How do I lose weight properly and not obsess over food?

[Frume]

I have no idea what to do. I need to lose 6/7st. I've tried slimming world, but found that it messed up my relationship with food.

I don't want to join WW or any other kind of diet plan.

I'm an emotional binge eater.

I can't carry on like this. I just want to lose weight properly and sort out my relationship with food!

Where do I start?

Stop binge eating. There's your answer.

And start exercising.

@ScrapThatThen
I'm doing much the same thing. I don't know exactly how much I weigh as got no scales. I find it harder than I would if I lived alone. Factoring in someone else's needs messes things up a bit I find. I do daydream ALOT about food, but figure it doesn't take long to eat an unhealthy snack, so best not indulge as you say, too often or too much.

@Quillink
Yes I think so, particularly white bread, pasta, rice. Carbs convert to sugar. I'm not sure fruit is necessarily that bad, I don't eat too much of it anyway, but I did once go through a period of drinking a couple of glasses of orange juice daily and I put on weight, it seemed a bloaty sort of weight. Apparently there's a difference between eating an actual orange and the juice, the chemical make up is changed, but it could be that it's obviously easier to drink alot more, than eating the amount of oranges it takes to provide a glass of juice.

Depending on orange, but juicing ones we used to get at work worked out I think 3-4 per 250 ml. That's why juice is "dangerous"

The other thing was I got quite addicted to it, and could easily have drunk more, but was also affecting my stomach acid balance.

Take it slow. Don't rush it, no extreme diets.

I am an emotional eater, battled with it my entire life. I find the best way to control this is, (as other posters have suggested) eat less refined carbs and more protein fat, especially at breakfast.

I do not however recommend VLCD or cutting out entire food groups, I think that makes it too hard overall. My Fitness Pal is a great help to keep yourself honest.

I am still overweight, but have managed to lose 2 stone over past couple of years and mostly keep it off. It might not sound like a large amount of weight, but for me personally its a lot and I am proud of it, as I know what demons I battle everyday.

If you do use My Fitness Pal, log ALL your eating every day, even when you overeat. Whatever calories it 'adds' for exercise, never 'eat' more than half of them, and not unless you have done a significant amount of exercise.

You can set it that it doesn't take off the workout calories.

I'm on the most successful diet ever which is the "I don't want a gallstones/pancreatitis attack again as it's as painful as labour" So low oil, dairy, sugar. Or rather no oil as one meal of a handful of fried chicken,onion garlic in a wrap bought on stomach pains.

Cut out cheese, cream, butter, mayo completely.
Don't eat anything fried. (V.hard, earing with family may suffer)

Good things;
Fat free natural yoghurt. Instead of mayo. You get used to it, it's ok. It's nice with tinned fish and salad and everything.

50g oats mixed with 100ml water and 1/4 TSP cinnamon.

My capacity to consume fruit went up the more I ate. For breakfast have above - I still can't eat that amount of oats in one go do little and often is good.
Chopped blanched almonds, apricots, walnuts. Honey if you need it but I don't bother now. - lots of different fruit.

Vegan cheese - yes I still weep for cheese but now I realise how much I ate. This stuff is alright, it's as near as you're going to get. It's shit as cheese on toast but it's ok on top of beans on toast which ticks the fibre box.

I've allowed myself little dark chocs from Lidl. Small individually wrapped.

Drink lots of water, but not gulps. Best digestion aid is small sips, regular and steady. (That was hospital advice - I used to gulp down a pint in one go but best digestive aid is little and often.)

I've lost a stone in 5 weeks but according to BMI I need to lose another 5lbs. It's getting harder now as I chanced it with 2 homemade flapjacks yesterday and I had no pains. Now need to deal with the cravings so the above advice v useful for me thanks.

@Whatifitallgoesright good tips, I love natural yoghurt in place of mayo! I find because it’s tangy I don’t need much, whereas I would pile mayo on. Or use tons of Nando’s perinaise, god that stuff is gorgeous.

I’m going slow and steady at a pound a week and I’ve found it a massive eye opener logging absolutely everything I eat 😳 before I would eat something if I wanted it (hence the reason I’m fat 🤣) but now weighing stuff and logging it made me realise just how much I was consuming.

Really enjoying feeling fitter and healthier-I crave going for a walk now versus pre lockdown when I was lazy and sluggish.

I'm reading 'How to retrain your appetite' at the moment and have already started following 'the plan'.
It is not a quick fix but concentrating on listening to your body and eating only when hungry.
I stopped dieting about a year ago as I was fed up with it.
I don't want to count calories, syns or points. I don't want to stop eating carbs or starving myself. These are the things I have been doing for almost 30 years, starting as a slim teenager and now an overweight 40 something.
I need to retrain myself to eat like a normal person. Constantly dieting and falling off the wagon has not worked.
I am also trying to work on self acceptance. Maybe if I can love myself more I will be more likely to want to actually create a healthier me.

I also have well had 6 stone to lose. I started doing the Joe wicks 90 day plan. Now I am a slimming world and weight watchers veteran and as you can tell by the amount I need to lose it doesn't go well. The food is amazing. No fake anything. It suits my whole family. The exercise is good to. I am getting stronger and fitter. 3 weeks in and just under a stone lost it seems to work for me. My issue is my head (comfort eating) and I do seem to be able to put weight on very easily as well. We will see what the future brings but so far its blooming amazing.

Also doing Joe Wicks 90 day plan and loving it. Lots of meal prep and intense exercises (so not suitable if you have a particular injury) but gives you structure, healthy food, and you can stop focusing on calories.

Maybe read the book "On Eating" by the marvellous Susie Orbach. Look her up.

'Eating is pleasurable, eating is delicious, eating is sensual' says Susie. ... From the first page this little book shows us how to think and feel differently about what we eat. So that we eat when we are hungry, eat what we want to eat to satisfy us and stop when we are full.

For me it was sorting out my life so I was much much happier.
My mental health was poor because I was trapped in a very unhappy relationship.
I got free (that was the hard bit) , then started earing 3 good healthy but tasty meals a day.
No snacking, no calorie counting.
I mapped my weight on an app (happy scale) got a dog and started couch to 5k.
I'm not an emotional eater anymore - although I do put on half a stone at Christmas (and lose it in Jan/Feb) and I've put half a stone on in lockdown (baking too many cakes).
Other than that my weight is healthy and stable. I do eat junk on occasion, but it has an end point and I prefer health eating now.
I think I used to drug pain away with junk food/sugar/fat.
I don't do low-carb or low-fat or fasting or anything that I think might lead me to dis-ordered eating.
I hope and pray I can eat like this forever, the decades long trap of yo-yo dieting was hell.