To ask how you lost weight and kept it off

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I go round and round and round and round in circles. Then round and round and round some more.

I know the science. Eat less, move more.

I’m lazy. I have little time to do a workout. I love junk food. I am my own worst enemy.

I know where I go wrong. I know my excuses too...

I’m wondering what worked for YOU.

Just clean eating? Slimming world or weight watchers? Going vegan?

I stopped eating anything pre-processed. And took up jogging.

So no biscuits, no TV dinners, no take away. Now I cook omelettes, jacket potatoes, seafood chowder. Lots of casseroles in a slow cooker. I can have pudding or cake as long as I make it myself, which means only at the weekends normally.

I've got really good at 15 minute meals and I'm two stone less than when ds was born. Funny thing is I've gone off very sweet foods.

PS - I think I think honesty is the key. I really struggle listening to people whining about weight management but also being completely dishonest with themselves. And then seeing them pass this dishonesty on to their children who inevitably end up taking the same path. Breaks my heart

Low carb High Fat for me. I've lost nearly 4 stone and it's been easy. I don't calorie count. I eat very few carbs, some protein and enough fat to make me feel full. I eat bacon, eggs, avos, steak, cheese etc.. I eat sugar free chocolate (which is surprisingly good) if I get a sweet craving, but by and large I don't think about food anymore. I often skip meals or fast for whole days without even realising it because processed carbs are no longer masking my body's natural hunger signals. I've been on so many diets over the years and I wish someone had told me about this 20 years ago. If you're interested in finding out more have a listen to the 2 keto dudes podcast.

Weighing myself every day. Writing down everything I eat every day, with the calories counts.

I lost 2 stone like this...so far managing to keep it off.

Previously I've lost weight but been in denial after the diet ended, quickly putting the weight back on.

Katkin14 its taken me years to find this out too and I am so glad I have finally found it as I too have seen amazing results. I agree I don't crave processed food anymore infact I actively avoid it where I can, it just doens't taste nice anymore...same with sugar.. don't crave it either and I was a huge dessert person before.

I went low carb a few years ago due to diabetes. Within a few months I was at my ideal weight and my blood sugars were within normal range and stable. I've stayed the same weight ever since.

It's basically a low carb/high fat diet. I don't obsess over numbers, I just have full fat versions of things, ie yoghurt, butter, milk, cream rather than low fat alternatives and at the same time make sure everything else is ideally in the single figures per 100g for carbs.

It's definitely worked for me, I am no longer diabetic and find it easy to stay slim.

i don't weigh myself but about 12 years ago I felt my clothes getting a bit 'waistbandy' so - i started to look at portion sizes.
And weighed things, and learned to suss out of what i was eating was too much (my natural way is to eat what's on my plate, i can't see that ending any time soon)

So, I drink a glass of water half an hour before a meal. I know how much I should be eating (don't always stick to it though!) I look at what the week ahead looks like and work out which days i can have porridge, salad and soup to make up for the heavily calorie nights out / dinners.
I don't not eat anything, It's balance.

I am feeling distinctly chunky now (after a frankly lovely Festive season) we are going away next month, I will watch what I eat and drink between now and then.

Oh, and if you are anything like me, there are so many empty calories in alcohol cut that for a while and swap it for fizzy water or nice soft drinks (ginger beer is nice)

Calorie Counting for me is definitely the way forward as I lost 6stone fairly easily.

I miss having the weekly weigh in, the meeting (found some lovely friends at my group) and the accountability - but SW didn't work for me. Infact it did the exact opposite - I got quite resentful the diet and put on what I lost whilst attending (not quite a year) and then some. The 'free' packets of crap noodles, the iceland SW meals being horrific, the weird substitutions in food to make it edible, no 'sweet' SW things working for me (the 'cakes' et al) - I just got really really fed up with it all.

I started running, got hooked and never looked back. As well as obviously being good for you, it makes me want to eat far more sensibly and healthily.

Have several friends who swear by slimming world. My dh is currently steadily losing weight by fanatically counting calories and using myfitnesspal app and doing couch 2 5k.

One thing that helped me was cutting out snacks as a meal category altogether. It's too easy for "mindless calories" to sneak in with snacks, or to snack out of boredom, not real hunger.

If I do get hungry between meals, that's an indication that my meals need to be more filling and sustaining.

My fitness pal. Also re-educating and re-training myself regarding diet. I needed to drag myself out of the denial I was in. Logging everything on mfp really helped that.

I also have this weird need to put everything pretty in my mouth (😳) so cupcakes and fancy chocolates all went in there. Now I make pretty salads, colourful stirfries and stuff. Rainbow veggies!

There are plenty of great workout videos on youtube. I find one with a really encouraging enthusiastic instructor who will motivate me when I can't find the motivation myself. Building muscle increases your metabolism so that helps.

Modified Atkins, so fruit and veg allowed, plus gym EVERY day, 500cal/session minimum, Metformin, NO sugar of any kind.

Keep tabs on myfitnesspal and step on scales every morning. Got thyroid and cortisol checked before starting.

Lost 5 BMI points in 5 months and counting, and that's with a raging PCOS.

Calorie counting & low carb.

Each day I eat a protein portion, salad and vegetables, some oils and fats, home made veg or chicken soup.
The protein is 4 oz of beef or chicken, 2 eggs, or a tin of sardines or tuna.
I eat a small portion of carbs ever other day, such as wholemeal bread or a jacket sweet potato.

