If you have managed to lose a lot of weight and keep it off, what do you think was the secret to keeping it off?

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I am reading Why We eat (Too much) and admittedly I am not very far in but while I am finding it really interesting it is making me feel quite despondent about the likelihood off keeping my weight gain off once I lose it.

I was always slim until my thirties, then gained a lot of weight when I was out on heavy steroids. I managed to lose most of the weight but then regained it all and a bit extra. I am trying to lose again now but feel like I need to believe I can keep it off.

I actually love healthy food, and I don't ever binge eat but I was probably relying too much on ready made food because I have a health condition that makes me tired so cooking is hard and I can't exercise much at all - just some very gentle pilates or slow swimming. Steroids also made me ravenous and I was constantly fighting that feeling.

I have switched to all home made food and I am building back in exercise.

I want to be healthy and I want to feel like "me " again, but it feels futile when the message seems to be that

I have also gone cold turkey on diet coke/pepsi max as I was having 2-3 cans a day and I am convinced it made me more hungry. It seemed worth stopping anyway.

(Nb I don't want to use mounjaro etc because I have had a really bad time with medication side effects - steroids made me very unwell as well as fat- and I am just very wary of trying anything new)

I would love words of encouragement from people who have managed it, and especially if you couldn't manage weight control through exercise

Have you ever been on steroids for any significant amount of time?

I lost 3 stone during lockdown and have kept it off without difficulty since.

I was post menopausal, had put in a lot of weight sitting at my desk at work etc, and determined at the start of COVID that being a healthier weight and eating healthily were things that I could do something about to try and keep the worst effects of early Covid at bay (obesity was a significant risk factor for survival ).

What made it easier to lose and easy to maintain is that I didn’t ‘go on a diet’. I decided to nurture myself by eating more healthily , and to see that as a positive thing. Rather than blaming myself and hating my body and putting myself on a punishing regime.

I ate a breakfast that I enjoyed (frozen berries, Greek yog, a couple of spoons of granola)

Lunch: One slice of toast, some protein (not cheese, unless cottage) such as lean meat, chicken, tinned sardines, tuna, chicken peas salad) and salad / veg (not with mayo). Or I had lentil soup or similar with one slice of wholemeal toast.

Afternoon snack: (had healthy snacks at the ready to avoid raiding the biscuits) e.g 2 oatcakes and 30g brie and a satsuma. Or Two Nairn’s Oat Ginger biscuits and a glass of milk

Dinner: normal dinner but reduced the carbs portion and upped the veg. Maintained common sense and didn’t eat deep fried food regularly etc.

Cut out alcohol except for Fri and Sat.

Grabbed carrot sticks or cherry tomatoes if I felt like it.

I did eat cake at parties, have dark choc if I fancied it, etc .

If I didn’t lose during a week or even put a bit back on I just shrugged, took motivation from my overall success so far and carried on.

It was a little bit hard for the first 3 days because I was used to lots of sugar and constant toast making. And wine (a glass or two) most nights

But I adjusted very quickly , lost about 1 or 1 and a half pounds a week and felt great.

Now I follow the same pattern, but also have a bag of crisps (the ones from multi packs) or an ice cream (Solero at less than 100 Cals rather than nearly 300 Cals for a Magnum, but that’s ok and a new preference, I have lost my taste for constant rich sweet food) if I fancy it.

I did do a bit of measuring at the outset, just to reset my idea of what a portion of pasta or rice is. (Answer: less than was routinely doled out in our household of growing active teen boys!)

But for me, eating normal foods in a normal way was key to both weight loss and maintenance.

Good luck OP, with whatever works best for you.

OP, I think building up a repertoire of simple and quick but very tasty meals helps.

I found Nigel Slater’s Greenfeast and Eat books helpful, avoiding his frequent addition to a pot of double cream to everything.

But you will have your own tastes.

I eat a lot more pulses, of a wide variety, than I used to.

'What made it easier to lose and easy to maintain is that I didn’t ‘go on a diet’. I decided to nurture myself by eating more healthily , and to see that as a positive thing. Rather than blaming myself and hating my body and putting myself on a punishing regime'

Love this @StewkeyBlue - old style 'dieting' is so miserable, all about cutting stuff out and restricting and trying to survive on as little as possible. It feels so good to give your body what it needs, which is actually plenty of food and nourishment! As you say, nurturing yourself, not punishing. Not saying any of it is easy by the way - you need time and money and planning and self discipline, but it is so worth the investment (if you can)

I could have written this! I overhauled my diet over a year ago, and very slowly lost over two stone which has stayed off so far. I was determined to do it with 'normal' food as I couldn't afford to buy different food for me when I still had the family to cook for. So I stopped eating sweets/chocolate and looked to make our meals more protein heavy with extra veggies where possible. My kids are uni age/late teens and they were really supportive and got used to me dragging them out on walks to get my steps in. I still have some weight to lose but I'm at a point where if nothing changes, I can live with it. I'm just mindful of what I eat, but that said, nothing is completely banned!