How to lose weight when you love food and booze

[surejan24]

I'm hoping there is an answer to this but realistically I know I need to make some changes.

I'm late 30's and have had two c sections so I have the inevitable overhang as well as quite a lot of extra belly fat. It isn't a good look and I'm at the point where I am dreading summer because I live in leggings and baggy tops/jumpers to hide my middle. I'm actually about 12 stone but I look much heavier and my shape is all wrong.

My issue is I love food and booze. I don't eat particularly badly but I eat a lot. I tried eating in a calorie deficit and did ok but then binged on snacks. At the weekends I love having a takeaway (plus leftovers the next day) and a bottle of wine. Occasionally in the week I'll have a gin once the kids are in bed. I treat these as rewards and things to look forward to. I don't get the option to go out much so it's "treats" like this that make life bearable.

But they are contributing to my weight gain and consequent shit self esteem. I don't know what to do. I've tried and failed with dieting so many times because ultimately I enjoy food and fall back on 'life's too short' mentality.

I'd love to hear from anyone who has overcome this sort of thing because im going round in circles at the minute.

I eat everything I want to..But less. So 3 or 4 squares of chocolate. Not a whole bar.

As usual there are people here giving really dangerous advice. You should NOT:

Skip meals
Ban entire food groups
Ban specific food items (you know how the best way to ensure a child wants to do something is to tell them they can't? Same deal here)
Cut your daily calories to a lower number than your body needs to function

Anyone who is advising the OP to do this really needs to have a word with themselves as someone could really be harmed by following that.

My advice, as always, is to consult a dietician. A good dietician will not tell you to cut out all the treats you enjoy, they will work with you to come up with a plan that is realistic, balanced and that you feel you can stick to.

Carrot, rather then stick.

I have been trying in vain to lose 2 stone for the past 3 years.

It’s too late for this summer, but I have booked myself a long haul holiday for February. It was a bit too expensive really and is a once in a lifetime type of trip. So I’ve got a lot invested in this holiday! I know that I will enjoy it 10000% more if I can feel comfortable in a swimsuit, shorts and strappy top (instead of sweltering under a hoodie as is current situation!)

So, I have 6 months to lose the weight. Every time I contemplate a biscuit, I think of my holiday and how much I want to bring carefree memories (and nice photos) back with me. And so far it's working! 🤞

Treats that are not food is good advice. Train your mind out of wanting food as a reward for a bad day..Find something else: shower gel or a lipstick
a book or magazine
save up for a new dress
flowers

Sign up for a 10k. You'll get an alternative buzz/reward and will definitely not want to drink before the training sessions. You'll crave healthier foods and will still be able to indulge from time to time.

If there’s one subject in the world on which I’m an expert, it’s managing to lose weight when you love good food, adore good wine & beer and love cooking.

I lost 24 kg in 5 months. I’m not going to lie, it was fucking hard at times, and it entailed hard work & sacrifices. I missed my beloved 🍺 most of all.

Firstly, I stopped drinking alcohol completely for 3 months. This alone made a big difference as I was drinking too much and consuming far too many calories in the form of booze. I also stopped going to the pub & eating out completely.

Secondly, I stopped buying chocolate, cakes, biscuits, pastry, sweets, crisps & snacks completely. If it’s not in the house, you can’t impulse eat it.

Thirdly, I kept a big bowl of chopped raw veggies in the fridge at all times for snacking. Fourthly, I did intermittent fasting of a sort. I found that the later in the day I started eating, the fewer calories I consumed during that day, so I had only tea & coffee before midday. I made a big effort to eat high protein, low carbs & loads of salad & fresh veggies. I wasn’t specifically calorie counting, but I estimate I was on <1200 per day, with only the occasional day above this.

I also started exercising. Minimum 10k steps per day, every day. Also cycling, gym classes & weights.

I count every calorie.

I have lost weight by trying to stay in a calorie deficit and the biggest change for me is not to drink my calories. No regular soda, no alcohol, no calorie laden coffee drinks. And weight training.

Resistance training/weights and loads of walking. Stop having biscuits and crisps in the cupboard. Try to have 5 healthy dinners a week. Try delaying your first meal of the day until late morning/early lunchtime.

