To want to lose weight quickly so that I can change my life for the better?

nope, do it slowly. even doing it slowly produces great results. if you are stone overweight you can easily lose 2lbs a week. join ww online.

What's the point?

If you don't change your eating habits/portion sizes and your exercise routine, you'll only stick it all back on anyway.

Take it from someone who has been fat and slim - if you lose weight quickly you are more likely to put it on again. To keep it off, slow sensible dieting is the way to go. And your life won't magically transform when you have lost the weight. You will be abgle to wear a wider variety of clothes and will look slimmer - thats it. Of course there are long term health benefits, but in the short term, losing weight (unless you are very very overweight) doesn't magically transform your life.

OP I am in exactly the same position as you so understand where you are coming from. The only thing in my life I am unhappy about is my weight and I have been slim until the last couple of years so I know that when I lose weight I will feel so much happier. I hate not being able to fit into 80% of my clothes and feeling uncomfortable in what I am wearing. It feels so alien to me carrying the extra weight. All the best to you in your weight loss.

I have been fat all my life, lost a stone last year and kept (most of it!) off and have just started doing WW online - hoping to lose another 2 stones or more. I completely empathise with the 'I want it NOW' thing. A pound a week, and three stones comes out as a rather unappetising timetable. But I'm sure others are right - it has to be sustainable, you don't want to end up putting it all back on the first time you let yourself have a bowl of pasta. And of course you're setting yourself up for misery if you think losing weight will = happiness. But it can and should make you feel better about yourself. So you need more patience and more realism. But good luck - and remember. It feels so good when it starts coming off.

2lbs is very very easy to do per week IF you eat healthily AND exercise.

That is over half a stone a month, which means you can lose at least 2 stone sensibly by September. So get started now.

I had 3 stone to lose. I am now six weeks into my diet and 16lbs lighter and I have been a lazy moo who has eaten way too much and not done proper exercise for years.

totally sympethise
am in similar position myself, was slim and stylish till 3 babies ago.....
BUT
motivated, as I am,
I am going to go with portion control, cutting out processed anything and sugar
and EXERCISE
even after 3 gym visits (first time in 5 years) I feel a lot better

It depends on how you do it really. I put on 2.5 stone as result of having to leave my job and my husband dying (grief/boredom and depression are 3 of the greediest emotions ever).

Like Hammy I hate looking at my full wardrobe and knowing that most of it doesnt fit me. I refuse to shop for clothes because I hate my size.

On friday I started the 17 day diet and already I lost 4lbs! (yea I know its all water), Most diets are based on the same principles -drink water, eat veg n' fruit, and move your bloody arse!!!

But if it is a meal replacement diet or ketosis then you do risk yo-yoing (spelling )

Find one that suits you-Personally I love breaking the diet into 17 day cycles.

Good luck

The Scarsdale Diet is amaaaaaaaazing, and rapid. I lost 4 stone last year in 6 months that has stayed off.

It will take you six months to lose that, there is no quick way, if you go the starve yourself route you end up fat again.

It has taken me over 5 months to lose 2.5 stone, and I didn't do it properly, but in proportion to what I do.

YOu could lose it quicker by exercising, you only need a calorie controlled diet and limit your calories to 1000 a day.

You need to lose 2lb a week to safely keep it off.

It does make you feel better, I feel great now and can see my toes again!

If you lose more than 2 lbs a week you are guaranteed to put it back on. Your body will react to the lack of calories and slow down your metabolism so that even eating normally will lead to you putting on weight. So, sorry but it just doesn't work.

There's no secret to losing weight at all. You know the answer, you must have heard it/read it millions of times. I think you just don't want to take it in. Don't mean to sound rude, I've been there too !

1. Cut down the amount you eat. Especially fatty,sugary foods
   

It's easy to lose weight quickly if you have the will power. Cut out all bread, pasta, junk good, fizzy drinks and any other processed foods. Replace with chicken/fish, LOTS of non-root vegetables, make sure you have a lot of fibre and drink plenty of water. Ideally stop drinking too. Start exercising at least 4/5 times a week. If you want it that much you'll do it - I returned a stone heavier from a month in Italy last year and dropped a stone and a half in 4/5 weeks this way.

sign up to do a marathon. You'll not be able to keep it on you.

Can you can be very strict with your food and drinka nd still be healthy (probably more so than most people) but you do have to have the willpower to keep it up for good, pretty much.

