To ask how you lost weight AND kept it off?

[PaddleBoardingMomma]

Just that really! I can lose weight for a while and then seem to plateau and inevitably fall off the wagon. Or TOTM comes around and I can't seem to stay on plan.

I'm beginning to wonder if I am missing a trick somewhere, what am I getting wrong? When did it finally "click" for you and you got on with actually losing the weight?

Help a woman out, Mumsnet!

(As not to drip feed, I'm early 30s, no particular dietary requirements, gym 2-3 times a week mainly swimming and light resistance training, 5'5 and weigh about 80kg, would like to be closer to 60kg-ish... just in case any of that stuff helps get answers 🤣)

18 months ago - I stopped drinking and gave up refined sugar. I was mindful of portion sizes but not to the point of feeling particularly hungry. After a year or so I introduced a bar of chocolate or a cake on a weekend day. I've lost 3 stone.

Personally, it's a lifestyle change! Continually making conscious choices / changes to my "normal" (but disordered!) habits.

I stopped thinking about it being a "diet" because that made it feel limiting, temporary and easy to cheat on. I had to think of it as a lifestyle change and it's really helped! So I no longer get fizzy drinks with meals out (a lifestyle swap of two or three fizzy sugary drinks for iced water), I get medium takeaway coffees (the large I bought as I perceived as great value!) and I make sure if I buy snacks in the weekly shop I always get a healthier alternative - so I can figure out if I'm just hungry, or really want something sweet.

It's definitely not the easiest - a healthy relationship with food is tough! For me personally it was making little changes (like fizzy drinks / large sugary coffees) that actually over the week add lots of excess calories that I wasn't even realising, this has kept me at a basic calorie intake that just about matches my exercise so I'm maintaining now!

@Hmmmwhatnametochoose

18 months ago - I stopped drinking and gave up refined sugar. I was mindful of portion sizes but not to the point of feeling particularly hungry. After a year or so I introduced a bar of chocolate or a cake on a weekend day. I've lost 3 stone.

That's amazing well done!!!! I want to lose around the same so this is great to hear x

@MrzClaus

Personally, it's a lifestyle change! Continually making conscious choices / changes to my "normal" (but disordered!) habits.

I stopped thinking about it being a "diet" because that made it feel limiting, temporary and easy to cheat on. I had to think of it as a lifestyle change and it's really helped! So I no longer get fizzy drinks with meals out (a lifestyle swap of two or three fizzy sugary drinks for iced water), I get medium takeaway coffees (the large I bought as I perceived as great value!) and I make sure if I buy snacks in the weekly shop I always get a healthier alternative - so I can figure out if I'm just hungry, or really want something sweet.

It's definitely not the easiest - a healthy relationship with food is tough! For me personally it was making little changes (like fizzy drinks / large sugary coffees) that actually over the week add lots of excess calories that I wasn't even realising, this has kept me at a basic calorie intake that just about matches my exercise so I'm maintaining now!

Thanks so much for the reply!

I'm going to make a note of these tips, the coffee one is a great place to start... if I'm honest I probably do have a Starbucks addiction 🙊

The mindset of it being a lifestyle change not a diet struck a chord, I think it need to change my mentality x

Intermittent fasting and daily turbo session. Lost 2 stone in late 2019 doing this and kept it off. Involves lifestyle change this is my normal now.

I stopped eating sugary crap and tracked my intake with my fitness pal when I was being strict. I've kept it off by not going back to old bad habits.

I cut out gluten because of my IBS - Im not that keen on the substitutes so just find ur easier to cut out all bread, cakes, biscuits, pasta and anything with batter/breadcrumbs I lost 2 stone due to this
Then I joined SW and lost another 3 stone - I’ve put a bit back on due to lockdown comfort eating and drinking but will be back on it in January
If I do a general mixture of everything in moderation low carb, low sugar, low fat and cook from scratch I can maintain my weight easily
To lose I have to up exercise and massively reduce alcohol and other treats eg chocolate and milky coffee

Doing HIT YouTube videos 5 days a week for half an hour each day

@SylviasMotherSaid

Doing HIT YouTube videos 5 days a week for half an hour each day

Ooh do you have any vids that are your favourites you could share?

@JaceLancs

I cut out gluten because of my IBS - Im not that keen on the substitutes so just find ur easier to cut out all bread, cakes, biscuits, pasta and anything with batter/breadcrumbs I lost 2 stone due to this Then I joined SW and lost another 3 stone - I’ve put a bit back on due to lockdown comfort eating and drinking but will be back on it in January If I do a general mixture of everything in moderation low carb, low sugar, low fat and cook from scratch I can maintain my weight easily To lose I have to up exercise and massively reduce alcohol and other treats eg chocolate and milky coffee

Well done on such a big loss that's amazing! X

I eat porridge every morning with fresh fruit, chia and a variety of seeds or nuts.I rarely eat lunch except for the occasional rice cake, slice of granary bread or piece of fruit. I eat a good dinner around 6.30 but usually don't eat after this.
I'm vegan and this has worked quite well for me, having lost about 16lbs in the last 5 months. I realise my lunches were very bread based and high in calories.

I lost 5 stone (started November 2019 till April 2021). Currently pregnant but managed to keep majority off.

Mine was a complete diet overhaul, very lean diet(Keto style diet), no alcohol, processed foods, processed sugars etc. added in HIIT and CrossFit workouts 6 days a week for an hour at a time. Gave myself a day off from exercise once a week and upped protein intake to keep full and aid muscle recovery. Think I initially had an intake of around 1000 calories a day max, tracked on my fitness pal.

