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

[needchange01927374]

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.

I've lost a lot of weight with Noom. I thought it would be really annoying but was desperate and it starts you off easily with lots of positive reinforcement. I've kept the weight off as well, for three years now, just changed my sense of food completely. I realised things had seriously changed when I felt stuffed and as though I'd over indulged when I ate a load of grapes when not really hungry... ! It's entirely transformed my life and I had previously been a classic yo yo dieter.

@needchange01927374 Best of luck to you and well on taking the first step an acknowledging that you need to improve your diet. From your list I notice you’re consuming a lot of sugar in ‘non sugary’ foods like ketchup, pasta sauce, baked beans, white bread and salad dressing. If you ditch these for homemade or lower sugar alternatives then you’ll lose weight easily just cutting these alone.

Seems to be a lot of fast/grab food you’re eating, are you short on time in the evenings or when preparing lunch? No one likes eating the same things day in day out but a handful of quick hearty meals from the freezer is great for cold winter evenings when you’re short on time - fish pie, lasagne (lean beef or lentil/veggie) slow cooked stew. If you make a couple of portions of. Each you won’t be boring yourself with the same thing over. Jacket potato is another quick and filling one but don’t go overboard on the cheddar - they are simple but lots of different recipes online.

If you want drastic changes cut out the fattier meats and switch to leaner cuts or try vegetarian options.

This might be more of a summer option but home made ‘chips’ in the over with a large salad (a salad actually full of veggies and fruit not just leaves) and you could always have some fish or chicken with that.

Ditch the fizzy drinks, if you really can’t do without then go for the diet options- another easy weight shifter.

Still allow yourself daily treats - those small little dairy milks or single Twirls with a cup of tea (not every cup) Ice cream with some strawberries, but only a couple of scoops 😉 Treats on the weekend when you could head to a nice cafe for a slice of cake or nice sandwich.

A snack I love in the evening is melon with feta, give it a go. Also great with beetroot and walnuts.

Want to get your digestive system really working, try kefir or fermented/pickled veg. Cottage cheese is also great for the gut bacteria, not for everyone I know but lovely on toasted rye bread with some cracked pepper.

Ditch the microwave/prepared meals if you buy them and save that money for a meal out treat or takeout at the weekend.

I haven’t read the UPF book but it might really help you turn a corner with some of your choices. We’re all human at the end of the day, everyone likes a treat.

Remember you want to do a bit of an overhaul on the way you eat, it’s about changes you can implement and stick to going forward. Being too rigid will send you back to your old ways in no time.

Excellent post but I would say don’t go for the diet drinks, they are terrible for you and full of things that won’t help you lose weight.

Look up starch resistance. Resistant starch can help you lose weight. Cook your pasta (preferably wholemeal) and then cool down and put in the fridge. You can reheat with whatever you are having with it. I tend to cook a few portions and freeze some and put the rest in the fridge to have as a quick supper. Tastes the same but better for you. You can do this with rice too, just be careful in how you cool it.

Can I ask what bread I could buy, rather than shop bought? I don't have time to make my own.

Is the stuff that's "baked in store" any better? The tiger loaves etc? I would imagine they would have less preservatives but I don't really know

No the in store ones aren’t any better. You need to look at the labels and see what is in them. Emulsifiers are bad news I believe. The guide is that if any of the ingredients couldn’t be found in a home cook’s cupboard then they are UPF. There are a couple of brands that are ok but I can’t recall them at the moment.

The two things about UPF are:

• They are designed to make you crave more - they actually trigger cravings in the brain, so you soon lose sense of what actual physical hunger feels like, or what feeling full enough feels like, because your brain is demanding another fix of sugar fat and salt.

• They have poor nutritional value, so as well as cravings, your body is crying out for actual nutrients.

Try introducing lots of healthy stuff into your diet and cutting back on upfs.
Add fruit and veg - 10 portions a day - mainly of veg (7 veg, 3 fruit) will really fill you up. Easy to do. You can make a soup that gives you 2-3 portions, have 2-3 veg with meat or fish main course, eat fruit for dessert, add berries to breakfast or a smoothie.

@ohwellhi Crosta & Mollica bread (in Sainsbos) is not ultra processed- it just has flour salt water and yeast as if you were cooking at home. It is £££.

Sainsbury’s also do some baked bread that only has normal ingredients but check every label carefully (and keep checking- ingredients change!)

Sweetener is defo ultra processed food. Probably one of the most processed things you can have and 0 nutritional value.

coffee- depends - check the label. Tea bags or tea leaves arent ultra processed.

I cut out UPF from my diet after reading the book and have lost about a stone. I was 10 stone to start so didn't have loads to lose but it was amazing how easy it was to lose all the weight once I cut out UPF. I've been trying to lose that stone for most of my life without success until I cut out UPF. I don't even crave crisps or chocolate anymore, in fact it makes me feel a bit queasy to eat it now

Insulin resistance is a precursor to type 2 diabetes (or a sign you already have it), and your blood sugar level is an important part of that. Perhaps it might be worth going to your GP and asking whether they could test you for diabetes. You are obese and in an at-risk category.

