If you have lost a lot of weight please read and advise

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Hello everybody.

I posted on here a few weeks ago about being in a dire state and needing to change. I tipped the scales at 17 stone which makes me obese.

I have been chatting to a family member tonight who is into fitness and nutrition, and they advised me that I should avoid all processed food. They said that I shouldn’t calorie count but rather eat foods that are not processed as I will feel fuller for longer.

I was planning on doing calorie counting because that’s how my brain is wired. I did it in the past and it worked for a bit. I also lost 4+ stone on WW, so mentally for me this is how I lose weight - by doing some form of counting.

I don’t know anything about nutrition, and I find the mass of information out there overwhelming. However, I have just bought the book “ultra processed people”, which I plan on starting tonight.

So my question for you is…. have you lost a lot of weight by not eating processed foods? Are there are any golden resources / cookbooks that I should be following? I want to lose at least 6 stone.

I would really appreciate anyone’s advice / tips / sharing of their experiences.

Bump…. anyone?

South Beach diet worked for me, the book.

If you regularly eat fast food, shop bought bread, ready meals and unhealthy snacks, going ultra processed food free will result in you stopping all of that and yes, you'll lose a lot of weight.

You'll also be restricting the nasty chemicals you consume so definitely healthier as well.

The only thing that’s worked for me is low carb, which by extension means significantly cutting down sugar. I lost a huge amount of weight about 10 years ago and have kept it off, I lost about 5 stone in less than a year. One benefit is that you just don’t get hungry, the combination of fat and protein keeps you satisfied, with no faff of having to count calories.

UPF’s are addictive and make you want to eat more and more.
Real, natural food doesn’t trigger this urge (unless you have a real binge-eating disorder) so you will naturally consume fewer calories over time.
it’s easy to eat 4 packets of crisps in a row and then want something else.
Less so 4 apples or 4 boiled eggs………

If you read the book it will tell you why UPF can make losing weight so difficult. Calorie counting doesn’t take into account so many aspects of food and you will put on weight as soon as you stop. I’ve done all the dieting over the years and I now eat hardly any UPF. The weight is coming off slowly and I feel better.

I looked at what I eat every day - properly and thought about what I couldn't do without and what was wasted calories.

It's taken 15 months to lose 2 stone, but it's not a diet it's how I eat now. Whereas before if I had a "bad day" I'd think "start again tomorrow" and then go hell for leather eating everything in preparation for tomorrows diet, I now think "so what I ate something and enjoyed it, I'll stop now". Sometimes I only loose 1/2lb per week, but that time will pass anyway..

I highly recommend fast 800. It’s very low carb - eating mainly protein (eggs, meat, fish) with lots of veg. High fat foods like cheese, full fat yogurt eat are allowed but the aim is to stick to 800 cals a day for first 12 weeks. It sounds impossible but actually I found it quite easy. I fast until lunchtime and then have lunch (often yogurt and fruit or eggs) and then an early dinner (protein with lots of veg) and then nothing before bedtime. You need to drink plenty of water which helps keep hunger at bay. Lots of people have seen amazing results with fast and significant weight loss. I’ve lost almost 2 stone since summer. I was only 11 stone to start with and haven’t stuck to it religiously. There are some really yummy recipes and I’ve not really felt deprived at all. Have a look at the books and / or Facebook groups.

Thanks everyone for your replies so far…. thinking about it, my diet is probably close to 100% UPF, which is quite a scary thing to think about tbh.

Do what works for you, if you found that weight watchers works then just go back to that, don't over complicate it for yourself

Keto is the only thing that worked for me.

Im on it 6 years and lost 6 stone the first year and a half. I’ve kept it off too.

Carbs are a huge issue for me and I have to use keto as a prescription for health. Otherwise I’d balloon back up really quickly with more weight on top of what I lost!