I eat take aways and drink booze and am not overweight. It's because in general I don't exceed my weekly calorie needs. Yes some days I will definitely eat more calories than I need but it tends to balance out by eating less on other days.
Good tricks are eating most of your calories earlier in the day. For example, at weekends I like to have a big blow out, get fish and chips or go out for a big pizza with a glass of wine etc but I'll do it as a late lunch like 2pm. That way I'm too full for dinner so skip a meal and I'm probably within (or just over) my calorie needs for the day. If I had breakfast, then lunch, then snacks, and then got a take away late at night I'd definitely eat about double my calories and put on weight. By eating earlier I feel like I'm not deprived. I'm having a feast and feel stuffed, enjoying wine but I put on less weight by then skipping dinner.
I also walk 10,000 steps a day which definitely stops me putting on too much weight. If you do it every day its very useful.
I also find if I overindulge one day I'm naturally less hungry the next and crave lighter food.
It's not about focusing on one thing and thinking "Oh no I'll always be fat because I love a take away and a bottle of wine on a Friday night!". You have to think "OK, I don't want to give up my take away and wine on Friday because it's one of my pleasures. So I'll have the take away but I'll eat really healthily on Saturday and go out for a long walk to balance it out".

I would never diet. I LOVE food and wine!

I have a BMI of just under 20 and quite muscular.

I kickbox for 2 hours a week and go to the gym twice a week - 30 mins cardiovascular and 30 mins weight lifting.

I then spend a lot of time with the kids in the garden and am on my feet all day with work.

Diets are hideous. I recommend just upping your exercise. You'll then find you actually want to eat less when you've worked hard.

If you want to eat and drink what you please I would suggest doing two things. First is one meal a day. Second is trying to fit exercise into daily routine.

I’m about your weight, losing about a lb a week with intermittent fasting, I eat 2 meals (only rule is lots of protein, I may have a wrap or rice but I try to have a reasonable portion of carb) my window is 1:30ish to 6. Then on Fridays I have a drink and loads of cheese and crackers (water table ones, v low calorie which is fine because I just need them to transport cheese). Weekends I may share a slice of cake with Dh and DD and choose protein options when we are eating out. I don’t count calories at all.

I think its mindset. You look forward to those things then you feel bad about them which is a shame cycle.

I think you need to decide whether you want those things enough to enjoy them and accept that that means you stay the shape you are or that you need to give them up to get something new.

You can make either choice, I made the choice to be bigger post pregnancy until I wanted to slim down more than I wanted extra portions. My point is, dont make yourself feel bad. It's ok to just be content and decide this isnt important enough right now.

I went from nearly 17 stone to 9.7 stone over the space of around 2 years by just changing my diet. The main thing I realised is you have to want it more than anything, you have to make losing weight your priority and it's hard.

You don't need to be perfect though, you just need to be consistent.

Don't go in all guns blazing, reducing your calories straight away, cutting out carbs, no alcohol, trying to run 10k etc, as this will lead to inevitable failure when you cannot maintain it in the long run. My advice is eat the way you could for the rest of your life!

Start by just simply reducing your portion sizes, you might be surprised how much weight you lose in a month just by having less of your usual food on your plate.

Try to cut down on snacking whilst maintaining your smaller portion sizes. Make healthier swaps in terms of snacking, try eating more fruit, yogurt, popcorn etc definitely don't deprive yourself of anything, if you want chocolate buy the mini treat size ones to have in the evenings.

Nothing wrong with a take away once in a while but why don't you make it a monthly treat rather than a weekly one. There are SO many fake away recipes out there that taste amazing. I have the Pinch Of Nom Books which I recommend and also Slimming Eats website. They have so many recipes that you can make at home that are much cheaper and healthier than a take away, like salt and pepper chips, KFC zinger burgers, nandos burgers , curries etc etc

If you don't want to do it alone I'd recommend Slimming World for you as you can still have treats and alcohol as part of your syns.

I was like this. I started using Nutracheck to calorie count and realised I could still have the odd treat drink and takeaway as long as I was careful with portion sizes, drinking plenty of water to fill me up. I also tried to do even a YouTube workout two or three times a week and walk as much as possible. I lost 4 stone. It can be done without having to completely cut out the things you love, certainly worth trying.

