to think I will never lose weight?

[frankie80]

I'm hoping someone can reassure me that losing 4 to 5 stone is still do-able when I am such a picky eater and super busy with a full time job, university course and child?

I eat too much junk and I'm a really bad cook. Seriously, I don't even know what most labels mean and leave it to DH who works two jobs so it's mostly take outs or ready meals for us.

I hate all fish except haddock. I don't like pasta or pizza. I hate most veggies unless in soup and even then it's only some soups. (I bought two soup makers and neither of them worked even with instructions and asking on help on here so I can't even make fucking soup. I feel pretty useless)

I don't like much fruit, except apples, satsumas, strawberries and grapes.

I hate salads - there's no taste and I don't like seasonings/dressings.

No seeds or nuts (except peanuts). No cheese, quorn.

DH hates fish, eggs, nuts and anything with a visible bone.

I love chocolate, chips, chinese food, fast food basically

I can't get to a gym time wise so I keep saying I'll try the likes of the 30 day shred but then work, study, and entertaining DD just takes over.

My uni used my old student photo for my 'new' card. They said I didn't need to send a new photo because they already had one and I stupidly agreed only to get a card through with a young, skinny, pretty me. What will shops etc think when I'm requesting a discount? Who is this woman in this card? Has she stolen the card?

I have in the past, tried and failed at SW, nutricheck, cambridge, hypnotherapy, myfitnesspal also tried and failed at gyms, zumba, yoga, pilates, personal training, using fitbits.

I did lose 2 stone through WW about 3 years ago but then WW changed their diet and there was nothing I liked to eat.

Is there any way in which I can lose weight whilst not eating food I hate?

Just eat less of what you do eat. You will lose weight that way. That's what I'm doing. I can eat fruit and some salads due to stomach problems but have cut the amount I eat and it works. No sugar, crisps, ice cream etc either

Ignore people talking about how you have to like salad. Loosing weight simply means eating less. You have to try to have smaller portions, stop eating before you are full, and go to bed every night a little bit hungry.

That should have said I can't eat fruit and salads due to stomach problems

I have one friend who has always been slim. She eats way more chocolate than anyone I know. She also eats very very small portions at meals.

You do need to educate yourself about the calorie and saturated fat and sugar content of the foods you're eating - and bear in mind that those figures are for 100g. If you eat a large portion, you need to allow for that. Once you truly, honestly tot up exactly what you're eating, it can actually be quite shocking.
As I said above, I've been doing WW for about 6 weeks and am doing really well. But my friend and I "accidentally" chipped away at a chocolate tray bake at work one day this week, thinking that if it wasn't on a plate, it didn't count! She then pointed it and it was 11 points! A third of the day's intake! A banana would have been zero. It was bloody nice though

It's the excuses that make me think you won't lose weight. I had four stone to lose after having baby. Calorie deficit will always work regardless of anything else.

My diet went along the lines of: mini packet haribo for breakfast
Lunch: half twirl bar plus a mini twister
Dinner: chicken straight out the pre package job already flavoured in oven for 30 mins and I forced veg in here. X 6 months. I logged everything in mfp and never went over 1k calories.
I worked full time plus studying master exams and looked after baby.
Lost all four stone haha. Not prescribing this diet in any way over a healthy one as I felt like shit but now I'm back to more normal eating I can't eat anything close to how I was when I was fat.
I also still can't cook and don't do exercise. Can't help but think I'm not exactly that much healthier though. Even though I'm no longer obese, eating badly in the long run always has adverse effects on your health and the only reason I'm so shit is because my mum never cooked from scratch so I've adapted to survive as I've gotten older. I honest to god failed to boil an egg the other day. It's actually embarrassing. The mindset is what needs to change. Without that you'll always have an excuse to grab one more unhealthy snack.

I've lost 2 stone since Easter and have 2 more to go. I am doing it by boring old calorie counting by using the My Fitness Pal app.

To be honest, getting into good habits at the start is the hardest part. It is worth spending some time trying to learn how to cook before starting to try and lose weight - just easy dishes that you know you will enjoy - they don't have to even be that healthy, but it is important to get to grips with cooking.

You'll be surprised what you can eat while cooking your own stuff - junk and ready meals can be much more calorific than stuff you make yourself. Start slow, no pressure, cook things you like and try to experiment and expand your palette over time.

For me, although it was fairly easy to start losing weight once my mind was ready, I had slowly learned to cook and eat more healthily over the past couple of years (I just ate too much and still ate out too often). It sometimes takes a bit of time to get to the right place. Don't be too hard on yourself and start by small changes.

Good luck - you can do it!

