To think I’ve found the secret to losing weight and keeping it off!

[Mummybo88]

Posted in weight loss but don’t know if anyone read it, so posting here for traffic.

I feel really passionate about this and I’m hoping it might help some of you the way it helped me.

I’ve had problems when it comes to food since about the age of 12 or 13. Up until then I was very slim & very active. Anyway, by the age of 15, I found myself very overweight. This prompted a cycle of me trying to cut a million & one things from my diet, having some small successes but then falling off the wagon, giving into my bodies cravings and feeling like a failure. Cue the self loathing, subsequent binging and weight gain.

I went through years of this. I tried everything. At one point, I even lost 3 stone but, lo and behold, I eventually gained it back and then some.

Anyway, one day it dawned on me that what was destroying me was all the rules. I never listened to my body, I didn’t trust myself to listen to my body. Days when I went to bed hungry felt like a success. In all honesty, I had sort of lost the ability to listen to my body. I’d become a slave to this diet - binge cycle.

Anyway, I decided to try something which felt very, very daunting. I decided to forget all the rules and try to learn to listen to my body again. I was terrified that I’d find myself living off chocolate brownies but guess what, it didn’t happen!

My initial focus was to really start concentrating on stopping eating at the moment I started to feel full. This wasn’t as hard as I thought because I felt safe in the knowledge that if I felt hungry again, i would just eat something else. Overtime, my cravings for all these “forbidden foods” lessened because they were no longer forbidden. When I used to diet, I’d spend my days fantasising about all of the foods I wasn’t allowed but now the everything was allowed, I’d find myself craving porridge for breakfast or a banana for a snack.

I also vowed to get out of the habit of weighing myself everyday. Initially, I’d do once a week and now I’m probably once a month (or whenever I remember to!!). The thing is, my weight on the scales each morning was dictating how much I ate that day. That’s just ludicrous when you think about it.

The other thing I realised is that some days you’ll eat more than others. If you have a day where you are more hungry and you find yourself eating more, don’t beat yourself up about it! You’ll find yourself eating less another day and it’ll all balance out.

I broke the diet/ binge cycle and I’ve weighed in the region of 8stone 10 - 9stone for the past 4 years. Other than my two pregnancies and both times, i lost the weight following this way of eating.

I eat cake, sweets & chocolate, but I also eat fish, vegetables & fruit. There’s a reason why 95% of people who go on a diet regain the weight within a year.

This has really worked for me and I hope it can help some of you. It’s by no means an overnight fix. The weight won’t just disappear in a few weeks, but it will come off and stay off. I know everyone’s different and what works for one person may not be so good for someone else but this has really changed my life and I can now enjoy food in a way I never could before.

I hope this can be of help smile

onlyconnect I’ll be honest, I’m not a huge drinker but I’m sure you can still have your wine. It’s really about balance.

You’re right, it’s really daunting and you need to give yourself time. It’s a learning process so you might find yourself overeating still but just keep plugging away at it. Keep trying to listen to your body, eating what you crave and stopping when you’re full/eating when you’re hungry.

My biggest issue was binging on chocolate, cakes etc. I’d diet and not eat anything like that for a month or two and then I’d find myself pigging out on an embarrassing scale! By throwing out the rule book, I now find myself eating these things but in moderation.

Honestly, try it. Give it time. Stop weighing yourself for the first while. See how you get on.

Ignore the sarcasm OP, You're trying to be helpful and supportive and yet again someone pipes up with their shitty criticism.

Teetotal - that was an hilarious comment 😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
(NOT)

Thanks OP - got me thinking

I am with you too OP, I have tried all sorts of diets and am currently doing what you describe here. It seems to be doing the trick for me too, slowly but surely

Why are people being so mean?

It's not like the OP has been six stone her whole adult life and is lecturing a bunch of fatties in a patronising fashion. She has struggled and failed, but now hopes what she has found out will help others.

OP

MarthasHarbour - well done! So pleased it’s working for you. Stick with it

I would like to promise myself one thing: to stop eating when I'm full.
It sounds easy but for me that's the real issue. I like feeling really full- not uncomfortable bursting- but full slightly beyond what is just satisfied. I need to work on this.
You have inspired me to try OP.

Well done OP. I lost 3 stone a few years ago just logging everything on myfitnesspal and then making choices about what I wanted e.g. glass of wine or bar of chocolate, I didn't restrict anything, just decided what I'd rather have . And you are correct about it not being a daily thing, I balance it over the week, so if I want fish and chips on a Friday night then I have them and then just balance out the extra calories over the week, or do a bit extra exercise. I used to weigh myself weekly. Then I stopped weighing myself, got out of the habit and whilst I only put back on a couple of pounds, I actually needed to lose 5 stone not 3, so I was still overweight.

