AIBU regarding my ‘diet’

[LoopyLou1981]

I need a kick up the arse! I’ve been ‘dieting’ since February. I have lost the sum total of 1lb. I have lost and found the same 4lb more times than I care to remember!
I starting to think I should be locked in a room and fed calorie controlled meals through a hatch like they do in high security prisons!
My willpower is crap. I can have a lovely healthy dinner prepared by my dh. Thoroughly enjoy it then I’m hanging out of the snack cupboard within an hour.
I feel horrible and wobbly and I’m so annoyed at myself and really want to look nice for our holiday in a September but even the thought of being mistaken for a beached whale isn’t enough to keep me on track!
Rant over...any firm (but kind-ish!) advice welcome!!

Or another thought - could you move your dinner to later in the evening? If you are able to resist snacking before dinner, if you eat and then go to bed, you'll lose the time to snack.

I love sewing to be fair. I haven’t bought a kit for ages. Maybe I’ll treat myself.
Sudoku isn’t a bad idea either.
A few circuits round the block might be quite nice too.
You’ve all been very motivational thank you! Who knows, maybe tomorrow will finally be the day it all finally clicks into place.
I bloody hope so! I’m so bored of feeling uncomfortable and wobbly. And thigh rub is never a good thing in summer! 😒

When I wanted to lose weight, I just stopped keeping sugary crap/unhealthy snacks in the house.

My will power isn't always amazing so the only option was to stop buying it.

It did work!

second the low carbs, but you will need to make sure you include some 'good' fats in your diet.

Biggest thing for me was breaking the sugar addiction. It's hard because sugar is included in 70% of the processed food we eat, and by processed I mean anything not in it's natural state. Almost all tinned soup includes sugar for example. Often if we chose to go 'low fat' we end up with high sugar, so avoid the obvious 'diet' foods and just go as natural as you can.

I actually did no sugar for 4 weeks (and that included natural sugars in fruit etc). At the end of the 4 weeks I could immediately taste which foods had sugar in (crispbreads of all things). It definitely helped. 've introduced some fruit back, but don't actually really like the taste of anything sweet now, and I've lost nearly 3 stone!!

I bought a fitness tracker.

It's provided me with the motivation I was lacking before. There's no point in doing 10,000 steps every day and going swimming a couple of times a week if I'm going to snack on crap.

I also stopped drinking alcohol. I went out everynight last week and not a drop of alcohol passed my lips until Saturday, when I had a couple of pints and instantly regretted it. I'm going to stick at being the designated driver and slimline tonics from now on.

Popcorn is great for snacking on in the evening, takes a while to eat, satisfies my snacking urges and the one I eat is 66cals per 15g bag.

OP, I think you've got mostly good responses, because you know you need to make the switch in your head. We're not telling you anything you don't already know, but changing your thinking is the hardest part of any kind of change in behaviour.

Definitely do treat yourself to a sewing kit, one at the very least! Occupy yourself, your hands, find something you can lose yourself in after dinner. You want to do this, you just need to find ways to get you there.

I bought a Fitbit for my birthday and was horrified to discover that on an average day I was only burning up 1100 calories.
To lose a pound of fat you have to have a deficit of 3500 calories, so to lose a pound over a week my calorie intake could only be 600 calories per day! No wonder my weight had crept up.
So I quickly upped my step count and now take the dog for an extra 3 mile walk every evening after dinner and increased the burn rate to just over 1500 calories a day.
This means I can now eat to 1,000 calories a day and lose a pound a week. So I eat a lot of vegetable soup, eggs and salad and have lost a stone over 9 weeks.
The evening walks also help to avoid the evening munchies!
So before you go on a diet, actually work out how many calories you need and work back from there.

Remove the snack cupboard, or fill it with stuff you don't like. My house is now a cheese free zone and it's so much easier than have to have willpower all the time!

Colin, if you don't mind me asking, what was your step count like? I think Fitbit overestimates calories burned - also I think it slightly over counts steps! Everyone I know who has one says the same, so i wanted to ask. Totally respect you might not want to answer of course.

Sometimes paying the money to weight watchers is what it takes. Their system is actually very good and balenced.

Careful if you reduce carbs too much. I had a shower after exercising the other day and noticed a horrid ammonia smell. Turns out it's a side effect of not enough carbs.

