To ask how can I lose weight without dieting?

[fieldsofdaisies]

I am so fed up of being on the diet-binge cycle. I have tried several "diets" including calorie counting, intermittent fasting (5:2), trying to eat mindfully/intuitively. It lasts maybe 4-6 weeks and then I go back to eating how I always eat which is large portions of unhealthy food with evening comfort eating of crisps, chocolate and ice-cream. I measured my BMI and I was shocked seeing that I am now classed as obese. I knew I was overweight but I didn't think I was obese!

Whenever I think about losing weight it always creeps into being too restrictive and strict which perpetuates the diet-binge cycle. I am so bored of being on this cycle.

Has anyone managed to lose weight in a sustainable way? I want a complete lifestyle overhaul.

Only 3% of dieters have long term success. I have lost weight by walking - 15,000 steps a day will do it.

At the age of 49 it has only just clicked with me. I have stopped looking at it as a diet - I'll do it for so long, get to a good weight and that will be it.

It really is now a permanent change for me. I have started an exercise routine which I now look at 'this is just what I do now' and I have started eating better. I never tell myself I 'can't' eat crap I just ask myself why I want to and does it help me feel good about myself.

I have been trying hard to think like this for about 10 weeks - I have lost 24 lbs, I am down 2 dress sizes and I feel so much better then I have in ages. I have shit days and I don't beat myself up about it. I am in this for the long haul so one bad day isn't going to derail me.

I guess the thing I'm saying is I've stopped thinking of it as a temporary intervention to achieve something but more of a permanent way of thinking. For me it has been a massive help that DH and I are both doing this so it helps to have support.

It's not easy.

I really like the basic rules of slimmingworld. I am following it loosely myself at the moment. When I say loosely I mean that I don’t do things like replace oil with frylite.

Easy point to start with as previous posters have said is just don’t buy the snack food. Instead have healthier alternatives to hand that will satisfy you.

Don’t eat boring food that you don’t enjoy, find tasty and healthy recipes. Meal planning is key.

Listen to your body and before eating consider if you are actually hungry. Don’t let yourself get to the point of feeling starving hungry, have a little something!

Drink plenty of water as it helps digestion.

If you don’t exercise already, try to form the habit (currently trying to do this myself). Just doing something each day is a goal achieved, even if it starts with a short daily walk.

I myself can’t go without the occasional indulgence. I still have chocolate in the house but less calorific options such as a curly wurly. Sometimes I have a hot chocolate instead.

Diets rarely work long term and dieting is miserable. The whole mindset of restricting certain foods is counterproductive - the more that you try and tell yourself that something is 'bad' (at the moment it's carbs but it could be any number of things) the more that you want it. It creates a horrible vicious cycle where you restrict yourself and then inevitably binge, lose weight and then yo-yo back. There is no silver bullet, and all of the diets really work on one principal - reducing your overall calorie intake.

You need to change the way that you are thinking about what you eat and start to look at it from a positive perspective, rather than a negative one. In order to be healthy you should be drinking around 2 litres of water a day and eating plenty of fruit and veg. I always try and think about what I'm going to eat and drink rather than what I'm not - so before every meal or snack I'll drink a glass of water and have a bit of fruit or veg. I know that after my water and fruit / veg I can eat what I want, however I tend to find that I'm less hungry and therefore eat less of the calorie laden stuff. If I want a biscuit or cake that's fine - I just drink the water and eat the fruit first. No weighing my foods, no denying myself, no cutting out a particular food group. Just concentrate on putting good stuff into your body first and the rest will fall into place.

The other component is exercise - find something that you actually like and start small. Doing 5 mins a day is better than doing nothing.

Slimming World has helped me lose and keep off one and half stone since the start of the year. Its mainly controlling portions of certain things and cooking from scratch. Essentially calories in, calories out. Tracking what I eat keeps me accountable.

