to be fed up of watching what I eat?

[superstarheartbreaker]

But at the same time fed up of feelibg 'fat'. Im not even that fat...im size 12/14 but if I relax my diet in the slightest and start eating bread or drinking then it goes on. Plus im on a very low dose of ads so it goes on my tum.
I love healthy food but id love to be able just to have pizza, pasta and chips without worrying about my wieght.
I hate diets but I hate putting on wieght more. Dosnt help that im on a bikini / beach holiday.

I'm exactly the same. The thing that helps me is, I try to make the healthy stuff I'm eating seem really appealing - so I make a super healthy lunch, then set the table with flowers and stuff so it looks nice, or get some posh coffee to have with it. I hope that doesn't sound naff, it just helps me to feel like I'm having a treat rather than chomping through fucking lettuce again.

Also excercise makes a huge difference for me, even just going for a walk.

I know how you feel OP - I too love healthy food but can't eat the 'occasional' pizza or curry etc without it going on my arse

I run in my local park - evenings and weekend mornings - just come back from a very wet run now! (off for a bath)

I also go to aerobics classes - I pay in advance which means I am less likely to wuss out - and I enjoy it which helps

I am on 100 micrograms of thyroxin and my thyroid is crap - which means I find weight hard to shift once it goes on

Thankfully I enjoy exercising

That's right Minty, you cannot out exercise a bad diet. Lord knows I've tried.

Another one who sympathises. It seemed to get a lot worse after I had children and piled on weight in my pregnancies, reaching weights I'd previously thought unimaginable for me. I was 14st 3lbs after I had my daughter and she's 10 months old now, I'm back to 12st 4 and still have another 1.5 stones to go.
I'm not a massive fan of exercise, but I cut out junk food and starchy carbs, replacing these with vegetables in meals. I really try and limit sugar, even with fruit I restrict myself to one portion per day and avoid high sugar fruits like banana. I find this works to reduce my appetite so I don't need to count calories as such I just don't want to eat as much. I don't watch the fat in my diet, just the carbs.
I also give myself a target of losing at least a kilo per month which sounds tiny but is 2.5 stone over a year. If I can lose more, great but if not at least I feel like I'm on target.
I've accepted that calorie dense, junk foods are not my friend but life can be very tempting, food wise. If I'm at a party or a work event, where there's loads of tempting rubbish, I try and eat half of what I would normally so I don't feel like I'm completely missing out but still have a sense of control.

You may not be able to out exercise a bad diet but it is also true that good diet cannot undo the damage inflicted by a sedentary lifestyle.
Healthy eating and physical activity are both necessary for optimal health

It is just so hard though! I have lost about 3 stone (was 3.5 but I've put some back after a broken leg) and have another 6 or so to go but it is a constant battle.

I know all the theory and all the diets yet am still waiting for that "aha" moment that puts things in place in my head to give me that extra motivation. I have got the Paul McKenna stuff, the Adore Yourself Slim stuff and another app yet I still feel deprived because I have to restrict my eating so much to lose anything. It is hard for me to lose weight but so easy to put it on. Recently I had a week away helping a relative move house, clean, decorate, etc so physically active all day, every day. I ate sensibly in the day and on some evenings but we had 3 meals out with wine over the week (not sheer piggery but not totally sensible either) and I put on half a stone. It seems like if I am not dieting constantly I rocket upwards.

GP tells me thyroid is a bit low but not enough to treat and just acts as though I must be fibbing which is soul destroying

What are your portion sizes like? A couple of slices of pizza one a week shouldn't cause you to pile on the pounds. How many calories are you consuming in drinks? How often do you treat yourself? If it's every day then it's not a treat it's part of your regular diet.

Metabolism isn't fixed. It takes a bit of effort but you can change it by increasing your muscle mass. I quite like this blog for weight training info aimed at women www.stumptuous.com/

You can't outrun your mouth.

On average people take in an extra 400 calories a day from drinks, so maybe up water intake and avoid other drinks.

