To ask what helped you lose weight and keep it off in the long term

[Sustainablelossofweight]

I have a fair bit of weight to lose, at least 4 stone or so.

I have tried and failed to get into new eating and fitness routines more times than I can count and it has become a cycle of doom which has gone on for far too long.

I know I am an emotional eater and also that my portions are too big so these are the things I need to work on however my motivation for losing weight now is that my weight keeps creeping up and I'm worried about the future, want to stay fit and healthy for my kids / husband etc.

If you have lost a lot of weight before and kept it off, can I ask how you have done this and what you do now to stay on track? Thanks in advance! x

Also agree with @Groovychick91 . Weighing yourself is really important to keep a check on things

I have only stopped doing it recently because I have been doing a lot of weight lifting and put on a lot of muscle and even though I know that, the fact I have put on 10lbs was depressing me. I now take measurements instead

For those of you who are successfully losing or maintaining weight loss do you find snacking helps prevent overeating or do you use willpower to wait until next meal.

Im trying to stick to 3 healthy meals a day but find at times Im ravenous in between meals and then cave in for the sugary treats.

Im obviously eating more calories if Im having say a banana between lunch and dinner or a few nuts to keep me going till lunch if Ive had a very early breakfast. Is this the way to go to prevent the binges or am I just clocking up more calories.

Becoming intolerant to gluten. Most gluten full versions of bread, pizza, cakes are dry and not worth eating.

@Zoraflora I make sure that I am prepared with healthy snacks. I build them in to my daily meal plan so that the calories are accounted for as opposed to being a "snack = failure of willpower" situation, which doesn't help anyone. I am not seeing any drawbacks of having a banana as a snack. A chocolate bar in between each meal is a different story but a banana I am not seeing a problem with. For example today I have 3 satsumas planned for between breakfast and lunch and a portion of blueberries for between lunch and dinner. It works for me.

Find a physical activity that you absolutely love. A type of dance, trampolining, gymnastics, ice-skating, roller skating, swimming, hula hooping, surfing, zip lining, pole dancing, tennis, rowing, climbing etc. Something that deep down you've always had a bit of a fantasy about doing. Something you did as a child or would have done as a child if it was an option. And start doing that. Take a class, join a group locally and/or online. And you will be getting exercise without the feeling that you are doing a chore. Instead your activity becomes your mental reward. You both get exercise all the time and have less need for comfort food because your activity is where you get your dopamine.

That in itself should keep you at a good maintenance. But it's very possible that as time goes on, you find yourself wanting to protect your ability to keep doing your new hobby. So you start other forms of exercise in order to increase your strength and flexibility so that you are capable for decades. Your whole thought process gradually changes as you take such joy from your new physical abilities that being fit and healthy for as long as possible becomes a major priority. And you naturally develop a diet and lifestyle to aid that.

OP, I totally know how you feel with being an emotional eater!

I managed to lose just under 3 stone a few years ago, and I've kept it off so far.

The only thing that worked for me was calorie counting! I had a weird infection (still being looked into) which affects my mobility, so doing any form of exercise (even walking for too long) hurt, so I had to really look at what I was eating so I didn't put on anymore weight. That was when I found My Fitness Pal and found a few foodie channels on IG which helped massively as they showed you ways to have your favourite meals, just calorie controlled. Pinch of Nom is great for that too.

I didn't cut a single thing out - I just made sure to track everything. When you see what it all adds up to, it makes you think twice eventually. I would find lower calorie alternatives (so if I wanted bread, I'd find the 50 cal slice bread or the thin bagels) - so I wasn't cutting anything out. I limited takeaways to once a month (although it was during COVID so slightly easier as a lot of our socialising is around food) but I would have a monster one - if I wanted Indian, Chinese and a kebab - so be it haha - but it was just once a month and I didn't want to limit myself! I also went for a walk everyday (about an hour), but I couldn't do anymore exercise than that.

Another trick that helped with binge eating / emotional eating was that I put sweets / chocs / crisps in a box and labelled the calorie amount on it. So if I was in that sort of mood, I could pick up one of these boxes that say, had 300 cal worth of snacks, I'd eat the whole box. A) it satisfied that binge eating side of me because I finished the whole thing and B) I also knew it was a controlled binge!

