Small things that make a big difference / weight / health / excercise

[KickMyAssIntoGear]

NC as family on here.

I ONLY drink tea / diet Pepsi.
Seldomly i have squash or bottled water.
Silly thing is i actually enjoy squash and water I'm just in bad habits!

I don't eat breakfast. Used to though

When I snack i snack on chocolate, cake etc.

Meals generally varied and healthy. With some days quick stuff like pizza / chicken burgers etc

I need to lose 2 stone. Im currently 12.7st and 5ft4 ish.

Plan so far to start with minimum 2x500ml bottles water
Eat a breakfast i only like weetabix / shreddies type so not terrible.

Walk instead of taking car when i can. Again i used to walk EVERYWHERE except main week shop. Only time i plan to drive is shopping and school run ( can't walk as 2 schools are 3 miles apart with a 15 min difference) also college collection 6 miles away half hour later

Obviously cut snacking back. Today for example I've eaten 350g chocolate alone! However it's virtually all gone so they'll only be small quantities indoors rather than the xmas masses. Im definitely an ' if its there eat it' normally I don't as its the stuff dh takes today work / dc to college etc.

I Shop Sunday so trying to think of things to get to have without going over budget.

Why eat breakfast if you don’t want it? Honestly, there is no secret to weight loss. It’s pretty much eat less calories and you will lose weight. So perhaps see what healthy swaps you can make to reduce calories. And obviously cut down on the chocolate!!

You don’t need breakfast, honestly. Eat your first meal at 12, your last meal by 7, and nothing after that.

I don't eat after 8pm and not until 12pm the next day, so kind of fasting but I still drink tea with milk. It's more about helping with the calorie deficit.

I need to lose 2 stone I am limiting to 1200 calories a day to achieve this as 1700 is maintenance for me. I'm only in the first few days but this has worked for me in the past, until I started eating like a pig.

Exercise does NOTHING for weight loss for me but I am doing that to be fitter and healthier and it does improve my body shape.

Eat protein at breakfast and you won't need sugar hit later on. Don't need to eat it early but chuck away the unhealthy cereals, and start eating good proteins, eggs, butter etc to kick start your day.

Reduce carbs, add some MCT oil to your diet and get rid of that Pepsi!

Exercise - walking is great, but you need to do some weights too. Exercise is 20% your diet is 80% to loose that weight.

I have done it. Lost 10kg last year

I would bin breakfast and Diet Pepsi. Change shopping habits - don't have cakes etc in the house.

Burgers or pizza once a week can stay - start with what you eat and drink every day!

Eat all food sitting at the table. No snacking on the sofa.

Buy smaller dinner plates.

Don't eat seconds. Immediately put the leftovers in the fridge/freezer, don't leave them in the pan.

No eating after 8pm.

Make the Mumsnet Massive Salad at the start of the week & put it in the fridge - you'll always have a healthy option to add to/substitute in dinner.

I would think about when your ‘habits’ are sabotaging you.

For example, are you eating snacks every night on the sofa? If so, how can you change that habit.

It sounds like you have to do a lot of driving in the day - is there a chance you could reduce that/cycle some of the journey/park further away and walk?

Eat loads more fruit & veg. Instead of cake & chocolate.

Also ... and I speak from personal experience ... check your portion sizes. Years ago, I use MyfitnessPal to calculate how many calories I was eating, and I was shocked by 1) how many calories I was eating in 'healthy' food such as fruit, and 2) how much I was eating - my salad was a lot of calories large portions.

Little things like a glass of wine, a bowl of cereal or a yogurt isn't a big deal, but if it's tipping you over your calorie needs every day, it is causing damage over weeks, months and yearsl

Get some healthier snacks in. Don't buy cakes or chocolates so you're not tempted.
If you want or need breakfast make it higher protein. Cereal just creates a blood sugar spike and then you feel hungry later.
Don't be unrealistic about the weight loss. Think of 1/2 stone initially. Diets don't really work so you need to think of sustainable changes.

In terms of drinking water, what works for me is to have water/squash, made up in my reuseable bottles in the door of the fridge and get into the habit of one out, a new one in. I can only drink water if it's properly cold.

I also need to be prepared with snacks and quick to eat healthy meals, if I want to eat healthy then I need to have boiled eggs in the fridge, packs of single serving nuts, cheese cubed and weighed in little pots, ready to eat prepped veg, meals I can microwave. No matter how much I try not to, I tend to get absorbed into work or whatever activity im doing, to the extent that i miss lunch or find myself with 5 minutes to eat, so I grab whatever is easy to hand. If all I have is chocolate and crisps then that will be my lunch.

Thank you. All. Suggestions taken on board and noted down.
I could easily not eat after 8pm to be honest, but i would have to have a cuppa before bed. 4 decades of that habit would be too hard to break at the moment.

Re driving, for the school and college runs. Its not possible at all to walk or park further away. As it is when I get to the 2nd school i have about 1 minute to spare. And that's with parking right by 1st school.
2nd child is in car then its down the motorway to college collection.

Water definitely will be in the fridge.
And have ordered some divider tubs for pre prep snacks ie prep fruit, nuts, etc

Of you fancy sugar, eat dates. Believe me you won't be able to eat more than about time dates.

Have really filling snacks on hand:

Hard boiled eggs
Cottage cheese
Greek yogurt
Hummus and veg sticks
Apples

I make a big batch of lentil and veg soup and have a bowl before lunch and dinner - massively takes the edge off my appetite

Follow the diabetes Uk diet. Very little bread or white carbs. Walk after every meal.
I've lost 24kg since having baby (about 10Kg from where I was pre pregnancy£

Why are you drinking bottled water? If your tapwater isn't good then can't you use a filter? It's really really bad for the environment to use bottled water all the time.

I've recently lost 21 pounds and there is no trick,I just cut calories, I already exercised so I knew calories was where I was going wrong.
I am a breakfast person so have fruit and fat free yoghurt most days. On a weekend I may treat myself to scrambled egg on toast.
I make chicken noodle soup once a week and have a small portion for lunch, fruit for snacks and normal teas like pasta fajitas etc.
I weigh pasta, rice, cereal, stop eating when I am full. You have to get used to feeling hungry and realise there is nothing wrong with that. I found it really hard the first couple of weeks but it got much easier. Protein is your friend to make you feel full.
I still drink alcohol but only on a weekend and I still have treats, again only on a weekend.
This slowed my weightloss down but you need some treats.
With exercise you need strength training aswell as cardio, that made a massive difference and I can now eat more without weight gain as I have more muscle which increases your metabolism.

Do you drink cans of Pepsi? What about buying mini cans as a way of cutting down with the aim of cutting it out completely eventually?

Or sparkling water? You can buy 2L bottles in the supermarket pretty cheap.

Cans bottles any really ( average 3 litres a day) ashamed and know its a problem
Today i have had 3 bottles water
Ordered a tracker watch
Ordered a diary to log food
Partly written shopping list for Sunday

well done! That sounds great!