To not go on another bloody diet?

[OneFattyMcMuffinPlease]

I'm very overweight and unhealthy. I weigh 14 and a half stone and I'm only about 5ft. I don't eat very well either, in fact my diet is terrible .

But I am sick of constantly going on diets and falling off the wagon after a couple of days. I feel like I've put more weight on by trying to lose weight than if I had if I hadn't bothered. I've tried low carb diets, meal replacements shakes, soup diets...you name it and I've probably tried it at least once but I can just never stick to them.

So I have come to a decision. I'm not going to diet anymore. Instead I am going to change my life. I am not going to live off takeaways, cheesy pasta and chips, sausage rolls and chocolate any more. I'm going to start improving what I eat instead and make it long term. I'm not going to cut out any food groups, I will simply eat less of some foods and more of others.

Is this a crazy idea? Has anyone lost weight this way and if you did, was the process slow and did you keep it off?

[WhatwouldOliviaPopedo]

It took a total mindset change for me to lose weight and what helped was reading this book, Never Binge Again. It's a bit extremely bonkers, but the message has incredibly sunk in and since reading it I've given up junk food, lost 10lbs and I don't have any cravings – I haven't eaten a single crisp (my trigger food) since 3 August. But I echo what PP say about keeping a food diary - I track everything else I eat using the MyNetDiary app, which I find is more user friendly than MFP, just to keep track of portion sizes.

[Papafran]

[Dozyoldtwonk]

A previous poster has already mentioned it but definitely check out Rebelfit on Facebook (he has a blog too, I think). Their mission is to expose the diet / slimming industry for what it really is - a profiteering money making machine that needs people to fail and return and buy their shit products in order to survive. I genuinely don’t know a single person IRL who has lost weight with a slimming club or diet and kept it off, long term. This could just be me though.

Your idea is sound, OP and really is the only thing that will work for life. Combine it with exercise you enjoy and can keep up doing (because you want to, and because you enjoy it) and you’ll be winning.

[Missstickinthemud]

I don't know about you OP, but I'm obese because of emotional overeating. I suspect that many overweight and obese people are.

I'm trying to lose weight, but as well as a diet I'm trying to tackle my habit of emotional over-eating, because I don't think anything will work in the long term until I stop relying on food as a crutch. That is the habit that has got me into difficulty in the first place.

If there is a chance that this is an issue for you too, it might be wise to consider looking at the emotional side of why you over eat.

[Allthebubbles]

Have a look at the Supercharged club.
superchargedclub.co.uk/

They tackle exactly the kind of life changes you are proposing and give you support to do it. I've done one of their programmes and really benefitted from it.

Good luck making changes. It's not easy but it's worth it.

[LaGattaNera]

Slimming clubs DO teach good habits for maintaining actually once you get to your goal weight. I have been at goal with WW for 6 years. If you go more than 5 pounds over your goal you have to pay for meetings again. I have never had to pay. Once you get to your goal or target, the trick is to keep going to meetings - which are then free if you stay with a certain range - so that you still keep track and stay focused. It is those who get to goal then stop attending meetings, who tend to put the weight on. I love WW, it changed my life. I think SW is great too and when I joined I just happened to choose WW though can't recall why as it was 8 years ago.

[SweetChickadee]

I am not going to live off takeaways, cheesy pasta and chips, sausage rolls and chocolate any more

Good - you don't need a 'diet' you need a permanent overhaul of what you eat.

DH and I found Jamie Oliver Superfoods a fab way to get us to rethink what we were eating, upped our veg, lowered our fat and added lots of fibre.

Two years later we are still eating much better, and kept the weight off. I'm currently working through a Mediterranean cookbook. It's fab.

[McPie]

Check if your Drs surgery runs a nurse led programme called Counterweight, I started following it 5 1/2 years ago at 15 1/2 stone and I'm now 11 and have been for ages. If not This plan has been adapted from the Counterweight programme.
The whole thing is based on serving sizes and does take a bit of weighing out but its based on a healthy balanced diet. My energy is normally through the roof when I fully follow the plan so I can do the exercise I enjoy, today I have ran 2 miles, done 2 1 hour body pump classes (with heavy weights) and 45 mins of body balance.

[User36367292]

If you have tried various diets and failed so quickly, what makes you think you will stick to this one?

The only diet that works is the willpower one. Without that it's a waste of time and money.

