Honestly, how easy is it to lose 5kg?

[Parltgrau]

I've been 56-58 kg my whole adult life except in pregnancy and postpartum and have never needed to diet so I'm totally clueless. Over the last couple or years I've put on some weight and I'm now 65kg. I'm still considered in the healthy weight zone but it feels too much for me. Clothes are too tight and most of the extra is held around my tummy and bum. I am 45 so no doubt age is playing a part. How easy would it be to lose 4 or 5kg? Would it be realistic to think I could lose it by my holiday mid August or am I kidding myself? Where do I even start?

Where do you want to start? Would you like to try calorie counting using an app such as My Fitness Pal? Have you considered intermittent fasting? Dr Mindy Pelz’s YouTube channel is a good place to start. If you want to give low carb a go then Mumsnet has its very own Low Carb Bootcamp. How good is your diet at the moment? Could you cut calories by reducing snacking or alcohol consumption or by eating fewer processed foods?

I cut out flour and sugar. Upped veg intake.12kg gone in three months. I've maintained it for 18 months so far. I don't follow intermittent fasting or calorie counting. I mean, if I eat at 8pm I don't eat until after 8am, and wake up to a pint of water before my first cuppa, but that's it.

But yes, age is a bastard.

I think that’s reasonable; I found it the easiest to do weight watchers when I was trying to lose weight after a baby. I now use a calorie counter to maintain which will also be important for you.

I don't drink so nothing to cut there. I don't think I eat a lot but I have got into the habit of snacking sweet stuff in the afternoon so probably need to look at lunch that will keep me feeling fuller. I might cut out breakfast as I'm not actually that bothered about eating first thing. I never eat after dinner which we usually have about 7pm. I need to do more exercise as work from home and can spend long time at my desk.

I could cut out bread fairly easily. I really need to eat more veg so that's a good call. 12kg loss sounds amazing to me, has it taken a lot of willpower?

Not that I’m recommending it, but I found it very easy when in hospital for 3 weeks with pneumonia and pleurisy - all the ABs made everything taste either weird or horrible, inc tea!

Sadly I soon put it all on again though….

I don't get hungry for breakfast either so mostly skip that. Sometimes have a banana.
The most successful diet will be the one you plan around your personal preferences so you could have a good lunch but save some calories for a mid afternoon healthy snack. Plan ahead and shop for your specific meals so you won't have a situation where you go "off plan". My current mid afternoon snack is a small handful of frozen black grapes. Other times I have a couple of oatcakes and hummus. Not trying to lose weight but am prone to gaining it so keep an eye.

Cut out all snacks and go for a long vigorous walk every day. That should be enough to lose around half a kilo a week.

I did this too but a lot of it was muscle. As well as feeling horrific, I also felt bloody gorgeous, so slim 😅

I can lose that amount of weight in a fortnight by
A cutting out the crap including bread and all flour products.
B. Having a late breakfast (normal bowl muesli) and skipping lunch or just have a small salad type lunch.
C. Increasing the exercise I do a bit.

Before 35 - easy. Skip dessert and go easy on the wine.

35-44 - fairly easy to lose, count calories and up your step count. However if you skip one day of this it will all come back on instantly, and you'll have to start from scratch.

44+ - cut out everything you love and you're in with a chance 😭

I went from 67kg to 61kg in 3 months OP. 61 has always been my ‘normal’ but I’d stopped exercising and was eating crap.
I started running again, joined a gym and do one cardio class a week, a couple of strength sessions, one run a week and play Paddle once or twice a week. I used my Fitness Pal to calories count and to be honest I would say it was pretty easy.

Oh and I’m 47. This was three years ago I did this and well into perimenopause.

I'd rather not do it that way! I did once have a 5 day hospital stay and lost weight but that was in the days when I didn't need to lose anything.

This is what worries me. I was always the person who could eat two puddings and never put on an ounce. I don't think I'm eating more than I ever did but the weight is now building and I'm worried this is the middle age spread that won't shift.

This is so accurate!

I'm sorry to say that, in my experience anyway, it is part of aging. Either embrace being a little bit 'softer at the edges' or be prepared to work quite hard at fitting into your current clothes.

I've gone from easily and naturally slim, to healthy, to almost overweight without eating any more or moving any less. It's like gray hair and wrinkles, it's just happens to us all eventually.

If it's any consolation I find that the older I get the less I care, and I'm happier in my (almost overweight) body now than I was in skinny body 25 years ago. I don't know why it is, my body is less perfect and more flawed now than it ever was, but I'm happier in it, and kinder to it.

Maybe failing eyesight helps 😂

Willpower, no not really. I just stopped, say no to all cakes and biscuits being passed round, ignore "oh just the one" comments etc. after about a week sugar free I was able to walk around the cakes, biscuits and sweets aisles - chocolate as far as the eye could see - and just ignore it, it did nothing for me.

I enjoy bending over yo put my socks on and not having to hoik my belly out of the way!!

My fitness pal app will really help. You'll be surprised at the calories and how they quickly add up!