AIBU to not know what to eat

[SecondSister33]

Really looking to shift some weight.. it seems there are mixed messages everywhere.. do slimming world they say and eat all the carbs you like … do joe wicks but he says bananas have too much sugar … watching a Netflix thing the other day and they are saying eating eggs every day is as bad as smoking cigarettes.. Jesus I am confused on where/ how to start. 🥴 share with me your weight loss success stories x

Ignore all that bullshit and work out how many calories you need to eat to sustainably lose weight. Then stick to eating this amount of calories while eating a nutritious diet of unprocessed whole foods. Lots of fruit, vegetables, eggs, meat, fish, dairy, rice/beans/quinoa/porridge, nuts, and anything else which isn’t highly processed.
Use a calorie counter to work out how many calories are in your meals.
You do not need to be cutting out entire food groups.

I just cut back on meat, it worked for me

Calories in calories out

Base it realistically on your weight, if you’re heavier it’ll need to be gradual. Small steps every day - cutting out simple carbs and sugar, eating more veggies and fruit for example.

Less trans fats, carbs, sugar is a great start.

As the other poster said it's simply fuel In and fuel out.. maybe get my fitness pal and track your normal food for a week or two without changing anything, see where the extra calories are and the start to reduce them.

Increasing movement, steps and exercise will accelerate the weight loss and help build muscle, which burns more fat.

Increase water intake.

The biggest downfall of most people is drastic diets that can't be sustained for your life, so find a place you feel comfortable with and eat foods you enjoy. Don't try to eat porridge for breakfast if you hate it.

Just find food you like and reduce the volumes or additional processed aspects, weight watchers is based on this approach out of all of the diets out there it's potentially to most sensible if you were looking for a group or a structure.

Yes you need to work out calories. Also little extras that help are things like not eating sauces or dips with meals anymore. No more sugar in tea/coffee, low fat milk etc

What is it that you love to eat? For me its bread. I really struggle to eat just a small portion if I have any. So I cut out bread completely and replaced it with whole grain ryvita (35 calories a slice) it fills me up and has loads of fiber with not too many calories.

Apart from that, I really focus on portion control. Do not snack, and cut out most of the alcohol

The most straightforward diet I ever did came from a book I borrowed from a friend. I think it might have been Anna Richardson??

Anyway, I have used it for years when I need to shift a bit of weight. I am 60 now so I tend to combine it with 16:8 fasting as my metabolism has slowed a bit (BMR 1480). It's great because it doesn't require any maths or keeping track - it is simply

No wheat
No dairy
No sugar (except natural sugar in fruit etc)
No alcohol
No carbs after 6pm

It literally means you just have to ask yourself whether food has any of these ingredients and if it doesn't you can eat it! Rice and corn based snacks, potatoes, beans, salad, fruit etc. I have found it really easy and it always works - I usually loose half a stone in 2-3 weeks

Different things work for different people. I have to do low carb to lose weight. Also, I have to exercise. It’s because I have insulin resistance. If you don’t have insulin resistance something different might work for you.

Be prepared to experiment to find something that works and isn’t unbearable for more than a couple of weeks… the first two weeks are likely to be awful whatever you try.

Calories in vs calories out, everything in moderation and no food should be classed as good or bad its all just fuel! The Fitness Chef's infographics on instagram or Facebook are great for changing/challenging the good/bad food mindset.

Fruit is not too high in sugar. Nobody has got fat from fruit. It's an important source of vitamins, minerals, and fibre. Just over a third of your diet should be vegetables and fruit, and the same for healthy starches like wholegrains (brown rice, wholemeal bread/pasta, etc) and potatoes (not in chip or crisp form!). For the rest you should choose lean proteins like beans/lentils and fish, and healthier fats like olive oil, avocados and nuts. Avoid processed foods and drink lots of water.

I did slimming world a few years ago and lost 4st. I since put one back on, but stabilized since then. The 3 st have stayed off for several years now.

