To ask how you lost weight and kept it off

[Pinkbutton85]

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 love an omlette breakfast.

My company paid for a healthy kick programme

I just started and am a stone down already . Noting progress every day really helps

I think you get to the stage when enough is enough and you WANT to stop

I have stopped my daily wine
I am having smaller portions
I am making myself exercise
I am not actually that hungry !
I was overeating at every meal

God knows if this will last but I am kicking myself for not starting this sooner .

Running 3 times a week and cutting out oil and bread. Lost 1.5 stones and kept it off 18 months so far.

@Pinkbutton85 - I know exactly what you are saying about lunches. I never used to plan my lunches, so I always ended up eating a sandwich or a toastie, or beans/cheese on toast. I have been using My Fitness Pal to track my calories and activity, and since doing this, I have been planning my lunches, as well as the main meals.

Each day I log the planned dinner for that night, and then I know how many calories are left for lunch - I have a few different lunches I stick to, and once I have put in lunch, I can tweak things - add or take away things to make sure I stay under my target. And I can see if I have enough calories for a yoghurt after dinner, or a plain biscuit - or even a treat.

I am losing weight - slowly, but I can feel a difference in my health, even though I have a long, long way to go - and I think the thing that has helped me the most is losing most of the bread that I was eating.

My go-to lunches are hummus and raw veg, soup, omelette with a bit of cheese, lots of mushrooms and tomato, or posh fish finger wrap - one multi seed wrap, some salad, tartare sauce, and a couple of Tesco finest fish fingers - it is gorgeous!

I should add that one of the things I like about MFP is the way I can log my activity and see how many extra calories I have burned. It is even making me do more around the house - I was no domestic goddess, and I’m still not - but when half an hour of moderate housework burns 175 calories, that makes me far more keen to do it!

I have also found an 15 minute easy beginner workout on a YouTube channel called Hasfit - all you need is a couple of weights, and you can just do it at home.

5 -2 and cut the snacks. Has worked a treat for us. It also makes you think about other meals.

5:2 has also worked well for ds1 (he’s 22) - last year, he lost 5.5 stone!

I was surprised by how easy is was to eat less . I thought I would be really hungry but I am actually not . I think the 5:2 is a good solution actually but it’s about taking that first step and accepting you will have a few off days

It’s all mental . I gave up the fags because they made me ill , and I stopped drinking so much as after xmas I felt so liverish and ill

I need to lose a stone, but like someone else said, my problem is that I struggle with only having 1 small treat. Once I've started on a treat I can't seem to stop. It's all or nothing with me, but that is how I am in general. I know sugar is my weakness!
I tried a hypno pod/app thing for sugar reduction, but I can't honestly say it did not work for me and I used it for months.

I love the way people get in a stew about breakfast and yet the 5/2 diet is so highly acclaimed.
There is strong evidence for and against breakfast but thst doesn't actually matter a jot to me.
My dd is nearly 7 and I've never lost the pregnancy weight despite trying lots of stuff. But I am finally shifting it by missing/delaying breakfast.
I adore breakfast and wake up hungry but I have a few drinks and distract myself (I've had lovely make up for work) then try and have brunch around 11.30/12 so I can then go until my dinner. All I am doing is cutting calories by cutting one meal.
It's absolutely fine for me and is working so I'm not particularly bothered what evidence there is my lose jeans are all the evidence I need

Admit that if you’ve got a cupboard full of cake/biscuits/crisps, you’ll eat them!

So just don’t buy them.
If I do want a “treat” I’ll buy one small cupcake or small packet of crisps and enjoy them.

Portion sizes, being accountable and planning as others have said.

Something you like and don't have to struggle with. I have low carb'd and found there were a lot of non weight related benefits as well
As weight loss but I don't eat meat and I love fruit so struggled.

I am not a huge snacker and I am happy eating the same thing so my days often look similar, especially in the week.

I don't drink but I do cake. I always have and I always will. I don't want not to. I generally allow myself around 200 calories a day on my end of day sweet treat. That's a cookie or a small doughnut or a bar of Turkish delight (yum). It's portion controlled and it's once a day. Some days it's just yoghurt and fruit.

I often tell myself I'm not the bin. There is no value to me eating more than I need even if it is lush. I often ignore myself but I do try and it works quite often.

By permanently cutting carbs from my diet. also called as the keto diet. Lost almost 25 pounds in 4 months, and without doing any calorie counting or exercising (if you don't count the 30 min walk to the tube station). Added benefit: my PCOS has greatly improved. And I can eat all the bacon and fat in the world!

I am never going back to eating sugar or grains again.

And being vegan is no guarantee for weight loss! I know a 'vegan' whose diet comprises of instant noodles, french fries and samosas and he still wonders why he is obese.

“I can eat all the bacon and fat in the world”

See that’s what I don’t get about “cutting out carbs”. You may be thinner but eating all that processed meat and all that fat, will not do your body much good in the long run. I know we all need fat, but they need to be in moderation. And it’s recommended you only eat processed meats :ham, bacon, salami, sausages etc etc, a few times a week.

I think small sustainable changes definitely work. No massive regime change for me because it is not sustainable in the long term. By small changes I mean things like - if you have a latte everyday stop it. Change to tea with a splash of milk or coffee with a splash of milk.

If you don't do any exercise, start at least walking more - get off the bus one stop earlier. Set small goals that can easily fit around your day to day life - parking further out and walking in.

If you eat white rice, switch to brown etc. Don't necessarily cut out all junk food but reduce.

