To want to lose weight WITHOUT any fads or 'diets'

[Abneyandteal19]

So I had 3 kids in less than 5 years and my body has suffered. Put on weight size 14-
16 (lockdown hasn't helped) when I used to be 10/12. 5ft 5 and 78kg

I would like to be a comfortable size 12 as I feel this suits my shape.

However we have no money for groups, PT, fancy food/shakes whatever is the latest thing! Also really don't think I'd stick to point counting etc as by the end of the day I'm shattered! I really don't want to keep making excuses for why I can't do this but I'm struggling to get motivated on sleep deprivation and never a minute to myself!

Can you please give me your tips for making the whole - eat less move more actually work on a day to day basis??

Specifically struggle with finding time to make healthy food for myself especially breakfast which is chaos with 3 under 5!

Also struggling with my tummy pouch and how to shift it. Any exercise ideas?

I really want to do this- had a moment of looking back on a photo of me and the kids last week thinking it would be nice and I was gutted at how big I looked

So AIBU To want to lose weight/get fit without any fancy stuff?!

Intermittent fasting. Easiest thing ever. It's either eat or don't eat.

No fees, no calorie counting, no points.

High protein, low carb. 16/8 diet, fast 16 hours, eat for 8

Do you eat differently now than you did before you put weight on? If you were happy with your weight before could you go back to what you used to eat?
Sounds simplistic but I don't believe weight gain is inevitable with age or childbirth, it's changing your eating habits that does it.
Exercise makes some difference but it's mostly down to what and how much you eat.

YANBU and I'm watching with interest .

No not at all. Have you come across Shazroo Izadi? Her instagram is fab and her book the last diet is anything but a diet book it’s all about changing your mindset and treating yourself more kindly. I’ve been a yo yo dieter and am finally loosing weight without dieting. I’m just treating my body better and choosing nutritious food and still eating chocolate and ice cream, just less of it.

Get yourself a small dinner plate, or use a salad plate, and only use that at mealtimes. Eat half of the portions you normally would and eat as slowly as possible. Don't drink anything other than water or unsweetened tea and no unhealthy snacks. Make sure you drink a LOT of water. It's a really easy way to cut calories without having to actively count them.

I’ve lost nearly 4 stone in lockdown. Admittedly I was nearly 21 stone to start with. I just started eating healthier. Lots of seasonal fruit and veg. We didn’t buy snacks as there was a limit on tesco delivery. When I made cakes for the family I made ones I didn’t like. I added my fitness pal to my phone and logged what I ate. I did a you tube yoga video everyday and I walked the dog. I’m hoping to keep it up next week when I’m back at work.

I also added lots and lots of self care. Meditation, body brushing, painting nails, and so on. The more I look after my body and mind the more I want to feed it with healthy foods. I’m not overly bothered about calories at the moment. I was so overweight that eating healthy and exercising was going to make me lose weight naturally anyway. I’m all about nourishment and having the healthiest body I can.

If you don't want to count calories, try to put third less on your plate than you would normally do.

I pre made egg and veg muffins for a freezer and just took them out night before when I was supposed to have busy morning.

I also pre make ready meals for a freezer. You can either batch cook or cook extra 1 or two portions when you are making something healthy. I have it in there all as a proper ready meal so chilli already has rice, so does curry, chicken veg and mash etc.

It helps to eat better even when busy.

Move more. I found 15 min HIIT sessions are perfect for me because it is very short time so I have no excuse

My fitness pal is great. Very easy.
Nothing faddy- just tracking.

7 small meals a day, high protein, nothing processed, eat breakfast the moment you get up, buy a skipping rope, lots of tutorials on YouTube to get started, it’s dull exercise but easy to fit in 20 minutes on the patio at any time

Work out your basal metabolic rate (calories you need each day to function) and eat less than that.

I agree with the fitness pal. It really helped me with portion control. When I now look how I used to eat, no wonder I am fat🙄

I'm losing by skipping breakfast and sticking to around 1200 cals
1200 cals looks like (not as an example of the best diet but how little it is!)

Lunch - 75g wafer thin chicken and salad in a sandwich with extra light mayo, bag of snack a jacks, Milky Way

Tea - standard meal but I watch portion size, usually have Gousto boxes. Yoghurt or sugar free jelly after or some berries

Snack - Apple and tiny bit of peanut butter, babybel light

I got weighed recently and found out I was at the higher end of a healthy BMI, 23.5

Never been this big before and to be honest got weighed expecting to be more, I’m decidedly bigger after having a child than I was before

I also don’t want fad diets and once weighed as little as 7 stone so need to be careful I don’t over restrict, I find it an easy downhill slide into loosing too much.

Maybe we can do a little habit change thread?

I’m going for developing healthy habits as opposed to dieting

My first is to ensure I am drinking two litres of water a day (I know I eat less between meals if I am hydrated)

My second new habit is to increase the dog walking to three times a day (two giant breed dogs that find an hour walk easy peasy)

My third is to go to bed earlier, I’m guilty of staying up when the baby is asleep to get some me time but that normally translates to eating cake and chocolate

For me: Couch 25K plus Intermittent Fasting - 1.5stone lost since May and couple of dress sizes. There's a good fb group called Intermittent Fasting for Optimal Health uk with lots of advice on how to get started.

