To ask about the best way to lose weight and keep it off?

[blackcoffeeredwine]

Currently at slimming world but it’s not working for me... I struggle to do the whole ‘it’s a lifestyle change’ thing - I got to target 2 years ago and put it all back on again and more as soon as I stopped following the plan. I can’t imagine following it for life, and whenever I leave I end up heavier than I started.
I just want to know what worked for some of you?
I have about three - three and a half stone to lose to be my dream weight.

Oh and I never want to eat in the morning, so Im doing 16:8 so I dont eat until lunch which means I only eat 2 x meals a day

You won't want to hear this either, but if you're not hungry you won't lose weight. Don't be afraid of being hungry. Our ancestors accepted it as part of life. It's just us modern types who have forgotten that.

Yes LaLoose - I have realised that I dont like being hungry, but actually over millions of years our ancestors would have been hungry more often than not..... so we are meant to feel hungry sometimes.....

Hi! Good for you for wanting to live a healthier life and also for sticking at things and trying again when something doesn’t work for you. It is not easy at all.

I lost three and a half stone/ 50lbs/ 22kg about 5 years ago and I have kept it off. I don’t believe there is any magic solution and the “No S” this or the “So and so” fast diet stuff annoys me at times because I know what it’s like to feel demoralised about your weight and don’t think it’s fair to parade these fad diets in front of people as a Magic bullet. For the vast majority (not all!) I don’t believe they are sustainable in the long term.

For me, it was changing my life so that I got joy from feeling fit, eating well and being active. So I had to find happiness in cooking and eating well and in physical activities that I looked forward to. So much so that I would happily forgo a few glasses of wine or an unhealthy takeaway or a late night the day before a long cycle/ early morning Spin/ Body Combat class/ day’s hill walking. It became about having a happier, more active life rather than wanting to weigh a certain number.

I really feel this is the key to it all. Telling yourself you absolutely deserve to be strong, fit, happy and healthy and to spend some time finding enjoyable things in life that, when put together, will help you get there.

Best of luck! It’s a tough journey but, I believe, very worthwhile!

I believe that different diet regimes/slimming methods work for different people. I have a friend who has lost weight by going no-carb, another doing really well on the beach body programme, and ds1 has lost 5.5 stone on the 5:2 diet - and I have finally found a way that works for me - calorie counting and tracking my exercise using My Fitness Pal.

If Slimming World isn’t working for you, try something else - but take the long view - if the next one doesn’t work for you, it is still good that you tried it, and you have to see it as a step in the right direction so you can move forward to try something else, rather than doing what I did for years and years - try something, fail, beat myself up for failing and then self medicate my depression with food.

Walking. Briskly. Shit loads of it. For hours.

Well that’s worked for me anyway. I spend at least 3 hours a day walking as fast as I can - 1.5 hours in the morning and 1.5 hours in the afternoon. I know not everyone can do that due to work / other commitments but it works for me. I listen to music and off I go. Then I come back and I eat cake / bit of chocolate and I seem to manage to stay the same weight (after initially losing a lot of weight doing it). So that suits me. If you could jog or run you could do it for half the time.

It sucks if you don’t enjoy it but exercise really works if you make time to do it regularly and push yourself a bit.

I could never do a diet or slimming world. I love eating bad stuff too much (as well as good stuff). I’m not going to be a size 8 and I am fine with that (I’m a size 14ish) but I do try to keep myself fit and healthy and still able to enjoy a treat.

Either loads of walking or find an exercise you love and do it at least 4 times a week.

I find I make better food choices when I'm exercising.

Some ideas:

• running
• weightlifting
• swimming
• les mills fitness classes (if you like moving to music)
• yoga

Can I also add that having a serious health scare - as I did last year- is a really good motivator for realising you need to sort yourself out health and fitness wise. You don’t realise how important health is until it’s called into question.

My obese friends get hungry all the time even though they live sedentary lives.

I think they are hungrier because their stomachs are larger and therefore come to expect more food to feel full.

So the best way to deal with that is to fill up on loads of vegetables in stock or miso every time you feel hungry, sprinkled with something like sunflower seeds to add a bit of protein.

Also, if you are a natural 'grazer' then don't have any main meals at all and just eat healthily in small amounts throughout the day.

Throwing out anything factory produced from your cupboards and fridge and just going back to basics: ie a carrot /apple for a snack would make it much simpler to manage long term.

I know how to lose weight, ie all the technical rules - what i struggle with is rebellion! I lose weight and then binge it back on again and lose control and my eating's actually become quite disordered as a result. I lost 10lbs before xmas and was finally feeling good about my body, but I'd cut out all the junk/treat foods and so when xmas came i couldn't stop eating them and now all the weight has gone back on plus more.

I have heard good things about the no S diet so will check that out. I was doing hard keto-dieting, and losing a lot of weight whilst doing it but it makes you rebound like nobody's business. Shame, as I thought that was my magic bullet.