I still haven't cracked the emotional eating side - I still reach for the chocolate bar when I'm sad, fed up, bored, happy etc - but in a limited way (currently loving the 98 calorie curly wurly haha!).

I hope that helps! Consistency is key and you'll get there ❤️

Low carb and simply accepting I can’t eat what I want. Willpower is the strongest diet tool there is

I'm only at the start OP, so admittedly not what you were looking for in the OP but I'm having a lot of success with avoiding UPF and adding in protein and fibre rather than cutting things out. I wasn't eating nearly enough of either, and I'm still far from perfect but getting much better. The natural side effect has been a much better diet, better energy and less bloating.

I've tried intermittent fasting and had some success but I find it quite hard to fit into my lifestyle (shift work). I wouldn't rule it out in the future and still try not to eat from dawn till dusk.

In the past I loved weights and really would like to get back into that but I've lost my confidence on how and what to do so that's something for the future.

Anyway, I'm waffling but for me it has helped to come at it from the perspective another poster mentioned, of looking after and investing in my body/health.

It's okay to feel hungry for a few hours you're not going to die. Let's be real a few nuts isn't going to keep you satiated for very long at all so it's almost a pointless snack, banana is fine as it has fibre so would do the trick but again can you really not hold out until your next meal?

Total bollocks you can eat whatever you want and lose weight just not in the quantities you probably want too.

Willpower is like a muscle. The more you use it, the easier it becomes.

I was told to follow an anti-inflammatory diet for a health condition and I lost a lot of weight and have kept it off because I stick to it. It’s not low carb as such as I eat lots of fruit, dark chocolate and nuts but I don’t eat grains or processed food at all. So no bread, rice, pasta. I don’t snack. My blood sugar stabilised and after a while I was satiated on a lot less and stopped craving the things I used to. But I just had to use willpower at first.

What I found useful was literally saying to myself, “what do want more? This cake or to feel better?” and took a minute to think how I’d feel afterwards if I put rubbish in my body. That got me through the first couple of weeks.

The results have kept me on track.

I needed this post OP. I need to lose at least 6 stone. The weight has piled on due to life stress. I’ve got two disabled children, I work and life is just exhausting. But one of my parents has recently been diagnosed as diabetic and I’m really worried I could go the same way. Habits take 21 days to form so it’ll take that time if not more to form new habits. It’s going to be a long road for me but I’m going to take it one day at a time.

These type of threads do my nut in as there are always so many suggestions of what diet to do, suggestions to weigh all your food and to count calories, to use will power, etc. Yet until the reasons behind eating when not hungry are confronted you're on a hiding to nothing with sustainable weight loss.

@Sustainablelossofweight you mention that food is a comforter to you, that you use it for many reasons other than to satiate hunger, and that is the thing to focus on. Until you have found another source of comfort, another way to alleviate boredom, the weight loss/weight gain cycle you're in will continue. Therapy is the way to go to address this if you struggle to alone.

Also, you know your triggers (keep a food and mood diary too if that helps), so what can you do to make healthier choices easier when you're tired/busy/not feeling well?

Oh I’m not denying it’s difficult for sure! I actually think it’s more difficult to keep starting these magic diets/fasting/cleanses though, every time with these hopes that this one will make it easy to lose weight. I think the most difficult and the easiest thing is to just accept that you will find it hard every time. I still find it hard not to swing into the drive thru on the way home, but I don’t want to be overweight, so I go home and have something. Sometimes it’s not what I want at all. But you get used to it.

Stop thinking of it as a diet to reach a weight goal and more as the new normal

Don't abstain from everything "bad" it's OK to have an occasional treat.

Generally don't eat after 7pm (I used to be dreadful for tea and biscuits on the sofa or a big bag of crisps watching Netflix)

I use My Fitness Pal app to log everything I eat, it's not 100% accurate r.e. the nutritional data of every food but it's a really good guide for watching your intake. I was amazed at how little it takes to get up to 3000cal a day...!