I used to be super fit and not a stranger to these types of diets. It was hard but I would plan out a meal plan for the week and prep in advance. Pre pregnancy I was allowing myself a treat night once a week (alcohol, takeaway) but kept up with my exercise. As I say I've kept most of the weight off, only weight I've put on is a stone, but I think that can be forgiven given that I'm 9 months pregnant.

Following for tips. I'm going to swap large lattes for small cappuccinos and no cake!

Same height as you. Was about 65kg in September. Never dieted before as I tend to eat fairly healthy and I'm quite active. However I wanted to be nearer to 60kg. Did fast 800 and then once lost weight I've been doing 5:2. So far it's been the only thing to help me lose weight and keep it off. Go over to the weight loss boards. Loads of advice there.

I lose weight by eating less when I need to. Yoyoing is normal I believe. Weighing yourself daily is important to avoid putting on again.

Once I'd reached a healthy weight that I was happy with, I've maintained it for many years...
After I brush my teeth in the morning I weigh myself. It's just become part of my usual daily routine. If I see I've put on a pound, I just cut down a bit for a day or two - nothing drastic at all, until I'm back to my target weight.

In addition to this, I try to consciously cut down a little on calorie intake twice a year - during the season of Advent and Lent (traditionally, both a time of fasting). So, I lose a couple of pounds before Christmas and Easter, meaning I can enjoy these times without veering off course.

I'm so used to this daily and seasonal routine now, I barely need to think about it.

I lost 15kg last year (2020).
Initially I did a combo of 16:8 and calorie counting using my fitness pal. I was also doing 3 HIIT workouts per week.
Once I got down to my target weight I stopped calorie counting but kept up the 16:8 and workouts.
My eating habits have changed completely - as has my attitude to food. I no longer get joy from overeating, and I try to avoid becoming overfill because I hate the feeling. I prefer to eat fruit and veg, and get heartburn if I eat too many carbs in a sitting. I think my body has just changed which makes it so much easier to keep it off.
I started during lockdown 1 and the calorie counting gave me an interest and a goal which helped me through tbh.
I stopped calorie counting over a year ago and not regained.

Gastric sleeve. 60lbs down

The boring way.

It takes a degree of willpower and self control. I can't do whatever I like.

Agree with the posts about cutting out refined sugar - chocolate really. As Pointless presenter David Osman recently said, if you're addicted to crap like this, you can't have it in the house and it just gets eaten, like an alcoholic having drink in the house.

I would add that you can lose a few pounds by cutting out rubbish, drinking green tea with jasmine during the day, that sort of thing, plus interval training on the running machine - one min fast, one min jogging - for say 20 mins. But there's a point when you hit a plateau and no more weight comes off. I understand the fat cells have to recalibrate and there will be a fat person looking to get out of your thin person until they do. People who lose weight drastically still have inefficient fat cells that are just waiting for their chance. It may take a year of health eating for them to suddenly realise, oh, we don't need so much food now! Then the next lot of weight suddenly comes off quick. But until then, yep, any bit of rubbish and you'll put the weight right back on.

Which, to clarify, is why those who have massive weight loss put it back on - their fat cells haven't changed, they are still inefficient for the while and are just biding their time until they can put weight back on.

I think if you love food you'll always struggle.
I've always been slim but I have very little interest in food - I have a different thread going as am making myself ill surviving on a cheese butty and handful of crisps every day.
I eat absolute shit but quite little, which does make me believe in 'calories in v calories out'

I don't think that's true - I love food. But I've retrained my body so that it now enjoys food in smaller quantities. Old me loved food and would eat 3 scones at a sitting, while now me eats 1 and gets the same joy that I used to get from 3.

I do think you need quite a long period of the willpower and sticking quite strictly to healthy eating to reset your body and mind though.

Enjoying food doesn't have to equal being a glutton.

At 30, I weighed 93kg standing at 1.72cm. I hated it and constantly hid my body in baggy clothing. I had polycystic ovaries, just diagnosed then, and it caused insulin resistance. I have other medical conditions such as hypothyroidism as well. I wanted children so losing weight was part of that. At 50, I weigh 66kg and have done so for the past 15-18 years. The solution was a low carb diet for the first year...no rice, no spuds, no cereals, no bread...and then slowly allowed back into my meals. I don't 'diet' and I am a sloth so exercise is being walked by the dogs, rather than me walking them. I rarely eat over 1500 calories per day as I stop when I feel full, but if I want a splurge then I shall. I only weigh twice per year and don't have scales at home. You can get obsessed with pound counting. My advice is not to lose weight quickly, and to learn to stop eating when you feel full. Never snack while on the run to the shops, work or whatever. Two or three meals a day is best in my experience. Sit down with a plate of food as it gives you a better view of what you are eating, and don't eat in front of a device...tv, laptop etc. Whenever I go for medical checkups for metabolic issues, doctors always comment in disbelief on how I am slim given my medical history. I don't feel that way, just average. Be kind to yourself. I nearly died last year and have been left with terrible injuries from an accident and surgical error. Life is short and your actual weight should not be the sole focus. By all means think about being healthy, but also factor in well-being and look at your relationship with your self, food and other people in your life. I reckon that is the best way to have a long term positive outcome.

Mind shift - rationalise eating snacks, eg, chocolate, biscuits, fruit even, was the same as smoking a cigarette. Don’t need them to survive and other people can manage their emotions with using a cigarette as a crutch, so can I. Renamed them snackerettes. So able to shift my mindset. I’m a social snackeretter now . Maintaining weight loss as a consequence. Didn’t have much to lose but was a Herculean effort all the same.