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.

Thank you all for the further replies.

I feel overwhelmed I am not going to lie! I’ve digged Joe Wick’s book out of my cupboard and I just think the recipes are too faffy for me. I live alone so will be cooking for one and I don’t want to stress myself out by having to follow what seem like niche recipies with unique, expensive ingredients.

I just want a simple bank / book of recipes that contain whole foods. I think for now I’ll just have to stick to plain meat and veg… and try not get bored.

Think about batch cooking! I live alone and do this! Cook a large chilli, curry, pasta sauce etc and make 6-8 portions of each and then get one out each night to eat/defrost! Works very well is less overwhelming.

I think for now I’ll just have to stick to plain meat and veg… and try not get bored.

Throw on some spices. Life needn't be boring!
Look at bbc recipes. They are often nice and simple or you can change them up a bit

Ozempic … I’m kidding …

OP if you're looking for simple non UPF based recipes then I quite liked the Hairy Dieters books by the Hairy Bikers. Good honest food, straightforward recipes, but calorie counted and sensible without being dull.

I batch cook my breakfast and lunch. So, 6 portions of porridge cooked at a time and then just microwaved (which you probably wouldn't need to do with normal porridge?) or I used to make 12 egg and veg mini omelettes in a muffin tin. Bit pots of lentil and veg or tomato and veg soup.

For dinner I do it less cause I'm eating with others but you could do if you can find a couple of recipes that you like. When you first start I think you want to pre-plan as much as possible so you don't get overwhelmed. But fish, potatoes and green veg is always a good option!!

Try that roasting tin recipe book series where everything goes in one tin. I’ve also got a Sainsburys own brand cookbook which is good and doesn’t use a billion bits of different ingredients.

Broccoli mum on youtube, lost 60lb eating whole foods.

Surely you don't mean you're re-heating six day old porridge? I must have that wrong.

Kind of - it's a quinoa porridge I make so I eat one portion, fridge 3 and freeze 2 then microwave the fridge/frozen versions.

I make 5 to 6 portions of overnight oats at a time, they sit in the fridge until needed day by day

Sorry but I'd find more than a couple of days too much. You have to think about food safety and in any case, food needs to be fresh to be palatable and nutritious.

Can’t stress this enough but you need to exercise to lose weight and keep the weight off. No fad diet (and yes, cutting all processed food is a fad diet) will work long term. You might lose the weight but you’ll pile it back on if you get sick of restricting yourself so much and go back to eating the way you are now.

My Mum has yo-yo’d her whole life and she’s always trying crappy diets like WW, SW, slimfast, atkins, cabbage soup or whatever else is out there to lose weight. She loses the weight but then regains when she stops the diet. She doesn’t exercise aside from moving around at work. I lost a lot of weight after having DC and kept it off because I don’t calorie count or follow any specific diet. I eat what I want (including chocolate most days tbh!) but because I run 3x a week and do strength training at least twice a week, I don’t gain weight.

I've lost 25kg since baby was born less than a year ago- very rarely have anything sugary, I only have crisps once a week (used to have 2 packs a day) only drink 1-2 glasses of wine on a weekend otherwise tee total and no liquid calories. Trying to have protein with most meals and wholemeal rice and pasta and sweet potato not potato.

This is mainly from following the diabetes Uk diet and ensuring I move (walk or do housework) after every meal. I have also recently started exercise classes where I use weights which I think helps (certainly helps my lower back pains etc) I walk and walk (easier on Mat leave with the pram then it is when working a desk job I know)

I am also single so no comfort eating when a man is mean to me.

If you do what I did above then the weight will start to drop off

Ps also if you do get healthy ready meals look at the wheel of it's mostly green and orange get it if lots of orange and red don't

This is exactly what happened to me - it was actually a huge blessing that it happened while annoying at the time over Xmas and going through a break up!

yes, cutting all processed food is a fad diet

If by this you actually mean ultra-processed food, it really isn't. It's returning to how humans ate for millennia.

yes, cutting all processed food is a fad diet

It’s really not. I’ve changed my entire life and lost 9 stone so far cutting out sugar and processed foods over the last 4 years. I’m not on a diet. I don’t crave processed foods or dream of chocolate. To me a treat is an amazing, big, juicy steak, not a take away pizza as it used to be.

I just don’t eat any crap any more and I am never going back to eating how I did now that I have educated myself on nutrition and the way I feel.

Nothing is a fad if you change your lifestyle.

I would still say cutting out ALL PROCESSED FOOD is a fad diet.

Cheese is processed, as is tofu, as is canned food, as are things like olives or pickles- they can all form part of a healthy balanced diet.

Reducing ultra processed food is achievable or even cutting it out altogether, I wouldn't say is faddy.

But cutting out medium-processed food is, and unsustainable and impractical for most people too.

@WhichIsItWendy which nasty chemicals are allowed to be sold in processed foods?

I would fear for my arse and gut health with the Atkins diet, plus overdoing it with red meat and any protein is really not a very good idea. I certainly could not do the phase 1 or 2 stages, the low amount of carbs allowed is ridiculous.

https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/are-you-getting-too-much-protein#:~:text=Extra%20protein%20intake%20also%20can,people%20predisposed%20to%20kidney%20disease.

Emulsifiers, additives. Most ingredients that you can't understand what it is, isn't good for your health. Lots of ingredients to make food look healthy (when it clearly isn't). Lots of the ingredients in UPF food is proven to increase risks of diseases including diabetes and cancer.

Tbf to posters mebtioning chemicals, some studies really do suggest that emulsifiers can be bad for liver and people with predispositions to T2.
Additives are so and so. Some are not harmful, some may be in long term if one eats lots of food with it.

@Elastica23 you are correct to make the distinction between "processed" and "ultra processed". Most food we eat is "processed". Cooking is a process, e.g. boiling an egg makes it a "processed" food.

"Ultra processed" is not a rigidly defined category but a good rule of thumb people use is that if you can't make it at home with your own kitchen equipment and with easily sourced ingredients, it's probably "ultra processed".

Diets high in Upf's cause a decreased microbiome. This is thought to be linked to increased obesity. Teenagers who eat a largely processed diet are far more likely to be obese. They also possess a narrower range of bacteria in their stomachs. This is also thought to affect metabolism & brain function. Even increasing the likelihood of depression, as stomachs have a huge brain neurotransmitter link. There's been a huge rise of depression in modern times .
I'm sure there's a lot more we need to learn about this as it's a new up & coming area of Science.