Diets dont work long term, most people, even if they manage to lose weight, pile it back on and then some...

I can highly recommend the paul McKenna book and hypnosis CD, I can make you thin.

It's life changing for a lot of people!

I wanted to lose weight for ages and I finally have through iron will

I hate to say this but there is ONLY one way

Cut the sugar cut the carbs cut the portions cut the booze

OP for what it’s worth once you switch and start to see the results you won’t want to gain it back .

But it’s food not exercise . I also exercise but it’s FOOD

Personally I would throw some money as a disciplined group scheme to start you off .

penfold007 I’m failing to see how you think your short and not-so-sweet tuppence worth is helpful here? The OP knows her issues and is asking for advice.
OP I am exactly like you- can’t step away from the evening snacks! I think if you have a family with kids it’s entirely unrealistic to say to get rid of all snacks in the house. My 3 kids have a really good diet and I have no issue with having biscuits/ buttons etc in for them. Surely it’s more about learning to control will power- any tips gratefully received though!

Maybe you could empty out the snack cupboard and fill it full of stuff that you like that you like. So, the sewing kit you mentioned and sudoku to ease boredom and things that make you feel pampered and things that bring you a sense of comfort so, DVDs and books you love, candles ... stuff like that, so that when you fall into that default mode and wander to the snack cupboard you can feel whichever need you were looking to fix but without food.

...fill whichever need...

newbiecat to be honest I glossed over that comment! I’m all for a bit of constructive criticism. I don’t see the point in listening when people are rude for no reason!

Right...today’s the day! Yoghurt, fruit and a sprinkling of museli for breakfast. The poor kids are about get to dragged around Aldi for a fruit and veg top up! xx

I thought I was going to be healthy by going vegetarian - I did have some healthy food but also ate a lot of bread and pasta. I know this doesn’t agree with me but my husband loves it. I piled on weight, felt tired and aching all the time - not to mention the wind!

Switched to high fat, moderate protein, low carb (so back to eating meat) and I have lost just over a stone in 3 weeks. I also got a dog around a month ago, so have been walking him around half an hour before walk, plus another 30-40 minutes in the evening, plus playing around in the garden.

I don’t feel hungry at all and it has done my mental health the world of good.

I always stuck to a semi low carb diet before I met my husband and maintained a nice figure until he convinced me it wasn’t healthy and I should be eating past etc and not fats. I went from being a size 10 to a 14 Max to being a size 20 at my biggest. I know high fat low carb works for me and that’s what I will stick to from now.

Apps and fitbits over estimate calories burned. You'll burn approx 100 cals per mile. This will differ due to weight etc but if you allow for this you won't go wrong

As well as cutting the carbs incorporate some physical activity into your day. Get a Fitbit or other step tracker and instead of sitting on the settee snacking in the evenings, walk. I aim for 10,000 steps in front of the tv or with my kindle propped up on a shelf every evening. That’s in addition to the steps I do in the course of the day. I’ve been doing this for just over a year and although I don’t weigh myself so can’t measure weight loss, I am more toned and my clothes fit better.

I march briskly using my arms so my heart rate elevates. I also aim for 10 press ups and 30 seconds planking in commercial breaks.

Stop thinking fat is bad. Sugar is what makes you fat.

Keto or "low carb high fat" works.

Hi OP.
I have, over the last year and a half, lost 5 stone.
I can't think I'm on a diet because then I cheat-more a change in lifestyle/habits.
I don't have potatoes or toast at home but do have lovely wholemeal wrap at lunch. Lots more salad and fish. No red meat. Portion size is so impt-you'll get used to less on your plate. If you have pasta throw in loads of veg-I always put tons of spinach in mine now which is so nice.
And I walk loads-no escalator if I can take the stairs, etc.
Slow and steady.
One thing I would do in the evening is brush my teeth really well and then that sort of signalled the end of the eating day for me.
But I def tried to avoid buying the treats in the first place-if they're not in the house it's easier.
Good luck!

And yes to the Fitbit!!!

I joined WW 2 weeks ago, with a free month, and I'm surprised to say I LOVE it. The app is brilliant. The diet is so flexible. It's so easy to stay in control.