my own advice!

Sorry the above reply is to makelovenotpetrol.

Thanks for all your comments and input. I really appreciate it. I have tried fasting before but feel I'm heavier than I've been in such a long time that I can't even manage it. But I know that's just an excuse and I know I need to get on with it. I think my issue is the long hours so I can eat much before 8pm some days in the week. But I guess I could do my eating window 1-9? On those days? Perhaps I need to work up to it.

Unfortunately due to the nature of my job I don't get a lunch break per se. And no chance of exercise in the day. Although I'm definitely not sat down all day but I do snack a lot.

I think I may start tomorrow by cutting out snacks and a fasting window of maybe 11am - once I've eaten dinner (8ish) and then work my way up to a 1- 8/9 eating window.

I genuinely am so knackered on my long days and don't know how I'd fit in a run but maybe as I get a bit fitter I'll find the energy?! 🤞🤞

Week 1: keep a diary of everything you eat (including times).

Then look through your eating habits to see what foods could be substituted, or if you are snacking out of boredom rather than hunger. Do you prefer to grab junk food due to it being easy/ready made? Are you drinking enough water?

Week 2: Implement the changes you've decided to make.

Fasting. I started gently at first, 12 hours fasting, 12 hours eating window for a week (12:12) to ease into it. Then I went up to 13:11 for a week, then 14:10 for a week, and now I'm on 15:9 which is where I'll probably stay. I use the Fastic app to help me track it.

As others have said about fasting, the hunger passes quickly, after the first few days. It has reset my relationship with food and I have realised I was eating food first thing in the morning and grazing all evening up until bedtime as a habit rather than actually needing the food or even feeling hungry.

I genuinely don't feel deprived at all. I eat and drink whatever in my current window of 9 hours. E.g. I had an Indian the other night when the family had one, I had a glass of wine last night because my OH had one - I'm not having to say 'no' to things or cut out food groups etc.

The weight loss has been gradual, I'm probably losing 2 or 3 lbs a month, but I think that's because it's a sensible and easy to maintain way of life, rather than a restrictive crash diet.

It has honestly been game changing for me.

@toolazytothinkofausername

Week 1: keep a diary of everything you eat (including times).

Then look through your eating habits to see what foods could be substituted, or if you are snacking out of boredom rather than hunger. Do you prefer to grab junk food due to it being easy/ready made? Are you drinking enough water?

Week 2: Implement the changes you've decided to make.

Love this idea, thank you! I'll do that this week.

Weirdly I've been up about 2 hours now and haven't yet eaten anyway but I have had a cup of tea 🙃
I think I'll have a shower and get ready and eat breakfast in about an hour.

I kickstarted the weightloss with a one week cabbage/egg diet, then moved on to healthier eating and portion control (as those kind of diets are obviously not sustainable nor healthy in a long term basis). Lots and lots of my favourite vegetable meals, lots of healthy proteins to help keep me feeling full. Cutting down on alcohol (my consumption was huge), pasta, bread, bacon etc. It was hard for the first month but now 7 months later it's a daily habit and I've lost about 10 kilos and it keeps dropping.

Oh and no breakfast most days. It just works for me personally.

It's hard, takes a mindset change. Everywhere is swamped with fad diets and changes that are unsustainable, such as eating less than 800 calories per day.