Get out every day (in drizzle is OK, pissing down is a no) for a 30 min walk at a fast pace where you feel slightly out of puff and end up feeling a bit sweaty.

I've tried to diet and exercise with a short term mindset before and it's always failed. This new approach has lasted for 9 months now and I've lost +20kg

As a PP said there’s no magic trick sadly. I lost 6 stone and have kept it off for years now but it’s always a conscious effort to not lapse back into emotional eating.

When I’m tired or sad or down instead of giving in to a binge I treat myself in other ways. I have a really stupidly pricy lovely bubble bath that I’ll break out and treat myself in that way instead, or I’ll buy myself an audiobook I’ve been wanting or spend some time painting my nails and kind of primping myself. I do meditation sometimes as well but I fall in and out of that.

I’ve taught myself over the years to not associate food with ‘a treat’. I can treat myself and my body without it being about eating. I still obviously have the odd moment where I do use food as comfort but I draw a line under it, pick myself up and start again.

Paul McKenna. His book “I can make you thin” is all about emotional eating and addressing cravings by following 4 Golden Rules.
He has an app in AppStore for 7.99 called Thin which is a 7 day plan you can repeat with daily guidance and a nighttime guided meditation. It works but you have to trust in it completely and keep doing it.

Use My Fitness Pal app and log everything. Every single thing. Measure everything - you'd be surprised how little 30g of chocolate if you're used to eating it unchecked. Measuring is absolutely key. I just have a small digital scale sitting on the counter top. But it works - in order to lose weight you have to be in calorie deficit. And to be sure you're in deficit you have to know exactly how many calories you're eating. Calorie counting works for me because I still eat everything, just smaller amounts. Or I know I'm going to be having a big meal, I input it into the app before I have it and then know what I can have the rest of the day.

I agree that understanding more about UPFs (ultra processed foods) is really helpful. Food scientists have being modifying our foods and when testing products always go with the choice which people eat more of as it's their job to sell more of a food. This means consumers inevitablhem tgy end up eating more food than they need if they eat these products (so when people stay stop eating when you're full it's not that simple).

He says that 'no-one' is addicted to natural foods - the big food companies have created products which hit that 'bliss point' and eating them actually alters our brain chemistry so we want more (one of the reasons it's not just about willpower).

There are loads of recent newspaper articles if you google Ultra Processed Foods and Chris Van Tulleken. The Glucose Goddess is also a good book on the impact of foods on hunger and blood sugar levels. Reading and listening to pod casts has really changed the way I feel about buying and consuming food and putting more time into preparing foods, understanding eating a home made cake is different to shop bought, or a ready meal isn't equivalent to eatingg a portion of the equivalent made at home.

There's also of new info being discovered about the gut biome and the benefits of eating a wide range of fresh produce, fibre, pulses etc.

Just one example of this https://inews.co.uk/inews-lifestyle/chris-van-tulleken-why-addicted-ultra-processed-food-quit-2309999

Worth looking for podcasts with him and also Dr Chatterjee and Tim Spector

I yoyo dieted from age 14 to 40 then I discovered intermittent fasting. I do 16/8. It took me 2 weeks to get used to it then I loved it. I lost weight and it's stayed off for 8 years now. I find it incredibly easy and I feel good. I don't count calories. I eat sensibly but if I fancy fish and chips or pizza or chocolate cake etc. I'll have it.

I lost 5st. Didn't cut anything out but used a smaller plate and ate my main meal within an hour of exercising. I used a cross trainer 45 mins a day and walked as much as i could. Nothing else, just that. Done that 15 years ago.

Noom worked brilliantly for me. It tackles the psychological and emotional bit underneath as well as tracking your calories and weight. Track everything - tiny bits of butter and oil add up massively. Then I switched to My Fitness Pal to carry on tracking. I think weighing yourself every day is helpful so you can see quickly if it starts to go in the wrong direction. Not for everyone but I lose weight quickly but also put it on quickly so like to catch it early!

Overall it’s mindset which Noom helps with. You have to want to be slimmer more than you want the food! The odd snack here and there stops the weight loss.

Following

Ditching alcohol, walking every day (can't really do gym as bad knees), 2 small meals a day with protein.

what's UPF? Thanks