I'm similar but I'm fed up and don't want to make myself unwell so I've stopped unhealthy foods and taking it from there.
Message me if you wish.

Of course you can lose four+ stones. You were slim before and you have lost two stones in the past.

I find that the moment I say, 'I am on a diet' I feel deprived. So, if I want to lose a little weight, i just make some healthier substitutions. Once the weight starts to come off, the motivation increases.

You are lucky that you are so busy, because that means you can focus on other things whilst you are losing weight. Many people (me included) tend to snack when they are bored.

Just think of it. The weight will come off easily. You have not always been so heavy and you lost two stones before. You can do it!

Agree with PP that you have to change your attitude towards it.

I found it helped when I stopped thinking about dinner as the highlight of the day and telling myself I eat to fuel my body - that’s it!

Buy a couple of cookbooks, seriously there is no “cant cook” it’s literally “can’t be bothered to cook”

Think that you’re educating and setting examples for your Dc on how to be healthy. Take away sand a defeatist picky attitude in the kitchen will not do, sorry.

You can lose 4-5 stones. I know because I've done it.

I had many of the same excuses - work, time, limited food likes.

None of that changed but did change was my mindset. I woke up one day fed up with feeling fat, unfit, breathless, tired and frankly looking like shit.

There were no fad diets involved - just discipline, hard work and being organised. Work out your food for the next wee while, prep as much as you can to make it easier and log everything you eat.

There is no secret to weight loss - it's a simple equation but unfortunately that's also what makes it hard as there's no quick fix. exercise is only a small part of it - you need to be eating fewer calories than you expend but for most of us, the greater part of that equation is the food we take in....unless training at pretty intense levels.

Strawberries and Greek yoghurt for desserts if you crave something sweet.

Get a stock cube dissolve in a pint of water, chop 2 or 3 veggies, I like sweet potato, carrot & celery & boil for 30 minutes until soft. Then throw it in a blender & blitz till smooth. Bread of your choice.

Haddock you can coat with polenta or grate or blitz a slice of bread to coat it (dip the fish in egg to make it stick. Chop a potato up for chips, boil for 3 minutes then brush with oil & cook in the oven.

You'll find there are lots of foods you can tolerate, I don't like veg at all but do like it in soups. Never ate a salad in my life but there are ways round it if you really don't like it.

If you like chicken & fish it can be done, cooking you learn from your OH or the Internet if you really want too. I agree the old WW plan was more suitable for people that weren't keen on all the healthier options. You can download the Value Diary that tracks pro points.

Any exercise will help, walking, swimming, fitness DVDs etc. (Loads free on YouTube.

Good luck!

I am a shit cook but the more I made stir fries, curries, pasta dishes etc the better I got at them and now they are lovely!. Stick with it and you WILL get better at it.

Let me tell you the other side of this. I have two elderly parents who have major health issues because they failed to look after themselves mid life.

They are fat, diabetic, have heart issues, can hardly walk and are both failing miserably to enjoy their lives and retirement.

All you need to do to avoid this is eat more healthy and work exercise into your daily routine.

I'm a busy single mum, work full time but I manage to do 30 mins swimming 4 or 5 times a week which keeps me healthy. If I need a sweet hit I eat grapes. Try and start with small changes and plan ahead.

If you don't your later life is going to be effing miserable

First thing to change is your views & attitudes.
Not suggesting it's easy. 2 years ago, I started Slimming World and have lost 4 1/2 stone.

I had similar lines ..... no time for exercise; didn't like much fruit &veg etc.

But I decided what I wanted to do.

Now, SW is not the magic part here. Nor is WW or lipotrim (whatever that is) or the YouTube links to fitness activities that PP are kindly sharing.
You are.
None of the above .... or any other combination of calorie reduction plan and / or increase in activity levels will work until and unless you want them to.

Start small. Learn to make a soup if that's what you fancy. Ask DH to share his culinary skills, to teach you. Cut out one thing at a time that you think isn't great, and replace it with something more nutritional.

Don't use your lack of variety in food choices as an excuse ...... so what if you only like 4 fruits, that's fine. No law says you need to like them all. So what if you eat the same thing regularly, every day if you want. If it works for you, fair enough.

Whether you research yourself online, or choose SW/ WW or straight calorie-counting or whatever .... you'll be learning, as obvious as it sounds, what quantities / volumes of certain foods daily are OK and what stuff you should increase and decrease.

You can do it ..... if you want to.

I would start with portion sizes and second helpings. If you reduce the amount of food that you eat, you will stop putting on so much weight.

You say you like some fruit, including grapes. I find that they’re very ‘moreish’ and I end up eating lots and lots. There are lots of different salads and veggies, there will be some that you can eat. Olives are yummy, for example (I didn’t always like them though), aubergines, courgettes.

