Weight loss. AIBU to ask if you've lost weight by not following

[SquirrelInTheOak]

an actual diet, how you did it?

I seem to become rather rebellious if I try to do WW/SW/LC and so on.

I'd like to lose weight - about 4 st - by making healthier choices, adjusting portion size, getting more exercise and so on rather than feeling like I'm 'on a diet'.

AIBU to think this is possible or do I need to follow a diet?

sorry, just trying to catch up on all the posts.

And loads of exercise.

I think it's not really healthy to think too much about food, if that makes sense. I don't like calorie counting or mfp for that reason - I think noting everything you consume can only make you feel hungrier, tbh. And I really don't like it when moralistic language is used around food - "being good" or "being naughty" or "syns". It's only naughty to eat a piece of cake if it belongs to someone else.

I'd struggle to follow any sort of diet plan as I work in the hospitality industry so have to taste/eat a lot of random stuff!

I lost the baby weight last time round using my Fitbit: kept increasing my daily step goal so I was doing a LOT of walking, drank lots of water and religiously logged everything I ate. It made me realise that the portions I was eating were far too big! Most of what I was eating was actually pretty healthy but when I actually looked at the calorie content it was far too much. So it helped me to reset a bit and eat more balanced meals with less carbs (I'm veggie so tend towards big bowls of pasta for speed/ease which is not a good way to lose weight!)

I yo-yo'd for years, doing diets. None worked.

As soon as I changed what I ate permenantly, I lost several stone and I've never gained it back. Diets don't work, but having a healthy and balanced diet does.

It's changed my life, I'm quite into nutrition and fitness now :)

I use the Loseit app, which is very similar to myfitness pal, to track calories and runkeeper to track walking. I walk 4-6 miles a day.

I log all of my food and weigh ingredients. I also have an Apple watch, which is very motivating. It tracks movement, exercise and standing time and harasses you to "close your rings" every day.

I don't use a diet other than trying to limit carbs and sweets and reduce portions. This works well for me as long as I actually log the food.

16: 8 works well for me - basically you can eat for 8 hours then just water for the rest. So lunch at midday, dinner at 7.00 type thing. Worked well because most of my junk eating is boredom eating of an evening whole watching tv. Never been a big breakfast fan either.

Also taking up something like knitting, cross stitch or crochet so you don't want sticky hands/ hands are busy works well to defeat evening/boredom snacking...

Yes, I gained 2 stone after I had DS, a year later I was still wearing my mat jeans. I’m 5’ so any weight gain is very noticeable and I had went up to 14st 7lb. Two years into that I decided enough was enough.

I started having porridge for my breakfast, a sandwich for lunch and anything and however much I fancied for my dinner, plus still had a take away every weekend but I did cut out all snacks and forced myself to go to the gym (or do a home exercise dvd) at least 3 times per week. The weight dropped off me and I got down to 8.4lb and stayed at that for a long time which was smaller than my pre baby weight. I’m planning on starting this again as weight has creeped up to almost 10st. It’s hard getting started if you’re into your snacks but you do see results. I’m alright with having the same breakfast and lunch every day which isn’t great if you hate repetition.

No calorie counting and I could look forward to a big dinner every night.

I agree with Sound. I have successfully lost weight by calorie counting on my FitBit and the most useful aspect was just recognising that I was over-eating and reducing my portion sizes. It also helped me to eat more mindfully...no more casually throwing biscuits into my mouth at work, just eat one or two instead. Nothing is forbidden, but it really helped me to think whether a food was worth the calorie intake.

Calorie counting can be a bit of a faff but if you use an app like FitBit it definitely gets easier after a couple of weeks, especially if you tend to eat similar foods for breakfast/lunch everyday

It has to be a life style change.

I too find that SW /WW make me rebellious. I used to go and stuff my gave after my weekly weigh-in.

MFP was always handy but I used it to plan as opposed to log. Planning allows you to make choices (so for example if my curry with rice put me over my daily allowance then I'd swap the rice for a portion of new potatoes)
Logging after you have already eaten something just tells you the calories you've already consumed.

I lost about 2 st by taking a bit more exercise, cutting down on portion size and rarely eating meat. It worked but took ages - about two years. I only weighed myself every two weeks or so so as not to get disillusioned at progress. It can be done but being virtuous gets boring - and this is where willpower comes in. There's no magic bullet, I'm afraid.

