To think I am going to have to be on a perma-diet for the rest of my life.

[NorthernGravy]

This is meant to be light hearted! And a bit of a whinge.

I have always struggled with my weight. I lost 3 stone a couple of years ago, and unsurprisingly I have slowly put 2 stone back on and now weigh 13 and a half stone. I am bloody miserable, and have been burying my head in the sand pretending that it hasn’t happened and wearing fewer of my clothes. I love food, I know my portions are too big and its a basic issue of I eat more calories than I use up. I am all in favour of body positivity and loving the skin you are in, and it being society’s issue not mine, but I hate it.

Anyway I had a recent doctors appointment and it has made me wake up and realise how much I have put on. When I lost my weight I used my fitness pal and tracked everything, going for about 1400 calories a day, so have gone back to doing that, as it does work. And I am bloody starving half the time. I make sure I eat a good balance of protein and slow release carbs etc but I am hungry.

Is this what the rest of my life is going to be like now I am 40? Am I just going to have to get used to being slightly hungry all the time? Because I am fucking miserable. I just think that if I don’t track my calories for the rest of my life then I am going to forever going to yo-yo. I need to get used to being slightly hungry. I also think its a dreadful example to set to your kids to forever weigh your portion sizes. But I also think my weight going up and down is a dreadful example too.

I am genuinely hungry, I will eat them. At lunch time at the weekends, I will put food on my plate until I stop being hungry and I will be busy and active all afternoon without getting head rushes and leg wobbles. I WISH I had done this years ago.

Senseless, the above sounds very much like a blood sugar issue. Nobody needs to eat every 2-3h unless you are experiencing blood sugar crashes or have an issue with overproduction of insulin (insulin resistance) which prevents you getting adequate nutrition from the food you do eat. Constant hunger and ‘naturally stocky’ build are also powerful indicators of the above.

You may feel good in the moment after you have just eaten, but how do you feel longer-term, throughout the day? Not great.... unless you keep yourself topped up.

I used to be like that and after a longish spell of low carb I have managed to reset my appetite (which is now known is hormonally controlled). So I can get on with my day whether I have eaten or not in the last 3 hours. Indeed, if I eat well at meal times, I do not feel hungry for at least 5-6h and even then it does not affect my ability to function. The hunger itself has severely reduced which is very welcome. I used to spend my life looking forward to my next meal and not to think of it, is so liberating!

Even more powerful than low-carb is fasting. It resets the body in a drastically powerful way. If with low-carb you need at least a few weeks to feel noticeable effect, with fasting it literally is the following day.

To cut a long story short, I don’t think eating yourself into oblivion is going to solve the issue. Because it doesn’t, and likely a few years down the line you will feel even worse and start experiencing health consequences into the bargain. I vote for walking into this with one’s eye open. Kicking the can down the road and pretending it’s not getting worse is not about to put it right. Sadly.

I use my Fitbit to manage calories in versus calories out. It encourages me to move more and helps me avoid mindless snacking.

I consume about 200 calories fewer per day than I burn. I appreciate that this is all approximate but it's helped me lose a pound a fortnight and it's sustainable

How active are you? That will make a massive difference to what you can eat for weight loss.

I’m a similar weight to you and currently losing it. I count calories (a trainer worked out the numbers for me) and I’m losing weight on 1,800 calories a day and I’m never hungry - but that’s because I also do 2.5 hours of strenuous exercise a week. If I didn’t I’d be on a lot less. When I ate way below that while exercising, I lost weight on the scales but it was muscle I lost, not fat. Now I’m eating more I’m losing fat instead and although the scales show a smaller rate of loss, I am down nearly two dress sizes.

I found my weight creeping up and up. I'm nearly 60 and NOTHING was shifting it. I was eating so little that I was regularly light headed and hungry. So I took running back up. Plus eating less than 1500 calories a day. I've lost three stone, which is great, but by god is it boring having to eat so little!

So I give myself permission to have ONE DAY per week in which I eat what I feel like. If I want chips, cream cake, ice cream and chocolate, then I can have them, but only on that day.

Physically I can only eat so much on one day, so I feel safe enough to have what I feel like. I look forward to that day all week! It makes the other six days not feel so bad because I know that there's that one day coming.

But yes, the older you get the harder it is. I have to run around 25 miles a week over five or six days, and only eat under 1400 cals most days (except the one day off) just to keep weight off.

