Don't want to 'diet'. Want a lifestyle change. How to do it?

[Hooli]

Two stone overweight. Tried everything.

Don't want to go back to Slimming World, really can't handle the obsession with Muller yoghurts and Pasta n sauce. Just done two days super low carb and wanted to kill myself.

Portion sizes are fine, I've just gained the weight slowly and steadily over two years.

What an I do to change my eating habits long term??

I joined weight watchers 15 weeks ago. I've lost 2 stone but the biggest change is my eating. It's educated me so much. I can eat what I want. I barely track anymore but still lose every week as it's changed my mind set.

I’ve just bought Gillian Riley’s book called Eating Less.

It’s not a diet plan, it’s about understanding what drives you to overeat and how to change your response to the messages your brain sends. I’m finding it really helpful. It puts you in charge of when and what you eat and explains that the reason we sooner or later we fall off a diet plan is the rebellious spirit inside us that doesn’t like to be dictated to.
She doesn’t recommend that you give up and eat everything in sight, but instead own your choices.

Yes, processed foods are the killer - in some cases literally. Also, sugary drinks - and that includes juices.

Noting that book title down @stringandglitter

The NoS diet. No snacks no sweets no seconds except for days beginning with S. I think there's a thread running on here, also there's a website with loads of info. Its a gradual lifestyle change and not a diet as such.

There are other things to eat on slimming world than mullers and pasta & sauce....I’ve been doing it 12 months and neither of these foods have passed my lips!

Your portion sizes are not fine - otherwise you wouldn't have put the weight on. Weight loss is all a matter of calories in and calories out. So if every day you eat just 50 calories more than you need (half a banana or a very small apple), then in five years' time, you will be about 26 pounds heavier.

It often happens in couples that both people get the same portion irrespective of their actual needs. However, a man with my stats (height, weight, age and activity levels) can eat 200 calories a day more than me and maintain his weight. If I eat at his level - I will be 20lbs heavier this time next year. A woman who is just 2 inches taller and slightly more active, can eat over 320 calories more than me (if I eat along, I will end up 33lbs heavier in a year). It's really easy to eat more than you need.

For lifestyle changes to stick, they need to be small, sustainable and welcome. For instance, I cannot imagine limiting my carbs so LCHF is not for me (not to mention it's not healthy in the long term). Through trial and error, I worked out that for me to feel satisfied with my meal, it has to be high volume. So I cut out alcohol, added sugar and fat, meat and processed foods (including juices); severely limited dairy and eggs and included more servings of non-starchy veg, wholegrains and legumes. I also use a lot more spices and herbs to flavour my meals (and for their health benefits). This way I'm getting visually bigger portions that taste amazing but they have fewer calories. I still have things like pizza, crisps or ice cream but very rarely and, when I do, I have lower calorie meals for the rest of the day (eg a huge bowl of salad with beans and courgetti with tomato sauce).

It took me about three years to make all those changes and I didn't rush it. I started with calorie counting (I use the free web version of Cronometer) to see where I was. It was a pain to weigh everything out in grams and log it but, after a while, it became second nature. Then I looked at easy wins. I started drinking fewer coffees. I started adding less sugar - I went from 2 tsp to zero in half teaspoon increments over several months. Now I can't imagine adding sugar. The small changes really add up and your taste buds adjust over time.

5:2 or other fasting (I prefer 16:8) can help
Get a fit bit type thing and up your activity levels.
For me, weight gain is always down to reduced activity

Portion sizes are fine, I've just gained the weight slowly and steadily over two years.

If you've been gaining weight steadily then you've simply been consuming too many calories.

Track on MyFitnessPal. Don't throw yourself in to a diet regime different from your own, just work with what you have and control it. It's much more sustainable than cutting out things or switching to keto/LCHF.

1st 11lbs down and although I make better choices, I have simply calorie controlled my existing diet. No foods are considered bad or banned.

Meal planning with recipe books/bbc good food - get excited about it and ensure you pick meals that will nourish, fuel & replenish your body. If you’re not sure, do some research online & make lists.

Learn to love your body and treat it like a best friend - learn what it digests well, feels good on & what makes it thrive. Usually a fuck tonne of water, vegetables, eggs & fish if you eat them, and unrefined carbs. Some nuts, fruit, natural yoghurt, wholegrains. Good fats - olive oil, avocado, seeds, salmon - what makes your hair & skin glow.