Anything ‘radical’, faddy or with lots of exclusions (no dairy/carbs/fat/treats/sugar/whatever) is less likely to be sustainable. I would include all processed food as a blanket exclusion that may not be helpful in normal life long term.

weight watchers /slimming world or similar type options allow normal meals/diet in a healthier way which is more normal and more likely to lead to sticking with a sensible diet long term

I think if you do start to eat real food you will drop weight quickly. You will feel better, especially as you say you eat a lot of UPF. I would think that just making that change will be enough to begin with and you won't need to start counting calories with the real food until later.

I eat mostly real food but am a stone heavier than I would like, so I have moved to low carb.

The thing is OP, if you eat a huge amount of UPF at the moment, you are more than likely addicted to it. So it will be a difficult journey to go cold turkey.

Could you try starting small - say for example by ensuring you have a healthy breakfast everyday, like porridge and fruit, or an omelette etc.
Just make that one change for a while and get used to it. And then slowly add in other changes.

Another good one would be fizzy drinks/ energy drinks - if you drink these at all, cut them out completely, they are really bad for you. Swap them for water with lemon, or unsweetened fruit tea or similar.

Then just keep building in better habits - like lean protein and veg for dinner, brown or wholemeal bread instead of white, brown rice or wholewheat pasta instead of white etc.

What does your average day look like now with food?
Might be better to do slow changes so they last forever and you don't have to go up and down.

Hi Op!

well done for starting the journey. You’ll find a rush of people coming here to tell you this or that diet helped them. But you’re so right that you need to educate yourself! And then you can figure out what works for you. I love nutrition diva podcast - short 10 min podcast easy to understand really sensible advice. Zoe also do ‘Zoe shorts’ short podcasts about nutrition and nutritionfacts.org have very short videos. The more you learn the more you’ll figure out how to upgrade your diet.

Stopping eating upfs doesn’t guarantee weight loss but it does guarantee better health! Which is great start.

Good luck

If it makes you more comfortable, you can do both. Avoid UPF, and count calories/carbs/whatever.

I lost four stone, and kept it off. It took years, you just have to keep plugging away, and not slipping back too much.

This is what I’ve eaten today (please don’t judge, it’s been a real weird mix today):

piece of white toast with butter
mini roll
cup of tea

salad and cucumber with caeser dressing
2 chicken nuggets with mayo and ketchup
baked beans
bag of hula hoops

rocky chocolate bar

one nest of dried noodles with soy sauce and mayo (yes it’s very odd I know!)
cucumber with caeser dressing

pasta with Loyd grossman sauce
half a mozzarella ball
half of a garlic flatbread
more mayo and caeser dressing as condiments (I seem to be addicted to them)

2 x 150ml cans of Fanta
1 x 330ml can of Pepsi
no water

and I was just about to eat some haagan daaz ice cream.

That’s really, really, really bad isn’t it. I’ve got to do something.

Yes, it's bad OP. My trick is to have instantly ready stuff available - so pre-make coleslaw, cut up peppers, have sriracha and pine nuts to hand.

It’s really not hard to do and she is going to give it a go so I would encourage OP to read the book and start doing some swaps as you say. Watch bread though as a lot of it is UPF.

100% this.

@bellac11 the thing is, I don’t think WW did. Since I got to my goal weight 11 years ago, I have put on 8 stone 😳

But you have to stick to a lifestyle change, OP. Diets do work. Or no-one would ever lose weight.

I lost three stone, then put four back on. It was then that I realised that the change has to continue, forever. If I have a bad week, I make myself weigh in. Then get back on the bike..

I’d be tempted to say both calorie counting and reducing the shift if processed crap you eat. You will feel fuller if you eat more whole foods.

Equally, you could gorge yourself on delicious unprocessed foods thinking they were guilt free. Have you looked at the app Noom? It’s a bit like Weight Watchers but with an emphasis on calorie counting and creating good habits through understanding psychology.

Diets have been proven not to work. People nearly always put on weight again. Changing how you eat long term is the only answer. OP read the book, it will explain a lot of why you’ve put on weight and struggle to lose it.