Feel utterly broken - another diet failed again

[nameeCha]

I’ve just done 3 weeks of solid Atkins, not cheated, really tried a d lost nothing! Not even a measley 0.1 kg! I actually weigh slightly more than I did when started. I don’t know what to do anymore. I’m fed up of all these “diets”. Can someone please advise me? I stayed away from fruits even! I had such a craving. Just spoke to my sister whose managed to lost 10lb since start of summer eating all the foods I was told on atkins and keto boards that were to be avoided - bread, fruits, pastries. Where am I going wrong? Any advice please.

I use My Fitness Pal and log everything. I don't cut out any food groups and aim for 1400 calories per weekday and 1600 at weekends. I don't have any spare for snacks but eat fruit and carbs. I only drink at weekend and really limit that. I exercise daily to burn a bit extra off and that seems to work for me.

This! I'm at my lowest ever weight and energy is way better. Try it! I don't feel deprived cos I know I can have food in my eating window and it fits nicely with what nature intended us to eat like , it feels sustainable. Hope you try it and it works.

I have had the most luck with calorie tracking. We drink more water, track everything we eat (measuring out our portions was life changing - we were overeating so much and didn't even realise) and exercise. Even just walking made a huge difference. We also try to cut out as much processed food as possible. We do still have treats and whatever we're craving, we just make sure to track it and amend the rest of our day around it.

It really is a case of trial and error to find a style of eating you can sustain. If you enjoy eating fruits and find they satiate your hunger meaning you can sustain a calorie deficit for longer, then it makes no sense to cut them out of your diet. I find that eating several portions of fruit per day means I end up eating far less calories overall. I largely find 'volume eating' to be a good principle for weight loss as it doesn't totally cut out any particular food groups, so chances are you can find some low calorie meal options which you will enjoy eating.

Could your menstrual cycle be relevant?
I can be 5lb heavier during my period - water retention.

I agree with those mentioning calories / portion size. You have actually had eggs and spinach, chicken and salad, fish and green veg only for 3 solid weeks, have you?

Do you know why you put on weight in the first place?
Is it large portions?
Snacking?
If it’s snacking, is it savoury snacks or sweets?
Drinking too much alcohol, juices and fizzy drinks?
Maybe all of the above?

Identify the problem and start working there. If you eat large meals, literally cut them in half. Share a pizza. Divide a takeaway into two portions and save the other one for lunch the next day. Eat from a smaller plate. Weight your meals - a normal dinner portion is 350-450 grams, anything beyond that is too much unless you’re are a competitive athlete or a bodybuilder. Measure oils and fats with a spoon. That includes mayo which is extremely calorific.

If the problem is snacking, don’t keep snacks in the house. Don’t buy multipacks, don’t stash crisps or biscuits. Try snacking on healthy, crunchy foods, it’s very difficult to overeat carrots or stalk celery. Same with sugary drinks and booze. A glass of wine with meal is healthy but alcohol is nearly as calorific as fat as these calories quickly add up.

Try to fill your plate with vegetables first and by vegetables I don’t mean starchy vegetables like potatoes, maize or peas, I mean green dense leaves and flowers like cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, leek, kale, sprout beans, and so on. Only then fill the other half equally with protein and starches. Planning your meals around vegetables quickly becomes a habit and at some point there’s no going back.

Diet won’t work on its own, it needs to be combined with exercise. Count calories and make sure each day you stay under the target, either by what you eat or what exercise you do.

Calorie counting or fasting. Unpleasant but they’re the only things that work.

Just stop dieting.

Fast for 2 days a week. 700 calories maximum. Protein based breakfast. Huge salad for lunch with a little protein (balsamic vinegar dressing) then chicken/fish and rice for dinner.

Eat normally on the other days.

So much easier than any diet as you only have to think what you eat on 2 days.

I don't know anyone who failed on this diet.

stop dieting. focus on a permanent lifestyle change. use my fitness pal to track your food. don't keep checking every week. it takes at least 4 weeks for a habit to break. track your food - you be very surprised how many calories are in things. up your exercise. you have a bad day you get up and start all over again. not a diet a lifestyle change

I found that I wasn’t naturally hungry on the morning

If I do eat breakfast then I feel hungrier in the day? I lost over 4 stone and have maintained it by listening to my body and having a knowledge of food calories in general

I don’t limit myself with food choices at all but I only eat after 12pm 95% of the time but tended to steer clear of carb heavy stuff when I was losing

Because of that my appetite has regulated and I have an idea of what portion sizes should be
I’m perimenopausal and cut down drinking too

Have you been keeping track of how many calories you’ve been having?

