To think “healthy eating” isn’t the best way for lose weight?!

[dontchasewaterfalls]

I did Slimming World for a number of years and I managed to lose 3 stone and keep it off.

Since having my baby at the start of the year, I’ve gained 2 stone.
Since Slimming World classes were shut, and I wanted to try something different, I decided to just try and eat healthily rather than actually following the Slimming World plan.

I’ve been doing this a few months now and I’ve only lost 5lb, which I could easily lose in a week following Slimming World!!

So what exactly am I doing wrong??

Here’s what I’ve eaten today -

Breakfast
Two weetabix, topped with a handful of raspberries and a small banana. (Semi skimmed milk)
Cup of tea.

Lunch
Tuna (1tin made with light mayo) 80g Wholemeal pasta(dried weight) lettuce, tomato, pickled beetroot. Light Mayo.

Dinner
Fajitas.
Chicken breast, peppers, onions, mushrooms (dry fried) 2 x small wholemeal wraps.
Handful grated cheese.

Snacks
Pomegranate seeds
Large orange
Chocolate fudge Alpen light cereal bar

That’s a typical day for me. I do occasionally have some chocolate or a pack of crisps.

Once a week, usually on a Saturday night, we will have a takeaway. Hubby and I will share a pizza and chips, or I will get chicken tikka pieces in a pitta with salad.

I don’t drink any alcohol. I have at most 3 cups of tea a day and the rest of the time I drink water.

I don’t do any organised exercise, but I do go for a walk every day which is usually 45-60 minutes.

I’m not counting any calories, just trying to eat sensibly. But it’s not working well.

What do you think I’m doing wrong?
Should I just go back to Slimming World?

@dontchasewaterfalls for me personally I would have spinach with the pasta or less pasta and a side of veg/salad. Or loads of veg added in the sauce but it's whatever you prefer

@curlyLJ

Cut yourself some slack and stop worrying about weight for a while.

Stop and think about it for a minute, you've just had a baby. It takes 9 months for your baby to grow and your body has to make some seriously major changes (additional fat stores) to nourish & grow new life. That's not going to change back over night. For most people it takes 9-12 months.
Now you're breastfeeding so you need to be well nourished to provide food for your baby. Calorie counting/restricting should not be part of your plan at the moment despite everybody telling you to cut carbs, do this do that.

You need to give yourself time. Eat healthily, good fats, proteins, complex carbs (not white bread etc) and lots of veg & fruit. Don't do Slimming World or anything similar, it will mess with your metabolism. Trust your body. Honestly, nobody wants to count calories forever!

Once your baby is one, up the exercise and cut back a bit maybe. The weight will fall away if you don't overly restrict now.
I follow Rebelfit on Facebook and he talks a lot of sense on this issue.

@curlyLJ

I’ve been a bit of a pig in lockdown and since the start of my pregnancy I’ve gained two stone. It’s taken my BMI over 30 so I’m desperate to get it back down again.

I’ve realised that after years of following slimming world I actually have no idea how to eat ‘normally’.

TDEE is total daily energy expenditure. It's how many calories a day you use.
Say yours is 2000 , you need to reduce it by 500 a day to lose weight.
There are calculators online.
Team RH Fitness on Facebook have some good videos explaining it.

I agree, OP, if I rely on "healthy eating" I do eat healthily in terms of a balanced diet but far too much.

The only thing that works with me is being very moderate with starchy carbs, alcohol and dairy, and I hardly have anything sweet and sugary at all. I have to be really careful with portions, measuring and weighing things every now and then to check as I can't rely on "feeling full" or I will just overeat. Most meals are framed around vegetables and lean protein - zero point foods on Blue WW, and I watch the portions of those aren't huge either. And I log everything and eat about 25 points a day, except on a Friday when I have a (sensible) takeaway and a couple of drinks.

There are calculators online.

There are, but not many of them will include breastfeeding as an energy-using activity so make sure you're cautious of this!

A good deficit for slow steady weight loss without feeling hungry would be 10-15%.

Don't Drastically cut your calories or you'll just fall off the wagon and make yourself ill.

I also don't do any vigorous exercise as I actually find it counter productive to weight loss. It just seems to make me overeat and sends my hormones all over the place. Long gone are the days in my early 20s when I could just up the exercise and lose weight. I just walk the dog and try and do as much walking as I can, and do one or two longer dog walks at the weekend. I do yoga 2/3 times a week as well.

At some point I will incorporate running and/or HIIT as I quite enjoy it, but the plan is working at the moment and if it ain't broke...

I'm not sure what you mean. SW isn't abnormal food.
I think the "eat as much as you want" is getting wilfully misunderstood!

In your case, I would say to skip the takeaway for 4 weeks and see if it makes a difference.
I used to have a takeaway once a week when meeting family. When lockdown happened, we didn't get together and didn't get a takeaway and it made a massive difference. I'll be honest and say that I wouldn't have given it up voluntarily though. I suggest, if you do it for a specific number of weeks only, then at least you'll know if it's that (it really is for me- but I will still happily go back to it when our weekly meetings resume).