Exercise. I know that it's generally held that only 20% of weight loss can be attributed to exercise but I've found that being more active makes me feel good, after a few weeks of gym going I could see I was progressing - using heavier weights, upping the resistance on the cardio machines. I get a real buzz from the exercise. I don't know why but I wanted to naturally eat more healthily, cut out the processed food, more salads, fish etc. I've lost the weight but don't feel like I'm depriving myself.
I've also found that the fitter I've become the more active I am. I can't sit around anymore so I'm probably burning more calories as well by simply doing more.

The next time you go food shopping make healthy choices, don't buy junk snacks buy nutritional snacks like celery, cherry tomatoes, sugar snap peas, almonds and stick to a low cal portion size. Cook meals that are low carb. If you go out to eat pick the healthy low cal option.

I've lost 3 stone since Christmas and I've
done it by creating a calorie deficit. I aim for 1000 a day. Exercise daily even if it's walking around your house for 30 mins non stop.

You can do it. Also on days when I eat more I never go over the calories I have burned. a fitness tracker can help keep track of it all.

No snacking in the evenings.

Aim to feel satisfied, not full.

Think about what you drink. I stick to water and herbal teas. Never soft drinks or juice. Alcohol in social situations only. Drinks can make a massive difference.

Make one change at a time. Do it for 30 days before introducing the next change.

Park Run.

Gets you out and exercising early on a Saturday morning. Only takes an hour. The first year while you’re getting fit, you get to know everyone else who is wheezing along at the back. By the time you can run 5k you’ll have dropped a stone , gained a couple of running friends of the same standard and Stopped worrying about food.

And it’s free apart from the cost of some decent running shoes.

If you, or anyone, is steadily gaining weight, it's because you are consuming more calories than your body is using. It is no more complicated than that. Avoid sugars as much as possible, swear off processed garbage food, and exercise moderately. You don't need a trainer or a gym. Just move more and walk. You can do this.

LCHF/keto/5:2 etc are diets, not lifestyle changes. I also completely disagree that her portion sizes must be too big. I have put on half a stone in 4 years and it’s crept on due to lifestyle changes:

• moving to the country and being car reliant
• commuting by car rather than train/ tube
• slowly becoming coffee dependent and consuming take away cappuccino daily
• becoming far more busy and therefore eating on the move more- croissants/ vending machine snacks/ McDonald’s!

All of this has slowly contributed to a small weight gain. A true lifestyle change would be reversing these factors or working within them more smartly to live a healthier lifestyle. I’ve also found I need dedicated exercise ie gym membership because I “move” so much less daily.
Op can you think of the lifestyle changes that contributed to your 2 stone? Start there and you’ll have your answer

Have you heard of intuitive eating and/or health at every size? Maybe Go check out this website www.laurathomasphd.co.uk/about/faqs/

What works for me I’d just changing how I eat. Have had a bit of a lapse this week as it’s been out of the norm but this is how I roll:
Breakfast - no wheat-based food so itsusuLly yoghurt/fruit w low sugar muesli (Liz’s low sugar is good)
Snack - 2 oatcakes:fruit (sometimes nothing). Coffee
Lunch - sandwich on wholemeal or leftovers, veg, fruit maybe small biscuit to keep me going!
Dinner - varies but I have cut down in amount of pasta & carbs in general that I eat especially bread as it’s massively bloating to me. Will have small carb (meaning rice, pasta, potato) portion or just the veg.
I rarely have juice now - mainly drink water or an occasional fizz which I treat as a ‘dessert’
Don’t eat sweetened yoghurt regularly.
Cook more from scratch etc
Just massively cut down on sugar basically!
I lost half a stone in less than 3 months so average of half a pound a week. I’ve had crappy weeks but got back on wagon if I’ve slipped up.

Oh and a lot more walking too!

This is a great thread. I have a similar amount to lose and have had my head in the sand about it for too long.

DH and I are in a bit of a rough spot health wise and have been talking about a lifestyle overhaul.

Will check out some of these tips. Good luck OP!

Another thing I do is drink water before eating. I estimate i drink about 450mls (my water bottle is 900).