Eat less and move more, its not a fad and there's no counting points etc.

Maybe start trying to exercise several times a week, even just 25 mins of a HIIT class which can be found on YouTube would be great and try and be sensible with what you eat, maybe use my Fitness Pal to track calories?

Before lockdown I was already putting on some weight and then with a couple of weeks of not caring what I ate at all, I found myself at 10st 8lb. I decided to start running 5k (which I never had done before, getting up at 6am before the kids wake up) and making sure I am careful with what I eat (smaller portions, courgettes instead of spaghetti with bolognese etc, actually measuring things out as it's so easy to eat more than what is classed as a 'portion'...) and I've now lost just over 1 stone.

I've not once Googled specific diets but just made sure I am active and eating right (most of the time!)

I am hoping this will be sustainable moving forward but I feel happy with the weight I've lost and how I am doing it, it feels more normal than trying to follow a strict type of diet. Hope this helps!!!

Two things have made a massive difference to me (like you I was a big 14 and am comfortable at a 12). I started walking but making sure I include uphill, I now do between 5 and 10 miles three times a week. I also make sure that I eat “decent” five days a week and what I want or fancy on the other two. Once my weight started coming off I found the food much easier to control. Good luck OP, it’s very do-able with small changes.

1. No snacks
2. Don't have breakfast, so you don't eat between dinner one evening and lunch the next day. Cup of tea or coffee is fine.
3. No processed crap
4. Plenty of water
5. Reduce portion size just a bit
6. If you can, ease off the carbs, so bread, pasta, potatoes, rice. Eat meat, fish, eggs, greens, salad, cheese, nuts.
7. Don't worry too much about exercise but for abs / tummy pouch etc try the app Adrian James 6 pack ab workout, 5 mins per day and it really makes a difference. Starts at beginner level and you will notice that it gets easier quickly

Is your snacking out of control? Do you eat 3 meals a day? Could you cut snacking to start with? Use my fitness pal and do you have any time to do a you tube workout? Walking is good. I am guessing with 3 small ones you do a fair amount of steps per day?

I also used MyFitnessPal and set my calories at about 1400 a day. You can scan in barcodes of your food and set up regular meals to save the time it takes to record your food as you go along.

There is a lot of evidence to suggest that simply recording what you eat means you eat less overall.

I lost 4.5 stone before in order to get to a better weight for fertility treatment. It took time though, about 2 years as I had times where I plateaued.

Had my little girl 6 weeks ago so now need to get back to it and shift my baby weight!
I also used a Fitbit and made sure I did 10k steps everyday but I was doing quite a bit of netball, running and heavy gardening alongside that. As others have said it's mainly about what you eat but exercise helps a bit and makes you feel more motivated I think.
Don't be hard on yourself if you have a "bad day" but try not to let it become a bad week, just accept the bad day and start again the next meal or day.
Good luck with whatever you try.

The thing that works best for me is the one meal a day strategy, which basically amounts to fasting. I don't eat breakfast or lunch, so my first meal of the day is at 8pm, in which i eat whatever i fancy! Tonight's feast was half a side of salmon, new potatoes and a huge blue cheese/ apple/ leafy salad topped with lashings of creamy dressing. I can't stand calorie counting or diet foods, so this way allows me to eat highly caloric yummy foods but within moderation. I'm sure I'll be told that this is very unhealthy but it's something I've practiced for years and it works for me. I just don't get hungry during the day at all and I really savour my evening meal.

Have a look at rebelfit on Facebook.

He is completely against the diet industry and believes that dieting causes weight gain over time.

He is very sweary but I truly believe in the message he is sending and it worked for me. Weight loss happened when I stopped restricting myself and focussed on improving other aspects of my life. Definitely worth a look!x

I was you in January.
I cut out breakfast (never liked it anyway, I usually ate a brownie or a few or something) and had a normal lunch and normal tea but no snacks. Now I have snacks again but smaller food portions since my appetite has adjusted. I don’t drink alcohol anyway. I don’t calorie count or anything but I weigh daily to keep myself accountable. Sometimes I have a bad day and it doesn’t show on the scales so it’s easier to move on 😁 ive lost two stone. I could do with losing another half but I’m also happy where I am. I’ll see if I get another motivation burst 😁
I think my weight gain was mostly custard creams.. they’re still my weakness so I never have them in!

I lost 4 stone. This is what I did -
Smaller plate
Eat at least 5 of fruit and veg a day (mostly vegetables). If money is very tight try frozen veg and just cheap stuff like carrots.
Measure/weigh things that are very high calorie (eg cheese, cooking oil, pasta, rice) and only eat the portion size that is recommended on the packet.
Either stop drinking alcohol, or reduce drastically.
Limit treats (eg chocolate, crisps, etc) to one small bar or pack a day. I find it best not to have multipacks in the house at all.
Do as much exercise as possible. That means moving around and doing general activity as well as actual exercise.
For workouts, have a look on youtube, there's plenty of abdominal workouts there . I would start off with beginner level and work your way up.

Have you thought about Paul McKenna?