Otherwise, don't get bogged down in all that UPF, processed la-di-dah. Just eat fewer foods containing high levels of fat & sugar, and reduce your carbohydrate intake. If you're hungry between meals, then have an apple or a banana, or a small handful of unsalted nuts.

Baby steps. Don't try changing your entire diet and lifestyle all at once. It is unsustainable. One less potato and one more spoonful of veg or salad every day for a couple of weeks would be a simple and easy way to start. Switch white bread for brown sometimes. Do it bit by bit. If you feel peckish and want a snack, drink a glass of water and tell yourself to wait 5 minutes.

Going on a diet doesn’t work. I had to change the way I thought about food. I decided to prepare everything fresh from scratch, to cut carbs to a minimum, and to fill up on salad and vegetables. The thing is, preparing things from scratch and cutting out carbs pretty well eliminated UPFs from my diet anyway. Once I got used to eating this way, I found I really didn’t enjoy the processed foods that formed majority of my previous diet. I eat well, don’t get hungry, and really enjoy what I eat.

I lost 5 1/2 stone in a year, and I have maintained that long enough to be clear that this is now my stable weight.

Honestly, the only time I finally managed to lose (considerable amount) weight was when I finally stopped doing "maybe I have x and that's why", "maybe I just am not losing because x and nothing much I can do" etc. One day I snapped, started counting calories, went to basics instead of 700 diets. Kept calories for pizza/beer/high cal evening, started working out short HIIT (can't be arsed with hours workouts).
That was it.
Just stopped listening to million online opinions and went to the most basic science. It can get confising out there especially with the amount of ED level advice. "oh no, peas is bad"(no it isn't), "You need to go lower on cals, I put weight on on 800" (no you don't) ...

The calorie limit meant, I started eating better again, more veg since I am volume eater. No "low carb", no "insulin issues", no "low fat muller", no being confused about what I can and cannot eat.
Simple nice ingredients (as in not much too processed), food, bit of everything. Brought my love of cooking back as well! Proper enjoyed the process, expanded my already big sice cuboard.

Diets do work. People who say they don't are confusing diet and lifestyle. Diets work for weightloss. People however, have to use that time for lifestyle change as well as weight loss. If people diet, lose weight, then go back to eating like they did before, obviously 🤷 they will put weight back on. Simple logic.

Don't overcomplicate things, be aware that some advice on MN is not healthy and is often confusing because everyone comes up with the latest thing and imho quite a few simply lie and I am still considering whether it's with malice or for attention or if they actually believe it. That goes for all social media! Fuck me, I saw some corkers...

It just gets too confusing!
"You need to eat more veg!"
"no, veg is inflamatory, you need carnivore style"
"no you need to leave out carbs, like all of them" (impossible🤷)
"no, you need very low fat"
"no you need to go plant based"
"no, you need to not eat for xhours a day"
So what the fuck CAN I eat?!
Answer was, everything, but less🤷
Everyone has an opinion. They sell. It's simple as that. It's all money making machine.

Go back to the most basic science of cal in, cal out, good nutritional food + fun food, get some probiotics. Workout, it will help shape your body, help posture etc so your weightloss is even better looking. Also muscles burn so overall it helps you then keep your body going when you finish with counting calories and just eat naturally. Plua the fitter ylu feel the better you feel! More energy, better moods, digestive is happy.

Honestly OP there are a lot of sugary/carby things there. I’m not anti-sugar or carb but you need some protein to a) fill you up b) stabilise your blood sugar so you aren’t on a rollercoaster of hunger.

You could start by trying to limit or cut sugar. Stick to 3 decent meals with a protein. So breakfast could be eggs and some sausages lunch could be noodles but with a chicken breast, dinner spag bol. I don’t mean tiny portions either, just to get you into the habit of eating decent sized meals that will actually tide you over for a bit and reduce the urge to snack before you tackle quantity.

I think stoping the snacking and the sugar will probably help you drop a bit of weight quite easily.

I wouldn't go mad on cutting out all UPFs, but cut down, make healthy swaps, and keep them to a minimum. A good start would be adding more vegetables as you may find the upfs reduce anyway by increasing fresh food.

Generally with dieting, don't go too extreme otherwise it will be a short term thing and the weight will go back on, and make it as easy and sustainable as possible. I do think some kind of calorie counting is a good idea as you are not just recalibrating what you eat but how much, and also counting fibre, protein and carbs will give you a good idea whether you are having a healthy balance and again, this will help reduce the upfs. Nutracheck app is really good, cheap and easy to use. Swapping refined carbs for whole versions will help you get more fibre and be more satisfying.

Allow yourself your favourite things and build it into the plan. If you go wrong, record everything you've had as best you can, and carry on the next day.