I need a diet that doesn't really feel like a diet, so I can trick myself into thinking like I'm not depriving myself and no need to rebel, yet still lose weight. Does such a thing exist??

stayachild
Amazing, I’m going to try that from tomorrow and weigh in every week. Its something I could do for life too

5:2 so simple and easy and you can still eat foods you probably couldn't on a diet and move more. Also drink loads more water.

It's not an easy problem. I'm 3 stone into a desired 5-6 stone loss. It's rough work. Slow. And ir requires planning. I really sympathise.

All of the diets mentioned on this thread are likely to result in weight loss if you stick to them.

But you absolutely will not keep it off without a lifestyle change. Which is where us dieters fail. Because our ultimate goal is to carry on as we are but also be slim and that's just not realistic.

I lost two and a half stone by the traditional method of eating less and better and moving more. It took about nine months. That was eleven years ago.

I have kept it off by weighing myself every single morning. I allow for hormonal fluctuations but keep myself within a few pounds of my goal weight. I like feeling slim. I like fitting into my clothes and that keeps me on track. It’s far easier to get a couple of pounds off than half a stone.

Mostly I now prefer plain, good food. I love fish and dislike creamy sauces and overly sweet foods which is basically a result of long term discipline.

Meal planning and never getting ravenous are your friends. And for me, delaying eating until late morning or even early afternoon works. Through the day I eat to hunger rather than meal times but always have a proper dinner. It’s worked for me.

I’m a size 14 at the minute, look and feel best at a 10.
I need to have rules and plans put in place too, if I go by the vague ‘eat less move more’ I just slip back into old habits really easily.
I’ve just read up on No S - I like the sound of it because it doesn’t seem like a diet as in you can have what you fancy for each meal. Fancy a smoothie have one, fancy a bacon butty have one!
I am a SAHM with a DH who works long hours so any exercise done would have to be just walking with him which I do anyway.
We always cook from fresh and never eat takeaways, the reason I have put three stone on is wine, constant snacking between meals, and eating DS leftovers so the No S seems perfect to reverse all that

Currently bf’ing 3 month old so not considering weight loss at the moment but the 5:2 is something I will take up when I am ready. It worked so well for me- not just weight loss but I felt like I could understand what hungry was and I didn’t want to just stuff my face- it didn’t feel right. I also had clearer skin as it encouraged me to drink a lot more water. I fell pregnant after losing a couple of stone but when you get to your end goal they recommend switching to 6:1 so you’re only fasting once a week. It sounds crazy but when I got into it, I really looked forward to my fast days to reset.

What I’ve realised is that I’m very good at not buying crap but if it’s in the house I eat it. We’ve had some frank conversations with family asking them not to buy biscuits, chocolates etc as I just spend January eating chocolate which isn’t good. I also need the accountability of my fitness pal. I do go over at times but the app makes me more aware and brings me back. I don’t do well at maintenance and it is something I want to work on so I don’t constantly yo yo. I feel so bad that I have a consistent pattern of letting weight creep on. I did quite well with pregnancy but the period when my baby was 6m-15m killed my waistline. I didn’t do exercise, ate chocolate most days and when I went back to work ended up having lots of takeaways and wine. Friends that stayed thin ate better and prioritised exercise. It sounds so simple with hindsight!

Fancy a smoothie have one, fancy a bacon butty have one!

Yes, so long as you keep in mind that to lose any weight, you need to be in calorie deficit over the 7 days.

There's no actual counting involved in No S diet, but you need to have a good idea of calorific values and how to cut some corners and eat healthier foods every single day. Cutting out snacks is not enough by itself, you need to be sure you're using more calories than you're consuming.

Best of luck. Let us know how it goes.

I'm not disciplined enough to follow a diet, so I've got a bastardised version of the 5:2 going on. Instead of fasting for 2 days, I just cut out carbs on all but dinner which is usually potato/ rice/ pasta.

So I have a few pieces of fruit during the morning, soup or salad at lunch and then my usual dinner but try to reduce the portions of meat and carbs a little and load up on veg. I avoided snacking except once or twice a week for a treat and similarly with alcohol- not on school nights rule.

Since doing that, I've lost 5kg since the beginning of December. During the Christmas I gave myself a hiatus so put a couple back on but they are off again now. I'm going to aim towards shedding maybe 5kg more and then try to work on maintaining that weight.

When I'm hungry, I drink water and it helps a lot.

I've done no exercise though, but when the evenings get brighter I'll start up my running again to tone up.

Exercise I think is the only way.

Stop snacking and eat regular meals that include lots of veg.

I’ve just lost a stone in January on the 8 week blood sugar diet. My mum and brother and aunt all lost 2-3 stone in three months. Limited carbs and sugar, I’m using an app to work out my next days eating in advance. I’m eating lots more veg, less starchy carbs, and the weight is fallling off, I have tried lots of others in the past, nothing has worked so well. Once I reach my target I shall stick with it most days, and be more flexible at weekends. Highly recommend it as a positive lifestyle.