We've recently decided as a family to do MFP as we've booked our holidays and I would like to lose that extra 2 stone and DS2 is overweight and needs to lose about 3 stone to be in the middle of the healthy weight. DH and DS1 although already a healthy weight both needed about half a stone to achieve that mid point - e.g. a BMI of around 21ish.

I think for us it will continuing to weigh weekly to stop it creeping up and I hope it does mean that we get more used to following our bodies needs. I never went back to really unhealthy overeating after the initial loss tbf, like you I just found that I was less hungry, not so inclined to snack but didn't view anything as forbidden. It's just that I was eating calories to maintain the weight I was rather than the weight I wanted to be. I guess it's just about everything in moderation.

You're totally right op. It does work. It's not the same as slimming world at all.

Okay, i’m just leaving it there for anyone who wants to try something different.

The sentiment is nice but all of your post is pure common sense.

The other argument in your favour, OP, is that many people haven't just failed to lose weight long-term by dieting, they have actually gained loads. So, arguably, they might now be slimmer if they had never bothered going on a diet in the first place.

So, even if they had never got around to losing that measly 1/2 stone that made them want to diet in their late teens/early twenties, they peehaps wouldn't have gained the further 2 stone they put on over the next 2 decades by yo-yo dieting! Dieting makes you fat...

hollowtree

Thanks OP! I've just had a baby and I've been guilting myself into doing one of these diets to get rid of the baby fat- but I never used to be overweight so I'm sure if I just go back to eating what I used to I'll be fine!

You’ve hit the nail on the head here! Just eat what you ate before. Your weight will go back to what it was before, possibly even less as you’ll be running around after your little one. Congratulations on your baby and please don’t diet. There is no need. The weight will come off.

I used to do things like take 2 chocolate bars and would find myself stuffing the 2nd one in and not even enjoying it, just because I'd taken it out the packet.

I've already noticed things such as DS not automatically having a packet of crisps after dinner, he considers if he really wants them or whether he'd rather wait and have toast at suppertime.

The sentiment is nice but all of your post is pure common sense.

Yes, it’s all common sense. That’s the beauty of it.

Thanks OP I’ve found similar, been ‘dieting’ for a year but struggling to lose. I’ve now worked out that if I just eat what I want and don’t stress about it I lose more than on any other diet.

Mummybo... I did this too.. Lost four stone after lifetime of dieting. Kept it off for 7 yrs now.
I found that actually my body needs a lot less calories than science would have us believe.
Whenever I post in weight loss threads, I get loads of abuse, yet the posters all lament that they can't lose weight but they are sticking to the recommendations of 2000 calories a day.
I listened to my body, and yes some days I eat donuts and wine, but most days I don't.
I average about 1000 calories a day, always stop when I am just past hungry point, never eat until I am full or stuffed and frankly have never felt better

I have been considering this but I’m scared ! I’m a stone over what I’d like to be but if I’d never dieted I believe I would have been 10st all my life. I’ve lost gained lost gained it’s so boring I’m 50 and I really want to be ok with myself and how I look I obsess too much about weight food eat not eat etc

And the thing about common sense... It's not that common

@Mummybo88 eating normally isn’t a secret though, it’s just most people are greedy. It’s common sense

I don't know why people are being shitty. It's a fact that dieters more often than not, put back on all the weight they lose. It has certainly been my experience and that of my friends.
I think it is really hard to learn how to listen to your body, esp when we are surrounded by sugary crap, which tastes delicious, but which messes up our bodies by making us crave more sugary crap!
If you can get out of that cycle and learn whrn your body is craving actual, specific nutrients, then a genuine well done from me.

Parsley1234 That cycle is a recipe for disaster. It really is. You’re not listening to what your body needs or wants and of course you’re going to fail and regain the weight and more. I wouldn’t be so passionate about this if it didn’t work. Try it. Like I’ve said above, give it time. It’s much easier than being on a diet so there’s no reason why you won’t succeed with this.

Some very rude responses!

Yes it's called 'not over eating' , calories in, calories out.

I think that also realising that it's ok to feel hungry is a good thing too.

The human body was never really designed to have 3 evenly spaced satisfying meals a day. You'd have been foraging/hunting and probably not eating most of the day and then having a decent meal once a day or less. Kind of how we feed dogs. I'm not suggesting we all do that though :)

It's a fact that dieters more often than not, put back on all the weight they lose. It has certainly been my experience and that of my friends.

^^ the key is in the word 'diet'. If you continually deprive your self over a period of time, you will lose weight. When you reach your target weight, if you then crack open the Hagen Daz and start shovelling it back on with two flakes and pint of gin on the side, you are going to pile it back on.

Healthy, sensible eating is the only way to maintain a healthy sensible weight.

FYI - Slimming World is the NHS Eatwell Plate, by a different name. No one at SW tells you this or that is banned. If you want it, have it, just balance it.