I love food too, luckily I do love vegetables so if you do you could try to make your plate mostly veg. You do feel better eating like that too. So big veg stir fry and brown rice, steamed fish, spinach, veg etc etc. I am trying that anyway, feel a bit healthier

Some good advice on this thread. I’d also consider looking more deeply at how your body works rather than just calories in versus out. This Naked Mind by Annie Grace is brilliant for explaining the chemical and hormonal processes that occur after drinking alcohol and the impact these have on food cravings and mood etc, which impact subsequent intake. Detoxing from alcohol for a period of time will likely result in sugar cravings but then these will dissipate and you may feel more in control of what you eat rather than being at the mercy of responses to alcohol if that makes sense.

Thanks for all the great tips.

I've read them all and some sound more achievable for me than others. I think trying intermittent fasting of sorts might be good. I'm not too bothered about breakfast (although I do love a morning coffee) so I could probably wait until lunch and try and stop eating after dinner.

I walk about 10,000 steps a day, sometimes much more, but don't do any other exercise. Maybe a bike ride now or yoga now and again but nothing consistent. I just don't enjoy it and I hate running with a passion. I do have some interest in weight training just not too sure where to begin.

I tried slimming world a few years back and it worked a treat. I lost about 2 stone and looked the best I have in years. However as soon as I stopped the plan I put it all back on and more. It's not sustainable for me sadly and in hindsight I don't think it gives a very healthy outlook to food in general.

There is definite compulsiveness about my snacking. I can do brilliantly with sensible meals, good portions and a great mindset all day. Then it gets to about 4pm - in between school run and evening meal - and I'm like a woman possessed. Crisps, biscuits, crackers, cheese. I probably demolish more calories in a 5 minute binge session than I've had all day. I recognise that this time of day is a trigger and I know it's become a habit but I just can't seem to stop myself.

The booze is another habit but I can ignore that mostly if I occupy myself with something else. I do love a bottle of wine at the weekend which is about 600 calories in itself. It's getting so hard to lose weight the older I get and I really don't like myself much at the moment.

Drink a ton more water and eat more fibre

You need to find an exercise you do like as regular cardiovascular exercise is really important.

I hate running.

What about boxing?! I go to a kickboxing class that has ages 5 to 65 and a huge range of fitness levels. I was hopeless when I started but 5 years later and a black belt is potentially feasible now!

My parents do the 5-2 diet where you fast on two days with very low calorie then eat as usual on the other days. You can chose any 2 days each week to make it convenient with lifestyle.

I am exactly the same. I'm back 'on the wagon' for now and I've realised that what I really struggle with is portion control. For example, when I limit myself to my 'diet' type foods (grilled chicken, tuna, salads, baked potatoes, fish) I'm usually okay and I can stick to it. But I don't really love those foods whereas pizza, pasta, curries, chillies... I find it impossible to be strict with those foods in terms of portion control because I like them so much. It's all or nothing with me.

Picking up on what you say about evening snacking:
Are you eating enough in the rest of the day so you're not starving hangry by then?
What's happening around then? I can imagine school run etc can be stressful. Is it stress eating?
What time do you eat dinner? Can't you have dinner earlier to stop you snaffling other food?
Do you have an all or nothing mentality towards food and dieting? When you have one thing 'off plan', do you then think fuck it?!

I was in a similar position to you OP and losing weight now. The answer for me was not actually a diet. The answer was to fix all the mental and emotional stuff going on. Reducing my stress. Finding hobbies to occupy myself. Exercising as a way of relaxing. Finding other ways to treat myself and reward myself. Journaling about my feelings. Watching videos on You Tube from a binge eating specialist psychologist. Once you sort all that out, sticking to a decent calorie intake (I'm on around 1700) becomes a lot easier.

I lost 20 pounds in 3 months by low carbing. I've now hit a bit of plateau, in that weight loss has slowed to 3 pounds a month. I have another 20 pounds to lose but when the scales don't move for a couple of weeks, I get very close to 'taking a break'. The problem is when I take a break, it's hard to jump back on the low carb bandwagon. I'm getting better though as before the 'break' would last months, now it lasts a week. Unfortunately even a week can see me pile on 3 pounds.

(I know weigh 150lb but goal is 130lb)

The secret world of slimming groups podcast is a lighthearted look at weight loss. It's funny and will make you feel better. There's some good ideas in it too (as well as some really bad ones!)