What exactly ARE you supposed to eat?

[minniemummy0]

I want to lose weight. A lot of weight. I want a second baby and I don’t want to go through the whole pregnancy considered high risk because I’m morbidly obese. (I had a relatively easy pregnancy and birth actually, no GD, worse thing was a lot of difficulty getting a cannula in, no one could find a vein, and a second degree tear). Despite the fact it was, objectively, very straightforward, I found the whole thing traumatic, I think because it was over-medicalised. I’m not criticising them, they acted properly, but I had a LOT of appointments, I wasn’t able to go midwife led in a birthing pool which I’m still gutted about, I had to inject with heparin twice a day from my first appointment at the hospital I six weeks post birth, and I was heavily pressurised I have an epidural as it would be better to have it in early if I were to have an emergency caesarean, which they acted like was practically a given. I’m sure my ability to breastfeed was also affected by my weight, I found it very hard to position her and latch, which was an enormous disappointment. I think I have developed some sort of health anxiety stemming from this.

Now I don’t want another baby just yet (mine only 7 months old). But I refuse to be morbidly obese when I try for another.

The thing is, I really don’t know how to lose weight anymore. People say, oh everyone knows what to do, they just don’t have discipline/time/motivation. But no, I genuinely can’t work out how I should lose weight. I’ve successfully done weight watchers in the past but I find the current system so complicated I feel crippled with anxiety every time I try to plan.

I tried Slimmig world but I HATED the meetings and I just don’t have time as they were nearly two hours.

I just don’t know what to eat and how to eat healthily. Yes I Could count calories. But how do I choose what to eat, how to balance different food groups, what things really ARE unhealthy and what is a fad. Are carbs bad for you? Is sugar? Are protein shakes something people should really be drinking? I really actually don’t know.

I wish there was a scientific diet. That tells me what to eat and in what quantities. And is healthy for humans and will help me lose weight and is sustainable.

I feel, so so down about myself and my body. I want to feel fit and healthy. Please help!! Please don’t judge me for being so overweight and stupid. I know I’ve failed but I need help.

I just want to say thank you SO much for all the tips and advice so far, I’m going to re-read them all tomorrow when I’m not tired and take some notes. Thank you, thank you, thank you!

The one thing every (decent) diet plan has in common is to avoid very processed food, and to eat more lean proteins and vegetables/fruit.

You will need to change your eating & food shopping patterns - stop buying crap and snacking - and plan your meals. So, meat/fish/veggy protein alternative, and vegetables for an evening meal. Maybe sometimes have brown rice/veg stir fry. Salmon, homemade ratatouille and salad is the food of the gods. You can buy pre-prepped vegetable "casserole packs" when you're short of time. Cut portion sizes right down most of us eat way too big meals, on way too big plates.

Breakfast - could be egg with wholemeal toast. Something with protein in it will fill you up. Have something you won't be tempted to put a load of sugar or jam on top.

Lunch - a homemade soup, or chicken/tuna salad. You can buy all these things pre-prepped to save time. You can buy prepped 'soup packs' from the supermarket - just bung them in a saucepan of boiling water, and boil for half an hour. Buy prepared salad (without dressing) and have with chicken, or tuna or salmon.

Drink lots of water, get some green tea. Snack on fruit and yoghurt.

I don't go for full-on low carb myself, it makes me feel a bit ill - but think about sugar content of stuff - so avoid potatoes and bread, have pasta and rice only occasionally in small portions. Avoid processed food as much as you can.

My sisters are very very slim, and eat like this ^ all the time. So if I want to lose a bit of weight, I copy them

Oh, and it's hard with a baby, it's hard when you're knackered - but genuinely, exercise - a brisk walk with the pram - makes you feel less hungry/like pigging out.

Good luck.

I'd really encourage you to give weight watchers a try - the meetings are a bit different to slimming world and really do answer the questions you're asking!! Lots of emphasis on the should, rather than the shouldn't. They've got an offer on at the moment - £40-something for 3 months, which is a give-it-a-go level of commitment i think

One of a slimmers best friends, is a roast chicken dinner.
One large lean slice from a roast chicken
Two small/medium boiled spuds
As much cabbage/kale/spinach as you can pile on

A good helping of boiled carrots
And a large portion of mashed swede
Make thin bistro gravy to taste,
And there you go.....a large, hot, tasty and satisfying and healthy meal!

In Australia, the national science agency has published a ‘proper’ science-based diet. There’s no reason you couldn’t buy it on eBay and follow it. Many people have found it helpful. It’s called the ‘CSIRO total well-being diet’. There are parts one and two, as well as recipe book and audiobook options.

