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.

@Honourspren wow! That sounds amazing. I use LOSE IT and tgat tracks my calories over the week. It’s a free app (you have to pay for some features but I use free version).

We say that to highlight that this is not a temporary measure like restrictive nutritional protocols where you "go on a diet" for a short period of time and then return to your normal eating habits.
Flexible dieting is done with the assumption that you are changing your eating habits for life and this may include being in a calorie deficit as well as maintenance (or surplus, depending on goals). Something that you can maintain with relative ease throughout your life.
So when people say "don't go on a diet" they mean "don't alter your eating habits temporarily and restrictively hoping for a long-term result". After all, "diet" in it's essence just means a group of foods that species habitually eat. And even special "diets" don't at all mean calorie deficit (like a "diet" in ED units, for example).

I am slightly overweight but in my experience the slim people tend not to obsess over what they're eating. They typically eat breakfast, lunch and supper, but don't snack, eat small portions, and don't stress if they miss a meal from time to time.

However you do this, please have a look at the weight loss chat section of this forum.

There are challenges and lots of friendly posters of all weights trying lots of different methods and lots of support which makes a huge difference. I know it can be hard without support in real life but at least having a virtual group means that you get support and can journal, document and get inspiration

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/weight_loss_chat

Another thing I find helps is thinking 'if not now, when'.

Why will tomorrow be a better time to diet than today? Will tomorrow ever come? That chocolate bar can be eaten once you've achieved your goal, if you can't say no to the chocolate bar today, what makes you think you can any day?

It's about delaying gratification and stepping up the challenge. Best of luck!

I agree with this. You can do this, and slowly is better than rapid weight loss.

Don't give up. Keep going. And get over to the weight loss boards. They are really really really supportive!

Hi op you seem like a lovely person but at a low point. Perhaps bottle that feeling as an incentive to take control. Would really recommend my fitness pal, you can carry on eating what you want but soon realise that healthy foods fill you up more. It’s quite enjoyable to track calories and weight and exercise on there - it can get a bit obsessive! Go for half a pound a week loss, it will be easier to do long term. Give yourself two or three months before first weigh in as it will fluctuate day to day and can be disheartening. At difficult times remember that low feeling as an incentive to stick with it

I batch cook a lentil Dahl for easy cheap low calorie meals it’s delish. Lots of protein,no oil

Good luck with it all x

It sounds like you must be having too many calories. If you definitely adhered strictly to the no carbs thing, it must be that.
I personally find dropping bread and processed carbs like biscuits etc does definitely help make you feel more toned, flatter belly etc. even if no actual weight loss.

It will be temporary though because you wont continue in a calorie deficit, you will then maintain. So you will need to change things for a temporary time, its what any acheivement entails whether for work, hobby or physical health.

I think people get so hung up on not saying the word 'diet' as if its a swear word and they miss the point. A weight loss 'diet' is to eat less than you burn off, how ever you do that.

I dont use the word diet to just mean a weight loss diet. I say diet as in its what you eat so Im well aware of the word meaning.

What I am mostly referring to is using restrictive diets like Atkins or Keto. Unless you are prepared to spend your entire life never having another biscuit or a glass of wine, there is no point in starting. Yes, your calorie allotment will change depending on the goal but this is part of a wider lifestyle. I can have one biscuit in a deficit and 5 biscuits in a maintenance, or 10 biscuits in a surplus. The fundamentals of my nutrition do no change.
But if I go on Keto in the hopes of losing weight and then return to my previous eating habits, it will likely to put me buck into my previous weight bracket rather quickly.
I don't shy from the word diet. I just see diet as a changed attitude towards general nutrition which can be maintained indefinitely and not as cutting out entire food groups even though you cannot conceive the rest of your life without a slice of cake here and there. So we are not actually contradicting each other, I am simply saying that typically when people get hung up on the word diet they are mindful of the difference between the two. If the OP already had a concept of "diet" as you and I understand it, she probably wouldn't have picked Atkins as her preferred methodology for weight loss.

I'm starting this soon and I cannot wait and these sort of stories are making me so excited! OP I've tried and failed every diet too. I've also tried fasting and not dieting,, calorie counting, hypnotherapy. I'm hoping mounjaro will be the thing that sticks!!

Similar to me and I'm starting soon too! Almost exactly the same weight as you and same size. Good luck with your journey x

People may have said it already but try Noom. It's very good. Noom and increase your walking, if you walk.