[dontbesillyhenry]

I'm not on a diet. I now weigh less than the last time I went to a slimming club

[Catscrat]

Have you heard of intutive eating? It's not strictly about weight-loss but it's an anti-diet approach that basically teaches you to 'unlearn' unhealthy diet behaviour and eat well. Yo-yo dieting, as you've described, does make you put on more weight than if you didn't diet. The theory with intuitive eating is that when you tune into your hunger signals and give yourself full permission to eat, your body will settle at the right weight for you. I really recommend reading 'Intuitive Eating' by Evelyn Tribole which goes into it in detail - it makes sooo much sense in understanding why diets fail. Also, not a cheap option, but Laura Thomas (a registered nutritionist) runs an Intuitve Eating course online (through facebook) - I did that and it's really helped me to think more positively about food and ditch the diets! She also has a great podcast which is free.
www.laurathomasphd.co.uk/intuitive/

[hungryradish]

A good choice not a crazy idea. Diets don't work & no one can stick to them forever - a healthy, balanced diet is the healthiest option!

[thedevilinablackdress]

Sounds good. Don't go on a diet, change your diet for good. Good luck OP.

[laramara]

You are absolutely right in your thinking,as diets in their very nature don't work in the long term for most people as in the majority of cases people put on even more weight once they stop dieting so it becomes an endless merry go round.
Much better as you have said to take control of your own eating and try and reduce eating food that you know isn't sensible and replace it with good food, also it's unhelpful to be constant weighing yourself, good luck!

[Papafran]

I know that slimming world fanatics always sing its praises, but it IS true that they promote gross and processed food. Chocolate and marshmallows are lower in syns than avocado and olive oil which is a prime example of how messed up it is. It's great that loads of people are doing the diet and never eat processed food, but the diet does NOT say don't eat processed food. It says the opposite.
Yes, I went to a meeting when I was overweight. Have also been to WW. Both as bad as each other. I am sure that people lose weight, but so many regain it again- SW does not have a higher success rate than other weight loss programmes.

OP, good luck. I finally lost weight by eating limited processed food and by doing exercise. I have personally found that it's nigh on impossible to lose weight without combining it with exercise of some form.

[Raisedbyguineapigs]

From what I have seen from my SW group where quite a few people have stayed at their target weight is that you can't really come off it. But its much easier to stay on a plan for life where you are told to east home cooked meals and fill your plate with veg than it would be one that is super restrictive. If you stopped counting calories and went back to eating cakes every day, you'd put the weight back on too. OP you can do it in the way you described. If you are only eating crap and you stop, you'll have a significant calorie deficit from eating healthily.

[Pickleypickles]

Which was my original point, slimming world and similar clubs dont teach good eating habits for after the weight is lost which is why i think OPs idea sounds good.

[Sooooooooooooooooooooo]

But you will put weight back on if you go back to your old eating habits.

[Pickleypickles]

Im not saying slimming world doesnt work, just my friend genuinely thinks shes following her diet when shes doing that stuff and for 90% of the women i know who have used it thwy have all put the weight back on within 12 - 18 months.

[GoldenBlue]

Ive been really successful with slimming world too. 3 1/2 stone off and stayed that way for 10 months so far. But the whole point is that it's not a diet, it is a life change.

I don't eat the things people always claim slimming world is full of. I'd rather have a little piece of real cake than a big portion of fake, artificial sweetener filled 'cake'.

I cook from scratch, eating healthy and tasty food. I try to work on portions but have a big appetite so I fill a minimum of a 3rd if my plate, ideally half of my plate with veg. And then eat lean protein and a small portion of carbs so I don't feel denied.

I also use my fitness pal to track calories occasionally to remind me of calories in different foods and portion sizes.

I don't diet because I want to love my food, it is a big part of life for me, but I also want to feel happy in my skin, so I need balance

[Raisedbyguineapigs]

Meal replacements and soup diets are setting you up to fail. You need to do something you can see yourself doing forever, because that's what you have to do. Of course SW is a calorie deficit programme but you have to eat 1\3 of a plate of fruit or veg at every meal, so that where the calorie deficit comes from. I've lost weight on SW while not really doing it properly, but what I have done is cut out the pastries, sausage rolls, cakes, takeaways etc. You will definitely lose weight. Maybe more slowly but outs about reeducation, which takes a long time.

[Bambamber]

I lost a lot of weight just swapping takeaways for meals cooked from scratch, with proper portion sizes. When I've really got the munchies I reach for popcorn instead of crisps. It can be hard at first, but after a while my tastes changed and don't crave salty junk food. I've kept the weight off about 2 years now, and maintained a very healthy weight during pregnancy and was pre pregnancy weight within 4 months with practically no effort.

[Sotuko]

Slimming world only works if you happen to be in a calorie deficit whilst doing it. Don't be fooled into thinking it's anything more than that.

[Sooooooooooooooooooooo]

Slimming world does work, I’ve lost a stone. And if you eat a pack of ham as a snack you’re not doing it properly. Don’t be ridiculous.

[JustDanceAddict]

Do my fitness pal and log your food intake It’s a revelation! You have to find out how many calories you need to lose weight, but that’s not hard to google.