How did you lose a stone?

[Allatsea1980s]

Just that really. I don’t need to lose loads of weight, but am upper end of healthy bmi, just felt better when I was a bit slimmer. Early 40s, not going to have any more children.
I just feel a bit…bleurgh. Clothes don’t fit quite as well, stomach is a bit podgy, feel my face is a bit fatter.
I have looked at joining a gym but so expensive and to be honest with two small children not sure I really have the time. I quite like running and walking. Yoga and swimming are ok.
I do realise there are far more important and concerning things going on in the world. But in an effort to try and ignore them I’d just like a few tips to try and follow, for vanity’s sake!

Tracking and counting calories to ensure a deficit of 500 and walking 10k a day. Good luck

@MeanMrMustardSeed thank you - did you get a step counter? Also how many calories did you set yourself? I’ve tried 1200 but it’s just impossible I find.

Fell in love with the wrong person.

Download a calorie counting app and eat in a deficit

Cut out sugar 😭

Calorie counting. My Fitness Pal is free. Google TDEE calculator to work out how many calories you need.

Simple and boring - moving more and tracking calories (also early forties and was at top of healthy bmi range after Christmas). Have upped physical activity and using noom for food tracking etc. Have lost 6 pounds over last month or so.

Calorie deficit through fasting. I would stop eating at 6pm and fast through to 2pm next day, would then have 2 good meals (check out volume eating) either end of the 'eat' window. I lost a stone doing that but have now put it back on after a stressful few months where I've been comfort eating so feeling very depressed right now! The first week of fasting is hell but after that energy increases, sleep is better then you get on a roll with it and feel great.

Had smaller lunch, normal dinner. Took a year.

It’s hardly a recommendation when it unwinds so quickly.

Edit to say, sorry that sounded snippy but really it clearly isn’t a way to live sustainably.

Changing your life is the only way. You have to adjust your baseline. Regime change.

First post nails it. It's all about the calorie deficit. Work out your TDEE. Subtract 500 calories and be consistent. Prioritse protein and eat tonnes of veg to fill you up. Exercise is a bonus but not essential. Resistance training will help maintain muscle mass. 10k steps good to aim for and a good habit to get into
I lost weight through calorie deficit and exercise is definitely helping maintain it but its minimal help for losing it
Oh and avoid alcohol. It makes losing weight a million times harder

It didn't unwind quickly and it fitted great with my busy job and young children. I don't have hours spare to food prep, go the gym or walk 10k steps a day !

Fasting does work but I think you need to maintain the basic principles even when you've lost weight and are trying to maintain. No eating in the evening, go very easy on snacks, cut refined sugar, keep carbs complex/to a minimum as you get older. It's eating at night that really undermines your metabolism, should just be an occasional thing.

Started lifting weights... I had tried all of the above and it didn't work (also early 40s). Got an online PT which gave me an exercise plan and lots of guidance and support. Weight was slow to come off at first but I noticed a difference quickly. 3 months and i'm down a stone, delighted!

I don't think I can advertise the PT i used but dm if interested!

I need to do this, I struggle with lunch and dinner ideas. I work from home so could have anything for lunch but I’m not a fan of salads, any other ideas?
dinners are a nightmare cos of fussy kids, looking for inspiration!!

Stationary bike in the living room. 30 minutes = around 300 calories. Do that everyday and eat slightly below your TDEE and it will slowly come off.

Changed career to dog training. Average daily step count circa 20,000 (about 11 miles per day). Ate what I wanted and lost 3 stone during the course of a year.

Walking is cross country so not just on the flat.

I actually found the weight watchers app really helpful - never thought of it before but my sister lost loads of weight with weight watchers so I tried the app and found it really useful. I just loaded up on their “free” foods (fruit, eggs, plain chicken etc) and stuck to the points on the app and it worked!

Upping steps and also calorie counting.
Make sure you dont set your calories too low. A lot of people do ridiculous restrictive calories of 1200 which isn't enough to sustain a toddler. That will quickly lose you weight for a couple of weeks but you'll quickly become very tired and hungry and most people even with the best will in the world, will just end up binge eating and putting the weight back on.
You need to lower calories so subtly that your body doesn't notice and doesn't get hungry.
Need to use the TDEE calculator to work out you daily calorie needs and eat in a small deficit.
I've lost 5st and my current daily allowance is 2000kcals. Im still losing 1lb a week at this. Im 12st and 5ft 7. I walk 10k steps every day
You dont have to eat like a mouse to lose weight you just have to be consistent and stick at it

Calorie deficit with as much protein as I can manage (not nearly enough though!)

I’ve fallen into the trap a million times of thinking I’ll just do a bit of exercise and I’ll lose weight. But it rarely works. Unless you’re doing masses of exercise it’s not going to work. It’ll put you at maintenance calories at best. I think we just find it easier to think of adding in exercise rather than reducing the things we know we need to - crisps, chocolate, cake etc.

To lose 1lb you need a 500 calorie deficit per day for a week. If you put your mind to this you can do this in 14 weeks give or take - well before summer. Go onto TDEE.com and work out your calories. I like to use the sedentary activity selection and that means any activity calories are extra rather than included in the deficit and gives me a bit of a buffer. I find thinking of it mathematically like that helps because there’s been so many times I’ve done really well all week then ‘only’ lost a lb and been disappointed but actually that’s right on track and is my body doing exactly what it should be doing.

Protein fills you up so is a good use of your calories, it’s more for your money.

Going too low (800/1000/1200) results in blowing it because you’re starving or ‘you’ve done so well all week’ and completely effs up your deficit for the week!!

Come and join us on the Lose It threads for loads of support. Good luck.

Homemade soup? I’ve started making a pot of soup and leaving a couple of portions in the fridge and sticking the rest in the freezer in Tupperware. I take one to work every day and just microwave. It’s a great, nutritious lunch. The hardest part is not taking a whole baguette with butter to dip in it!

Nutracheck is a great calorie counting app. Cut out alcohol as much as possible. I also got more active & cut down carbs.

Thanks so much everyone! It’s kind of reassuring that in a way it is quite simple. I’ve done a few sample sessions at weight gyms/hyrox etc and it just doesn’t appeal and I just don’t think I’d have the time. But I could easily up my steps. And I do have a calorie counter app but never use it - I think I should start doing that.

I’m a real emotional snacker - that always gets me! Need to work on that.

I've just shifted one.

I have a Fitbit and use that to get a vague idea of how much energy I'm burning a day. I also have a walking pad, which, since I have fibromyalgia, comes in really handy as I can go at my own pace as and when I feel able, for as long as I can stand.

I don't eat any typical sugar-containing products currently. Instead I focus on eating decent amounts of protein and vegetables in various forms, lots of Quorn, Linda McCartney products (as they are, for the most part, very low calorie and high protein), beans and lentils, small amounts of cheese and lots of fat free Greek yoghurt with zero calorie syrup, which is a surprisingly pleasant dessert. I weigh everything I eat and put it into ChatGPT with its calorie and protein values, then let that do the working out for me, as I can't be arsed.

I aim for a thousand calorie deficit daily as I want the extra weight gone asap, so that's a steady loss of about 2 lb a week. I started on 5th January and am one stone down as of today. Honestly, apart from a horrendous headache when I first went cold turkey on the sugar, it's been easy. I'd like to get back down into the high 8s if possible, so another stone and a bit to go ... I'm sure it will get more difficult to lose consistently as I lean out, but I feel fairly confident I can keep it up.

Cut right back on ultra processed food and sugar. If you do this then you shouldn’t need to count calories. Your body is capable of regulating its own weight, but not if you feed it crap.