I’d say it’s the perfect ‘scaffolding’ resource, on which you can build your weight loss regime. It’ll teach you the basics, and offer areas of your diet where you can safely fast-track the weight loss.

My tip? You can only consume what you actually have brought into your home. So only buy unprocessed food (other than some flavourings). Identify the places you end up consuming fattening foods/drink, and just stop going there (pub, takeaways, cafe, supermarket isle). Once your new good habits kick in, you can start going back to those places but with better motivation and education about healthier choices.

The first weeks are hard, but you WILL get used to the new food. You’ll be amazed at the energy you get back, and you’ll look back in horror at all the empty calories you used to think was ‘normal’ eating. Good luck to you!

I would massively recommend watching Forks Over Knives and then buying the cookbook or following the blog.

It takes a bit of a shift in mindset but it's not as hard as it seems. Whole foods and plants. You don't have to feel hungry, you don't have to stop snacking, you just have to aim for whole foods and plant based.

I lost 12kg without trying, and without dieting. If you want weaning foods that you can share, because obviously you don't want anything high salt or fat when weaning, look up Dreena Burton's books or her facebook page.

It's also much easier to stick to a lifestyle when you feel good than when you feel low though, so don't give yourself a hard time.

Get your thyroid tested now. I was down to 600 kcal and not losing weight - underactive thyr. prob..

Weight loss - fruit and veg until you're so bored and depressed you lose the will to live. On the upside, a lot of new and slimming foods are quite nice these days. And you do feel great once you have grown out of the boredom and gloom.

First of all, congratulations on becoming a mum!
Secondly, congratulations on recognising that there is an issue and deciding to do something about it. Because believe me, that is the hardest part.
I can only echo the really good advice on here. Ultimately, you just need to use up more calories than you are taking in. That means lots of fruit and vegetables, lots of lean protein, and still a reasonable amount of carbs: your body needs them to function and have enough energy. If you don't eat enough carbs you will feel tired and hate your new eating habits.
Cut out crisps, chocolate, biscuits, cakes, pizzas and anything high in calories, or keep them to once a week as a treat. This will be hard, but remember that this is only a temporary state of affairs. You're not saying good bye to them forever, just while you lose the weight. Also remember that you'll get five minutes of enjoyment from eating them, compared to permanent enjoyment from being able to run around with your kids, breastfeed them and generally feel in better shape.
Sugar isn't bad; everything you eat is broken down into sugar. The problem with sugary foods is that they have a lot of calories but don't fill you up. If you do want to have a dessert, get some ice lolly moulds and make your own ice lollies from fruit juice: they're tasty, nutritious and take a long time to eat so you feel like you have enjoyed a proper dessert.
Give up alcohol and sugary drinks. Drink lots of water and herbal tea, or tea with milk but no sugar.
Walk EVERYWHERE, and/or find another form of exercise you enjoy.
Good luck, you can do it!

I can manage small amounts of brown rice but I just can't tolerate pasta. I don't eat any potato's or bread. I can manage a couple of rye Ryvita crispbreads.

My diet is around 80% fruit and veg but you don't need to go anywhere near that high. I do as it keeps my symptoms at bay. I honestly can't agree more with PP who say cut out processed, that's where all the sugar and calories are. You don't need to go low carb although it really does work, eat complex carbs like wholegrains etc, not only do they fill you up better they are full of fibre.

Agree with pp about making most of what you eat salad or veg. Don't go crazy with fruit as it's full of sugar. Whole grain carbs whenever possible. Build lots of activity into daily life. Stand instead of sit, stairs instead of lift or escalator (not always easy if you have a baby in a pushchair though).

First thing would be to replace the fizzy drinks with water or squash and then wean yourself off squash.

Do you drink tea or coffee with sugar? Wean yourself off sugar.

Takeaways okay as a treat but not all the time.

I love food but I take pleasure in cooking and adding flavours.

Breakfast for me would be scrambled egg on toast or porridge. Adding rocket or spinach to the eggs and bread, otherwise just not worth it.

Lunch chicken and veg and salad. Soup or homemade sandwich

Dinner chilli, lasagne, all homemade. Or chicken stir fry and sauce. Brown rice is good. Sausage casserole from scratch. Fish. Even pasta and homemade sauce which doesn't contain all the additives and sugar etc.

Portion size is one of the main things, So is drinking at least 2-3 litres of water a day.

Snack on carrot sticks. Buy lots of herbs and spices for flavours. Experiment.

