To ask if you are slim/ skinny and you maintain that by fasting or a diet, what is it?

[SummerMeadows20]

I’m 5’3 and usually around 8st 3. Just weighed myself for the first time in months (pre lockdown) and I’m 8st 6.

I’m at my happiest and look my best/ slimmest when I’m pretty much bang on 8st. However, trying to lose those usual 3lbs (now 6lbs is just so difficult for me. I really have to practically eat nothing and i do it for a day, get fed up and go back to normal and just live with the few extra 1lbs.

I do about 15,000 steps per day and am generally fit and active. My diet could 100% be better, I am definitely a ‘carby’ person and love nothing more than dunking a few hobnobs into a cup of tea when I get home from work each day. Yes, there are apples and oranges there but when I’m feeling hungry I just don’t feel they’ll do. For dinner we pretty much have whatever we want, I’ll try and include as much veg as I can with each meal and I only really like lean meat, but we do eat a lot of pasta dishes with no doubt fatty sauces etc.

Basically what I’m trying to say is I think a lot of my problem is diet as like I say, I’m fairly active.

I’d like to try a diet/ fasting regime where it doesn’t feel like I’m constantly starving and feeling lightheaded. I have considered fasting or diets like the 5:2 but the thought of only eating 500 cals a day horrifies me. It’s nothing, I have no idea what I’d even eat to keep me within that calorie range unless I only ate one small meal a day?!

I guess I’m just wondering whether people that are say slim or skinny and a light weight, how do you lose weight?

5’8 and 9st2. I’m 47. I eat a lot and drink most nights. I’m very active - 12,000 steps every day plus cardio and weights, although that’s been harder recently. I live with my DP and we eat together every night but I have no children so can please myself apart from that. I usually feel hungry in the mornings so eat a big breakfast/brunch around 10.30 - a couple of slices of sourdough bread and protein/fat (eg 3 scrambled eggs, bacon and avo, smoked salmon, cheese and tomato kind of thing, or leftovers from dinner). Might have some chocolate as well. Then a snack mid afternoon if I’m hungry - oatcakes and hummus, a protein bar and a few cherry tomatoes, that kind of thing. Dinner is usually lots of protein and veg. I weigh myself every day so if I see an increase over a few days I know to be a bit more careful.

I'm 5 ft 2 and a UK size 4. I don't drink and rarely eat processed food. I don't eat sugar. I find that if you cut out sugar, after a while your body adjusts and you really don't want it again.

@SophieB100 that’s really interesting.. well done. I am the same height as you & currently weigh 11:12 how did you lose the weight?

I’ve been fasting, lost a few lbs so far.

Just realised I didn’t answer your question OP as this is just the way I eat to manage my weight at a level that keeps me comfortable mentally and physically. The heaviest I’ve been has been maybe 11.5 stone and I’ve not gone over 10 stone for about 10 years I don’t think.

Interesting thread! I'm 5'3 and at my heaviest at 10 stone 7, lockdown has not been kind to me!

It really depresses me though how little I should eat considering I'm short. I find it really hard, I'd love to be under 9 stone but I just dont ever see it happening, doesnt help that all my friends are super tall so when we are together they expect me to keep up with their eating and drinking levels and just dont get it that I cant because I cant get away with it. I hate being so short!

I'm 5ft4 and when I weighted 9 stone people were asking me if I was ill ! I would look utterly dreadful at 8 stone. I look slim and toned at 10 stone.

Do you really feel your best basically eating one meal a day? Honestly? Because id be fucking starving all the time.

Your eating nothing substantial before dinner. Your going to be starving by 4pm and of course something sugary and satisfying is what your body craves.

Your half bagel and peanut butter is easily 250kcal, you could have a bowl of porridge or eggs for that a be more satisfied. 4 hobnobs is about 300kcal. Again a salad/soup/sandwich would be more filling and satisfying in the long run.

Im 5'7 and weigh 10st

I have weighed less and whilst i looked better, I was really hungry all the time.

If 8st is very hard for you to maintain its probably not the ideal weight.

For me, my ideal weight is one I can relstively easily maintain, I rarely have to think about it whilst still having a healthy BMI and being able to be active without feeling restricted by my weight.

@Mixitupalot
Thank you - my heaviest weight was almost 14 stone and I was a size 18, I realised I had to tackle this as I'm in my fifties and I was feeling very unfit and sluggish, with aching joints and backache.

I just cut out all sugar, all snacks and saturated fat. Also white carbs.

So I generally stuck to around 1200 - 1500 calories a day. Working out portions is key, it is good to actually weigh out rice, pasta etc, as I was eating quite healthy meals, but too large portions.

So a typical day would be: Breakfast - Allbran (1 cup) with skimmed milk, and berries. Lunch: Large salad, small amount of lean chicken or ham, apple. Small wholemeal roll. Dinner: Baked fish, lots of green veg, small jacket potato.

I didn't cut out any food groups (except sugar) and carbs were controlled and always wholegrain. This helps with filling you up and stops sugar spikes. I also drank at least 3 litres of water a day.

I felt hungry the first two weeks, then I got used to the smaller portions and now I don't get hungry at all. I lost a steady 2lb a week. I tried cut out breakfast and fast until lunch, but it made me feel weak. Years ago I lost a lot of weight on Atkins, but it made me quite unwell and my GP told me to stop it. So when I lost weight last year I just stuck to 3 meals a day, no snacks and made healthy choices all the way.