Fry with ‘fry lite’ rather than olive/vegetable oil. Choose low-fat options. Learn to read the calorie count, it’s not that hard. And if you must have ready meals, eat the low calorie versions.

What about jacket potatoes? They’re easy to cook and very healthy. Lean meat, oily and white fish.

I’m one of the worst ever yoyo dieters by the way. I’m back to size 12 now, though, and I’m hoping to stay there this time.

Slimming clubs like Slimming World or Weightwatchers are good if you can find the time. If not you can look them up online.

You are probably addicted to the cr*p they put in fast food and it will take a while to get over that.

Are there any simple meals you do like?

Jacket potatoes?

It's a concern that you think pizza is a healthy choice for your DD - yes small portions of it ok but most people eat a whole pizza instead of a quarter!

Look at your fast food. Mind out the healthier choices of what they offer, start choosing that and gave much smaller portion sizes - half of what you used to. Perhaps get shop bought microwave versions - has nutrients and calories on them?

Once you learn to cook they should be s fortnightly treat or something. It sounds like you need to educate yourself an awful lot about food.

Realistically with your eating habits, it's going to be hard to just not put any more on, let alone lose some. 4/5 stone is not realistic unless you suddenly change your whole way of thinking which is way easier said that done. If it was easy, diet clubs wouldn't exist and 90% of dieters wouldn't fail.

Take cooking classes and cut out the snacks - that will make a huge difference even if your meals still aren't so healthy. Take out is expensive - you're better off buying dishes from the supermarket that just go in the oven. There are some healthier things you currently eat - the fruit you like can be your snacks.

I know it's hard. I have a terrible fear of most fruit and veg. I'm just trying to cut out the junk and eat what I can eat without gagging!

Forget the exercise. I work out to have muscle and that in turn can speed up weight loss but the main way of losing weight is your diet.

You could run 6 hours a week and not lose any significant amount of weight the way you currently eat because to lose weight through exercise only you would have to be doing hundreds of hours a week.

Thats why you meet people who go to a zumba class a few times a week but are still chowing down and saying they arent losing very much weight.

You need to change your attitude to food.

Whilst you get your head around it I suggest 2 simple things you can already do:

1. Put a complete ban on snacks. You dont need them.
2. Ban any drinks that arent water, tea or coffee. That includes fruit juice btw which no, isnt healthy.

Start with that.

You need to eat a calorie deficit. You can probably only have a third of a normal take out portion, take outs are hugely calorific and can't really be part of a strict diet. But you could bulk out a small portion of take out with broccoli or white cabbage done in the microwave or courgettes/mushrooms fried in a little olive oil, with plenty salt and pepper.

Have a look on my fitness pal at how many calories you should try to stick to.

You do seem to have a very unhealthy view of food and you'd do yourself a huge favour to open your mind to new things - there's loads of gorgeous diet recipes about. One of my faves is caponata - I do it without the oil tho - but it's sooo tasty

A third simple thing you can do whilst figuring out a new attitude to eating:
Remove all carbs from your diet. This includes potato, rice and bread.

So carry on for the time being eating your chinese or creamy chicken dishes or whatever you eat, but no chips/mash/noodles/bread with it.

This will be a good start.

I have lost 2.5 stone but it has taken 9 months. I'm in a similar situation to you OP as I have a very restrictive diet due to psychosis and severe OCD surrounding food. This means I have only two meals that I rotate throughout the week and I've just had to calorie count and eat small portion plus I did some change in lifestyle and added exercise in whenever possible. It's been very difficult because I'm on antipsychotics which made me gain the weight in the first place and make you sedated throughout the day and so are often too tired to move. I'd agree with what everyone else said - if you have a narrow diet then you eat what you can stomach but much less of it.

OK. So you like apples. They are great for dealing with sugar cravings. Cut them small makes them more inviting.

Haddock is good -and yummy. How about haddock with boiled potatoes, chips and peas for dinner?

Take things one step at a time. Make one meal healthier at a time and you will get to feel less sluggish. This is all about lifestyle and you need to make tweaks to get towards the lifestyle you would like.

God what is with all the anti-carbs.

By going low carb all you do is remove calories from a meal, it’s perfect acceptable to just reduce the whole meal and still eat carbs

Also set your calories using a proper only calculator like IIFYM or similar, I love mfp but the calorie calculator is wrong because u say I want to lose 2lb a week and therefore it has to provide a huge deficit to try and do it. It’s unrealistic and won’t help you stick to your goal long term which when you have a lot to lose is incredibly important