I know it sounds cliche and boring but it really makes a difference

If you're not sure where you're going wrong maybe keep a food diary for a couple of weeks, then look back over it and see what can be 'twitched'. For example if you currently have a bowl of porridge and a glass of smoothie for breakfast, you could just make porridge with the smoothie (rather than milk) and drink water - the same nutrients but fewer calories. If you have a sandwich with 2 slices of bread at lunchtime and a little salad, make it a larger salad and then a 1 slice sandwich when you've finished it. If you have a meaty chili with rice once a week, maybe make it a veggie chili next time, with half the rice? If you ordinarily have 3 biscuits a day with cups of tea, snap them in half and have half a biscuit each time instead. That sort of thing doesn't sound so scary and extreme as 'going on a diet' but it can only help.

Fizzy water is good to help (temporarily) fill you up. I put a tiny splash of juice in as an alternative to pop. Sucking small ice cubes and sipping low salt vegetable stock too. If crisps are your weak point, pop your own corn instead. You can air pop it in the microwave so no oil, and a cup is only about half the calories of say, a pack walkers.

If you don't already, take your munchkin out for long power walks every day, and maybe even work in a little jogging. If she drops off play an audiobook or music on your mp3 player to help the time pass more quickly. On torrential days when you're stuck indoors set up a living room disco with flashing Christmas lights and the curtains drawn, and dance with your baby. She will absolutely LOVE it and it'll release endorphins in both of you! Join a baby swimming class too. Aside from official classes, do you have a friend you could go to the pool with? If there's a baby-friendly soft play area, you could mind the little ones there for half an hour, then you could swim together with the babies for half an hour and then the other mum could take her turn to mind them while you have your swim? In general having a buddy who's on the same mission will help - you can support each other. I was getting nowhere with cutting down on cakes and biscuits until my dad offered to give up alcohol and butter, and now we're suffering achieving our goals together.

Another one recommending teamrh. I’m on 2000 calories a day and loosing weight steadily. It’s not a fad, I’m not starving and I’m learning what is a balanced diet.

If your diet is currently very bad, and you are aware of it, then in a sense it's easier - you don't need to know what is the perfect diet, you just need to take a step away from your current one! Eg, kick out the sugary drinks and start drinking just water (and tea / coffee). You'll certainly notice tge difference. Then when you're used to it, kick out the processed snacks and just eat 3 meals a day, plus fruit / nut snacks. Then start replacing the meals with better meals, and gradually fogure out what works for you.

I think you have a better chance of it working long term if you can slowly fond slightly better food you still enjoy, than if you suddenly move to a very restrictive diet.

You know what the crap stuff is and you now have a child.Leave the crap in the shops so that neither of you can eat it.
Keep things simple or with a small one you will snack otherwise.Dont skip meals.
If you have a lot of weight to loose then don't calorie count at first,ditch the crap food,dontsnack and cut out as much sugar as you can,not fruit though.That will probably be enough to start just to have healthier food.
Congratulations and good luck.

Just to echo Carbolic, do not be tempted to try a 'faddy' crash diet. They're unsustainable - no matter how tempting the initial fast weight loss is - just work on cutting the crap out of diet at first (ie. top buying it!), buying planning healthier meals from raw ingredients and lots of veg - and take it from there.

Buy a “healthy portion” plate online. Is marked into, protein, carb and fruit veg. In fact buy two so your OH is the same as you. Then no snacking.

Just a quick thought. If you feel you might struggle to buy only healthy foods when shopping, do an online shop for a few weeks. It gets you into a routine of only buying what you want to eat. Once you feel more confident you'll be able to avoid temptation, then go back and do your own shopping.

Healthy but sustainable diet for me would be:

Breakfast- either 2 weetabix with semi skim milk or porridge or brown toast with sliced tomato on top.

Snack of apple or low fat yoghurt

Lunch- healthy non creamy soup, bread or pitta or rhyvita to dip OR tuna/chicken salad

Dinner- meat/fish and veg with small portion carbs eg 3 boiled potatoes, half cup rice etc

Snack of carrot sticks or something

Avoid oils, butter, cheese, mayonnaise etc. Use lemon juice or vinegar as dressings for salads. Sweetener instead of sugar in tea if you take it.

Drink lots of water.

Don't drink really milky coffee or tea, use milk sparingly.

However if you are planning to exercise too you will be able to eat slightly more, especially carbs for cardio.