Why are you overweight? Why do you eat? When? What are your triggers? Until you can manage these issues, you will be running on willpower which is incredibly difficult - it will work for a while but can be nearly impossible to sustain over long term, which is why people lose and re-gain weight

But if I get started and work hard then hopefully I can keep it off..I lost 7pound last week then put it back on the next week when we went away in our caravan...

In evolutionary terms humans are designed to survive without an abundant food supply. Your body still sees starvation as a threat so when you cut your food intake too drasticly your body thinks it is starving, and responds by demanding more calories, and storing as many of them away as possible. Some recent research showed that it may take up to ten years after this sort of starvation diet for your body to stop hoarding calories in this way.
By trying to lose weight to rapidly you will end up fatter!

Another one who needs to lose 3 stone, I have started today no more excuses about it being easter or we're on holidays, I would love it right now but know its not going to happen. I just need an extra dose of will power!!

Casey76 - congratulations on achieving your lifelong dream for university.


a couple of thoughts :

You clearly have drive and self-control (all that successful studying). So you can decide to apply these to your new goal.


Bearing that in mind, the only way to keep the weight off, however you chose to lose it - is to change your relationship to food.

Look at all the reasons you eat and drink, look at when you eat, what you eat and how much. Really think about the food you put into your mouth, how it makes you feel before and after. Some people find keeping a diary helps.

Once you and food are friends, not enemies and you learn to think of it as something enjoyable in its own right, rather than as a reward, or treat, or punishment, you will find yourself quite naturally eating the right amount for the size you are happiest at (which may not be the slimmest you have ever been).

What really helps is - eating slowly and consciously (so not whilst reading or watching TV or some other activity that takes away your attention from food), always using a plate and sitting down to eat, not banning any foods (you'll only crave them). A 3 week alcohol abstinence can kick start the process because alcohol is empty calories and also reduces willpower. This isn't saying never drink again, just give yourself the best chance to make the changes you want to happen. See how you feel after the 3 weeks. You may like the changes you find.

It has taken you 4 years to put on 3 stones. Respect yourself enough to take the time to lose the weight you want to lose in a healthy, calm and sustainable way. It is possible.

Hi,

I've had weight problems my entire life, i've tried everything. I find it very hard to lose weight slowly, not because i can't do it but because it is very frustrating.

I eventually hit 23 and a half stone at 26 and i thought that was my future. Then i discovered Lighterlife. It took a lot of determination but i eventually got down to 12 and a half stone (i'm 5'9" so this is a good weight for me) and kept it off for over a year before getting pregnant.

I put on a lot of weight whist pregnant and i've been going to WW for the past couple of months to try and shift it. It's been slow and frustrating so i have decided to go back to Lighterlife after my holiday at the end of this month.

On Lighterlife you lose 3-4lbs a week so usually about a stone per month. It is total meal replacement but they use Cognitive Behavioural Therapy to help you learn why you over eat.

It is very expensive though but if you weigh it up against how much you (truthfully) spend on feed per week it's not that expensive.

Good luck

OP, I understand exactly where you are coming from. I had a stone in weight to lose after I had DS to get down to my pre-pregnancy weight (a size 10). OK, it wasn't a huge amount, but I didn't have the willpower to shift it. I would try, and then give up after a few days and feel even worse about myself.

In the end, when DS was nearly 2 and I decided that I couldn't keep caklling it my 'baby weight' anymore, I decided to go for the jugular and went on an incredibly strict diet. It is a worldwide recognised one. I can't recommend it, as it is very very strict, and I know its not the sensible way to lose weight and all that. But I did lose that stone in weight over 4-5 weeks. It was hard, because I wasn't eating much, but my cravings disappeared and I was motivated by the results I was getting.

I now eat sensibly, and haven't put on the weight. I know how difficult it was to lose it, and I remember how unhappy I was when I was carrying that weight. I think you have to do whatever works for you. I was happy to take the pain of a strict diet over a short time as I was morivated by the results. I would have been frustrated at losing what I saw as only 1 lb or 1 1/2 lb a week.

Good luck with your choices.

Change the types of foods you eat too and go for healthy whole foods rather than processed foods and quite a lot of protein which tends to fill you up. I don't drink and that probably helps.
You want to try to move towards a way of eating for life with balanced healthy meals. No reason your husband coudlnt' give up alcohol with you. I'm sure it wouldn't k ill him to give up drink and it would be supportive of you and save the family some money. You could up what you spend on alcohol into a fund for books at university.