This. Diets definitely don't work. You can kid yourself that they do but if they did then everyone who ever went on one would stay slim. I've lost 2 stone since June. So not a huge amount but enough to improve my life and confidence. The trigger for me was a change in lifestyle. I went on holiday, walked for a few hours a day, ate proper meals, what I fancied. Stop snacking but ate chocolate etc when out and about. Had diet sodas as readily available. I still drank alcohol and never felt deprived. Now I'm back home I don't fill the cupboards with lots of snack foods, if I want chocolate etc I'll buy it outside the house. I still walk for a few hours a day. At lunch I'll eat a jacket potato and tuna or something like that. I don't eat ready meals, I don't eat diet foods like muller lights, I generally finish eating when I'm full. Some days I'll still binge a bit, but I don't let it ruin everything. I move on. I hardly have take aways now, due to the cost more than anything but when I do I have what I want. I'm so less bloated now. I no longer feel guilty when I eat things like KFC, I enjoy it for what it is and don't beat myself up. The less processed foods I eat the less I crave them.

As others said, if you cut out the very processed food and drinks and replace with healthy meals you would almost definitely lose weight without restricting calories, especially if you add a brisk walk most days.

BTW latté is not fantastic, I used to have a latté every morning too and just having a normal coffee instead helped me lose. Think about it this way: when someone is underweight through illness etc. they're told to drink a class of milk every day to gain weight, so that's what a latté every day will do.

I lost two stone, not really on purpose, I was ill and anxious. I was at the high end of normal and now I'm low end of normal. I don't eat any UPF, pretty much no sugar (including things like honey or maple syrup), very little dairy, low-carb, so I buy protein bread, instead of normal bread and don't have much of it, a very little bit of high-quality meat and fish so basically mostly what I'm eating is plants. I also do 14 or 16 hours fast overnight so my eating window is shorter. I swapped from latte to Americano coffee with a tiny bit of milk. I haven't found it particularly difficult and I don't feel deprived, I do occasionally crave things will have the occasional croissant or something as a treat. It's also much more difficult to eat out. It does need a bit of preparation, but it's not particularly time-consuming or expensive, I cook things like quinoa or butternut squash in advance, and then I can just throw things into a sandwich box or make soup for the week or something like that. I also food combine to make sure I'm eating protein and fat and fibre before carbs, so it's not spiking my blood sugar and leading to extreme highs and lows, which I think helps with the cravings and feeling full.

I do love eating, but now I've got down to this weight, I like it so so much that there's the motivation to stay here!

I gained a ton of weight with each of my pregnancies (up to 50 pounds but obviously this included the baby and placenta). The reason I gained so much each time was because I was eating absolutely terribly. I gain rapidly when I eat processed foods.

I lost it all rapidly too (within 3-6 months) by eating very, very healthily. If you cut out all processed foods and refined carbs and sugar, eat lots of fruit and veggies, eat healthy sources of protein and drink plenty of water you will shred it within no time.

If you don't then you should get your thyroid checked.

However, if emotional eating or binge eating is a problem for you (it can be for me sometimes) then weight loss will be difficult.

I think two simple rules to follow when you are trying to lose a lot of weight is to cut out ultra processed food and to not drink calories.

Agree that you can tie yourself up in knots but you don't need to be a nutritionist to know that eating real food as opposed to lab created edible stuff is going to be better for your health.

I’ve gone UPF free and haven’t lost and weight. In the book CVT says one of his colleagues went UPF free and put on weight. Reducing upf is about being healthier.

@disappearingfish You don't need to be a nutritionist to know that but then why do we have an increasingly obese population in this country, if everyone "knows" that?

Go outside London and the affluent counties where people are younger and slimmer to smaller towns and look at how people load up their shopping carts with piles of processed rubbish and crap! Pizzas, nuggets, chips, ready meals, crisps, chocolates, sweets, sugary jars of cooking sauce, Chorleywood process bread, doughnuts, pastries etc.

Eddie Abew on Instagram makes the concept of stopping eating UPF and eating home prepared food very easy to understand. He doesn't mince his words!

I’m not saying that eating UPF doesn’t make people obese. But simply stopping it wouldn’t necessarily be a cure all. Obesity is a complex issue and for those who have gone back to a health bmi their bodies continue to produce more of the hunger hormones for years afterwards.

I lost huge amounts of weight simply giving up alcohol and walking a bit more. Now I'm older it's harder, but giving up the booze, walking more (I have bad knees so can't do much hardcore cardio), lifitng weights and eating LOTS of protein like chicken, prawns etc, massively helps. I can't calorie count, it's too depressing.

Yes, key word "affluent, ie, they can afford to eat well. When a pizza in Aldi is 79p, and a cucumber is the same price. it;s the pizza that's going to get you through that 12 hour shift, not a cucumber. Yes, you could choose the bloody cucumber, but when life is hard enough as it is and you;ve got 12 hours of dealing with shit, I wouldn't blame people at all for choosing the pizza.