To be completely honest, while it undoubtedly works, its a bit of a faff, and SW is pricey month on month. But at the moment I need to make sure my weight stays as as close to a healthy BMI as I can get it, so worth it for me.

NOT buying whatever your snack food of choice are as well is mega helpful. Also couch to 5k.

You can either reduce the calories in - so that's tackling the "large portions of unhealthy food with evening comfort eating of crisps, chocolate and ice-cream", or you can do about 4000-5000 cals of exercise a day.

Now, I'm actually a fan of this - as a short person who likes cake, the only way I can realistically chomp through 2000 cals a day is to take up cycling, long walks and powerlifting. Voila, balance is achieved and I can eat pie.

However, that's the realm of the 2000s.

Large portions, plus the extras are going to be stacking up to thousands more, far more than even a massive male powerlifter could burn off.

So the focus has to be on the behaviour. Ensure the food isn't in the house and then just, well, willpower really. Distract. Fill up on greek yoghurt (normal, not low-fat, and not STYLE either, proper stuff). Nibble a salty rice cake. Plan some protein-rich meals with smaller portions of carb and larger of veg. Yes it's hard for the first few days but it becomes habit, just as comfort eating became a habit.

You don't need 'a diet'. It's like if you were bopping yourself in the face with a hammer every day, a carefully managed but complicated plan about the sort of hammer you use and the angle you bop your face is all well and good, and might even be a bit better for a short time, but it didn't really tackle the core issue which is you're bopping yourself in the face with a hammer. So that's the bit that needs tackling. Putting down the hammer :)

Also I totally recommend powerlifting, dead good fun.

I only eat between 12 to 8.Took me ages to realise that this is what works for me.

Ive given up alcohol as i eat crap after drinking.

I have lost a stone,you cant really see it yet as i had a huge belly,but its gone down a good bit.

Plus im not a breakfast person,so i just time my meals and no snacks.It seems to be working and my sleep has improved as well.

You don't need 'a diet'. It's like if you were bopping yourself in the face with a hammer every day, a carefully managed but complicated plan about the sort of hammer you use and the angle you bop your face is all well and good, and might even be a bit better for a short time, but it didn't really tackle the core issue which is you're bopping yourself in the face with a hammer. So that's the bit that needs tackling. Putting down the hammer

to this

Wow, thank you for all the responses. I have a long list of things to research.

For the reason why I binge eat, I think the main reason is comfort and boredom. I don't drink alcohol so for me having junk food in the evening has become a ritual that helps me relax. I also get quite bored in the evenings despite going on walks every evening and trying to do things like have pamper evenings, etc I just get bored so I eat as that is a quick and easy way to turn a boring evening into a "treat" evening.

I think there is also an element of self-sabotage. At the start of lockdown I lost a stone using 5:2 and it like as soon as I realised I had lost weight and was getting compliments I stopped and gained it back. I am shy and I think I like being overweight as it makes me more invisible to others.

I will try 16:8. I really liked 5:2 and how it focussed on having as few insulin peaks as possible. I found I could still eat ice cream in the evenings as long as I had it straight after dinner rather than at 9pm which meant I would eat one small scoop rather than several scoops. However I found that after around a month of 5:2 I finding myself getting light headed quite a lot even on non-fast days which is the reason I stopped.

As for not having the food in the house, I have tried that when I am in the right mood for it. However I will make the effort to go to the shop to buy it. I feel like it is not a simple "ooh I fancy something sweet to eat" but more of a dependency on it.

I also think my knowledge of nutrition needs work. I am a vegetarian and find it hard to know how to create a balanced vegetarian meal. My go-to approach is using meat substitutes or having a carb-heavy meal like pasta with veg. I also make the mistake of trying to start my day "healthily" and instead undereating at breakfast and lunch and then when it gets to dinner I have a large portion as I'm really hungry.