A ‘typical’ day for me would look like:

AM a couple of coffees and lots of water plus my meds and ten million supplements and vitamins

2pm sourdough toast and a couple of eggs (boiled/poached fill me up more than scrambled), couple of bananas that need eating up and a half melted chocolate bar found at the bottom of my bag

6pm dinner which is whatever I’ve made for the kids and normally pretty nutritious

8pm a full tub of low calorie/high protein ice cream (300 cal) cos I’m a fat bastard

Lots and lots of water and sometimes a glass of wine

If I’m out then I won’t limit my food choices but have an idea of when I’m full/hungry

It’s like I’ve reset myself and gone from a size 20 (I’m tall too) to a 12-14 with a healthy BMI

Did you weigh the butter that you cooked the eggs in? 10g of butter will be near 80 calories and 10g is nothing, literally one of the little pats of butter that you get with a scone in a cafe will weigh nearly that. Same with the salmon did you weigh it. As an oily fish it is higher in cals than others and a 100g will be iver 200 cals
Eggs again depending on weight can be anything from 60 to 90 cals each so depending on how many eggs you have you xould easily be eating g many more calories than you would think. Are you having any dressing or mayonnaise on the salad/ veg, using any oil in cooking?

Yep.stop dieting. They aren't sustainable for almost anyone. That's why it's an industry.

I've lost a stone and a half, slowly. In my 50s. Walking more and doing weights.

But mainly by eating way more veg, complex carbohydrates and protein.

Bfast..poached egg on sourdough toast.with mushrooms and tomato.

Lunch. Chicken salad. Lots of veg, chickpeas.

Tea ...sausage pasta with veg snd beans snd 2bits garlic bread. Weighed out pasta portion

No choc, no crisps on ghf dogs or wine...

But I don't miss it. So 80% of time it's real.proper food. 20% out ot a supermarket pizza.

Still got a stone to go. But that's ok. This works

I highly recommend a book called Naturally Thin by Bethenny Frankel. No diets! It's the only way I managed to break unhealthy eating habits and actually get down to an ideal BMI

I’m on keto at the moment. Could you suggest the types of fibre I should be having? I lost 5 kilos quickly but have stalled these last couple of weeks.

Mounjaro. I was sceptical but it really is the only thing that has worked for me in many decades of dieting/exercise/therapy.

I wish everyone was able to afford it so that they could see how well it works. If you can afford it OP please do give it a go.

I start mine in a few days.

If you haven't, try intermittent fasting. It worked for me, big time.

The only thing that ever works for me is calorie counting. 1500 calories max a day, gym 3-4x a week and walking 10000 steps a day. It’s boring but it works. Really educate yourself on proteín to stay full, I need at least 30% of my calories to be from protein.
Theres no magic diet, people sell things that generally mean less calories but anything you have to pay for essentially wants you to fail at some point so you have to keep on paying.
take a breather, have a few days off. Look into calorie counting, buy some scales

Thats the problem with diet!! People expecting magical transform instantly but your change is not that huge such as extended fasting or shake-diet. You still eating three meals but just excluding carbs. I wouldnt give up, give it another 2-3 weeks I will say. ” Saggy” might be a sign that your body is in shock hence holding back on the fat and water, plateuing before dropping. If you squeeze your fat, you might be able to feel it being lumpy rather than high densed and hard. So you are on the right way. Try measuring instead of weighting too.

and get rid of ”diet” mentality. Think of lifestyle changes which works in the long run. Diets are never sustainable and weight can easily be regained if you dont enjoy the process.

Mounjaro!

Wow, I'm 16st 1lb and a size 22 - you must be tall! I'm a short arse.

OP, based on personal experience I'd suggest that following a "diet" never works or lasts because we can't sustain it. We have to change our mindset - for me it's just really bad, lazy eating and too much processed and sugary foods. I've tried making a small achievable change, like cutting out chocolate and cake etc but eating plenty of fruit. I'm half a stone down in 2 weeks. If I fancy chocolate, I have a small amount - about a 3rd of what I was eating every night a few weeks ago!

Good luck, feel your pain.

Unless you binge. If you are prone to binge eating the compulsion overrides your feeling of satiety.

Atkins and WW never worked for me. I did them religiously with a flatmate when I was in my 20s, when the weight should have fallen off. We were eating almost exactly the same. We made work lunches and ate dinner together. She lost a steady 2 lbs a week. I lost nothing in 30 days. Slimfast I would lose maybe .5 lb/week if I was lucky, but a night off for a birthday or similar and I'd gain back 5 lbs.

The only thing that's every worked for me is calorie counting. I lost 5 stone during covid and another stone since through exercise. Currently maintaining a BMI of 21.

Stop dieting.
I got to mid 50s before gaining weight kicked in and had a whale of a time trying every diet known to man kind.
What works (for me) is to eat everything I always ate, and enjoy, but in smaller quantities.

I halved everything (roughly), but added proteins to fill me up
.Still had weetabix / Porridge, but would have half my usual amount and add in fruit. And yes, I know fruit has sugars. Don't care, its natural, not processed.

I had half the amount of soup for lunch, with a slice of toast, or a sandwich, fit to bursting, with one slice of sourdough.

Dinner as usual. Fish and chips? Oh yes, just less of them. I promised myself if I was hungry, I could always have more, but I was never hungry...just greedy!

I eat normally now. I realised I was just eating too much before, but have not denied myself anything, so its more of a change of eating, rather than a diet.

No problem with it at all

Oh, and I eat chocolate, crisps and takeaways. I'm just more aware of what I'm eating and make adjustments.