My best friend swears by Weight Watchers, but I also think it's too complicated. When I have to get weight off, low carb does it for me. Or, rather, no refined carbs. Very important to actually plan your meals ahead of time, not decide on the fly. Lots of veg, sticking with most veg that grow above ground. Low carb, low sugar fruit like strawberries. I don't eat beef or pork, so limited protein-chicken, fish, cottage cheese, sliced turkey breast. Cottage cheese makes the best lunch, with berries on top! I keep frozen fruit and rinse it, leave it in a container on my desk to thaw for lunch. Usually yogurt and fruit for breakfast, some protein and a couple veggies, or veg and a salad for lunch. Protein for dinner with more veg. Cheese for snacks. The biggest thing for me is giving up between meal snacks. You don't know how much between meal snacking you do until you give it up! If I can't stand the sugar cravings, I'll have a piece of chocolate, 85% cocoa. Snacks, if needed, are celery sticks with bleu cheese dressing or string cheese sticks. If you skip snacks, you'll be truly hungry for meals and appreciate them more. If you are eating out, peruse the menu on line before you go and decide what you WILL order. Don't wait until you are hungry and trying to place your order quickly! Make your choices ahead of time, when your choices are made by your brain and not your stomach!

Good luck.

If you strip out all the shit from your current diet you will start to loose weight.
Get rid off:
Take aways
Fizzy drinks
Alcohol
Crisps
Chocolate
Cakes
Chips
Pizza

Etc. You know what you need to cut out!

Meal plan. 3 meals a day. Protein & veg for lunch and dinner. Limit carbs and when you do eat them make it brown rice, whole meal pasta etc.

Drink 5 pints of water a day minimum

And exercise!! You must exercise! Go out for a brisk 30min walk every night. Joint a fitness class. Go swimming. Do a fitness DVD at home. Whatever, just do something and increase your activity week on week.

Loosing weight isn’t easy or particularly fun but it is possible, you just have to be determined and committed.

Cut the fizzy drinks for sparkling water? With some lemon juice for a bit of zing?
Or of you really enjoy fizzy drinks, swap in sugar free ones, and convince yourself you're having a treat when you have them. They used to taste pretty awful, bit personally I think they taste a lot better now, and I don't reckon I could tell the difference for coke.

I've been following a nhs weight management course run by dieticians. I was referred by my GP and theres an option to get excercise plan.
It's not a diet but a look at lifestyle and what changes you can make.
I'm still eating the odd bit cake, an ice cream occasionally but am eating much more veg and fruit.
I'm losing about a pound a week without feeling hungry or being faddy.

Think this is something like the course Im following
www.nhs.uk/live-well/healthy-weight/start-the-nhs-weight-loss-plan/

This is what I eat normally. I'm 5'8, about 72kg, athletic build (i.e. long-limbed, carry/build muscle easily, little in the way of bottom or boobs or waist). I train for my sport two or three times a week, play a match every couple of weeks, and train (heavy weights) in the gym twice a week. I might run 5k once or twice a week, if I can be bothered.

Breakfast: through the week, either a protein shake (made with water, rather than milk) if I'm at the gym, or a cup of coffee with full fat milk and one sugar.

Lunch: normally leftovers from dinner, or soup in winter

Dinner: I'm veggie, so dinner tends to be something like roasted veg with couscous, some kind of curry made with veg or pulses, tofu, a big quiche, stir fry with noodles or brown rice etc. There will probably be lentils, and DEFINITELY spinach.

Throughout the day I drink coffee and green tea.

I don't eat a lot of pasta or bread because they make me feel bloated (no intolerances, I just don't like the feeling of being very full).

I only eat twice a day and don't snack because that's the way I've always done it and it suits me, but your mileage may vary. If I'm playing an evening game and need to take more calories on board, boiled eggs, spinach and nuts are good, as is a bit of cheese, for calories and fat.

I don't really like fruit very much (!), but as my diet is based around veg, that doesn't worry me! I quite like crisp green apples dipped into peanut butter as a snack, or the odd banana.

Don't have a sweet tooth, but if ever I feel the need, veggie Percy Pigs are AWESOME.

I also really like wine, but try to keep on top of that, as empty carbs. Can quite easily knock out a couple of bottles a week if I'm not careful. Gin is better. ;)

Following with interest and I didnt have a pregnancy to account for some weight, echoing the rest of the pps and congrats on baby and well done you for recognising this and wanting to tackle it head on.

My tip if you do your shopping in store, stay right around the perimeter of the store then you can have fruit/veg, dairy, butchers/fishmongers, bakery / frozen section and then back out,

The food aisles are mainly full of processed items that have a good shelf life, they also hold the offers to tempt you there. Have you ever wondered if you go into a big supermarket why the bread milk can sometimes be at the back of the store so you have to walk thru the whole shop and may take a shortcut down some aisles and things can and will jump into your basket when you aren't looking