to be sick of all the different diets?

[SouthernNorthernGirl]

I have been waiting all week to (re) join a well known weight loss group today. Well, we're here and I'm dreading it. I've been on or off for the last 10 yrs, and sadly I'm at my biggest ever

I started after DS2, and I feel it's to blame for my messed up problems with food. Before I started, I had never dieted and ate what I wanted. I weighed around 8.5 stone before, always. I now weigh 13stone, and rapidly gaining.
I'm sick of it.

Am I right, and should never have started in the first place? Or am I a greedy fucker, and just need to follow a plan correctly?
Also would I be unreasonable to start my own common sense eating support thread?

Last 8 years *

Eat less, move more. End of.

I too suspect it's all damaging long term. It can't be good, can it?

I second eat less move more i lost 6 stone that way. Still ate the odd cake but just tried to be more thoughtfull about portion sizes ect

The issue is as you said "I have been on and off for 10 years" - for it to be a sustainable loss then you need to follow a plan that helps you change your lifestyle and approach to eating long term. If you aren't willing/able to make long term change though then it won't work long term - that's not an issue with the plan (assuming it is a sensible one which is long term suitable) but an issue with the individual.

I have lost 7 stone following the SW principles and been at target for a year. I have found the balance which works for me.

YNBU at all. It is simply about eating less and moving more but if the obesity crisis was that simple certain weight loss clubs wouldn't be making a killing of a profit. As they are at the end of it, simply businesses.

When I was last at weight watchers. The star slimmer each week wasn't even following their plan. They were doing the slim fast diet.

Build up healthy habits and exercise gradually and you're more likely to stick at it long term. Just little things like, fruit for pudding or a short walk to the park with the DCs. Use the money you would have spent in membership fees on fresh fruit and veg instead. If they were that serious about weight loss these slimming groups would offer their 'formulas' for free.
I do get the reasoning behind them, that you know you've got to step on those scales each week so you'll try harder to achieve a loss, but it does make me wonder what effect the pressure could be having on some peoples mental health.

You're not a greedy fucker.

Oh and obviously don't be too excessive with the fruit. My dentist was not a happy bunny with me that year.

But the easiest and most sustainable way to lose weight is to eat less and make healthier choices and move more.

I love my fitness pal as it really helps you see exactly what you are eating and forces you to confront your habits, especially if you are a mindless eater (I was)! For a week log everything you eat (and that's everything - even one mouthful of leftovers or a biscuit) then see where you could cut down or make a healthier choice. E.g. I always used to eat biscuits in the mornings but it was just habit as I wasn't hungry. Cutting them out saves me around 1000 calories a week. That sort of saving is sustainable and after a week you won't miss it. Small changes add up.

Also moving more frees up more calories. Can you get a Fitbit or similar to keep track of your exercise? I do lots of running which is amazing for calorie burning and means I can be a bit less strict.

I feel that once you start to lose weight it will motivate you to keep going. Just got to make the first steps.

Come and join us on the NoS diet thread! Its not a diet as such, more a way of addressing your relationship with food and forming good habits which you can follow for life. I have been a yoyo dieter for all of my adult life and have finally found a way of eating I can follow for life. Its slow weight loss but I am 11 pounds down since the beginning of October.
No snacks seconds or sweets except for days beginning with S ie weekends and special days like birthdays. There's a website too which tells you all you need to know.

Diets are a friend to no-one and make so many feel a failure when slipping back into old habits and gaining weight again. The key is old habits need to change and new habits, that can be sustained, replace them.

Don't be disheartened, with determination and willpower you can succeed. I think starting a support thread sounds like a great idea. Good luck OP.

I think you are probably right. I've never dieted myself but grew up with a mother who was constantly going on about "slimming" and tried every diet going. She did really well on a few occasions with WW and SW but has always put the weight straight back on afterwards. I think people do better when they make gradual changes and introduce more exercise into their lifestyle so that it becomes habit.