I'll share what has been working for me.
I started by cutting out caffeine, this has had a huge effect on my quality of sleep and helped me get into a better mind set. I also wrote down everything I ate so I could see it all together and was quite shocked. I did this over about 2 weeks. This was mid August.
I have since started c25k and am almost halfway through and joined a local jogging group (I can jog a lot further and for longer with the group). I was so nervous about this and originally planned to wait until the dark nights to try jogging under cover of darkness. I've been jogging three times each week ( which has slowed the c25k progress but I really enjoy the group). Two weeks ago I downloaded a begginers yoga app which I do every evening, min is about 10 minutes but you can add different bits to it.
Food wise - I stopped getting rubbish in ( I can't control myself around crisps )and asked my husband to do the same as he can sometimes sabotage and good eating with kindness. I'm using the NHS weighloss app to record calories and aim for about 1500 per day on average. I've eaten whst I want just gradually reducing portion size. If something isn't worth the calories I don't have it e.g. I took my kids to the coast last week, I had chips and peas as I love seaside chips but when everyone else had ice-cream I didn't bother. I'm not fussed about ice cream. I don't enjoy it enough to warrant the calories.
I know I enjoy eating and sitting with family so I've been putting more low calories stuff on my plate that takes the time to eat e.g. salad so psychologically I feel like I've eaten more IYSWIM.

I was 107kg on 12/8 and on Friday I was 99.1kg. I hope to continue 2lb or so per week. The goal on the app is 95kg by Christmas ish, I really hope I surpass that. I'm hoping I've changed the whole way I view food and this is the first time I've actually done planned exercise.

Sorry for the long post, all the best with your weightloss OP

Would you go to a club? I know they're not everyone's cup of tea , but they can keep you motivated. Also, having a buddy. My dsis and I keep each other on track and, more importantly, don't let each other go off plan if we have a blip. We also walk n talk together.
You've got some good ideas here but obviously it will be what works for you. This is working for me atm ;

1. joining a club
2. having realistic targets ( 2lb a week for first few weeks then a pound a week).
3. planning meals I enjoy
4. 2 litres of water a day
5. writing it down. Sticking to it as best I can.
6. finding exercise you enjoy and which fits into your lifestyle. Walking is best for me, and zumba twice a week. I've lost 10lb in 3 weeks - only need another 10lb and Christmas is my target, so I feel it's doable. You can do it!

To add to my looooong post, Amdone has just reminded me ...

Water. I've made a really big effort to have 2l per day. Lots of visits to the loo though, I started using the toilets two floors from my office so I get a bit extra movement going so many times each day!

I gave myself a kick up the arse this week. I'd got into a snacking habit and needed to stop so this week I have not taken snacks to work, I can't go and buy any, and I've really had to force myself to have just one biscuit after tea not half a packet. I don't want the sweet stuff as much now and I've gotten used to eating less. I also developed a wine habit over the last 18 months, so I've cut that down to one bottle only and on a weekend. I've lost 2lbs this week through those changes. Will see how I get on next week before I decide whether to go back on calorie counting.

@Asleanna

Someone stop me eating rubbish. Someone help me exercise. I really need to change my mindset. I'd love to get to Christmas 1-2 stone lighter. I feel gross. I've put on so much weight since the start of the pandemic. What has worked for you? I don't want 'quick fix' but I want something sustainable. I work long hours. I leave the house between 7-7:30 and don't get home til 7:30/8 at least 3 days a week so find it hard fitting in exercise then as I'm knackered

If you want to stop eating rubbish the best trick is to not buy it. My brother went through a major fitness transformation last year and he works on the basis that if there are no crisps, chocolate etc. in the house he can't eat it. Make sure you have food you can make easy but healthy meals, we always keep frozen veg, fish, chicken in the fridge so there are quick and healthy options if needed.

Two stone by Christmas is two around two pounds a week which means a calorie deficit of 1,000 a day which might be hard without regular exercise, but 1-1.5 stone should be easy enough.

What about the other five days, any time to get out walking, see how you get on and try Couch to 5k?

What exactly is fasting, just the times you eat in a day? I’m a bit confused I bet a bit hypo and hangry if I don’t eat but I also eat too much bread type foods, but I think by sounds of it it works? But don’t know enough.
I’m a nurse so also work long hours, but have an arthritis in my knee that might stop me so I need to lose weight badly - I get quite hungry at work too as it’s long hours I’ve had cortisone to my knee now so feeling better and not in so much pain which has helped my mood. Anyway sorry to derail