Any rewards you give yourself must be the inedible kind - like a new lipstick or nail polish and the like. Good luck.

Sorry to hijack, is anyone else struggling with MFP due to glitches? I started using it again a few weeks ago but it just doesn't work properly anymore, I got fed up with having to log out and back in again to sync my Fitbit steps, and with the dates and weight history being all over the place.

Haven't bothered since but want to start in earnest once back from holiday, I have 4 stone to lose. Ok, 5.

I used the NutraCheck app and tailored it to tell me my calories and carbs. I found it simple to use and not too intrusive. I cut carbs down to 50g a day and calories to 1200 a day (higher fat and protein, as little sugar as possible and as little beige food as poss) and just made sure I got a bit more exercise than I had been getting, walk to the shops, take the stairs not the escalator, take the dog a bit further for her walk. I also made sure I drank more water as I often forgot to drink enough. I tried not to introduce too many checks and balances and complicated goals that were too far off how I normally live because I knew I’d kick against them. I forgave myself for a day of eating cake or unavoidable meals out etc which meant I didn’t think ‘sod it, I’ve deviated, let’s just go mad’, which is what I’d always done. The app was to set me on a different permanent path by understanding exactly what I was eating by noting it down in the early days, I don’t need to use it now and Ive made a permanent change where I just don’t eat the same stuff as I did. I’ve lost about 2 stone which I lost quickly and has stayed off over the last 10 months. I feel like endless obsessing over my weight and losing the same half a stone again and again is now behind me. It feels pretty liberating tbh.

Low GI worked for me - not a diet per se but foods divided into 3 groups with the idea that you tried to balance your GI - so if you were going to have baked potatoes (high ish GI) you'd have them with low GI foods like tinned tuna and salad. If you wanted bread you'd perhaps choose a lower GI version like rye bread or pitta rather than white bread etc.

I think it was initially based on a diet put together for patients who needed to lose weight quickly in order to have heart surgery but it worked well for me.

I lost weight by cutting down, basically. Reducing snacks, went teetotal for a few years (for various reasons, not just weight loss), and reduced eating between meals. I also exercised a lot.
I also had a lot of financial problems over the last few years, on and off, so I went back to eating how I did when I was brought up - plain simple food, mostly cooking fron scratch, smaller portions, things like chocolate are just an occassional treat and not an essential part of your essential everyday diet. And walked everywhere because I couldn't afford public transport.
So basically the old 'eat less, move more' thing', but you get called an idiot and a cunt on here for saying that, but who cares? Sure works for me 😁

I lost about 3 stone by changing lifestyle. I've kept most of it off for a year, just put on a little recently from too many special occasions in a short time. I eat lots of veg (at least half my plate but usually more), fewer carbs, low sugar.

I can only lose weight if I completely ditch alcohol and stick to 1200 calories a day on MFP.

I am 5ft 5 and have gone from 13 to 12 stone doing this. Would like to get down to 10 and a half to feel comfortable. I lose 1 - 2 lbs a week. As soon as I have a drink, it piles back on so I think I am going to have to give up booze for good

Definitely calorie counting is the way forward. I did it at this new slimjection clinic at a pharmacy. Funnily enough, they recommended using the my fitness Pal app too. Improving diet is definitely the way forward. Gym helps, but it's more what we're putting into our bodies.

I’ve lost a kilo this week simply by reducing calories. I still ate treats (fresh cream jam donut yesterday), just ate less at lunch or dinner if I had a treat.

It is simple science. The less you put in the less you’ll gain.

I’ve never followed a fad diet and just reduced calories and smaller portion sizes.

You need to think of it as a lifestyle change, rather than a quick fix. You’ll need something you can keep up with or the weight will creep back on.

That's exactly it!

Make the right general lifestyle choices and you'll see the results. Can be tricky, but just really need to look at the labels now extensively.

I found SW too prohibitive with the weekly meet ups. Saying that my MIL did lose quite a bit following their recipes but looking at their suggestions, they're not actually that healthy!

I found the slimjection clinic ideal for me. Fitted in Appointment when I wanted. Bit more expensive, but the one to one is definitely worth it. Learnt so much and my BMI is almost in the normal range. Looking forward to them taking all the readings again cos my cholesterol was a little bit high before, so hopefully it would've come down as well. Definitely feeling healthier and more energetic