Take a look at Team RH on facebook. Their cals are very generous so that you lose weight slowly (1lb a week - more likely to keep it off) and so that you don't feel the need to binge every few weeks due to denial. They also recommend you use up to 20% of your daily calories on junk if you feel you need it.

They also push for a minimum of 10k a day steps (optimally 15k) so that you get the message that more movement = more calories. Also weight training to gain muscle so that you can eat more when at target and not gain it all back/have to diet forever.

Definitely worth a look, especially if you're falling off the wagon every few weeks.x.

My two penneth is that there’s isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach to this.

Three healthy meals and a weekly treat would NEVER work for me. I don’t eat breakfast as I find it fires up my appetite. Unless I’m on holiday (in a nice hotel with buffet breakfast!) I tend not to eat at all until after midday. I exercise in the morning on an empty stomach so my body has a fair shot at burning some fat and not just my food.

I eat chocolate EVERY day. Every single day. People who can manage once a week are not real chocolate-lovers!

I do avoid carbs like bread, pasta, rice, potatos and try to replace them with salad.

I’m a bit of a grazer so 100 calories here and another 100 there is more fun for me than 300 for breakfast, 400 for lunch, 500 for dinner and that’s your lot. I need flexibility and to feel in control.

I am using My Fitness Pal for calorie counting. It’s old-fashioned but has never failed to help me lose a few pounds. Accountability and learning which foods contain the most/least calories really helps you to resist the incidental handfuls of this and that - they soon add up.

Start with small changes so it’s not overwhelming. Set realistic goals or you’ll feel defeated and throw the towel in.

Good luck!

So...the evening binging thing - I’m exactly the same.

Is it possible to make that your time where you get yourself to a gym?

You csnt obtain a bad diet... you dont need uk be on a diet but you need to make healthy choices...the odd treat is fine but not every day. Drink more water, cut back on alcohol and get moving more. Good luck!

I’ll also add that, at least in my case, carbs are the enemy. I’m going back 10 years here now but cutting out the carbs (not to an extreme) really made a difference. The first two weeks were hell on Earth - but after that I adjusted - but I stress that lifting weights was very much in the picture.

Yes, check out Corinne Crabtree's podcast. She teaches you how to lose weight without dieting, and keep it off (she lost 100lbs 7 years ago). Her way of eating is the only thing I have ever found that lets me eat chocolate on the daily and still lose weight. Chasing Cupcakes is also a great book to read.

@Breathmiller sounds like you’ve basically found intuitive eating for yourself, for a lot of people stopping making any foods ‘banned’ just makes you want them more. The freedom to know that you can have what you want makes a massive difference I think and while at first you might find yourself over eating those foods the novelty soon wears off and you get to a balance.

I know that everyone is so well meaning but the number of posters advocating this diet and that diet makes me despair. We’ve all become so caught up in diet culture while collectively getting heavier as a nation it’s obvious that diets just don’t work long term. I speak as someone who sustained a low BMI, size 8 body for over two years so I know that eating and exercising a certain way can work but if it’s not natural to you to restrict or constantly work to stay that size it doesn’t work long term.

I do think that generally being happy/busy makes a massive difference. I’ve always been at my slimmest during periods of loving my job, being busy but not stressed etc. The weight goes on when something isn’t good - a family member being ill or em..a global pandemic

I’d also consider paying for some training sessions with a reputable personal trainer, who works in the gym you work out at - this all sounds expensive but I’m only talking 6 sessions or so...having them still popping in and out after you’ve used the sessions you’ve paid for was quite a motivator.

Get an iPad, put a tv in your bedroom or load up some great books on your Kindle, then go to bed as early as possible. Clean your teeth, put on your pyjamas and chill. Just the distance between you and the kitchen, the change in location and the faff of having to brush your teeth again may be enough to stop the snacking in the evening. You could up the ante by slapping on a gunky face mask!