Thank you everyone that is so helpful and it seems so obvious what you are all saying about calories in/out. I will try that with lots of water and exercise.
I tried slimming world before, weight fell off but also jumped back on when I stopped. I also struggled with all the cooking with young kids and working full time.
If any of you wonderful people could share easy to prep nutritious meals that would be great x

I haven’t been counting calories or deliberately “trying” because I’ve been pregnant, but I have definitely lost weight by avoiding carbs and sugar with gestational diabetes. And it’s been really easy, quick meals.

Breakfast might be……. 3 eggs scrambled, thumb sized piece of chorizo chopped up and thrown in, tomatoes

Lunch might be…… dry fried halloumi, cucumber and carrot batons and an apple, or burrata with batons to dip - so a cheese based veg thing.

Dinner might be a steak with green beans and broccoli, or chicken breast with roasted courgettes aubergine and tomatoes, or a Thai curry chicken/ beef with veg, full fat coconut milk and no rice so it’s more of a soupy curry. Then Apple/ satsuma/ berries handful.

Snacks are a handful of nuts here and there and cups of tea. If I REALLY want something sweet I will have a sugar free lollipop or a small glass of 0 sugar cola.

Surprisingly I don’t miss the sugar and the carbs at all and I definitely have more energy, skin is clearer, and people are telling me I look thinner despite the bump - I’m going to carry on eating this way post birth and see how it goes.

Good luck op

Cals in out worked fine for me when younger. But now find low carb, not keto, more effective. Still lose my measly half a pound a week on average 800 cals a day with carbs; as opposed to 1200 without white potatoes, any pasta, rice or bread.

CICO worked for me. It works for most people who are able to find a way to healthily sustain it. For some it is minimal carbs. For me it was drop the sweet stuff but still include moderate portions of complex carbs and plenty of fibre. And portion control, of course.

Where it goes wrong is where people can't keep it up because their diet is too restricted in variety or they haven't addressed their hunger triggers or are eating unsatisfying food like cuppa soups or snack bars rather than genuinely nutritious food. Something has to snap when it's a constant battle of will power vs appetite.

And you can not go back to eating the same way you did before. You need to teach yourself to eat like the slimmer person you want to be.

61 with Levothyroxine. Add menopause and retirement.
So got me out of baked potato, sandwich habit. Makes you think about what you are eating. Still ate root veg. Hate frylight and would rather use use my slice of bread cals on olive oil for flavour when cooking. Have high cholesterol, not sure if it really contributes to heart disease, but still ate cheese and skimmed milk for calcium. Also used nuts as snack and in cooking.
Also very confused by con flicking advice.
Phased in usual brown carbs after about 3 months. Lost a stone after about 5.

Threw everything at it. Intermittent fasting suites me. Plus high protein breakfast.

Far less hungry. The cutting to 800, conventional plans with more carbs was painful. And unsustainable. A slice of toast/cereal for breakfast puts me on a feeding frenzy. A poached egg, low fat sausage, tomatoes fine.

Smoked mackerel also good choice plus adding mushrooms or reduced sugar baked beans.

Calories in Calories out. Use a good reliable counter like this one. I have found this to be the most reliable and accurate one. Protein is key.

www.jamessmithacademy.com/macro-calculator/

I've successfully lost weight by doing several diets previously, but once I hit my goal and fall into my old ways of eating I eventually put weight back on.

So because of that, it really is a life style change. The diet (lifestyle) that I've found that works for me the best is Keto. High fat, moderate to high protein and very low carb. Carbs are why you have cravings, and once you eliminate them and after a few days you don't have cravings anymore. I love this way of eating now and don't plan on ever going back to my old ways. But it is not a diet / lifestyle you can just have a cheat day on. It works because you've trained your body to burn fat. Not carbs. The moment you eat some pasta, bread, etc you will kick yourself out of Ketosis and start to put weight back on unless you go right back to keto. But I lost 40lbs on it by doing zero exercise at all (not saying that this is a good thing - but it was quickly and easy).

Do some research. Follow people on Instagram to see what they're eating and go from there.

Apparently taking probiotics can double weight loss during dieting - seen it referenced a few times when I was looking into probiotics for different reasons. Worth a shot?

Here is a link: www.healthline.com/nutrition/probiotics-and-weight-loss

I am convinced this is still good advice.

Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.