A simple weight loss plan

[Questions124]

Can someone please help me come up with a simple and sensible weight loss plan please. I’m a comfort eater and have put on lots of weight. I know low carbs works but I don’t like how it makes me feel. I rather not get rid of any food groups. Any ideas how I could get this done? I really like fruits, vegetables and eat all meats. My downfalls are cheese, crisps, chocolates and cakes. I do drink on weekends.

edited for typos

I would reduce the crap but not worry about the carbs at lunch and dinner.
It's the comfort eating that is causing the problems. When do you do this and could you find a way to do something else instead ?

I am bad also.

The only way that works for me is having 'go to' options for all meals and snacks. And not eating outside of this.

Porridge or weetabix for breakfast with a banana

Lunch, pitta with a protein filling. Piece of fruit and yoghurt

Dinner, normally a soup

One snack, normally a cereal bar.

All non proportioned things need to be weighed
Exercise if possible 2-3 times a week

I've lost a couple of stone now. But you will need to find what works for you.
Good luck!

Mediterranean diet as a broad guide
3 meals a day
if you are a comfort eater then a couple of small snacks so you don’t face plant in crisps when your blood sugar dips
plenty of fibre
some protein with every meal
At least 5 veg and fruit a day
Nothing your granny wouldn’t recognise as food on a regular basis
save sugar for treats

get enough sleep
do a bit of exercise

5:2, 16:8, low carb, Keto, calorie counting, points systems, clean eating, fast 800, low fat, f plan (there’s a blast from the past for ya) are all fine but for most people they aren’t sustainable

I don't buy the cheese, crisps, chocolate and cakes.
That way, I only need to have enough willpower to get around the shops.
To make this easier, I don't even go down some aisles. My mission is to make it to the checkout as quickly as possible.
I can't eat it if its not in the cupboards.

I know some people don't like it but I started Slimming World in January. I find it very straightforward . I mainly eat the Free Foods but take note of the dairy stuff and stick to no fat cottage cheese and no fat greek yoghurt and Laughing Cow lites.

I am vegetarian so don't eat meat or fish and have ignored all the Syns.

Typical Day
2 Weetabix+ raspberries and blueberries

Homemade veggie soup with pulses. 4 Ryvita crackers with cottage cheese.

Large salad with edamame beans and butter beans, soy sauce dressing , baked potato, cottage cheese topped with a fried egg.
Banana

I have the odd packet of Quavers, a protein bar or a chocolate protein pudding.

Have lost 28lbs.

DH can't believe how much I eat. He is starting it tomorrow😂

Forget ridiculous diets. I'm 70lbs down in 3 years (also had a baby in that time) I read a book by the fitness chef. I spent my whole life from age 13 to 35 yoyoing and having a really shitty relationship with food. I had to fix my mindset and I can honestly say I've never felt so bloody free in my life he does alot of you tube and Facebook videos. I still eat Crisps, cheese and chocolate I have zero guilt. It took me a solid 6 to 8 months to fully change my mindset and get rid of all the good food bad food.

@Sprinkles211 can you give me an example of what you would eat on a typical day please? x

At the beginning it was calorie counting 1900 a day. I did weigh out everything, as time went on I learnt the portion sizes that were right. I used the nutracheck app to log every thing it gave me my allowance and I set it to lose only 1lbs a week as I needed to not feel starved. My typical day is

Breakfast: cereal or toast with real butter.

Lunch: ham sandwich, packet of Crisps, yoghurt and fruit if I fancied it.

Tea: home cooked family meals

I'd often have enough calories left for some chocolate in the evening.

Is it a 10 portions of fruit and veg a day and all my needed nutrients no it's not but my budget and time allowance will not allow for this. I was sick of going on the latest diet fad to get slim quick sticking at it for a week and being miserable because it was unaffordable or incompatible with my family life (3 sen children, 1 severe and a 1year old that's following the same pattern as my severe) my life often evolves around very broken minimal sleep and zero time for the typical self care but I needed to lose vast amounts of weight after my middle child was diagnosed with multiple conditions I basically ate sugar to stay awake and cope with the new life we found ourselves in.