Also, people think that treating a slow thyroid is a magic bullet but a Dr explained to me that it's not necessarily so. Being put on thyroxine doesn’t automatically mean you lose weight.

hell no Sarah I'm testament to that !

Good link beccajoh - I'm just getting into this after an adult lifetime of wondering why training for half marathons and attending various gym classes appeared to have no impact on my weight - although I had great legs !

True about the drinks beccajoh - not just cans of coke or smoothies, I have been getting the free coffees from Waitrose with my shopping, shocked to discover that a cappucino had over a 100 calories ! At least if you eat 100 calories you generally notice it.

Oops I meant sarahquilt for the drinks.

OP I don't think any weight losswill be sustainable or pleasant unless you are able to enjoy all different types of food without guilt. It's just food and it's all good in different ways. I'm pretty slim but haven't always been. The difference is that I don't diet any more. If I fancy pizza (and who doesn't) for supper then at lunch time I have something lighter. I'm sure that's the secret - a life without maltesers would be bloomin miserable, it's all about having some maltesers and balancing it with other foods. Hope that doesn't sound too sanctimonious but I can't bear that the diet industry has made people feel that they must ruthlessly control everything they eat rather than striving for a balance that's easy to maintain.

the diet industry has made people feel that they must ruthlessly control everything they eat

I think it's more that the food industry in general has created a situation where many people are addicted to junk food and suffer powerful cravings which lead them to eat far in excess of their caloric needs.

Of course we can admonish people and tell them that they just need willpower but the inexorable increase of obesity strongly suggests that it is beyond the willpower of many people to resist food cravings

a life without maltesers would be bloomin miserable, it's all about having some maltesers and balancing it with other foods

this is a common view, and it clearly works for you Tiny but it reminds me of the abstinence vs controlled drinking debate the we see in cases of alcoholism.
Few people would think that allowing regular small alcohol treats is a good way to deal with alcoholism and yet many people are appalled at the idea of a life without treat foods.

It may be that the the most effective way to kick a compulsive eating habit is to stick to a plain diet with no 'more -ish' foods, but no one wants to...everyone wants to be able to indulge.

I agree about thyroid.
I have actually gained weight- can make you more hungry i suspect.
Despite pcos and hypo i have now lost 8lb down to 8st 10 with a diet of 1200 cal.
If you suspect thyroid you need to find out what value your tsh was and monitor it if you have it taken again.
Gps seem to measure it but then fob people off with 'its fine'
When you could be close to needing treatment.
I think most people need to watch what they eat, or are maybe a bit picky.. I dont like cheese. Or just dont get hungry.
I think 5:2 would be good as your stomach would shrink.

I havent really been drinking any calories even in squash. Maybe milk but i think thats more like a food

I hope I didn't 'admonish' the OP. That wasn't my intention so I'm sorry if it came over that way. I really believe that moderation and making positive food choices is the only way, long term. It's certainly the only approach that sorted out my very disordered eating and has kept me at a healthy weight.

no no you didnt, it wasnt really directed at you Tiny, it's just that your post made points that i wanted to pick up on :)

Burn more than you take in and you will get smaller - fact.
There are many reasons that this is a lot harder for some people than others, you may have a slow metabolism, a health complaint that makes exercising difficult, a hectic lifestyle that makes it hard to find time to exercise / eat well but the simple inescapable truth is you need to move more, eat less/better.
If you can find a good gym then they'll often have personal trainers which don't cost the earth who can put you on the right track. I pay £30 per month for my gym and see my trainer once a month for an hour which costs £20. In that hour we tweak my training regime and go over my nutrition to make sure I'm on track for whatever I am currently trying to achieve .

I agree with your approach, Tinymrsc.

Obviously people's lifestyles can change over time, and sometimes it is necessary to address and alter habits so that eating/energy spent is balanced. It is possible to make changes without dieting or willpower. I think it's best to normalise food and eating, relegating it to a place where eating/thinking about food is enjoyable but not the be all and end all and doesn't consume a disproportionate amount of time/attention. It should be more than possible to eat the things the OP mentions, within a broadly balanced diet, without worrying about weight.

Pleased not to have caused offence