You need to get yourself 'fat adapted'!

Low carb, Keto, intermittent fasting, Maffetone training all work towards this goal.

What it means is that you won't eat more or even as much but you won't feel particularly hungry because you will be utilising the fat you have stored for energy. I mean, that is why our bodies store fat, so we don't have to constantly be eating.

To start I would say cut out sugar and simple carbs and do some low intensity, fat burning exercise fasted. Like this:

m.youtube.com/watch?v=9L2b2khySLE

It will get you fat adapted and as your body gets used to using your fat stores as a fuel source and your muscles get stronger the running progresses in speed naturally. And you enjoy it. It becomes something you won't want to give up.

I've lost 5 and a half stone. I've kept it off for 18 months. For me overhauling my eating needed to be done. I have a chronic health condition and used to live on crisps.

Now I have things in the feeezer. Have quick meals I can cook and try to plan in advance otherwise we went for take away. It makes such a difference to the way I feel when I eat a balanced diet. Lots of fruit and veg, protein, some carbs and treats in moderation. When I eat junk I then feel blah.

But I look on it as a lifestyle change in my eating rather than a diet. It's my normal way of eating.

Well you won't be weighing your food forever will you? Once you've done it once or twice you'll remember what's a healthy portion.

I think it's normal, and indeed can be quite pleasant, to feel hungry before a meal. Hunger is the best sauce, as the saying goes.

Put it this way, if how you are eating means you are consistently putting on weight that means your eating pattern is not healthy and should not be considered normal (even if it is a statistical norm). So of course you cannot continue like that.

For a period you need to eat in a way that means you lose weight. The weight loss diet bit.

Then you can eat in a way to maintain your weight. This would not be dieting, this would be eating normally. It would not be the way you have been eating currently.

@Oysterbabe Thank you! You inspired me! I’m going to start doing OMAD 4 days a week from Monday. I did 6 days a week a few months ago but lost my way.

Great!
It works for me. I lost 3st that way and now am happily maintaining. I find it dead easy to do on work days and can just not think about it at the weekends.

10 years ago I lost 5 stone by doing 10K on the cross trainer 3 times a week and restricting my calories to 1300 every day. I used to eat MASSIVE portions (the same size as my husband, who is nearly a foot taller than me!) and yes - to start with I was bloody ravenous.

However, over time, my body got used to the smaller portions and I think my stomach has shrunk so I have been able to maintain the weight loss without much problem. Whereas before, if I got a Chinese takeaway, I would order a special curry, fried rice AND a pancake roll (then probably have pudding too!), these days I wouldn't order the pancake roll and would eat half the rice and curry one day and the rest the next and be full after each meal. I used to get uncomfortably full after meals, but I don't these days as I think I've learned to listen to my body and stop when I've had enough.

So I wouldn't expect you to feel hungry for the rest of your life - I genuinely think your stomach will shrink and if you learn to listen to your body, you'll be able to stop when you're full. Good luck!

Welcome to middle age, OP.

I’m afraid that for those of us over 40 who do fairly sedentary jobs, permanently watching what we eat is normal. .

It certainly is for me. I generally only eat whatever I want on Saturday nights and when I’m on holiday. The rest of the time, I have to be pretty careful. I find 5:2 works for me.

The good news is that you can keep your weight stable by tackling both sides of the equation. The more you exercise, the more you can eat without putting on weight.

I've lost 2 inches from my hips/stomach and 1.5 inches from my waist in 7 weeks. I'm seeing a personal trainer twice a week (weights / conditioning) and eat 3 proper meals a day. I still have some snacks eg. dark 2 finger kit kats, walkers baked crisps.

I know I will always be aware of what I'm eating, as I easily slip into using food as an emotional crutch.

I honestly think I’ve watched what I ate pretty much all my adult life, with the exception of when I was breastfeeding, when I really struggled to eat enough and the weight was just sliding off me.

But do you know what, I’m 54, I have a disability that affects my mobility and I’m thinking, “Does it really matter if I put on a few pounds round my middle?” DH and my kids and my family and my mates are not bothered and I don’t think it will have a massive effect on my health.

I’m just at the top end of a healthy weight now, i’m looking a little plump, because i’m not very tall or well built, but I just can’t be bothered to address it. I think it’s better to focus on being strong, rather than slim as you get older.