I no longer need to count my calories unless I decide I want to recheck new foods, my weight fluctuates I keep an eye on it I've never put more than 3lbs back on without now mentally reining myself in and making sure I'm not over eating. My children are all daughters I didn't want them to have my relationship with food so sorting my mindset out was the most important thing for me to be able to do, my middle child has arfid she will only physically eat chips and toast. Speaking with her dieticians, nutritionists and paediatrician also helped because they confirmed that she is able to be healthy she has specific vitamins and minerals added in powder form and her blood work is the same as someone who eats all of the *recommended foods and diet for health. (She has since then had a feeding tube fitted due to other aspects of her disability, so has added calories in the form of her milk but her diet still consists of her 2 foods)
I hope you find something that works for you.

Eat less, move more.

It really all comes down to this.

You’ve answered your own question by listing your downfalls.

Don’t eat any of those foods. Snacking isn’t great for weight loss, no matter what you are snacking on. If you don’t want to eliminate food groups, you need to count calories. Find out what your deficit should be and aim for that.

Smaller potions on your plate and fewer treats. Don't try to cut out everything you like completely just cut down, that way you don't feel so deprived and then binge. If you eat something you think you shouldn't have, forgive yourself and don't give up, just start again.

Don’t make massive changes that are just unsustainable long term. Start making small changes, little at a time.

A good start: drinking more water daily, start increasing your protein intake, go on a daily walk, allocate treat times/days where you allow yourself the occasional treat (eg on Friday evening 1 bag of crisps and on a Saturday evening 1 chocolate bar).

Slow and steady changes over time - introducing more healthy food choices over time, slowly increasing your activity levels, slowly reducing the alcohol you drink each week……… will all lead to good routines that will become habit.

I found in the past that if I said “Ok Monday I’m going to do massive changes, ban myself from eating certain things, go to the gym 5 times a week” then it inevitably lead to failure after just a couple of weeks and I would crash and burn.

Small changes, building up over time is my key to success. I lost 3 stone over 18 months and I’ve now maintained a healthy weight for over a year.

I think it's really commendable that you can recognise your non-ideal habits, but to be honest I think you need to resolve e the "why" behind your comfort eating to be really successful. Have you unpicked why you do this? If you have, could ithe cause be resolved/reduced? If genuinely not, could you find comfort in something non-food (nice bath/spa-at-home type stuff? Go for a walk? Give yourself 30mins with a posh tea to read a book in quiet?)?

I think otherwise you're not denying yourself food but the comfort it brings, which is going to be really challenging for anyone! Best of luck.

I’ve always just counted calories. Nothing is a sin, stick to similar meals to make it easy. I lost 24lbs in lockdown 1 just counting calories and doing more steps. Check your TDEE via online calculator, this will tell you how many calories you need each day (specific to you) for maintenance, then reduce by 500 calories per day to lose 1lb, 1000 cals less for 2lbs etc. It works. Fill up on veg too, but carbs are fine on this diet

Dukan used to be my absolute go to but not anymore unfortunately! I’ve been having a protein pot in the day and one meal a day of whatever I want sometimes this will be very healthy sometimes not I’m also dreadful for enjoying wine!

I still enjoy wine the theory I came up with is my Nan and Grandad where very slim people and as a teen when I used to stay with them I would always wonder how as sometimes they would cook not even the healthiest or have a takeaway enjoy 2-3 alcoholic beverages high cal beers btw but where still very slim.

I can remember asking my Nan how?! She said well love we only eat once a day! And they could never actually finish there meals not even half most the time! I think not eating alday then having this big meal was overwhelming!

So I’ve done my Nana and Grandads diet for 4 weeks now and I’m 6pounds down! It’s not easy at first but you adapt very quickly!

