I can’t stick to a diet

[Fitatforty83]

I cannot find a diet to suit me. Age 40, size 12/14, need to lose a stone to be a healthy bmi.

so far I have tried:

slimming world: to restrictive and too much cooking

calorie counting: I always go over the daily calories

low carb: difficult as I am not a massive meat eater

I also hate the gym but enjoy walking about an hour each day

how can I find a diet I can stick too??

Why don’t you just eat healthier in general?
Calorie counting over the week is much more realistic than daily.

I cut out all upf and added sugar. No calorie counting was required as it meant my body naturally regulated hunger. I lost 15kg and no easily maintaining at my goal weight. No restriction of whole foods at all.

How about a whole food plant based diet? It’s naturally low in fat and no professed food so high volume high nutrient density - check out Dr Fuhrman
I’m going to challenge you a little bit on the cooking - come on big girl pants and you can do this. You’re gonna have to make an effort regardless of which diet you choose. There is no easy option when you’re trying to control your weight. You’re gonna have to step up focus on yourself and put in the effort works smart not hard plan your meals batch cook make life as easiest as possible for yourself.

I’m in the same boat. I have had a holiday booked since April and was determined to lose 3 stone knowing that I had plenty of time. Well, the holiday’s in 3 weeks and I’ve had no motivation whatsoever 🤦🏻‍♀️ Now I’m not looking forward to it as feel like a lump of lard as usual. My own fault though. Wish I didn’t love food so much!

I lost loads of weight last summer on slimming world but I didn’t keep it up and just had no motivation to rejoin this year.

Same stats. Paid for mountjaro. Game changer...

Hey!

Currently down a stone - one meal a day plant based ( I'm vegan ) excercise everyday ( I'm currently using the treadmill for 30 mins ) I don't eat bread sweets, gave up wine!
It's all down to you . How badly do you want to lose that stone?
In a nice way possible - don't make excuses just do it :)

A whole food diet sounds appealing, I do mostly eat like that anyway though. Porridge for breakfast, sourdough toast avacado and eggs or an omlette or Greek salad and pitta for lunch, fish rice and veg dinner or a roast etc, nuts fruit and green yoghurt and dark chocolate for snacks. I do eat quite a bit of the chocolate though

Most people can't! That's why diets mostly don't work except in the very short term. I don't have the answer, sorry! The only things that made me properly lose weight were a health scare and, on another occasion, medical necessity. Neither of those motivating factors were permanent though! My nexr move is intermittent fasting...

Try eating three meals a day, zero snacks. And dish up for yourself two thirds of what you usually would. Portion control works.

How about attempting 10 portions of fruit and veg a day and 2 litres of water. You will probably find that by doing so you replace many of the less healthy snacks and meal accompaniments with veg. It is relatively high volume so you will feel fuller. By not cutting anything out you are less likely to binge.

When you walk are you walking fast enough to increase your heart rate for the majority of that hour? Can you incorporate cough to 5k or something to increase your fitness level/calorie burning?

Cut out/down on alcohol, snacks etc and eat more veg to keep you full for longer.

I'm wondering what height you are though that a size 12/14 is above a healthy BMI.

Your diet sounds pretty good, do you find you get hungry mid morning though? I know you don't want to go low carb but I am wondering if your breakfast would be more filling with a bit more protein, maybe have the eggs for breakfast or add some greek yoghurt and nuts and then have other vegan sources of protein for lunch if you don't want to eat meat..

What is your blood sugar control like? Have you had your hba1c checked? I found when I got this under control I was much less hungry and found it easier to loose weight.

But this sounds like a healthy diet! What makes you think you need to lose weight? Maybe just start by cutting the amount of choc per day to a square or two and see if small changes like that are enough?

I lost 2 stone last year without dieting. I reduced my portion sizes, made healthier choices when it came to snacking, like an apple rather than a biscuit. I also increased the amount of veg / salad I had with my meals. I walked as much as I could each day.

I still ate the same foods as everyone else, just smaller portions of them, and no food was banned.

I didn’t feel deprived once, and feel like I will always eat this way now.

Second this!

Surely that is dieting? Dieting means changing your diet/eating habits in order to lose weight.

Lost a stone by cutting DOWN on my worst foods (bread, cereals, crisps and fizzy drinks) and drinking more water and not eating after 8 at night (hardest bit but got easier after about two weeks of knitting/ going to bed early etc etc!) Your brain is probably seeing it as a ‘diet’ and so is making you break it. Make a list of your worst habits and eg if you love chocolate, cut it down but have a lower amount eg mid week/ mid day/ have half a bar a day etc etc. best of luck, it’s so hard!!

Yeah this is a great idea.

I also suggest no bread and no booze

You need to stop looking for ‘a diet’ and look a permanent change in habits. Cliche but it’s true.

Not sticking to a diet doesn’t mean it does work for you.

For example how many calories was low calorie and how tall are you, how much do you weigh/want to lose etc

Plenty of people fail at low calorie because they go to too low then fall off the wagon. Doomed to failure.

or did you choose to just not stick to the calories? The ‘why’ is important.

I’m 5ft 2inch and 10.7 stone

I like the idea of increasing water, fruit and veg so I’m more full so less likely to want a biscuit etc. I’ve massively cut down on processed food, probably eat about 4 biscuits a week, I do still have the odd bagel, apple crumble etc. Yorkshire with my roast etc.

I do have one of those eat well plates from b&m where you fill half the plate with veg so that would be a good idea.

I am hungry a few hours after the porridge actually, and always have one of those nakd bars or some dried fruit and nuts to keep me going until lunch time

I’ve been trying to stick to 1,500 calories a day

If you don't mind me asking, how long did that take you? Also what was your start weight if you don't mind me asking?