To think this WILL work no matter age, health and so on?

[MarvellousMarvel]

I'm overweight, have an underactive thyroid and struggle to lose weight.

My plan is to follow slimming world and to go to the gym regularly. Starting off on the treadmill.

This is fool proof right? I can't not lose weight if I stick to the plan?

Weight loss is all about food intake. If you eat at a calorie deficit you will lose weight. The exercise is a bonus

Slimming World and the like never worked for me. There was so much food, it was insane!

What works much better for me is only eating lunch and tea. No breakfast, no snacks.

With slimming world etc all I did was think about food - what could I eat, what points did I have left, oh I better eat even though I'm not hungry because I've got points to use up.

Simplifying down to two meals has helped me stop thinking/obsessing about food for the first time in my life.

I've lost four stone (slowly) this way.

Yes I think you're right. I don't think you need to get overly complicated.

Follow the Dr. Michael Mosely blood sugar diet or his 800 calorie diet, my sister lost 4 stones following the blood sugar diet.

https://michaelmosley.co.uk/

I think slimming world made me quite obsessed with food.

Are you on thyroxine?

I gained weight on slimming World. I can eat a LOT of "free" food.

and hear it comes the terrible, terrible dieting advice. No one should be condoning skipping meals.

and it's weight watchers who do points, not slimming world.

Have you got your thyroid sorted?

You need to find a weight loss programme that works for you and that you can stick to. That may be SW, 5/2, 16/8,, calorie counting, low carb or just ditching the crap.

There are considerable health merits to allowing your body a break from digestion (intermittent fasting) and this has been borne out in many respected health studies.

I fucked my metabolism for about 4 years doing this.

Be careful if you decide on low carb rather than slimming world, I believe it can effect your thyroid and make it even slower.

Intermittent fasting @Luxell934 is not terrible advice. Eating tons of processed food on a 'diet' is though.

Op have you spoken to your gp about this - your thyroid issues might mean you need specialist support?

If your thyroxine medication is at the right level, you shouldn't struggle to lose weight.

I'm on quite a high dosage of it and have been for years and I can always lose weight when I want to.

Calorie deficit is the only thing that makes you lose weight diet wise.

I calorie count and use nutracheck to keep track.

The only time I've been obsessed with food, was when I tried faddy diets. Slimming world, weight watchers, keto, etc.

Meal prep is also so important.

There's nothing wrong with skipping breakfast at all, unless you wake up particularly hungry.

It's not necessarily 'terrible' 'terrible' advice.

Whatever diet you stick to is likely to work. But you have to stick to it forever.

Why not start with small changes like no snacks and just having two or three meals a day?

Personally I found low carb amazing not just for the weight loss but for me it sorts my anxiety out.

Others do intermittent fasting which can be great because you carry on eating what you normally would but just skip some meals. No additional thinking about it. Calorie control can work but can leave you hungry.

My issue with the diet groups is that a lot of the time people were talking about how to cheat it? One advocated smash / shakes etc - no healthy diet includes crap like that on a regular basis.

Exercise is great but you can't outrun an unhealthy diet. Great for your health and releases all sorts of endorphins.

Just to clarify I am on Levothyroxine and the dose has been stable for around 2 years now.
I feel I am addicted to food and often binge eat or emotionally eat.

I Guess my thought process with slimming world is that it limits the bad food so may help me get out of the cycle of eating crap. And that the gym might mean less time to think about food plus mitigate any free food that I might eat too much of?

Some tips:

• On the emotional eating, figure out what triggers it, and plan for those scenarios. What will you do instead. Chew gum? Do something practical?
• Don't have snacks/treats in the house for a bit, to avoid temptation
• Meal plan, meal plan, meal plan. 3 columns, write down meal ideas for breakfast lunch and dinner, ask yourself if those options include protein and/or veg, amend, work to plan.
• Cereal bars, crisps etc - just don't do it. If you focus on protein + veg you will feel fuller for longer. Have a look for healthy recipes you want to try and learn to cook and do those, the more you learn to cook and mix stuff together the better tasting your healthy food will be.
• Start drinking loads of water
• Don't go 'well I went to the gym so I can have a chocolate bar' don't eat the calories back. You can't outrun a bad diet.
• If you are a sugar addict, try going cold turkey. A lot of people think they need a little square of chocolate a day, and that's fine, but do try going cold turkey for at least two weeks and see how you feel!
• At the gym, weightlifting is a GREAT way to motivate yourself if you don't actually love cardio or other high energy workouts. You have research beginners plans online, or maybe book a personal training session in - lots of gyms have introductory offers.
• Try and get a good grip on portion sizes, and just try seeing if you can eat a touch less! If you normally have 80g of pasta, try 60. This is why I don't think slimming world helps - it gets you used to having MASSIVE portions when you don't actually need it, you need to train your body to normal portions.
• if you are a snacker, can you cut down, or switch out the snacks, or replace a snack with more water, or look at what you are having for breakfast to include more protein so you are full?
• Don't rely on bloody cup Noodles or dried soups or any of that stuff, it will make you hungrier.
• Read up on hunger cues, a lot of us mistake our body clock going 'you normally eat at this time every day' for actual hunger.

Good luck!!