O and I do heavily dilute wine with diet lemonade and accept the wine I don’t drink anything like full fat fizzy etc it’s always water squash or diet drinks sweeteners in coffees and teas so that helps Massively with calorie intake!

Just watch your calories. You know what healthy foods are. But also it's fine to have the occasional treat, and try and make sure your carbs are low GI - sweet potatoes are better than white, seeded bread better than white, rice and pasta in moderation. Just account for the calories in your daily goal.
I recommend My Fitness Pal app, and a good food scale. You do need to weigh - very hard to get an accurate idea of serving size by just eyeing it.
Ignore the exercise calories MFP allows you to eat back - they way overestimate expenditure.
Set yourself a reasonable goal - too quick a weight loss is unsustainable. I like to have a specific occasion I'm losing weight for, or dress I want to fit in. For me, I'm very tall but relatively sedentary and post menopause. 1600 calories a day is doable and gives me a weight loss of about a kilo a week. That's 10lbs a month. I try and up my walking to. It's not easy - nothing better than sitting down to a good meal and dessert and wine, but do that every day and you'll pay for it!

Even if you don't like low carb diets, cutting back will help. For example could you cut out bread ? Easy on the fruit, unless berries. You won't lose weight eating chocolate or crisps unfortunately unless you ration it very seriously (eg 20g dark chocolate per day).
Otherwise 2 drinks (pub measures) twice a week but no beer. Protein with every meal, a full protein breakfast of eggs and mushrooms every day would really fill you up and kill cravings. Add bacon or smoked salmon to it if you'd like. . Lots of hidden calories in milk. Eat full fat dairy rather than low fat as low fat is full of sugars.

Agree with no snacking. You need a lot less food than you think.

If you don't want to cut carbs ( which makes a fantastic difference to feeling hungry/cravings) then eat them as a meal and not as snacks.

Stop eating between meals, after meals, before meals. Have cake if you must but it's just pudding, not something to pick at all afternoon or evening. A sandwich and crisps is lunch. Not lunch and then a packet of crisps and a apple and a bit of bread and then dinner.

Don't buy any sweets, chocolate, cake or biscuits.

Cut down on carbs.

Eat lots more veg

Drink at least 2 pints of water a day

Cut down on alcohol.

Move more.

You need to ditch starchy carbs and increase your low fat protein the weight will drop off.

Turkey and chicken, no red meat.

Sweet potatoes, the occasional wholemeal wrap or pitta, no bread or potatoes or pasta.

No alcohol.

Eat little and often, paying attention to the hand portion size method (see NHS diabetes pages).

There’s no other easy way to lose weight. If you do this for 3 months, guaranteed you’ll lose weight.

Instead of a snack, try a half portion of a meal replacement shake like Huel which is sweet tasting but high protein so you feel fuller for longer.

You say you don’t like the way no carbs makes you feel, but if you can follow low starchy carbs for 2 weeks, you will reset and not miss them at all.

I’ve lost a stone in 10 weeks and feel much better. I’ve let bread and alcohol sneak back in and already feel more tired and bloated. At some point you have to decide if you want to feel healthy or drink / eat rubbish more.

I've lost 2 stone and maintained it for 4 years now. My BMI is 21, my waist measures 24" and I'm 54 and post menopause (just to give the full picture!) I swapped to a whole food vegan diet. Couldn't be simpler to follow and very cheap. I eat loads of carbs, just not the white ones. Most of the foods I used to comfort eat, chocolate, cheese, most cakes, are off limits now so it's easy. I don't drink alcohol and walk briskly for 30 mins about 3-5 times a week.

Don't buy crap, don't eat crap, eat balanced meals, don't stuff your face, drink plenty of water.

Basic calorie counting - track what you eat, track what you burn, eat 500 calories a day less than you burn = 1lb weight loss a week (roughly!)

Intermittent fasting works great for me.