I have cleaned up.my diet and am losing weight at a startling rate

[Waterbortle]

Which was initially good, but now I'm starting to worry.

I was 10st9 and 5'7, so never fat but a bit heavier than I'd like, between 10st and 10st4 is, I think, my ideal weight. Mostly I wanted to be feel better, my diet was never dreadful, but I knew the junkand the booze had crept in.

So since the beginning of June I have:

-Drunk moderately and only once over a weekend. I never drank during the week, but I'd have "a few" at least 2 nights pw. Now I have a couple, once.

• Cut out snacking - here I was probably worse than I realised, and saying no snacks at all makes it easier for me to stick to.
• No takeaways, but they were never that frequent.
• Made an effort to choose healthier options when faced with a menu
• Desserts only at weekends.
• Stopped using the car all the time and walk as much as possible.

I'm 55, an age when weight is supposed to be difficult to shift. I've never been hungry or felt deprived. I've lost a stone in 2 months.

Does this sound right with the changes I've made or is it too much?

I think that sounds about right op. I did the same but with calorie counting for the first month - not to limit calories and stay under a certain limit but more for awareness ( but it did instill in me an awareness of making better choices)- and dropped 2 kg in the first few months and have maintained that without any effort/;have dropped another kg in the last 6 months without trying. The only difference is I now do more exercise.

Don't waste the Drs time. As people say, try eating more, see if that reduces your weight loss.

Could get a Fitbit watch...that will tell you how many calories you are burning wth all your exercise. You can then do an approximate tally of calories per day...this should tell you all you need to know, panic over.

I get this. I live in a city centre, don’t have a car and I walk everywhere because it honestly takes just as long to get a bus.. So I walk half an hour to work and half an hour home. If I go to the gym I walk half an hour there, and half an hour home etc etc. I think when people ask “how do you make time to walk so much!” they’re thinking of it being added in one go at the end of the day, not thinking that it’s replacing time spent driving.

Even being generous on portions etc, I make this about 2100 calories.

Most women need 2000-2500 just as a base, ie to maintain without exercise

So with exercise at 700 (going for the low end of your estimate), call your basic needs 3000 calories a day.

therefore, you might be undereating by nearly 1000 calories a day. You're likely not as that's a huge deficit but you're definitely undereating.

That's normal. I eat like that and I've never been over weight. I don't snack and I don't eat past 8pm. I always eat a big breakfast. I also barely drink alcohol.

People that eat a high calcium diet, like plenty of dairy tend to be slimmer. Calcium slows the digestion of food.

It's fallacy to avoid dairy and nuts. Both are very satiating as you've discovered and you don't feel hungry so no need to dive into packets of crisps and biscuits etc...

Welcome to the world of normal, healthy eating.

It sounds fine and with 10 miles a day of course you're going to lose weight. I wouldn't worry at all. It sounds fine to me. Healthy.

People are different.

however healthy the foods, it's not healthy to eat that little given her exercise routine and her BMI. She will keep losing weight and end up underweight.

Congratulations on your loss! My cleaner eating regime starts on Saturday, which is just as well as I will be out for most of the day working (which on that date in particular means being outdoors in a field for much of it, so lots of walking!) Your walking is definitely a big factor in this. When I lived in London I walked everywhere, would often get public transport into work but then walk home and that was easily eight or nine miles. I was a really comfortable size ten then and it wasn’t hard to maintain. Now I drive so much for work - my job takes me all over Wales - and the middle aged creep has well and truly crept. Enjoying wine is also a vice - the only one I have so I definitely enjoy it, but probably too regularly. Thanks for sharing, I think you probably need to up your calorie intake in light of all the walking, but it sounds like you have made some really positive adjustments for your health. Good luck continuing with it!

I’m older than you OP, I’m 5’8” and around 9 stone, I look too thin if I go lower than 9 stone. I also walk 10 miles a day, sometimes more because I’m a dog walker. A two mile walk with two lively spaniels burns more calories than a little trot around the block with the pugs I walk! I can really eat what I want because of the walking, it makes a huge difference. I also do yoga daily.

When I worked in a totally different job I ate less, and weighed about a stone more.

Walking boosts your metabolism. I eat a lot of healthy carbs, fats and protein, but am pescatarian, so no meat.