‘We’ve all become so caught up in diet culture while collectively getting heavier as a nation it’s obvious that diets just don’t work long term.‘

But of course - the duet industry would be fucked if the methods they peddle were a long-term solution

If you are going to the fridge mindlessly picking food just because you are bored in the evening, there might be bit... Brutal for some... Solution
When I was a teenager and was stuck home in the evening I used to go to the fridge all the time. Boredom. My parents bought fridge piggy. It oinked when fridge lit up😂 Nearly pissed myself from shock the first few times. But it did prove what they were saying. I used to argue that I don't dive in there that often. I did It was really cute piggy! Note that they weren't bullies. It was really just because I argued like hell taht I am not in there every half an hour. Piggy disappeared soon after.

Now, since the lockdown, I give myself evening about 100 cal snack at certain time so I have something there and it gives me peace of mind. And that's the only time I go to the fridge after dinner. Again. It might not work for you, but it may. It's the knowing there is something tasty you can eat soon, I guess.

Does anyone find the veg part hard.I like most veg,it's trying to do something with it.

Intermittent fasting 16:8. It needs to be a lifestyle change. I rarely eat before lunchtime, usually have 2 meals a day (sometimes just one) and hardly any snacks. My diet isn’t healthy but overall calories are not enough to put weight on. Also I exercise most days.

@rayoflightboy I’m vegetarian, almost vegan (cheese sneaks in there from time to time!) and cook from scratch all the time to make vegetables tasty. I do lots with things such as harissa, miso and spices.

I really enjoy what I eat but I’ve got to say that I retrained my tastebuds to get where I am now. There are lots of things that I genuinely find delicious now which I would have struggled with 5 years ago.

I do think that it’s difficult if you don’t have the time or inclination to cook though, I’m lucky that I find it relaxing and enjoyable, I know that not everyone does.

OP I noticed that you said that you’re vegetarian and I know what you mean about all the substitutes. I’ve been a strict veggie for 5 years and my husband completely cut out meat at the start of this year (he was mainly eating vegetarian meals anyway due to me not eating meat but would still cook himself the odd chicken curry or have a burger). He initially ate loads of the vegetarian substitutes, all the nuggets, burgers etc which a lot of people think are automatically healthy because it’s not meat but they aren’t necessarily. He found that he put on quite a bit of weight and wasn’t feeling full after eating, possibly because quite a lot of the substitute stuff is bland and tasteless. He now only has them occasionally and eats more of what I cook like risottos, meals made from pulses, lentils etc. He feels a lot better and his weight is back to normal.

For anyone who is up for Vegetarian cooking I recommend Anna Jones cookbooks, she also has quite a lot of recipes online. She was my ‘gateway’ into learning how to make tasty vegetarian meals and she has lots of sections showing you how ‘formulas’ to throw meals together.

I do also like Deliciously Ella cookbooks. I’m not a fan of quite a lot of the nonsense she espoused when she first came in the scene (all the gluten/dairy free stuff which isn’t necessary unless you are actually intolerant) but she seems to have educated herself over the years and the early nonsense seems to have shifted to just tasty, healthy food. Her latest cookbook is great, lots of 15 minute meals and the app has loads on it for 99p pet month.

You need to find what works for you. After years of Weight Watchers, Slimming World, Slim Fast, low fat, calorie counting etc I finally discovered that I have PCOS and low carb mixed with 16:8 works for me with basically no effort involved.

It’s a lifestyle change though, rather than a diet. I think that’s what helps long term.

To answer the original question, I don't think you can lose weight very easily by exercise alone, although some exercise will probably help.
The way that helped me, was to cut out all snacks. We never used to eat snacks all day, and I found it better to go at least 4 hours between meals.
Secondly, know that any diet will take around 2 weeks to start having any effect. So don't give up after one week.
The experts usually say that it's best to build any changes into your lifestyle, so it's not exercise for a few weeks, and go back to eating as before. Weight gain creeps up slowly, so it is very hard to lose weight fast. It is better to aim for small manageable loss.