Make it a routine, so you start to do these things on auto-pilot. The loss will be slow but it will be sustainable and easier than you think. I used to have a latte every morning. I stopped, I missed it at first but now rarely rarely crave coffee. Same with sweets, I used to eat loads of gummy sweets, I stopped this one thing (but still have bits of chocolate each day). I now never really crave sweets.

I never keep it off, I love food too much. I got through 6 month cycles of slimming down and then putting it back on (really unhealthy I know)

The only thing that has worked in the past is maintaining a consistent exercise routine that is based on muscle exercise. Once I have done this for a while I find I can eat pretty much what I want and not put weight on.

If you have an iPhone the Aaptiv app is brilliant for this, has muscle work outs from 2 mins to an hours with all different difficulty levels.

“I can eat all the bacon and fat in the world” - obviously I didn't mean this literally, like I am stuffing my face with fat 24/7 :). What I meant is I don't have to be leave out my favourite foods out of my diet.

My diet is not full of processed meat. Smoked salmon thrice a week, and bacon thrice a week, both for brunch. I eat only two full meals a day, brunch and early dinner - sort of IF. I drink at least a gallon water. All my meals include a single serving of protein, a big bowl of grilled/sauteed veggies in nutty oil and a single serving keto approved desserts (avocado mousse or strawberries in cream or a small marble sized cocoa fat bomb).

I hardly have cravings. That's the greatest benefit of keto diet, it weans you off sugar for good. I had cravings during the first week of changing over to keto (the worst week of my life, to be honest, but am glad I managed to keep going) but no more. I feel satisfied after every meal, and never sluggish or craving more.

I know this diet is not for everyone - and the grocery bill is a killer - but since it's the only diet in my history of battling with the bulge (nearly two decades) that has given me results, I am going to keep doing it. MFP stresses me out so I stopped tracking food. I have not lost any weight in the past 6 weeks, which means I have hit my ceiling to lose without any exercise. Next step: start exercises regularly.

As for 'all that fat' ... well, let's not blame fat for what sugar/carbs did :)

I honestly think that different diets work for different people. I have a friend who has gone nearly no-carb, and it works for her - but I don't think it would work for me. I have tried other diets, but failed at them - and using MFP, and calorie counting, is working at the moment - so maybe it really is a matter of trying the different diets out there until you find one that works for you.

Over 3 stones lost here in one year and maintained for a year now .. The best loss was my crap husband
Still about 2 stones to go (got a new boyfriend and the weight loss stalled haha).

Lost weight mainly with calorie counting and calorie cycling - prefer to do 1000kcal and 2000kcal (normal) on alternate days.
Healthy, high protein foods, 90% chocolate for a treat.
Avoid processed carbs, bread and pasta. Kept potatoes and small amount of rice.
Turbofire DVD workouts, which have not contributed to the weight loss but toned me up a bit and has kept my happy mood in tact (no time/childcare for real gym)
Learnt that it is OK to skip meals and experience a bit of hunger (I despise constant snacking)

This thread is an inspiration to continue my weight loss. 2 stones off you go!

LCHF/Keto really worked for me. Started October 2016, lost 2.5 stone by about Feb 2017 and have maintained since.

I am still LCHF but no calorie counting/weighing food. It’s my WOE now and I really enjoy it. Not just being slim but being free of a carb/sugar addiction that I had previously been unable to shift.

@:izzieSiddal

See that’s what I don’t get about “cutting out carbs”. You may be thinner but eating all that processed meat and all that fat, will not do your body much good in the long run. I know we all need fat, but they need to be in moderation. And it’s recommended you only eat processed meats :ham, bacon, salami, sausages etc etc, a few times a week.

No low carb diet recommends that you eat bacon and/or processed meat all the time - but @theramengirl was making a joke!

On a low carb diet you eat plenty of veg (and some fruit), and this is where the bulk of your carbohydrate comes from. The rest of a low carb diet is fat and protein.

Contrary to what you've been told over the last 30-40 years, fat is not bad for us. It's the sugar and carbs that have contributed to the obesity crisis.

I’ve done every diet under the sun.
One day I decided that instead of dieting I was going to ‘eat well’. I went Vegan at first as it meant I had to really carefully plan and cook from scratch and couldn’t just pick up convenience food with ease then after a month I continued the same principles but I do eat all food sources.
I ensure I have a good breakfast usually porridge. Hearty home made soups for lunch which I pack full of veg, lentils, beans so it’s like a stew and then healthy cooked from scratch meals just doing th usually swaps that make meals healthy i.e no refined carbs, lean meats, use carrot instead of mash on shepherds pies. I have no processed foods. Snack on hummus and peanut butter with crudités and dark chocolate. I drink only water but always did really.
I never feel hungry and feel I eat tasty food and don’t restrict myself if we go out or on holiday.
I also make sure I walk everywhere as much as possible and I have an active job. But don’t go to a gym or anything.
Since doing this I’ve lost 14 stone in 18 months and feel amazing. I have 3 stone left to loose and it is coming off slower now but I don’t care I am happy and healthy and know I have changed to a lifestyle that I can sustain forever.
Diets don’t work. It has to be a lifestyle change.
But I did a lot of psychological work before hand. A lot of CBT based exercises and thought/mood/food diaries to make the links between why I ate so badly and so much. This was vital!
It is so hard to get into the zone but my god being 27 stone was so much harder!!!
So much luck to you.

I took the easy way out - Gastric Sleave and to maintain it I eat generally from a low GI food base
I still eat crap food but no where near as much and I eat the healthy low GI food first that way I am full up so don't want the crap food

I also weigh myself religiously every single day and write it down on my phone
I can see patterns of extra pound or two when I have my period
Best thing I've ever done

@beardedlobster - wow! 14 stones is amazing!