I now maintain on around 1700 calories a day, I still eat healthily, but perhaps a bit more unrefined carbs.

Good luck!

I maintained 8 stone /size 8-10 for a long time and I'd just be careful overall - wouldn't starve or fast but let's say I had a massive pudding one day - I'd make sure I wouldn't eat anything fattening for the next few days so I wasn't madly cutting down but not madly binging either just occasional treats!

@SophieB100

Thats very encouraging! Well done it must have been tough, i find dieting difficult the order I've gotten. At the min i am sticking to 1200 cals - no sugar and limited carbs (as they make me very bloated).

I aim to lose about two stone. Why can't we just click our fingers and bam... body goals achieved

I actually only eat 2 meals a day, I have half a bagel with peanut butter for breakfast at 8am and then don’t eat again until I get home from work about 4.30pm, where I usually scoff the 3-4 hobnobs then I’ll have my dinner. Sometimes with a glass of wine, sometimes without and then a snack after dinner (a packet of crisps)

You're not a million miles away from doing 16:8, which has always worked well for me, you'd just need to adjust your mealtimes. Could you eat the bagel (ideally a full one, no need for half) at 12ish for lunch instead of breakfast, replace the hobnobs with a mid afternoon snack of some fruit then have dinner a bit later and scrap the post-dinner snack? That way you'd create the fasting window from 8PM onwards but if you haven't eaten dinner too much before that it's not too bad in the evening when most people tend to be hungriest. Obviously you can have your eating window earlier if you prefer, but I find the evenings harder that way

@Mixitupalot
Sounds like your plan is good - it would be lovely if we all had a magic wand, I agree! But the way I looked at it was, the time would pass anyway, and I could either carry on slowly gaining, or make changes and lose the weight. And once you drop the first stone or whatever, and go down a dress size, it really motivates you to continue.
It does need to be a plan for life though - something you can manage without feeling deprived, then adapt slightly when you're at goal to maintain it. And I found too that as the weight came off, my energy increased so I was able to do more walking etc., which really helped too. Good luck

If you've never tried how do you know fruit won't do ?

You sound like me! I'm 5' 3'' and before lockdown was 7.5 stone. I'm now nearly 8 and have just started to try and shed those extra lbs.
My weight does fluctuate between 7.5 and 8 every few years.
For me, if I eat 1300-1500 calories daily, I will lose around 0.5lbs a week. Doesn't sound like a lot but slow and steady is the best way to shed those annoying few lbs.
Veg and salad are my best friends, I eat a huge plate full of the stuff every day. If I get hungry inbetween meals, I eat low calorie snacks (rice crackers, Nakd bars, fruit, i'm addicted to cherry tomatoes at the moment!)
Black coffee is also awesome, suppresses appetite and helps to lose weight :)

@rottiemum88, a good suggestion. Unfortunately I work outside and don’t take a lunchbreak (hence why I’m usually home just after 4) so although good, not really doable during the week

So today was day 1 of eating my breakfast and dinner, with absolutely no snacks and tbh, although I WAS hungry when it came to dinner, I didn’t actually find it all that bad. I think I could fairly easily just eat breakfast, dinner and cut out all snacks say 5 days a week and then allow myself a couple of days a week of being able to have a chocolate bar or whatever.

I think I’ll do this for the next 7-10 days and weigh myself again after and see if it’s helped me shift a few lbs

I am about to pour myself a small glass of Prosecco though

I lost by eating what I like but less of it and within a 7 hour period. So intermittent fasting. I would have a late breakfast at 11 O'clock, lunch around 2 and a small meal around 5.30. No food after 6. Lost weight very quickly. Weekend I relax the rules a little. I drink 2 litres of water most days.

I’ve just weighed myself for the 3rd morning in a row and today is day 3 of just having my 1/2 a bagel for breakfast and then nothing else til dinner.

Day 1 I was actually 54.5kgs (8st 5)
Day 2, yesterday, I was 53.7kgs (8st 4)
And just now, I weighed myself and I was 52.9kgs (8st 3)

I feel lighter, my stomach is definitely flatter, even throughout the day. Now I’m back to my ‘normal’ pre lockdown weight, I’m going to carry this on and see if it’ll allow me to get down to 8st.

I have a feeling a lot of it must’ve been water retention! Either way, I’m pleased. I do feel hungry by the time dinner comes round, but nothing horrendous. Yesterday I actually had a lazy day and apart from walking the dog for an hour, sat around reading most of the day and I was really worried I’d get tempted into snacking but I manage to resist!

Well done OP.
Water is a thing - I found that the more water I drank the quicker the weight came off - but it would sometimes take a while to see on the scales, a couple of days the same, then a dip of a couple of pounds that would stay off. Our weight naturally fluctuates (mine does by about 4lbs) day to day. So I only weighed twice a week when I was losing, so get a more accurate picture, and now once a week to check I'm maintaining - as long as I'm within my 4lb range, I'm fine.
And you have so little to lose anyway, that it might be slower. Well done, glad you feel better.

I really retain water in the heat and after exercise. I imagine that drinking lots of water might help your body let go of the water it’s retaining?