Thanks for all the replies - lots of good advice. Will be taking it all in, and using it to find my way to a better way of eating

I think dieting has messed up my relationships with food, and I now find myself secret eating
I hate meal planning, cooking and eating out now, all my enjoyment has gone from it. As well as looking awful, I have developed health issues. I'm tired all the time, have pains and struggle with simple things. I feel embarrassed of the way I look, and I'm so sick to the back teeth of it all

all of the time *

People regain the weight after a diet because they go back to the bad eating habits that made them gain weight in the first place. If they followed the recommended maintenance plans, or generally ate well most of the time, they wouldn't.

I'm always saying this but get the Paul McKenna app I can make you thin. It's a non diet but I different way of thinking. I've completely lost guilty issues around food and weight. Went from 10 to 9 st and then had another baby at 40 and didn't put any on really. You stop thinking about food/bingeing because you're not depriving yourself of anything. It does take mind power but it's a refreshing effective approach.

It is lifestyle. What thjs group does clearly doesn't work for you so stop wasting your money.

You have developed some mental health issues, a franchise won't fix those.

OP, you are NOT a greedy fucker. I am in a very similar situation to you - always weighed around 9st then put on about 4st quite quickly due to stressful life events. I tried Atkins, Juice diet, Dukan, clean & lean. Nothing worked. In November I finally had enough, download the myfitnesspal app and asked for a fitbit for Christmas. It's working! I've lost a stone and I'm slowly but steadily losing more. I think it's worked for me because it's made me really aware of how much one actually needs to eat (or not!) and it's therefore more of a lifestyle change rather than a 'diet'. I haven't cut any foods out, but I do make better choices. It's sort of 'reset' my eating habits. You CAN do this! You just have to take it one day at a time and be kind to yourself.

Oh and YWNBU to start a support thread. I'll join!

OhCrepe I have the book / CD / DVD sitting on my bookshelf - I got about 3 years ago from a charity shop and haven't gone any further than a skim read I just didn't see how it would work.
If it has success rates than I'd probably give it a try, although I'm a bit scared of doing anything diet book/ group wise now. I really cant risk gaining anymore, I'm at my lowest right now and utterly down about it all.

Crossed posts with previous 3 or so MNetters - hold on, I'll read them and reply again!

Yes you do have to engage fully with it if you see what I mean! The app's easier to get on with I think.

special You are right, my mind is messed up around food now.
floss We are very similar, I need to lose 4 stone too. Well done on your first stone - I think that looks like a good way to go, would it cause me to obsess over food still though - keeping track etc?

And I will find somewhere to start a thread, and link when I do.

I've had food issues all my life. Recently started a new healthy eating plan (primarily to try to control my migraines). Basically, eat real food. Lean meat, fish, fruit & veg, complex carbs. Moderate amount of sensible fats - butter, a few oils, nuts & seeds, oily fish etc. Nothing refined - no sugar, nothing with additives in that I can't pronounce or visualise what they are or where they came from. Nothing from a factory & no ready meals. Food that looks like the plant or animal it came from. I do have the occasional smoothie for breakfast, for convenience as I set off for work early - but I make them myself with fruits, seeds, plain yoghurt, spinach etc. Snacks are fruit, plain yoghurt (full fat), or a small handful of raw unsalted nuts. I've not really been hungry too much, & have lost just under half a stone in about 6 weeks without really worrying about it. No counting or weighing. I'm not a gym bunny type & sit at a desk all day at work. It's been much easier than calorie counting, & my migraines have been better than usual so far, too. I have had a couple of "off days" where I've lapsed & eaten rubbish, but I felt terrible the next day - headachey & stomachache, it's not really that tempting to lapse any more...

I have just started slimming world. It sounds hard to begin with but its actually quite easy. You can eat endless amounts of fruit and veg (more veg than fruit), lean meats, chicken. And also you get to have a treat every day. So far im finding it easy but i am not looking at it as a diet but a way of life.

Those saying I'm not a greedy fucker - I fear I am to an extent!
As an example I got up through the night thirsty. Instead of going to fetch a glass of water, I raided the fridge and ate a leftover garlic, tomato and focaccia bread made for 2, and poured myself a large Pepsi Max I scoffed my face at 3am, whilst browsing diet plans.