To ask what diet worked for you

[springtimemoon]

As two years later I am still hugely overweight.

Please don't be offended if i don't rhink it is for me. I am just trying to work out what might help me as I am despairing!

I keep deciding on one then failing miserably!

What have you tried so far?

I've lost weight doing low carb, exante and slimming world.
SW is the easiest and fits best into family life ime.

I’m on stage 3 of the Dukan diet. It’s basically a version on the Atkins diet. I’ve lost over 4 stone in a relatively short period of time. I found it easy, protein makes you feel full.
Stage 3 is the ‘ you’ve reaches your target and you are at the stage where you will put put weight on if your not careful’ and I’ve managed to maintain my weight for over 2 months, which I’ve never been able to do before.

Hi there,

I'm sure it's not for everyone, but I signed up for the 90 day SSS plan in July last year (Joe Wicks, Body Coach). A bit pricey and it is quite hard going (you have to exercise 5 days a week), but I have had brilliant results. I dropped 2 to 3 dress sizes in 3 months (about 2 stone) and I've managed to maintain it so far..more importantly I have so much more energy now and the exercise has really helped manage my anxiety levels.

The main crux is that you only eat carbs when you exercise (combination of short high intensity interval training and weights - I do it in the living room!) and if you don't want to pay the full cost of the plan, you could just get the recipes online or from his books and stick to the general concept of high fat & low carb on non-training days and low fat & higher carb on training days.

Good luck!

This might be useful: www.nwcr.ws/Research/default.htm

The problem with asking people which diets were ‘successful’ for them is some people sometimes overlook the fact they regained lots if not all of the weight - even though this is the very definition of failure, ending up almost as heavy as before or worse.

I don't know if there is a thread tbh. I had a consultant who I saw each week and she added me to s couple of really supportive FB groups.
I came off the diet in October and I have only increased by a couple of pounds which I know I can easily drop, so it definitely worked and changed my attitude to my eating habits.

I lost my target amount of weight by eating 300 calories less than I needed a day and running once a week and making sure I walked everywhere that I could. Slow and steady.

It wasn't so much a diet as calorie control. If I wanted ice cream for dessert I'd eat less dinner or a smaller lunch or just have a banana for "breakfast" . The main thing was to put everything I are into my fitness Pal.

None. Diets don’t work. You just end up bigger than you were before.

I have found I need to approach things on a more scientific basis. Invest in a Fitbit or Apple Watch and work out how many calories you burn on a daily basis (TDEE). Then use a calorie tracker, such as My Fitness Pal or Nutracheck, to work out how many calories a day you are consuming. Weight loss is no more complicated than creating a calorie deficit. Where many diets go wrong is that they create too high a deficit which leads to craving, then bingeing then failure.

A 500 cal deficit per day will result in an average weight loss of 1lb a week. Again, that’s often not good enough for many people and hey want quicker loss so create a bigger deficit. Then they crave, binge and fail.

In an ideal world you would eat your TDEE equivalent and create a deficit by exercise but for many people bars quite challenging. I try to go for a 50/50 split. So my TDEE is about 2100 cals and I set my daily calorie intake at 1800 then try to burn an extra 200 cals per day which is entirely doable. I eat well, have snacks or alcohol if I want them and don’t feel deprived.

I also don’t weigh myself weekly. I leave it to once a month so then see a loss of 4-5lbs which is quite motivating!

MyFitnessPal, calorie counting. Eat what you want just control how much. Creates a calorie deficit which is the key to losing weight. It's beautifully simple and straightforward if you want it enough.

It's a mindset really of remaining in the same healthy eating patterns for life. I have never forbidden a food. But what I do is just have small amounts and also stuff I know is unhealthy I have rarely. I don't have a sweet tooth but I do love crisps. I eat a couple of bags a week, I could eat a family pack every day.

I Have disordered eating so have been underweight at certain times of my life, always when stressed. I get the feeling many people are the opposite to me and eat more when stressed.

I think looking at the reasons you seek comfort in food may be more helpful. The root cause as such.

A few years ago I lost about 2 stone using myfitnesspal and doing Jillian McKeith's 30 day shred. I've kept most of it off which I think is due to my lifestyle being generally more active and not living with my ex as we used to eat a lot.

So, basically, you are dieting, footballmum, you just call it something else.

WW has worked for me but I also did couch x per week now. Nearly 4 stone off and maintaining.
It really is a choice of what you feel could work for you. There’s no magic it really is eat less move more. It is just committing to that which is so hard. A formal plan worked for me but doesn’t suit many people.
WW has a great app and lets you scan barcodes which helps with nutrition and working out points. There is also a great Facebook group is. Hugely supportive.

Couch to 5k and I now run 3 x per week that should say.

I was diagnosed last year with type 2 diabetes, weighed 19 stone at my heaviest and got a severe ticking off from my GP and Diabetic Nurse. I've now lost 3 stone and that's mainly from exercise. I've got a cocker spaniel with an insatiable need for walks, and we walk around 5 miles a day come rain or shine. I have a protein shake for breakfast with a few berries in ( Protein World with no sugar), something like home made soup or a nice salad for lunch and then a main meal like lentil and veg curry (I'm vegetarian) with no more than 2 tablespoons of carb dense rice/pasta/potatoes. My main diet tip is to cut out sugar - it's a bitch initially but once you've done it, you lose a lot of your cravings and life does get easier. Snacking is a bad habit too, so I try to keep cubes of cheese and nuts in a little pot that I can grab if I'm really hungry.

There is no easy way, like my DN said it has to be something you enjoy and can make part of your everyday life. Just be wary of shake diets - my friend did a well known liquid diet and had a personal trainer, and ended up having a collapsed bowel and stroke from it. You must do things like that under your GP and not someone who makes a living out of it.

I think I am too big to run without risking injury.

Thank you for your answers.

Using MyFitnessPal has worked wonders for me in the past.

You'll always put weight back on if you slip back into old habits.

Why not start with cutting out cakes, crisps, chocolate etc and walking 3 times a week?

Another low carb high fat vote. for you OP, i know the feeling!

It isnt really that simple but thanks

all diets will probably work to some extent, but if you cant actually stick to it, none will work

try to consume 2000 calories a day- using "healthy food", veg, nuts, lean meat etc, massively reduce sugar intake.

walk an hour every day

What's not that simple?

What's not that simple?

You can focus on how difficult/complex this is and how your case is different to anyone else who's ever lost weight. Or you can set your mind to making some changes and get on with it. Nobody can do this for you OP, you have the power to do something about this but nobody can do it for you.

Orlistat from the doctor, it doesn't work for everyone but I stuck to the instructions and never had any accidents. 5 stone in 6 months and I have kept it off for 2 years. 14 stone down to 9 and now a size 10. I swim at least a mile 5 days a week.