Sounds like you just eat normally to me. How people in a lot of European countries live. And most aren't overweight like we are in the UK and US where choosing to eat large portions of extremely calorific foods has sadly become the norm so that all sense of what is a normal healthy diet has gone out the window (and I don't mean diet in the weight loss sense, I just mean the foods we eat on a day to day basis).

So of course you will lose weight until you are at the natural weight you should be.

I wish I was walking ten miles a day. How do you fit it in? Even if I make a massive effort about 7km is my best effort. I WFH and am literally sat in my chair all day.

Bit confused by this, thsts not weight loss at a startling rate and surely you know if you walk ten miles a day that’s why?

If you're actually worried about this ( pretty obvious to me that you'd be losing weight when you've improved your diet and increased your exercise) use a tracker app and calculate how many calories you're actually eating and an online calculator to estimate how many calories you need. Portion sizes can obviously massively vary but my guess is you're eating no more than about 1500 calories a day, and need around 2500.

Quite simply you need to eat more.

If you're very active you probably do actually need some more refined carbs to get your calories, it's why lots of athletes either eat a lot of pasta or white rice or actually eat a fair amount of junk. It's hard to eat enough high fibre food to meet your calorie requirements.

When you put your daily food into a tracker you can see if you're getting enough nutrients as well as calories, if you're already getting enough fibre, protein, fat, vitamins and minerals then add some more simpler carbs or fat to your meals.

Weight loss was the first symptom of her late husband's illness so naturally she is a bit worried and is looking for reassurance.

Based on the list of what you’re eating today and being fairly generous with portion sizes if looks like you’re eating about 1600 calories a day. I think you said you were 5ft 8 and you’re active so likely to maintain weight you’d need closer to 2000 calories, less than that and you will continue to lose.

But OP said she hasn't felt hungry, so why would she need more than a cheese sandwich at lunch if it's sating her appetite? There's protein, fat and fibre in a cheese sandwich, it's not a salad or veg soup. Yes, she could have some salad on the sandwich and more fruit for dessert to make it more nutritionally balanced but it's not lacking in calories for a lunch.

You’re losing weight because you’re burning far more calories than you’re consuming, that’s all. If youre worried about it being a health issue, either increase your calorie intake or reduce your exercise and see if you still lose weight. Or see your GP.

Because she’s losing more weight than she wants and is very active. So more than a cheese sandwich might be a good idea.

Though to be honest she just needs to eat more calories. That might not be at lunch - could be anywhere. More snacks, supper etc.

I did very similar OP over the last couple of months.

5'7" was 11st and now 10.4st.

Obviously to level it out rather than lose more, either do less exercise or top up calories with nuts or something healthy.

I've opted for a bit of both on weekends 😁

That seems like a reasonably substantial but healthy weight loss, given your starting point. But if you are still losing weight at 2 lbs a week now you're a more healthy weight you need to start to changing things. You can increase your calorie intake without returning to unhealthy eating. Add in another small meal, increase your portion sizes, increase your intake of good oils, etc.

You've made a massive change for the better but a diet that doesn't give you the calories you need when you're at a healthy weight isn't a good diet for you. Just adjust it.

If you aren't able to plateau, then see your Dr. because sudden unexplained weight loss can be a sign of other problems and you are just hitting the age when things do start to pop up more often. And if you can't bring yourself to turn things round on your own by adjusting - that's also an issue that needs medical support to change.

Not necessarily, in your 50s your calorie requirements drop quite drastically. I’ve always been slim and never needed to watch what I ate, as soon as I hit menopause proper I found I needed to consume a lot less or I’d put on weight. In a typical working week I burn around 1700/1800 calories a day according to my smartwatch, and that’s with at least 30 minutes of exercise per day. I need to keep my food intake below that or I put on weight.

I’m also small framed, so my healthy weight is lower than someone with a large frame, but I rarely weigh myself and go on how my clothes fit. Many are quite snug now.

She’s already explained it’s because she walks to and from work and to and from the other errands she has to do. If you work from home and sit in a chair all day then obviously that’s the difference.

I appreciate your concerns but a stone in 2 months really doesn't sound out of the ordinary at all, especially for the changes you have made.

I wouldn't worry just yet, maybe reintroduce a couple of treats and see what happens

Well done OP that’s amazing progress. It’s a reasonable weight to lose over that time period explained by increasing your exercise and reducing your calorie input. As you get towards your goal weight you should find a maintenance level where your calories in match your calories out over the week.