To think I should give up on diets and go back to eating crap as it worked better??

[MsRamone]

Frustrated.

I have tried several diets in the past - calorie counting, weight watchers, slimming world, atkins ... I always lose a couple of pound and then gain it all back (and more) despite still sticking to plan.

This past month I'd lost 8lbs on slimming world. All of a sudden, yesterday I've put 5lbs of it back on despite no change in diet.

When I used to eat crap (coco pops for breakfast, pot noodle for lunch, chicken kievs and beans for tea etc) I weighed less than I ever have since I tried being healthy. I snacked less, enjoyed my food more and weighed a stone less than I do now!!

When I was younger, everytime I tried to eat healthy I started putting on weight. I'm starting to think this is the same issue I'm having now.

AIBU to think I'm just one of those people that puts weight ON by eating "right"?

AIBU to go back to my own ways of eating and maybe take vitamin supplements to make up for my lack of 'healthy' food?

In trying to loose a bit of weight. Here's my diet plan for free;

Eat a little less and move a lot more

Also, bloody have that (small) glass if wine and enjoy it.

I've spent 22 years dieting. I'm at my biggest right now.
When I look at the eating habits of 'naturally' slim people around me, I see they eat whatever they want, whenever they want. BUT, unlike me, they actually stop eating when they've had enough - they don't clear the plate or finish the sandwich or have another slice of pizza.

Eat what you really want. But only eat if you're hungry, and stop when you've had enough. That might be 2 mouthfuls or 2 platefuls.

Weetabix - full of sugar
Muller light - full of utter crap, read the label
Alpen bars - ditto

No wonder you're hungry and unsatisfied. Eat REAL food, not packaged shit. You will feel tons better for it and the weight will fall off.

Muller lights are stuffed full of sugar, and are incredibly addictive. You'll be more satisfied with a plain Greek yogurt with fruit or a teaspoon of honey.

Do not weigh yourself daily

It's completely demotivating as weight can and will fluctuate wildly in the course of 24h. Stick to once a week (first thing, naked and after your morning wee)

I found best thing for me was low GI. Lost 3st in about 8 months although gained that and more back through pregnancies etc

MFP also helps me, I use it to preplan food as opposed to log after eating.

You will lose weight eating crap but staying under x calories per day (I know someone that did this she had no breakfast, a crap lunch - usually about 1000 calories and a ww soup for dinner) but you certainly won't benefit from actually feeling good / having more energy etc.

Years ago (yes, I've been dieting for 30 odd years) the weight Watchers Plan was very simple - you had something like 5 F/V (fruit/veg -normal size portions); 3 P (protein - eg: 4oz portions of meat/poultry/ 1oz cheese/1egg) 3 C (carbs - measured portions, 2 D (dairy portions) and 2 F (fat - very small portions).

Those might not be the exact details but you get the idea - it was all about 'real' food and seemed a very good balance only I was too greedy to stick to it. . I think one of the problems these days is that it is so 'normal' to eat processed food.

My mate had this theory.

If you eat junk your body doesn't cling on to it the way it does quality food.

She was super slim, looked great and ate rubbish.

I used to work with a girl, years ago, she was about size 12 max and then started saying she needed to diet (she really didn't) from then on came a lifetime battle with weight.

Almost like 'dieting' then made her so obsessed with food she put more and more on.

I've never dieted it's just not a good thing, I just weigh myself every morning and eat less if I'm a lb or two heavier. I eat exactly what I fancy but not too much of anything.

Well today I've had:

Coco shreddies
Pot noodle
Egg salad sandwich
Chip butty (oven chips!)

All comes in at less than 1400 calories and I feel REALY full.

Won't be having my usual "healthy" snacks tonight as they're not needed.

And besides the egg in the sandwich, all of that was terrible for you!

There's plenty of middle ground between the diets you try, and the way you normally eat - and I'd say most of that middle ground is a lot healthier and more enjoyable.

I agree.

I found on diets I'm just hungry and miserable the whole time. I like eating crap, I don't like not eating crap. I find if I do eat crappy food I feel satisfied after a meal and so eat less. If I eat healthy food it takes a lot more of it to fill me up and then I'm hungry again a short time later. I gain weight on diets as well.

So, my diet may be unhealthy but that has to be better for my health than being two stone overweight with a healthy diet?

So, my diet may be unhealthy but that has to be better for my health than being two stone overweight with a healthy diet?

No it isn't! I swear we are so obsessed with being thin that we've totally lost sight of what healthy is!

I work with Type II Diabetes and Cardiovascular disease researchers, and they try and stress that it is not necessarily obesity that causes "obesity" related disease (hence the related), it's that the same bad lifestyle choices usually cause both conditions (i.e. you eat MacDonalds everyday you're generally going to end up fat and with fatty liver disease), and that many of the same genomes that determine whether you are more susceptible to getting Type II Diabetes are the same ones that control insulin resistance that can make it very difficult for you to lose weight. So, rather then obesity CAUSING Type II Diabetes, obesity is a symptom of a predisposition to Type II Diabetes.

There are plenty of thin people out their that end up with "obesity related" diseases because of their lazy, unhealthy lifestyles. If I take my mother's extended family as an example, the women are all short and curvy/fat (especially after 30), but they are all very active and eat healthy. The men are all thin, tall and lazy. The women have all lived very healthy lives well into their 90's, despite being classed as overweight, and the men all died in their 60's from heart attacks and complications related to Type II Diabetes.

BMI is a horrible judge of health, and today's standards of beauty drive so many people to unhealthy habits (fad diets) that most people have no idea what healthy looks like.

Eat healthy foods that contain the nutrients you need (meat, eggs, vegetables, fruits, whole grains, dairy) and get exercise. If you feel you need to eat more apples to feel full then you need a pot noodle, then eat more bloody apples, at least they have good nutrients.

At the end of the day you might not be a size 10, but I bet you will feel better and have more energy and live longer with less health problems.

I like the Paul mkenna approach. Eat when you are actually hungry. Eat what you want. Stop when you are full (but not stuffed).

Ugh coco pops and pot noodles are my idea of hell.

However, there must be something in it. The industry bangs on about 'low GI' and 'empty calories', and while I try to eat healthily I must admit a McDonald's will fill me up for the rest of the day....

And don't even get me started on porridge....low GI my arse, I'm absolutely STARVING within an hour of eating it! Cue mid morning crisps!

It's all about balance.

OP, have your pot noodle for lunch, but what about a banana or a kiwi fruit afterwards?

Have your chicken Kiev for dinner, but how about swapping the chips for a jacket potato and some broccoli on the side?

Make some small changes, learn to love whole foods and fresh foods gradually. One of my favourite things for lunch these days is home made soup, usually full of lentils. But there's nothing wrong with having a crusty roll with butter on the side if I fancy it.

And get some exercise.