I do an hours cardio 3+ times a week.

i managed to do it by eating less

As pp's say, less crap carbs is the key.

And FWIW a LCHF does work, even if you do introduce some carbs in the form of lentils, squash, sweet potato.

Unsurprisingly it doesn't work if you go back to deep fried tiger bread and donuts.

A big one for me is having soup with lunch and dinner - make a massive lentil and veg soup at weekend and start every meal with that. You'll eat way less.

I lost 10 Kg last year over about 4 or 5 months and have now been maintaining for about 7 or 8 months; my weight has stayed steady at the 'new normal' and I feel I have reset my appetite. My BMI hovers around 23 - 24. I have less joint pain and more energy.

I started the NHS weight loss plan 12-week plan last January. I calorie counted carefully for about a month, then kind of got the hang of it and wasn't as careful but stuck to the same sort of meals. I have great self control in the daytime but none in the evening, so after moving on from tight calorie control, I kept the daytime meals light in order to allow flexibility in the evenings & I still do this. I don't feel hungry at breakfast so rarely eat it. I read round the subject and found that it's a myth that skipping breakfast mucks up your metabolism. It's fine if it works for you. If I get heartburn in the morning, I'll have a few tbsp of porridge oats with some soya milk and yoghurt. Lunch is normally soup or a salad. No bread with the soup. Snacks are grapes, satsumas, pickled beetroot, or nice calorie - counted yoghurt eg Activia. Dinner is a normal meal with the kids and I still have desserts! For me, it's just been a case of making a calorie budget and counting calories accurately was an essential step to realise where it was all adding up, eg wholemeal bread, wraps, carbs in general.

I found the NHS weight loss forums really helpful and the plan and customised calorie goals made sense.

Prior to this I had tried the 5:2 fasting diet a few years ago and did lose a bit of weight, maybe a few Kg, but I kept getting headaches and was desperately hungry on it. The headaches became more severe despite careful spacing out of a few slow-release carbs etc. The fasting days were really tough, so I abandoned it eventually.

I got a decent set of scales and, to start with, weighed myself on waking every morning (after a wee & before drinking anything) . I know some don't like this, but for me it was great because I could really see the changes day by day, and if I'd lapsed, I'd usually see that reflected the next day too. It made the whole Calories In - Calories Out = weight gain / loss equation more real.

Best of luck, OP.

Lost over a stone on the Cambridge Weight Plan which is essentially a low carb diet. Put back half of it after eating normally again so I started fasting two evenings a week to keep my weight stable. I snack a lot, but don't eat a lot of starchy food.

I got a decent set of scales and, to start with, weighed myself on waking every morning (after a wee & before drinking anything) . I know some don't like this, but for me it was great because I could really see the changes day by day, and if I'd lapsed, I'd usually see that reflected the next day too. It made the whole Calories In - Calories Out = weight gain / loss equation more real. *

I weigh myself every morning but sometimes I wonder if it does more harm than good in terms of morale and motivation. I have gained half a pound since yesterday morning, despite sticking to my regime and working out last night.

How do those of you doing low carb high fat avoid constipation? My digestion is sluggish at the best of times because of my thyroid condition and I can’t get enough fibre from fruit and veg alone - I have to have some grains.

How do those of you doing low carb high fat avoid constipation?

Water and lots of it.

Calorie counting (completely and honestly, every tiny morsel) and a minimum of 90 minutes cardio per day, plus regular walks.
I do more exercise on the weekend (3-4 hours cardio) and allow myself a cheat meal as a 'reward (larger portions, maybe a takeaway or restaurant meal).
Chocolates and dairy free ice cream are built into my calorie allowances, so I never feel deprived . The key is to make if a sustainable lifestyle - there is no reversion to 'normal' eating, because it was normal eating that got me fat!

When i was 22 i weighed 13stone 7pounds. I am 5'7 so my BMI was in the obese range. I remember seeing a picture of myself next to someone who was relarively large and i didnt recognise myself. It was shocking to see my true reflection for once as I was up to then in denial of my size.

I started losing weight very slowly. I stared wih very small changes, such as changing my milk to skimmed, light butter, diet versions of foods etc. When i lost about 10lbs it kind of spured me on to learn about weight loss properly. I thibk it was a site called calorie count that i first used, and learnt all about calories in vs calories out etc. Over the next 18 months I got down to 8stone 7 pounds. I brought myself a rowing machine, a stepper and an exercise ball and started working out about 6 months into it. The feeling I got from losing weight became better than the taste of lots of food IYSWIM. I soon learnt that if i wanted a certain food that it would take X amount of minutes on the rowing machine to earn the calories.

It is not easy to get started, something normally triggers you to open your eyes a bit and jist getting started and seeing results spured me on. I am now 33 and have had 2 DC and i still weight 8 stone 7 pounds. I have a lot more muscle mass too now as i train 5 times a week with heavy weights. I do filming and modeling so I have to maintain a lean and fit physique to have a higher earning potential.

Moral of my long story is write things down, make the smallest of changes to start with so it doesnt feel noticeable and as though you have to restrict yourself and watch the results slowly reveal themselves.

Its about eating less and not eating lots of junk food. Gave up sugar and went low catb...after ten yrs its first thing thats working...

Watching with interest!