You know what I'd do? I'd cut the evening snack. I find no eating after 7pm makes me feel much better. I now always have 12 hours "fasting" and I'm slowly dropping weight (I don't really need to lose much weight, I'm fasting for the health benefits).

The rest of your diet sounds pretty healthy, especially as you are breastfeeding.

If slimming world works for you, why not just do that?

And exercise more

What your eating today sound sounds very much like the sort of food I have, basically pasta, rice, bread once a day. I have only started to have to do this to maintain weight since I went through the menopause. The difference with me is I rarely eat biscuits, cake , chocolate that is nothing to do with weight I just have the opposite of a sweet tooth and my Easter eggs went uneaten sometimes as a child. I do however love crisps.

@Hardbackwriter

I'm a bit worried that some of the advice OP is getting here isn't taking full account of the fact that she's breastfeeding (and an under-one, since her baby was born 'at the start of the year'). It's really important that she doesn't have too large a calorie deficit and that she's eating a diet that gives her all her essential nutrients (which can be hard if it's too low calorie) - more important, I'd say, than swift weight loss at this exact point in her life.

Agree with this.

OP you do need to be careful of your calorie intake to keep up supply.

I'm ebf and according to this TDEE calculator for breastfeeding mums I need 1800 calories to safely lose weight - www.thelactationnutritionist.com/post/how-many-calories-does-breastfeeding-burn-with-calorie-calculator

This is my second baby and with my first I found my body 'clings' to weight while I'm feeding and I don't get anything like my normal body back until I stop.

So all that to say - go easy on yourself!

I would suggest doing regular weights/resistance exercise. Building muscle really helps to burn calories. Go to Bodypump or similar classes, or get some weights for home and follow routines on Youtube. I always feel so much better when I do weights, feel more toned.
Also perhaps more intense cardio, eg Zumba (classes, or also on Youtube) or cycling (eg a stationary bike at home?)

Other thoughts: perhaps more protein (eg nuts, beans); more veg (raw veg make me bloat like crazy, I need to cook them); replace mayo with Greek yogurt (dairy or vegan). Are your walks brisk, can you speed them up to get more benefit?
I eat loads of carbs and it's never been a problem for me, but I know that a lot of people restrict these.
Good luck OP - I think that 2020 has been a challenge for a lot of people, me included!

You could eat 5 Mars bars a day and lose weight if that's all you ate.

Eating healthy doesn't equate to weight loss, it's just healthier, and better for you.

The only thing wrong with your menu, if you compare it to slimming world, is your carbs are quite high. 2 wraps would blow your syns for the day. Add your orange juice and alpen bar and you're way over.

It's all about calories I'm afraid

That's exactly it @dontchasewaterfalls - Slimming World and all the major diets take away people's ability to see the wood for the trees. All the point / calorie counting, syns etc just cause disordered eating. You end up not being able to make your own choices around food thinking foods are either 'good' or 'bad' (they're not!)

I get you want to get your BMI down, but there are better ways to do it for the long term. Slowly but surely.
Statistics show that dieting makes you more likely to be heavier in the long term as they mess with your metabolism and push your set point weight up (the weight your body wants to get back to) the more you try.
Please check out Rebelfit - you don't regret it.

I remember my trainer talking about diet vs exercise and he said to lose weight it was 80% about what you did in the kitchen and 20% what you did at the gym. You can't lose weight by exercise alone

@dontchasewaterfalls I would have it with the pasta. That’s still 2 lots of carbs a day x

slimming world is your problem
inuitive eating volume 4 book,give it a try

I think other posters have covered it well; I completely agree that calorie counting is the only way. I aim for 1200-1500 a day. I’ve lost just under 2 stone in about 8 months.

Typically, I have a bagel thin for breakfast, eggs, turkey bacon and a small slice of toast for lunch, and something like chicken curry with loads of veg for dinner. I might have a small naan with it, but sometimes I don’t. I’ve become a lot more relaxed about food generally...at the beginning I had to consciously ask myself if I needed that cake when we went for coffee etc...and now it’s just second nature to not want it.

"Calories are the ONLY thing which count when it comes to losing weight."

Complete bunkum. It's about blood sugar levels. Some foods raise your blood sugar (e.g. carbs) which in turn increases insulin resistance if you eat them too often. Other foods which might be high in calories do not raise your blood sugar and won't cause insulin spikes or weight gain.

Look up the blood sugar diet (michael mosley) as well as Dr Jason Fung, the obesity code.

Both prove time and time again it's not about calorie restriction (although this can work in the short term it doesn't work in the long term) but about changing what foods you eat and when.

Oh I also do walking for exercise. Pretty fast paced, and aiming to do a minimum of 7km each time.

If only it were just about changing what I eat and when. It's definitely how much which is calorie intake.

Sorry I realise I should have better worded it. Calories and consumption are a factor for sure @graciebobcat, but 1000 calories of carbs is not the same as 1000 calories of protein or fat, for example. They both affect blood sugar in different ways and thus insulin spikes, and thus weight gain.

Haven't read the whole thread, but every meal included something 'unhealthy' (weetabix, mayo, cheese, cereal bar). If that is a typical day then you are facing a headwind in your efforts to lose weight. But a couple of changes there should not be difficult. Just try to cut out the processed foods in particular