Put on 3st in 3 years - how to lose it in a year and keep it off

[MyKingdomForACaramel]

I have lived the majority of my life as a size 10 -12, with my weight between 10 - 11 1/2 stone (I’m fairly tall and carry weight wel). However in the past 3 years have put on around 3 stone which has sort of crept up and now I feel huge.

Am wearing clothes between a size 16 - 18, feel lethargic and unhealthy.

So - I’m now committed to losing the weight but would love to hear some inspiring ideas and stories of others who have lost weight in this situation.

Ignore everyone that talks about shedding x stone in x-number of weeks.

It took 3 years to put the weight on, probably at a rate of one excess biscuit per day.

It's much easier and more sustainable to tip the balance the other way and plan to lose the weight over three years, by which time it will be ingrained into your day-to-day routine.

@DexyMidnight the current WW plan is actually not far off what SW is like at the moment. Both of them are merging into the same thing. I was doing WW and have switched to SW because I can have other meat without counting not just bloody chicken and turkey all the time.

Honestly OP, every one is going to try to sell you their diet plans. But what works best for you isn't what's best for someone else. It's taken me 4 years since having my second DS to realise what works best is a little bit of everything. Getting rid of the all or nothing mentality. Not expecting to lose a stone in a fortnight. Getting a bit more exercise in. Only eating when I'm hungry instead of snacking on front of the telly at night. Eating healthier foods. Cutting my portions down a bit. It's gradually coming off and best thing is, I'm not finding it a struggle.

Like I've said above, I'm eating mostly the same things doing SW as I was on WW. Three meals a day, snack of fruit if hungry, lots of home cooked meals and lots of meat and vegetables.

I lost three stone (size 16 to size 10/12) with low-carb four years ago and have kept it off ever since. We love food and cooking and enjoy low-carb eating. After we had lost the weight and stabilised on the regime (DH lost four stone) we were able to re-introduce occasional small quantities of new potatoes or beans and a glass or two of dry wine.
We never eat cake or biscuits, have puddings on very special occasions (I do a chocolate mousse just with dark chocolate and eggs) and enjoy eating meat, fish, cheese, lots of vegetables and some fruit.
We have never felt so healthy. It isn't for everyone, but it has worked for us.

If you get out with the dogs and would like to exercise, can you do Couch to 5k and get into running? It won't help massively with the weight loss, which is more food related, but I run quite a lot and it does help me keep my weight stable without watching what I eat too much. I used to be overweight, and like you I love food, but running helps to balance it out long term for me.

I’ve been calorie counting since March 2018 and lost 3 stone (now 5lb off where I want to be). It gets easier as you quickly become aware of portion sizes and which foods are highest in calories. Nowadays I just guesstimate and it’s second nature (still losing so my guesstimates must be pretty accurate- if in doubt, overestimate!) Every 5 months or so I plateau for a month or so, but I’ve got a couple of tricks now to beat that: Piyo dvd (Pilates/ yoga combined) boosts my metabolism, and twice I’ve used the lose a stone in a week diet to jumpstart loss. I didn’t lose a stone: 11lb the first time, only 5lb the second when 11lb from my goal weight, but it stays off and I can lose again afterwards)

I thought the Myfitnesspal log was brilliant until it had that security issue, and since then I haven’t been able to find the log again. I lost weight just by observing the calories, and noted my exercise too.

Someone said up thread you need a basic level of fitness to do HIIT and walking 10 000 steps will burn calories effectively- this is just not true.

You can do HIIT in your living room with no basic fitness. I started on a low level having not done exercise for over 2 years and prior to that it was just walking on the school run. I have built up to a higher level over a 3 month period but it's tough and I need it to be tough for it to work.
HIIT burns calories but also builds muscle, which also helps with weight loss.

Low carb switches your metabolism to burn fat including the dangerous visceral fat.
Then with the 5:2 can reintroduce some of the starchy carbs and have puddings/booze on special occasions/dinners out, which is probably how we should be eating anyway and probably the mantra we repeat to our kids on a daily basis!

@Oysterbabe What kind of things are you eating for your one meal a day? I've been doing 16:8 (only for a week admittedly!) but no change on the scales. I am finding the mornings hard to be honest and look forward to 12.30 to stay my 8 hour eating window. Right now I would love breakfast! I'm probably not helping myself by having tea with milk in first thing but I would be more miserable without it. Hate coffee.

Just anything I fancy really. This week we've had
Chicken and pepper curry with rice
pasta bolognaise and salad
sausage, Cauli cheese and broccoli
Beef stew, mash and green beans

I use my slow cooker a lot on the days I'm working because I have no time. I always make sure there's a couple of different veg. I add cheese and cream to stuff because you can afford to when you're only eating once a day. I get full really quick. I reckon I have about 800 calories for my meal but don't count.

Blood sugar diet - its bloody hard then switch to 5:2.

I lost 2 stone about 6/7 years ago and kept it off. I do 5:2 to maintain now but that’s cos I like to eat whatever I want on my 5 days! If I want to lose a bit more, I’m stricter on my 5 days or do 4:3. I recently wanted to lose half a stone for a holiday so I did fast 800. It was quite tough but mainly because my BMI was already healthy so weight came off quite slowly. But overall intermittent fasting works well for me. I love food and like being able to eat whatever I want the majority of the time. When I fast I used to do all kinds of complicated meals but now I can’t be bothered. So I usually have some lean protein (chicken, fish, lean steak) then masses of vegetables.

From my experience losing it fast through calorie restriction (MfP) and sustainable exercise, then monitoring your diet every day on mfp to maintain works. I lost 4 st in a year. Have kept it off for seven years now.